Let’s start the New Year with Board 23 where bidding the grand slam should have been relatively straightforward.  Only one pair bid it, so well done them.

West opens 2C, she has an excellent spade suit and only 3 losers.

East gives the positive response of 2NT and West continues by showing her spade suit.

East now bids 4H.  This cannot reasonably be a suggestion that hearts be trumps: with a long heart suit East would have bid hearts first time around.  It is a cue bid agreeing spades.

In response to 4NT East shows just the one key card.

West now bids 5D, a bid which asks whether the SQ is held.  Without the SQ East would bid 5S.  With the SQ she bids 6C to show not only the SQ but also the CK.

West can count 12 top tricks: 6 spades, 1 heart, 3 diamonds and 2 clubs.

The safer contract is 7S and in a teams match this should be bid.  He concern is the diamond suit.  In spades, if East holds 4 diamonds then there should be an extra diamond trick to give 13 overall.  However, if East holds fewer then there should be a diamond ruff.

In duplicate the extra 10 points for the 7NT contract makes that worthwhile.  Only if one opponent held either Jxxx or Txxx in diamonds would there be a problem.

Now let’s turn to Board 1.

On the auction suggested North is on lead.  It is much the same whether he leads the SK or the CK.  I’ll assume the lead is the SK.

Dummy comes down and West counts her losers: none in spades, maybe 2 in hearts, 1 in diamonds and 2 in clubs.  Discarding a diamond won’t help but a club discard reduces the number of losers there.  The contract now hinges on keeping the Heart losers to just the one.

North has bid to 3S despite South passing; it is probable that both red kings are there.

How should the hearts be played?

West must resist the temptation to play the HJ.  If the HJ is played then North covers and South’s HT will win a trick.  The better play is to lead a low heart and put in the HQ.  If by any chance South had held the HK declarer would then have be left with the HA and HJ to clear trumps on the normal 3/2 split.

As North has shown great length in the bidding it is best to play North for Kx in hearts.  The HA, as hoped, drops the HK and West makes plus one.

The traveller shows that only two E/W pairs played in hearts and both times East played the hand.  Did no one make a Michaels cue bid?

Now let’s consider declarer’s play on Board 47.

Let’s assume North starts with a neutral opening lead of the H9.

On seeing dummy West’s reaction must be to try to keep South from getting the lead.  A spade from South would not be good news.  Despite North having most of the strength it is South which is the danger hand.

The heart lead is won in dummy and the DA led to the D8 and the DJ.  The Principle of Restricted Choice indicates that North is more likely to have started with a singleton DJ rather than DJT doubleton (I wrote about this just a week or two ago).  Also, North is the safe hand.  Therefore, The D4 is led, South plays low, the finesse is taken and the D9 wins. 

Declarer now has 5 diamond tricks but no need to take them yet.  It is time to turn her attention to the clubs.  The play here is to play a low club towards the CQ.  If it holds North is assumed to hold the CA.  Therefore, South is then finessed for the CJ.

Declarer makes 1 spade, 4 hearts, 5 diamonds and 2 clubs for a grand total of 12 tricks.

Declarer’s good play was based on three aspects of declarer play.  They were seeing that North was the safe hand, finesses should be taken into North’s hand: invoking the Principle of Restricted Choice to get all 5 diamond tricks and to play towards the CQ which allowed for a finesse of the CJ through South’s hand.  None of these plays is elementary but thet are all absolutely standard.  It is a pity that not one declarer made 12 tricks.

Let’s start with Board 21.  I was sitting North and was asleep at the wheel when I made my opening bid.

West’s 4H bid has made life difficult for N/S and that is what pre-emption is all about.

On 3 occasions E/W were allowed to play in 4H undoubled!!!  That’s almost as unbelievable as my opening bid of 1C on that North hand.

By the way, did you agree with West’s jump to 4H?

Look at it this way.  N/S are strong and will make game at the very least.  That is +600 to N/S.

E/W are not vulnerable and 3 off doubled is only +500 to N/S.    West is guaranteed 6 heart tricks so only one trick from East will make it a good sacrifice if West is allowed to play there.

And would you believe that only one N/S pair bid to game?

Now for Board 16.

We were not doubled but should have been.  The point of interest is South’s assessment as soon as the dummy goes down.

Had we been doubled South’s thinking would have been along these lines.

If she thinks that E/W would have made their 3NT then they would have scored +600.  Three off doubled would be only +500 to E/W.  Therefore, 7 tricks would be enough to get a good score and her target is 7 tricks.  As it was, my partner made 8 tricks (in effect plus one on what would have been her target).

There are two approaches to bidding slams.  The one is where you describe your hands in detail to ensure that there is a very good chance of making 12 tricks.  With this approach you generally stay out of bad slams but you do give a lot of information to your opponents and as a result they are more likely to find the killing lead.

The other approach is to ‘go for it’ a soon as you feel the values are there.  As a result more bad slams are bid but as the auction has been uninformative your opponents often fail to find the killing lead.

On Board 25 we suffered as a result of the second approach to slam bidding.

The auction had revealed nothing about the hands of our opponents except that they had spades.  Had South found a heart lead then East would have been one off.  Leading from a king round to the strong hand is usually a gift to declarer.  North rates to have very little and that little will be in hearts only one time in four.  A heart was not led.  Declarer drew trumps and got 3 heart discards to make his slam.

No other E/W pair bid the slam so that was a bottom for us.

The tables were turned two boards later.  We were the only pair to bid the slam on Board 27.

This time we were lucky.  Had East not competed with 5H over North’s underbid of 4S the slam would not have been bid.

In the end it was honours even; one top to them and one to us.

On Board 21 a slam was bid by 7 of the N/S pairs playing the board so I won’t spend time on it, but no pair bid the slam on Board 20.

Expecting to play in either 3NT or 4S West rebids 2D.  The 2D bid shows a 5 card spade suit and diamond values.

Not satisfied with 3NT East continues with 2H, forth suit forcing.

West shows club support and East’s 4C bid asks about key cards held.  4S indicates two key cards.  East bids a club slam which was not easy to reach.

Making 12 tricks presents no problem.

Sitting South on Board 14 you pick up the following hand.

♠  A98763

♥  J52

♦  A53

♣  9

East, your RHO, dealt and opens 2C.  It is love all.  What do you do?

