When staying quiet will work better BRIDGE

It is well known that bridge players these days hate to pass. One tries never to extract a green pass card from the bidding box. However, in “The Power of Pass” (Modern Bridge Publications), Harold Schogger from England and Ron Klinger from Australia highlight deals in which staying out of the auction would have worked much better.

Rather than just show deals where bidding backfired, over the 36 chapters, the authors also give advice to help the reader judge when silence is golden.

In this deal from the book, look only at the South hand. North passes, and East opens one spade. What would you do as South?

Everyone at a Bridge Base Online duplicate overcalled two clubs. Those clubs fail the authors’ Suit Quality Test: The number of cards plus the number of honors in your suit should at least equal the number of tricks you must win to make your contract. (I prefer a takeout double to two clubs.)

At most tables, West made a negative double, and East’s two-spade rebid was passed out. But one East liked his chances against two clubs. Down one, plus 200, would be a top unless EastWest could make a game.

West led the spade king and switched to the heart eight. East took his two tricks in that suit, cashed the spade ace and shifted to the diamond jack. West won with his ace and gave his partner a heart ruff. East returned a spade, ruffed and overruffed. Finally, a diamond ruff by East resulted in down three, plus 800 and a top to East-west.

The book is available from bridgeworld.com.