In Tune

17th October – Board 23: Game All. Dealer South.

It’s all too easy to get excited when partner opens and you have a nice-looking hand opposite but at times like these you have to be aware that the hands may not mesh as well as you hope and you have to try and stay in tune with partner.

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

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

You may be horrified at the thought of opening that South hand and indeed it may work out badly but you would be equally appalled if you passed and the bidding was at the four-level next time it came back to you. Obviously North is excited with his six-loser hand but there is no need to rush things. 2S is fourth-suit forcing and 3D shows a hand with at least 5-5 in the red suits. 3H now becomes game forcing because otherwise North could simply have bid 3H over 2D as a limit bid. When South signs off in game North should respect that decision knowing now that he has shown a strong hand with slam interest.