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WILD and WONDERFUL

That’s if you end up on the right side of the pendulum. I was a little surprised that only just over half the tables got to grips with Board 26. Firstly, let me give you the problem I faced…and really did not find the correct solution…except for one small fact. At all vul as West, I held:

 Q2

 J87

KQ1092

J87

and saw this sequence:

West                  North                 East           South

                                                       1            2¹

x                           4                     5           5

?

¹ Majors, Michaels style

I did not really know what to make of all this but without a single likely trick in the majors and partner bidding with or without knowledge of my excellent diamond support, I was not very enthusiastic about defending. So despite my poor shape, I chose   6 but the bidding was not over:

West                  North                 East           South

6                       x                        Pass           6

I did not agonize (truly!) about  bidding6 ( a sound saying that if you are going to make the wrong bid, do so quickly and confidently!)but South did before pulling the penalty double. Still I did not double but partner did and we ended up getting 800, one trick more than we should have, with this the full lay-out:

 

 

 

I did not think my initial double was a very descriptive bid but nothing seemed better, certainly not 3NT (4 pairs played in that contract, East-West, with one even making it!). Partner assumed by the 4 jump that I did not hold that suit and hence bid his 5 card suit for the second time, at the five level.

I think I would have preferred him to pass but then we would never have picked up 800 after a lot of misguessing around the table. It intrigued me that all 4 pairs who played in 5 failed including one West who received the A lead. Had South not led a high heart at trick one but chose a low spade instead, then 5 should be made. North is now helpless as declarer can ruff the Q, draw trumps and play three rounds of clubs before leading a small heart off the dummy and playing 9. South has only majors and the contract has made.

I could not tell how distributional East or South was. Therefore, 6 seemed like insurance rather than the right bid. If I knew how many spades they had and diamonds we had, I could consult “The Law”. I expected there to be more than “20 trumps”.

Well, that’s what we are there for, I suppose. I was, though, mildly intrigued why 7 tables went to 3NT or in a couple of cases 4. The East-West pairs at those tables scored 130 but could not have had the excitement, stress and worry we endured. Maybe the hand was not “wild and wonderful” for everyone.

Richard Solomon

 

 

 

 

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