THERE IS SO LITTLE BETWEEN THE TWO

A.N. Onymous said, “Never let success get to your head; never let failure get to your heart.” At the bridge table, if you have a bad result, concentrate on the next deal; do not worry about what has already happened — it cannot be changed.

Today’s deal occurred during a duplicate. What do you think about the auction? West’s two-no-trump advance showed four or more spades and at least game-invitational values. What happened in five diamonds doubled? What would have transpired in four spades doubled?

South’s hand was a tad thin for his two-diamond response, but he liked his seventh card in the suit. East tried to silence the opponents by jumping to four spades. Good, South passed. All right, so North has doubled — no problem. Ugh, South has run to five diamonds — curses! Eventually, East decided that if this contract was making, it was going to be a near-zero; so he doubled, hoping for plus 200.

Five diamonds was unbeatable. Even after a trump lead, South could have either established hearts or led his club jack to ensure two club ruffs on the board. Minus 750 was a zero to East-West, but minus 600 would have been no better.

At the 12 tables in play, there were 10 different results. Most Easts played in spades, winning 10 tricks unless North obtained a club ruff after an unlikely rounded-suit lead.

East-West shrugged off this result and got a top on the next board by winning one more trick than the field.