The guiding principle is that if your opponents have made a strong bid then any bid you make is weak.  There is no need to jump to 3S to show a weak hand, a bid of 2S will do that and at the 2 level it is relatively safe.  Your aim is not so much to play in spades but to take away bidding space from your opponents in the hope that they will then end up in the wrong contract.

On this board the bidding will start:

E          S          W         N

2C        2S        P          P

 ?

If East bids 2NT then you will be doing what virtually every other N/S pair were doing; defending 3NT by East.  You should get an average.

If East doubles and it is left in then you are likely to be 2 off for -300 (which would have been an outright top).

If West takes the double as take-out and bids her 5 card club suit then E/W might well end up in the wrong contract of 5C and that would have given you a near top.

Now let’s look at how the bidding might go on Board 8 where a part score was all that was available.

North is too strong for a weak 3D pre-emptive bid.

South’s 2H is a slight overbid, the alternative is a negative double to show hearts.

West’s 3S is a raise to the level of fit.

With a 7 card suit many a North will be tempted to continue to 4D.  If undoubled that would be a good sacrifice.  With that East hand would you double?  In duplicate you should.

Against 4D, East starts with the CA.  West plays the C5 to discourage.

East continues with the CK and West’s C4 makes it clear that a switch is necessary.   As a result E/W take their 2 spade tricks to put North one down at that stage.  Now, unless North makes an inspired guess to play East for a singleton DK, E/W will end up +300.

Let’s start with Board 4 where East should know before she has made her first bid that a slam is very likely yet only 3 pairs bid that high.

If E/W play cue bids then East jumps to 3H to show first round control in the suit.  Holding the HA West knows East is void in hearts.

If E/W play splinter bids then East would still jump to 3H but this time to show a void or singleton in hearts.

In either event West continues with 4D to ask about East’s holding of key cards.  East shows 2 key cards without the DQ and slam is bid.

If North does not make an opening lead of a spade then West makes plus 1 (6 clubs, 5 diamonds, 1 heart and a spade ruff).

You are sitting South on Board 12 and pick up the following hand:

♠  J5

♥  Q94

♦  5

♣  AKQJT64

After two passes your RHO (East) opens with a bid of 1S.  What do you bid?

Had you had the opportunity to open the bidding this is an ideal hand for opening with a bid of the gambling 3NT: used with hands having a long running minor and not so much as a king or ace in any of the other three suits.

Here’s something to think about; what would an overcall of 3S mean once your RHO has opened 1S?

An overcall of 2S would be Michaels, but 3S?

The jump cue bid of 3S is asking partner to bid 3NT with a stop in spades.  Without a stop, partner bids 4C.

Here is the full hand.

If South is left to play in 4C then West will lead the S9.

East takes with the SQ.  She then continues with the SA and (hoping for an overruff) the SK.

South must ruff high.  Not only to prevent the over-ruff but also to provide two entries to dummy.

Trumps are drawn; CA and C4/C8.

Now declarer plays for East (the strong hand) to hold both the HA and the HJ.  She plays the H8 prepared to let it run if East plays low.  South now has 2 heart tricks and, with the DA, 10 tricks in all.

Now for something I mentioned as recently as last week.  You are North on Board 23 and pick up this hand:

♠  QT9765432

♥  --

♦  63

♣  73

Partner dealt and opened 1H.  What do you do now?  Do you pass with that 9 card spade suit?

The modern approach is to use the jump-shift response to show along suit in a weak hand.  You respond 2S showing at least 6 spades and 0 – 5 hcp.

Partner is expected to pass no matter what.

As it was, all N/S pairs bid to 4S and most made just 7 or 8 tricks.  Any up-to-date pair who had stopped in 2S would have had an outright top.

The weak jump-shift is very worthwhile thinking about.

Let’s start with Board 25 where both the bidding and play were challenging.

South’s 3D bid is a transfer to hearts.  North is going to correct South’s 3NT to 4H but there is no harm in cue bidding the CA on the way.  That is enough to encourage South to go for the slam.

West’s natural lead is SQ taken by the SA.

Declarer’s plan is to ruff a diamond, draw trumps and finesse in clubs hoping for split honours.

The only problem is getting back to the South hand when drawing the trumps.  Declarer doesn’t want to cash the SK and ruff a spade as the SQ lead indicates that the SJ is with West. The solution is to play for the normal 3/2 split in hearts (68% chance).  When ruffing the diamond declarer calls for the HA.  She continues with the HQ and H5 to get back to hand to finish drawing trumps.

Declarer then leads the C9 and runs it if West plays low.

Later declarer takes the spade finesse to make 3 spade tricks, 5 hearts, 2 diamonds plus a diamond ruff and a club trick.

When I was learning bridge a jump-shift bid by responder was used to show an extremely powerful hand.  By jump-shift I mean something like 1D – 2H.  Responder had to have at least 16 hcp and to know what was going to be the final denomination; responder either had support for opener’s suit or had a self-supporting 6 card suit of her own which she was going to insist were trumps.  The only thing to be decided was whether it was going to be game, little slam or a grand slam.  I cannot remember ever having used the bid.

These days there is a growing trend to use the jump-shift with a very different type of hand: not a strong hand but a particularly weak one, a hand with a 6 card suit and less that 6 hcp.

Let’s look at Board 9.

I’m sure West will come in with 2S but she will not like her diamond holding.  She will expect diamond shortage in dummy but also in the South hand.  Unless she can draw trumps she is likely to have her diamonds over-ruffed.

In the play North starts with the DA and DK, South discarding two clubs.  A third diamond is ruffed by South (why not with the S8 trying to make declarer think that North has spade length?).

South continues with the H2.  If West does not go up with the HA then North is in with the HK.  She cashes the CA and gives South yet another diamond ruff to give the defence 5 tricks.

Finally, let’s look at one of those bids ‘which never come up’.

South’s 2D bid shows strength (at least 10 points and 5 diamonds).

West immediately bids to the level of fit, 3S.  North bids 4D.

East has 6 spades so knows the level of fit is one level higher, she bids 4S.

South goes to 5D.

East can see no defence to 5D so sacrifices in 5S.  At favourable vulnerability this is an excellent bid.

N/S can make 5D for a score of +600.  They can defend 5S doubled getting E/W 3 off for a score of only +500.

The one pair who sacrificed in 5S scored 90% for the board: well done them.

Board 27 raised one bidding point which is often overlooked.

After East’s 1NT overcall, if South has values (at least 15 Bhcp or 10 hcp) then she should double for penalties because N/S rate to have over half the points in the pack.  Therefore, if South bids a suit it shows a hand with a maximum of 14 Bhcp (9 hcp) and at least 5 cards in the suit bid; South is ‘weak and long’. 

