Just too Hard

14th October – Board 20: Game All. Dealer West.

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

Some deals are just too hard, and at every table where I watched the E/W pairs on the hand shown above ended with an inglorious result. And yet it is hard to say exactly where the auction went wrong. Playing weak two’s most players have the arrangement that a 2C opening is either an Acol two in an undisclosed suit, or a strong balanced hand with 19-20 points. This leaves an opening 2NT showing 21-22 points, thereby giving slightly better definition. This is what happened at one of the tables: -

West	North	East	South
2C	No	2D	No
2NT	No	3C	No
3D	No	3H	No
3NT	End

3C was Stayman for five card majors and 3D denied a five card major but promised a four card one. 3H denied hearts – a sensible arrangement to deny the one you have, letting the strong hand become declarer if a fit exists – and West closed proceeding with 3NT. North led a low diamond and was charmed with the way the defence continued, taking as it did the first six diamonds and the ace of spades for three down. 5C of course depends on just finding the queen of hearts, a good enough contract to be sure but featuring a suit that was never bid naturally at all.