Difficult Choice

10th June - Board: 1 Love All. Dealer North

	North: S J 10 H 4 D Q 9 8 C A Q 10 9 8 6 5
West: S K 9 3 2 H A J 10 9 6 5 D 5 C J 2		East: S Q 5 H K Q 3 D A K J 6 2 C K 7 4
	South: S A 8 7 6 4 H 8 7 2 D 10 7 4 3 C 3

What would you do on that East hand after the person on your right has opened 3C at love all? Obviously it would be too feeble to pass or bid 3D so the only two real alternatives are to double or bid 3NT. There is something to be said for either but they are both flawed, in that by doubling you would not be well-placed if partner bid 4S, while in 3NT you would probably have to run nine tricks quickly, and without loss, on a club lead. Nevertheless that would be my preferred option and anyway preempts are designed to make life difficult. Do you know how you respond to 3NT though? Do you have any arrangements? At the table West passed which worked out well, but he certainly must have thought of bidding 4H. For the record this is what I do in such a situation:
4D is a transfer to 4H
4H is a transfer to 4S
4C is BARON, asking partner to bid his four cards suits upwards. (If he has only clubs then he bids 4NT.) You might need to do this if you have a big balanced hand yourself and are looking for a 4-4 fit.
4NT is asking for aces on a 0,1,2,3 scale
4S – which is redundant as a bid – can be used as a quantitative raise in no-trumps. The overcaller, whose hand might be anything really from 18 points upwards, would either bid 4NT or 6NT depending on the strength of his hand.

This sort of hand crops up rarely, but it as well to be prepared because usually there are a lot of match points at stake.