What might West bid?

Would a double be for penalties or be asking East to bid again?  You need to know your system.

Would a bid of 3C be strong?

West’s best option is to bid an invitational 2NT.  East would accept and bid 3NT.  However, South may well come in with a sacrifice of 4H.  If she does then it is only a spade lead from West’s doubleton that could put her one off.

There was a little bit to both the bidding and play in Board 19.

What should South lead?  To make it as difficult as possible let’s say South opts to ‘lead through strength’ by choosing the C5.

East’s first thought should be to go up with the CA; South’s C5 could well be a singleton..  Why risk turning a no-loser suit into a two-loser suit?  Her second thought should be to get a diamond ruff.  So she leads the DQ, the DK is well placed and she gets her diamond ruff.

That leaves just one spade and one heart loser for 11 tricks made.

Now how about bidding a slam?

South opens 2C, no argument there.

Normally a response of 2D is 0 – 11 Bhcp (0 – 7 hcp) but there is an exception.  That is when responder holds an ace and king.  Here North holds HA and HK in a strong 5 card suit: too strong for the 2D bid.  Therefore, North bids 2H to show a minimum of a 5 card heart suit.

South routinely bids 2S, again showing a minimum of a 5 card suit.

N/S are in a game forcing situation and so North has a choice of bidding either 3S or 4S.  Going directly to 4S is the weaker bid, it certainly denies holding an ace.  Here, North bids 3S to show something extra, almost definitely an ace.  This is enough for South to go directly to 6S.

In the play virtually all declarers made 12 tricks but only half of them had bid it.

On Board 4 only two of the eleven N/S pairs bidding the hands got to game.  That’s disappointing.

North is too strong for a weak jump overcall of 2S.

South in her turn is too strong just to bid to the level of fit: a bid of 2S could be made with 3 card support and as little as zero points.  Raising partner’s overcall is weak and pre-emptive.  In responding to partner’s overcall a hand containing a good 15 Bhcp (10 hcp) is too strong for a raise to the level of fit.

The way to indicate strength is to bid your opponent’s suit; here that is 2D.

How should North respond?

With less than opening points North bids 2S, the lowest level possible.

With opening points North must find another bid.  What are the options?

With a 6 card spade suit North jumps the 3S.

With 5 spades and a 4 card side suit, North bids the side suit.

With a stop in opener’s suit North makes a No Trump bid.

With none of these (ie 5332 distribution) North repeats the cue bid (3D).

North would open 1S with the hand she holds so rebids 3S to show the 6 card suit.  That is enough for South to go to game.

Just a note on defensive card play:  assume that East ignores partner’s diamond bid and leads the HQ.  How should West play?

The normal thing when taking a trick is to play the lowest card necessary and here that would be the HK.  However, with a doubleton, West takes with the HA and continues with the HK.  This is the wrong way round.  It is a message to East that West started with a doubleton heart and is looking for a possible entry into East’s hand so that West can ruff the heart continuation.  East is being asked to give a suit preference signal.  Here, poor East is so weak that there is no possible entry.

Not one pair bid the slam on Board 16 despite West opening and East holding strong opening values.

With minimum opening values West should show the 3 card support for responder’s major rather than rebidding a 6 card minor.

East’s cue bid of 4D shows first round control and suggests slam interest opposite minimum opening values.  The point to note here is that East did not bid 4C to show first round control in that suit.  The reason is that you do not cue bid shortages in partner’s suit.  The reason is that if you cue bid in partner’s suit it should indicate a high card held which will fill a gap in that suit and make it easily established for extra tricks.

On the likely lead of the HK the plan is to ruff 2 hearts.  Take with HA and ruff a heart.  Back to hand with the DA and ruff another heart.  Play SQ followed by CA and CK for 2 diamond discards.  Ruff a diamond and draw trumps.

Now we finish with another slam board where every declarer made 12 tricks but not one single pair bid the slam.

The traveller shows that all 11 times West was declarer in spades.  She must have opened and that hand is too strong for an opening of a weak 2S bid.  So why was the slam never bid?

The main point of interest is in defence.  Consider the play on the opening lead of the DT.

If South plays the DK it is all over; 12 tricks roll in for E/W.

The DT is an honour so the lead promises at least the D9 and probably the D8 as well.

If declarer ducks, playing the D2, so should South duck.  South knows that West holds the DA and DJ but if it is AJx then ducking will leave declarer with a diamond loser. So declarer gets a diamond loser to go with the heart loser.  If declarer elects to play the DQ on the first trick then South covers with the DK.  Again, there is a diamond loser.

Either way, declarer has to fall back on the club finesse for a discard (and luckily for her it works).

The moral of this hand is that the lead of a T is not top of rubbish; it is top of a sequence.  So if you choose to lead from a suit of something like T84, lead the 8 and not the T.

Once in a while a freak hand comes along; Board 16 was one such hand.

North immediately thinks in terms of the Unusual No Trumps (UNT) as an overcall should West open the bidding. 

At my table West opened a weak 2S although a tad too strong for the bid (Bidding sequence 1).  Now a bid of 2NT is strong, balanced with values in spades and 3NT is to play.  The UNT bid to show at least 5/5 in the two lowest unbid suits is now 4NT.  At adverse vulnerability East will probably not come in at the 5 level; two off doubled would be a very poor score.

If West opens 1S then the bidding is much more likely to follow bidding sequence 2 with North bidding the UNT of 2NT.  Now opposite opening values East is quite likely to jump to the heart game.  That is passed round to North who bids 5C to give South a choice of either minor suit at the 5 level.

In the play North can make 13 tricks.  It is DA and diamond ruff.  HA and heart ruff followed by another diamond ruff.  The diamonds are now established so trumps are drawn and the remaining 3 diamonds cashed.

I would have hoped that more than 2 E/W pairs would have bid the slam on Board 20.

Before looking at the bidding let’s have a quick look at the hand evaluations.  Using the old and less accurate hcp system the high card trick taking potential is assessed as the same for both East and West hands; 13 hcp apiece.  With the more accurate Bhcp evaluation the high card trick taking potential of the East hand is assessed as significantly stronger than West’s hand; in fact stronger by the factor of an extra ace.

Although fractionally under the Bhcp strength for a normal opening bid (18 Bhcp), West’s hand fully qualifies for an opening bid of 1H.  The high cards are in long suits, there is stuffing (9s, 8s and 7s) and, most importantly, there is a rebid of 2D available.

