Some Hands

15^thJune – Board 18. North/South Game. Dealer East.

Often there is little to choose between triumph and disaster although usually partners don’t see it that way. Certainly there was huge scope for blame apportion on the board featured below.

	North: S A J 8 H Q 6 D Q 10 8 6 4 C A 9 6
West: S 7 H A K 10 9 8 7 3 D K 9 7 2 C 7		East: S Q 9 6 4 2 H 5 2 D A J 5 3 5 4
	South: S K 10 5 3 H J 4 D none C K Q J 10 8 3 2

West	North	East	South
		No	1C
4H	Dbl	No	???

Letting the opponents make game when you can make one yourself is just about the worst thing that can happy to a bridge player but some hands are just too difficult to manage. Surely everyone would open 1C on that South hand and at favourable vulnerability West should barrage with 4H. But what is poor North supposed to do with his opening hand? ‘Double’ is the only sound option and now the spotlight fall back on South who can imagine incurring his partner’s wrath one way or another if he does the wrong thing. If he passes 4H will make unless South can engineer a diamond ruff but even then it is only one down. 5C of course is cold assuming declarer makes the logical assumption that East is a trillion times more likely to hold the queen of spades.