Under Control

12th January – Board 21: North/South Vul. Dealer North.

Game in a minor is a contract not often seen at the bridge table, especially when the points are more or less evenly divided, so any pair reaching 5C on the deal below can consider they did well. And yet with a controlled auction perhaps it should not be that difficult.

West	North	East	South
	No	No	1D
1H	1S	2D*	3C
No	4C	No	5C
End

There are several things to note during the auction. West is easily worth an overcall of 1H and the 1S bid by North should now promise at least a five-card suit – with only four he should start proceedings with a Sputnik double. Clearly East would like to know how good his partner is for his overcall and the standard way to do this is to make an Unassuming Cue Bid in the opponents’ suit. With his five-loser hand South should not be afraid to introduce his club suit, whereupon West should pass to show he was minimum for his overcall. With a known heart shortage opposite North has an easy raise in clubs although whether that should be to the four or five level is debatable. In any event I cannot see South stopping out of game. There is not much to the play, with declarer losing a heart and a diamond most likely, although you do have to be a little careful in not running out of trumps. (Note that a sacrifice in hearts by East/West would be a costly affair if the opposition get all the ruffs due to them.)