With a 6 loser hand East makes a slam try.  The 3S bid is above 3H: it commits you to game and therefore it is a cue bid agreeing hearts as trumps; it shows first round control in spades and suggests that slam might be on.

West bids 4D.  This is a cue bid which does not indicate any extra strength: West is merely co-operating in case East is very strong.  .

The 4D bid shows first round control in diamonds but says that West does not have first round control in clubs (with first round control in both clubs and diamonds West would cue bid clubs first).

Having made a slam suggestion, East bids 4H.

Although somewhat light in high card points West continues because she has a 6 loser hand and there seems to be a wonderful fit.  There are no spade losers and the potential for spade ruffs in West’s hand.

West cue bids 4S showing second round control in that suit.

It is usually bad practice to use Blackwood when you have a void.  The reason is that you won’t know if an ace shown is the one you want or the one in your void suit (which will be of limited value as it will only provide one discard rather than helping to establish a long suit).

Here East knows from the 4D bid that West does not hold the CA and so any key card shown will not be the CA.

In response to 4NT West shows 2 key cards and East knows that these must be the DA and HK.  The slam is bid.

With the diamond suit distributed as it is 13 tricks roll in whether you finesse or play for the drop.

Now let’s look quickly at Board 35 to see how responder should deal with a take-out double.

Here is North’s hand:

♠  863

♥  AT62

♦  K7

♣  AK94

South dealt and the bidding starts:

S          W         N

1D        X         ?

The answer to the question of what North should bid is simple; the bid is 1H which has the same meaning as without the double.  No problem there then but what if South had opened 1S.  What should North bid then after a double by West?

North should redouble.  The message to partner is that she is strong and so E/W are in trouble.  South should pass and leave the decision of whether to play or defend a doubled contract to North.

South makes the following assessment of her chances of making 12 tricks:  if the diamonds behave there are 7 tricks there.  The 2 clubs, the HA and the SA bring the total up to 11 tricks.

She needs to make the HT via a squeeze or both the SA and SQ via an end play.

South wins the first trick with the HA and plays the CA and CK (discarding a spade and a heart).

Now South plays DK and DA and cashes four more diamonds.

Nine tricks have been won and there are now only 4 cards in each hand.  East’s cards are irrelevant.  The South, North and West hands are:

               N

            ♠  863

♥  T

♦ 

   W      ♣               

♠  KJ9             

♥  Q                  

♦                        

♣             S        

            ♠  AQ

♥  7

♦  3

♣ 

Now South plays the D3.  What is poor West to do?

If she throws the HQ then declarer makes the HT and SA for 12 tricks.  If she discards the S9 declarer then throws West in with the HQ to lead away from the SK and SJ round to South’s SA and SQ: again 12 tricks made.

Cheers

On Board 8 only one pair bid a slam, the diamond slam.  

If NS are plating a weak NT then North must open 1NT.  (At least at two tables North opened 1C – maybe those NS pairs were playing a strong NT?)  

South should then think of the possibility of a slam: with 8 tricks in hand South needs only 4 tricks from a hand which has opened 1NT.

With a void or singleton it is better to use the Losing Trick Count.  A hand worth an opening bid of a weak 1NT normally has 8 losers, but a maximum hand usually has only seven losers. South has a five-loser hand.  Adding the losers in both hands and subtracting from the magic number 18 suggests that NS can make 11 or 12 tricks with diamonds as trumps.  

Bidding 1 is with the use of the Gerber convention where the 4C bid asks how many aces are held.  4H indicates one and 6D is bid.

In the other two bidding sequences South starts with a bid of 3D.  This shows a strong 6 card diamond suit and slam interest.  North is not particularly interested in diamonds and rebids 3NT.

In Bidding sequence 2 South continues with 4D as a key card asking bid.  North shows one key card and 6D is bid.

Bidding 3 is the most natural.  The 4D bid is natural and forcing.  North cue bids the CA on the way to 5D and again 6D is bid.

Once South has bid 6D North makes one further bid.  It is highly unlikely that, playing in diamonds, it will be possible to take any ruffs in the North hand.  Therefore, there will be the same number of tricks available in NT as in diamonds.  Also, North has tenaces in each of the other three unbid suits.  An opening lead in any of these suits is likely to generate an extra trick.  North bids 6NT, which of course scores more points than 6D.

Let’s look at the play with East as declarer and a spade lead from South.

First, the bidding places the HA with North.

If South leads the S5 then declarer calls for the S8 from dummy.  North can win with the S9 but now in spades has AQ7 to lead round to dummy’s KT3.

If South leads the SJ then declarer calls for the SK.  North can then win with the SA but now in spades has Q97 to lead round to dummy’s T83.

With either spade lead by South a continuation of spades by North gives E/W 9 tricks.

North has to switch to a minor suit.

West takes 8 minor suit tricks, ending in the West hand.  The H5 is led and North can take his HA now or later.

On Board 1 you are sitting South.  The contract is 4S by East and West has bid diamonds during the auction.

W (dummy)

♠  KJ5

♥  QJ5

♦  KQJT84

♣ 3          S

            ♠  Q964

♥  A32

♦  6

♣  98765

You lead your singleton D6 and your partner wins with the DA, declarer playing the D2.

Partner returns the D3, declarer discarding a heart and you ruff.

What do you play now?  Is it hearts or is it clubs?

It should not be a guess.  Your thoughtful partner has told you what to do.

From the play to the first 2 tricks you can tell that partner started with 5 diamonds.  If, when giving you your ruff, she plays a low diamond then she is asking you to return the lower ranking suit, in this case clubs.  If she plays a high diamond she is asking for the higher ranking suit, hearts.  If she has no particular preference then she plays a middle value diamond.

The D3 is the lowest diamond she has.  It is asking for a club.

South returns a club and North wins with the CA and gives South a second club ruff.

South then cashes her HA to put declarer 2 off before she has had a chance to get going.

Board 19 was a very biddable slam hand.  I played the hand towards the end of the evening.  Before picking up his cards my partner joked “I haven’t played a hand all evening.  I’m going to open 2C”.  He picked up his cards and ... opened 2C!

South has two options for her second bid; 2NT or 3D.  Bidding 2S would be completely wrong as that would promise a 5 card suit.

I much prefer 2NT.  If South’s rebid is 3D then it will be very difficult to find the spade fit.  After a 3D rebid North can’t bid spades as that would show a 5 card suit.

