Evil 22-06
Match point bridge can be cut throat at times, as a correspondent who sent me this deal found out.
Dealer N Nil Vul
| ||||||||||
|
| |||||||||
|
A
JT653
AQT2
532This is how South related it to me:
North opened 1H. East overcalled 1S and South bid 2C. West bid 2S and North and East both passed. South worked out that North must have a minimum hand with at least five hearts, so she bid 3H. West now felt his hand was good enough to compete further and bid 3S. Everyone passed.
Let me talk about the bidding before we discuss the play. I polled some players, and there was general agreement that South should bid 2C rather than double. I prefer the double of an overcall to have a more specific meaning, so let’s agree with my correspondents' 2C bid.
West might have even considered a jump to 3S but, with a bit in reserve, bid 2S . When this was passed back to South, she reasonably inferred that North was weakish with at least five hearts, so bidding on to 3H was a given. In normal circumstances, 3H would be expected to make, and so should 2S the EW way. But West also knew the value of fit and competed further to 3S. South should consider doubling but given that is a close call, can be forgiven for passing. As I said, match point bridge can be a cut throat affair.
South led the king of hearts and to add insult to injury, I am told that 3S actually made when the diamonds got blocked at a crucial stage of the play. Take a look at what could happen after the KH lead if the defenders aren’t on the ball.
In issue Evil22-07 I will talk about our Evil Fourth Suit Double and what might have been had my correspondent and her partner read an earlier article and agreed on their methods.
