WHEN IS UNBALANCED BETTER THAN BALANCED?

Playwright David Mamet said, "Here's what happens in a play. You get involved in a situation where something is unbalanced. If nothing's unbalanced, there's no reason to have a play. If Hamlet comes home from school, and his dad's not dead and asks him if he's had a good time, it's boring. But if something's unbalanced, it must be returned to order."

As we found yesterday, a balanced 4-4 fit will often produce one trick more than an unbalanced 5-3 fit. But that isn't always the case. This deal highlights a time to prefer the 5-3 to the 4-4 -- which is often easier said than done at the table.

Two diamonds was New Minor Forcing, showing at least game-invitational values and asking for more information from opener. When South learned that his partner had three spades, he went for game in the 5-3 fit. He did well not to look for a 44 heart fit.

West leads the heart queen. South wins with his king, draws trumps and plays a club. East wins with his ace and returns a heart, but declarer takes that on the board and cashes two clubs to discard a diamond loser. (If East shifts to diamonds, South will pitch his two heart losers on a winner in each minor.)

Note that four hearts is hopeless, South losing one heart, two diamonds and one club. Pick the 5-3 when the side suits are strong, supplying discards.

Finally, note that if it is only a game deal, the 5-3 fit is in a major and the 4-4 in a minor, you will usually pick the major.