South’s 2NT rebid should be treated as a super strong 2NT opening; Stayman and transfers apply.

Stayman is used, the spade fit found and South inquires about key cards.  North shows one and the slam is bid.

In spades declarer draws trumps, discards hearts on the diamonds, ruffs a heart and takes the winning club finesse for 13 tricks.

In 6NT there are only 12 tricks available.  When the CQ is led from dummy, East should play low.  The adage ‘cover an honour with an honour’ is about making declarer use two high cards on the one trick in the hope of either you or partner having a lower card promoted into a trick taking position.  Here East can see the CJ and CT in dummy.  There is no chance of any defensive card being promoted.  Therefore, East ducks.

It pays to know the scoring.  In particular, do not underestimate the value of doubled overtricks.  Non-vulnerable, a doubled overtrick is worth 100 points: vulnerable, one is worth 200 points.

With that in mind, you are South on Board 9 with the following hand:

North opens 1NT (weak) and East doubles.  What do you do?

Had East not doubled you would have bid an invitational 2NT suggesting 8 or 9 tricks could be made.

Had N/S been vulnerable the assessment would have been easier.

With only 8 tricks available 1NTX + 1 = 380, much better than the 120 scored for 2NT making.

With 9 tricks available 1NTX + 2 = 580, much better than the 400 scored for 3NT making.

If N/S are vulnerable the choice is simple; South passes.

But N/S were not vulnerable and so it is less clear what to do for the best.

With only 8 tricks available 1NTX + 1 = 280, much better than the 120 scored for 2NT making.

With 9 tricks available 1NTX + 2 = 380, less than the 400 scored for 3NT making. 

The question for South now is how good is her invitational hand? 

It is at the bottom end of the points range, so that’s not good.  It has two unsupported queens and an unsupported jack in a short suit.  It has too many low cards.  All in all, it is about as bad an invitational hand as you could get.  The chances of 9 tricks opposite even a maximum hand are pretty small.

Again, my preferred option is for South to pass.

If West makes some rescue attempt, South can come out of the woodwork later, but for now staying silent is the better option.

Let’s look at some bidding.

East has a straightforward weak 2D opening bid.

South should pass.  When your opponents have made a weak bid, as here, then all your bids should show opening values.  South is well short of opening values.

West raises to the level of fit.

North has both majors (4/3 counts as both) and so doubles for take out.

If South bids just 3S then she is showing 0 – 8 points.  She is stronger so must jump to game.

Here are the E/W hands from Board 10. East was the dealer.

  W                        E

♠  AK53            ♠  JT

♥  A7                ♥  KT9842

♦  KQT4           ♦  A753

♣  A75              ♣  4

E          W

2H        2N

3H        4N

5H        6H

East opens with a routine weak 2H.

West asks for more information by bidding 2NT.

East shows higher end values but a poorish suit.

Still interested in the possibility of a slam West bids 4NT.

East shows 2 key cards without the HQ.

West bids the slam.

Everybody in hearts made 12 tricks but only one pair bid the slam.  I would have hoped that more would have done so.

Evaluating the East hand with B points it is too strong for an opening of a weak 1NT.

East opens 1H, the lower of his two 4 card majors.

South doubles but West jumps somewhat pre-emptively to 4H to finish the auction.

If you are still using the old hcp then you open 1NT as East.

South has nothing to say.  She is not strong enough to double no shapely enough to bid a suit.

West bids 2D, a transfer to hearts.

If East just bids 2H then that is likely to be the end of it.  However, East has maximum values and knows that they have a 9 card fit.  Therefore, especially if West is very weak, 3H is the right place to be.  East breaks the transfer and bids 3H.  This break shows maximum values and 4 card support.  That is enough for West to go to game.

Which of the two layouts would you prefer to hold if you needed to generate an extra trick in order to make your contract, layout A or layout B?

            Layout A                       Layout B

              AQ32                            AJT2

               654                               543

With layout A you lead a small card towards the AQ and play the Q.  If West has the K you make 2 tricks but only 1 trick if it is with East.  It is a 50% chance of making 2 tricks.

With layout B there are 2 missing high cards, the K and the Q.  There are 4 different ways that your opponents may hold those 2 cards:

West could have K and Q; West could have K and East the Q; West could have the Q and East the K; finally, East could have both the K and Q.

Now if you play a low card towards the AJT and play the T.  Later, when in again, you play another small card and play the J.  Now you will make 2 tricks unless East holds both the K and the Q.  That is, 3 times in 4 you will make 2 tricks and that’s a 75% chance of making 2 tricks.  That is better than a 50% chance.

The rational is just the same if the layout is:

            AQT2

              543

You play a low card and insert the T.  Later you finesse again.  Only if East holds both the K and J will you lose 2 tricks.  It is again a 75% chance for 2 tricks.

With that in mind let’s look at the club suits in Boards 4 and 26.

In the club suit the K and the J are with the defenders.  Declarer hopes that at least one of them is with South.

The C3 is played and when South plays the C4 the C8 holds the trick.  Now as long as declarer has kept the DA and SK as entries the clubs can be played twice more from East to give 5 club tricks.

Notice that if the CQ is played on the first round of clubs then South must make a club trick.

Here the club suit has quite a different look to it but again you are missing the K and the J.

Start by playing the CA just in case there is a singleton CK.  Then the plan is to lead twice towards South hoping that at least one of the two high club cards are with East.  Then by keeping the DK as an entry there is the prospect of at least 3 and maybe 4 club tricks.

Those of you who know your percentages will note that despite it being only a 25% chance that both high cards are well placed for declarer, in both these examples they were.

There is a certain excitement when you are bidding a grand slam and this can turn into euphoria when it makes  The euphoria might be dampened just a little when you realise that your 13^th trick was gifted to you by your opponents.

In whist and the early days of bridge when there was no bidding there was no indication of which pair held the greater strength.  Therefore on the opening lead it was good sense to start with your strongest suit and so leading 4^th highest from a suit containing an honour became standard.

Nowadays we have pretty sophisticated bidding systems and in the vast majority of hands it is the declaring side which has the greater strength.  So if you have a suit something like K742 then it is most likely that it is your opponents who are sitting with the A and Q: leading the suit is only going to help them.

With that in mind let’s look at Board 25.

After North’s opening of 1H South is much too strong to jump to conclusions; she needs to make a waiting bid of 2C or 2D – but which?  Looking at the minor suits South would prefer a club lead to a diamond:  South bids 2D in an effort to prevent a diamond lead.

