MOST bridge hands are interesting but this one has stayed in my mind.
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East/West were vulnerable and West was the dealer. West opened the bidding with 1 Spade.
North doubled. This action would indicate a hand of opening strength or better and probably a four-card heart holding. East with support for partner raised the bidding to 2 Spades.
What action do you think South should take with this hand?
- South: Spades x, Hearts xx, Diamonds QJ10xx, Clubs QJxxx (x is a card below the value of 10)
In this particular case South decided to bid 3 Diamonds because they had a singleton in the opposition suit. They wanted to let partner know they couldn't support hearts and also that they had some points and shape.
- North: Spades AK10, Hearts AJxx, Diamonds Kxx, Clubs Ax
This is a very good hand with 19 HCP (high card points). North had several stoppers in the opposition’s suit and felt he could develop the diamonds so bid 3NT.
Predictably a spade was led, which North won. He then played a diamond, which lost. The opposition then switched to clubs. After losing that trick North was able to make his contract.
East/West had a number of options they could have taken that would have made life more difficult for North/South. Assuming they were defending no trumps, possibly a heart lead may have had a chance because South has denied heart support with the bid of 3 Diamonds. North’s bid of no trumps had indicated spade stoppers.
However, the one action East/West could have taken to make life very difficult would have been taken during the bidding. After East bid 1 Spade and North doubled, East could have bid 3 Spades.
I can almost hear many bridge players reeling in shock at this suggestion but they are all familiar with pre-emptive bids. This operates on the same principle.
A normal pre-empt might be, for example, to open the bidding with 2 Spades to show about 6 to 10 points and a six-card suit. The purpose of this is to cut out the opposition’s bidding space and reduce their chances of communicating points and shape freely.
Therefore, if a partnership agrees that after a double a double raise is weak they can cut the communication between the opposition in a similar manner.
1 Spade, double, 3 Spades is weak. Hence 1 Spade, double, 2 Spades is strong.
These would both be alertable as they contain information known to the partnership but not to the opposition. If this action had occurred it is unlikely that North/South would have found the optimum contract of 3 No Trumps.