Another bountiful penalty on offer

Nancy Astor, who was born in Virginia but became an English member of parliament for nearly 26 years, said, “The penalty for success is to be bored by the people who used to snub you.” If you gain a sizeable penalty at the bridge table, you may bore others by telling them about it — but then permit them to bore you with the details of one of their good boards. In today’s deal, look only at the West hand. After two passes, West opens one diamond, North doubles, East redoubles, and South advances with two clubs. What should West do now? East’s redouble shows 10 points or more and denies a large number of diamonds. At this point, either the opening side buys the contract or the intervening pair plays in something doubled for penalty. So, pass by opener is forcing. Also, if the opener bids immediately, it shows minimum or subminimum values. Here, West should pass. After North passes, East doubles for penalty, promising at least four trumps, and West should pass again. What should West lead against two clubs doubled? I think South should pass over the redouble with such a flat hand and be “happy” with a 4-3 fit at the one-level, which here goesdown“only”three.Two clubs doubled was a different story. West made the textbook lead: the club nine. South won in the dummy and ducked a heart. West led a second trump. When declarer lost another heart trick, West shifted to a spade. A moment later, East got in, drew trumps and shifted to diamonds. South took only one spade and two clubs for down five, minus 1,400!