North gives herself extra value for the excellent heart suit and bids 3NT.

South realises that if North has maximum values for her 3NT bid then 7NT is on the cards; she bids 5T which asks partner to bid 7NT if maximum but 6NT otherwise.

One brave pair bid and made 7NT.

Counting the top tricks there are 3 spades, 5 hearts, 2 diamonds and 2 clubs.  The only real option for the 13^th trick is the failing club finesse.  Yet 3 declarers made 13 tricks.

The declarer who found herself in 7NT received a club lead: contract made.  With 7NT being bid it is a very near certainty that declarer and dummy hold the CA, CK and CJ between them.

Maybe the other 2 declarers making 13 tricks received a club lead but there is another possibility.  If while declarer is cashing her 5 heart tricks East were to discard 2 diamonds then when the DA and DK are played the 13^th diamond is good.

Tip: basically there are only 3 scenarios where leading 4^th highest should be considered: partner has bid the suit; your opponents are sacrificing and your opponents have bid all the other 3 suits but have not ended up in a No Trump contract.

I’m sure you all know the bridge axiom “ruff in the short hand”.  It is a very good rule but, as with all rules, it is for guidance not for blind observance.  Let’s take Board 11 as an exception to the rule.

Dummy comes down and declarer counts her tricks: 1 spade, 5 hearts and 3 diamonds to give a total of 9 tricks.  That seems like a good result but this is duplicate and an extra overtrick (10 tricks total) would give a near top.  Is it possible?

Missing 5 cards in a suit they will usually split 3/2 between your opponents.  Maybe you can arrange to draw trumps with the HA, HK and HQ and also ruff 3 spades.  That would give 1 spade trick, 3 spade ruffs, 3 hearts and 3 diamonds for a total of 10 tricks.

You can arrange these 10 tricks whatever to opening lead but we’ll assume a lead from South of the H2, a trump.

You need to keep your small trumps for ruffing so play low from dummy and win with the HQ.

Play ST/SA and ruff a spade.

Play D5/DQ and ruff a spade.

Play D7/DK and ruff a spade.

Play HK and DA.  That is 9 tricks so far and there is still the ace of trumps to come: 10 tricks made.

Here it was necessary to reverse the normal procedure by ruffing in the hand with more trumps – ruffing in the long hand.  This has the name of ‘Dummy Reverse’.

Slams are always good to bid, especially if they are making slams.  Maybe making a slam depends on partner holding the trump queen.  Board 23 was a good example of how to find out.

North’s 2H bid promises a minimum of a 5 card suit so South jumps to 4C, a cue bid agreeing hearts, indicating first round control in clubs and slam interest.

Although a 5 loser hand, North is aceless so bids only 4H.

South continues with RKC Blackwood and North replies 5C showing 1 key card (HK).

Normally, South would then either sign off in 5H or bid the slam.

South does neither but makes one more effort by bidding 5D which asks whether the trump queen is held.

Without the HQ North would bid 5H but here North bids 6D to confirm that the HQ is held and in addition that the DK is in her hand.

It is true that East could put the slam 1 off by leading the DA and then another diamond.  That is unlikely for 2 reasons.  First, North has shown that she holds the DK so East should be keeping his DA to capture that king.  Secondly, East has a great looking lead in the CK.

Here’s another slam hand.

East has a great hand for a weak 3D opening bid. 

South doubles and West passes (of course).

North is too strong to bid 3S, that would show 0 – 12 Bpts (0 – 8 pts).  North jumps to 4S.

That’s enough for South to investigate with 4NT.  The 5H response shows 2 key cards without the trump queen.  The slam is bid.

East leads the DK taken by the DA.

How should the spades be played?

This is a time to use the concept of vacant places.  East has shown up with 7 diamonds so has only 6 cards in the other 3 suits.

Declarer can easily deduce that West started with only 2 diamonds and therefore 11 cards in the other 3 suits.  Therefore, East has only 6 vacant spaces where the SQ might be hiding while West has eleven.  There is nearly twice as much room in the West hand for the SQ to be hiding.

Therefore, play for West to have the SQ but just take the precaution against East having a singleton SQ.

Play the SA.  Had East had singleton SQ it would have dropped.  It didn’t.

Continue with the S3 and play the S7 if West plays low.  To finesse again the C5 is played and East’s singleton CK pops up.

Another trump finesse follows and trumps are drawn.

Declarer cashes the clubs and hearts for 13 tricks.

Two declarers made 13 tricks, well done them.

On Board 3 the most common contract was some number of No Trumps by N/S but while some declarers made 10 tricks others made as few as 6.  Perhaps this was this down to declarer play but maybe it was the defence.

There is no point in East getting into the bidding; partner is marked with very little.  Evaluating the hand with B points East is only worth an opening bid of a weak 1NT.

In the play the defence need to give count, probably twice.  When giving count a defender plays a high card to show an even number of cards and a low card to show an odd number.

If spades are tackled by playing the SJ then West must play the S6, low for an odd number.  East can then easily deduce that the SJ is singleton and can duck.  Later, when the DQ is played West must play a high card to show an even number of diamonds.  East in this case deduces that South (if declarer) started with a doubleton diamond.  The DA is held up for one round and the result is that (if spades had been tackled first) there are then no entries to the North hand.

There were 2 hands where a slam was makeable by establishing a long suit.  In each case clubs were trumps and spades the long suit.

North leads the DJ to South’s DA.

South switches to the HT.  What are declarer’s chances?

One possibility is that South has led away from the HK but that is very unlikely.

A better chance is to set up the spades to give 3 heart discards.  To do this declarer will ruff spades and cross back to dummy in clubs, drawing trumps while she does so.  She will note that she must keep the C3 in her hand as she may well need the C4 as an entry.

West wins with the HA and then plays S7/SA.

A spade is ruffed high and dummy entered again with a high trump.

Another spade is ruffed and the suit is established.

Dummy is entered again, drawing the last trump and the spades run for 3 heart discards.

A heart is ruffed and then a diamond ruff completes the play for 12 tricks.

Now we turn to Board 13.

It doesn’t matter much what South leads.  Let’s assume a club, which leaves declarer with all the work to do.

Declarer draws trumps in 2 rounds, plays SA, SK and ruffs a spade.  There are now 3 discards for the 2 diamonds and the heart.

The play in 7S and 7NT requires the spades to be played to drop a doubleton SQ and that is against the odds.

I would now like to look briefly at Board 24.  It was passed out 7 times and on the other 4 occasions declarer went off.

The Gambling 3NT is used when you have a long running minor suit and no ace or king in any of the other 3 suits.

By a long running minor we mean a minimum of a 6 card suit headed by the ace, king and queen. 

North’s hand fits the criteria.

When your partner opens a Gambling 3NT you need to assess what to do.  You know that your partner has no stop in the other 3 suits so you will have to cover them.

South can tell that North’s suit is clubs because she has the DK.  Diamonds have a control and spades are good.  It is the hearts which are the problem; there is no stop in either hand.

This means that South has to bid.  She usually bids 4C but might bid higher if she has a very strong hand.  If North’s suit happens to be diamonds she converts to diamonds at the same level.

Here South bids 4C and this is passed out.  4C is a makeable contract.

A Kx/Qxx combination can be a bit tricky to deal with.  We’ll look at two boards where such a combination occurred.

Let’s start with Board 14 where only 2 declarers made the 12 tricks which should have been pretty routine.  I’ll give the auction as it happened at my table though it is not a recommended approach – but it worked so I’m not complaining; we were the only pair to bid the slam.  Unfortunately, we were not one of the two declarers to make 12 tricks!

As the spades lie there is no opening lead which can put the contract down.

We received a diamond, quite natural on the bidding.

North counts losers: one diamond, one heart (if there are trumps in dummy) and one spade.

The diamond loser can go on a top club which leaves the contract depending on the spade finesse and not ending up with a small heart loser in North’s hand..

Take the opening lead with the DA, play the CA and CK to discard the DQ.

Now the hearts need to be tackled while there are still trumps in dummy.  Play the H8, West ducks (otherwise both the HK and HQ are established) and the HQ wins.  Continue with a low heart which West must win.  West must now give up the lead; she has no clubs, declarer will ruff a diamond or a heart and will let a spade run to dummy’s 9 (she was going to finesse anyway).

Whatever, South can arrange to ruff a heart and then play the S9 intending to run it if West plays low: 12 tricks made.

Now let’s turn to Board 24.  This is quite a tricky hand to bid but three out of seven pairs did get to 6S.  The first problem is West’s opening bid; should it be 2C?  There are only 3 losers and there is a magnificent spade suit.  It is just that the high card point count is slightly below the recommended minimum holding for a 2C opening bid (24 Bhcp or 16 hcp).

Even if partner is void in spades then on the normal 3/2 split there are 8 spade tricks.  West needs so very little from East to make game a reasonable prospect, less than a minimum for a response to an opening bid at the one level.  Give East HQ and CQ and no other high cards and game is reasonable yet an opening bid of 1S would then quite possibly be passed out.

It is this last aspect that makes 2C West’s better opening bid.

Again we have Kx/Qxx in a side suit but the concerns are completely different.  This time the doubleton is in the same hand as the long trump suit, there is no need to ensure that the hearts are tackled before the trumps.

In the play of the hand my question to you is, given that you have escaped a heart lead, should you finesse in clubs?  Missing 5 cards in a suit (including the queen) the odds certainly favour the finesse.

The answer depends upon what type of bridge you are playing.

First consider what to do if you are playing in a teams match.  Count your tricks: 8 spades, one diamond and two clubs equals 11 tricks.  Playing on hearts ensures another trick and means that your contract is made.  In teams making the contract is paramount, overtricks are of minor importance.  The club finesse does not cross your mind, you make your contract.

In duplicate things are different, overtricks are extremely valuable.   Perceived wisdom is that you should try for an overtrick if the odds are better than 50%; if something works more often than not then you will more often get a good score than a bad score.  Certainly, if it works you will get two discards and hence no heart losers, making 13 tricks.

Are you going to finesse in clubs?

Before you do, look around the room.  Do you think most pairs will have bid to slam?  If you think not then bidding and making 12 tricks will get you a good score; don’t risk a bottom (which is what one off will get you if the finesse fails because most pairs will be in game plus two).

On the other hand, if you feel that most pairs will have bid the slam then there is more to be said for going for broke and taking the finesse – but be sure you have an understanding partner because you are playing for a top or a bottom.

There is still one more thing to consider before deciding to finesse: are you having a good evening or a bad one.  If you are having a good evening it would be unwise to risk a bottom (that could seriously damage your final result).  If you are having a bad evening you might go for the finesse.  If it fails the poor score is lost with all the rest but if it works then you have something to remember.

In summary, in teams don’t take risks for the sake of overtricks if in doing so you might not make your contract.  In duplicate there is much more to think about.

There were a number of hands where one player might have opened with a weak 1NT but the opposition held the majority of the points.  On two of the hands one of the opponents might have opened light.  Two questions arise: when should you open with fewer than 12 hcp, and how do you defend against a weak 1NT opening bid?

When I watched Board 5 being played N/S were silent throughout and East bid and made 2S.  North missed two chances to enter the auction, both of which might have allowed N/S to reach the making 4H contract.  (Alan adds: North must have had his cards mis-sorted not to have opened on that hand).

Board 7 was similar in that if South passes, West will open 1NT (if playing the weak NT).  North might then overcall 2H but the suit quality is poor (and the suit too short).  However many pairs play a conventional defence to 1NT that allows them to make a two-suited overcall, perhaps Landy or Asptro.  In that case North might feel more confident about making an overcall.  But as with Board 5 surely the dealer should manage an opening bid of 1C.  West should enter the auction with a take-out double despite the 2 card diamond suit.  In fact, West’s hand is just a fraction short of an overcall of 1NT: the pluses are the good distribution, the honours supporting each other and all those 9s, 8s and 7s.  The only negative feature is the DJ and even that is supported by a 9.

On Board 20 a two-suited overcall would have been useful for South.  But when I watched this hand being played, 1NT was passed out.  This gave N/S a top as West only made three tricks giving N/S +400.  N/S can make 4H or 5S for +420 or +450 but none of the other N/S pairs bid game.  There might be a useful lesson in this.  Often pairs use a method to escape from 1NTX, either XX for SOS or something more complicated.  But if 1NT is not doubled, the chances are that they will play there ...

Finally here is a hand where declarer might feel confident on seeing dummy when playing 1NT.  Unfortunately East led the JH.  How should West play when declarer ducks in dummy?  The lead of the J promises the T but West doesn’t know the whereabouts of the A.  So West should play low to keep the K over the Q.  The J wins and East continues with the TH.  Now West wins with the K and ...  Well, after East has taken as many heart tricks as possible, what will she lead?  If West cashes the AS before returning her last heart then the position will be clear to East.  And poor old North, with majority of the points in the N/S hands, will lose the first eight tricks!

To conclude, I suggest that you get into the habit of opening light – if using old-fashioned hcp then the rule of 20 works well: count your hcp, add the number of cards in your two longest suits and if the total is 20 or more then open the bidding but only if you have a rebid over whatever your partner might respond..  And, if you play with a regular partner, conside a conventional method of making a two-suited overcall when the opponents open 1NT.

You have a 4441 distribution and are going to open the bidding.  The first rule is that you must open 1C or 1D, not in a major suit.  As your partner is likely to bid your singleton suit your rebid is going to be a new suit.  This suggests that your first bid suit contains at least 5 cards.  If you open 1H or 1S the danger is that you will end up in a major suit game on a 4/3 fit.

Normally with 4441 hands the opening bid is 1D (unless a singleton diamond is held).  Implying a 5 card diamond suit is much the lesser of two evils; if partner is strong the likely final contract is 3NT.

However, as always, you do need to consider your rebid.

Let’s look at Boards 20 and 23 where an opening bid was to be made with hands holding 4441 distributions.

As South on Board 23 you dealt.

♠  KJ74

♥  3

♦  QJ97

♣  KQJ5

You open 1D and rebid 1S if partner responds 1H.  Your strong club suit is concealed from your opponents; they may well lead it as the unbid suit and you wouldn’t mind that at all.

On Board 20 it is South again who will open the bidding (after 3 passes).

♠  AQ95

♥  8

♦  AQT4

♣  KQJ2

Here it is better to open 1C.  That gives you the option of showing your strength by reversing into 2D at your second turn.

The following bidding sequence could be made on a much weaker hand:

1D        1H

1S.

On the other hand you need a slightly stronger hand to make a game forcing rebid of 2S.

So by considering your rebid we find that on one hand it is better to open 1D and on the other to open 1C.

You open 1S and partner jumps to 3D.  What sort of hand do you expect her to hold?

Before I elaborate on that let me consider another response.

You open 1S and partner jumps to 4S.  What has partner got?

The 4S bid is weak: trump support, typically 6 – 8 hcp and good distribution (by good distribution I mean a void or singleton side suit).  It is a bid which asks opener to pass whatever she holds.  It is a shutout bid which has pre-emptive qualities.

I would suggest you use the same philosophy for a jump response in a new suit.  In other words, it is made with a hand which would have opened the bidding with a pre-emptive bid.

So, going back to my original question, the bid of 3D in response to an opening bid of 1S should indicate a hand with a minimum of 6 diamonds and 5 – 9 hcp.

Let’s look at Board 6.  East dealt and opened 1S.

   W                       E

♠  --                  ♠  AKJT98

♥  3                  ♥  K985

♦  KT975432     ♦  --

♣ KT92             ♣  QJ8

Despite the lovely spades and void diamonds, East should make a disciplined pass to the 3D response.

The trick availability analysis indicates that only 7 tricks were making in spades and 8 tricks in diamonds.  However, the actual results were quite varied.

Now let’s look at the slam bidding on Board 18.  East dealt and passed.

   N

♠  JT6

♥  AQ75

♦  --

♣  AKJ832

   S

♠  AKQ8754

♥  2

♦  J54

♣  Q6

S          N

1S        2C

2S        4C

4S        4N

5S        6S

I wouldn’t argue too much if South rebids 3S but the point count is low.

The important bid to recognise is North’s rebid of 4C.  This is a cue bid agreeing spades and showing slam interest.  If North had had strong clubs but no spade support she would have had to bid a new suit before going back to clubs.

South’s rebid of 4S indicates that neither red suit ace is held; if one had been held then there would have been a cue bid in that suit.

North can now safely bid 4NT since any key cards shown must be in spades.

South’s 5S bid indicates a spade holding which includes the ace, the king and the queen.

I would have hoped that slam would have been reached by more than 4 of the 11 pairs who bid these hands

Board 15 had interesting bidding to get to the slam and a simple squeeze to make the 12 tricks needed.

Two pairs bid the slam but only one made it.  One other pair in 3NT made 12 tricks.

I didn’t play the hand so I don’t know what the opening lead might have been: let’s make it the C7 which gives nothing away and makes declarer do all the work herself.

Declarer counts her top tricks: she has 9 so needs to develop 3 more.  Two will come from spades but what about the third?  The diamond finesse is a possibility but also if West holds the DK and a 4 card heart suit then she can be squeezed.

For the squeeze to work South has to lose one trick so that she can win 11 of the remaining 12 tricks.

She takes the club lead and plays on spades.  East takes his ace and returns a diamond.  This does not look good.  Declarer goes up with the ace and plays for the squeeze.

In total she plays off 3 rounds of spades, the DA and 4 rounds of clubs.

West has had to discard and now holds:

♠  --

♥  J972

♦  K

♣  --

What is West to do when declarer plays her last club?  If she discards the DK then declarer makes 3 hearts and the DQ.  If she discards a heart then declarer leaves 4 hearts in dummy (discarding a diamond) and makes 4 heart tricks.  Either way, 12 tricks made and well played declarer.

Those of you who still adhere to the old fashioned and largely discredited opening lead of 4^th highest from your longest and strongest will note that the lead of the D3 solves all declarer’s problems at trick 1.

Let’s look at Board 8 and see how to punish an opponent who has had the audacity to interrupt our bidding with an interjection of a weak 2 bid.

The question here is how can you get East to play in 2S doubled?

If South doubles it shows hearts and asks North to bid again.

The way forward is for South to pass.  If West also passes North MUST bid, passing is not an option.

What might North bid?

A rebid of 2C is made with a 6 card club suit.

A rebid of either 2D or 2H shows 5 cards minimum in the suit bid.

A rebid in No Trumps indicates a hand too strong to open 1NT and spade control.

Failing these, North doubles, asking South to bid.  The double is the most frequent bid.

When the bidding comes round to South, he passed, converting my take-out double into a penalty double.  Our 500 points for 3 off doubled beat those N/S pairs making game and so got us an outright top: well bid partner.

On Board 25 4H was a very common contract but it was doomed to failure, on best defence only 8 tricks were available.  However, there were opportunities for deceptive plays which could well have put the defence onto the wrong road.