Macho Man

17th October – Board 5: North/South Vul. Dealer North.

In a perfect world the macho tactics displayed by East/West on the deal below would lead to a great score but sometimes virtue and all that…..

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

West	North	East	South
	1H	2S	Dbl
4S	Dbl	End

East has an obvious weak jump overcall of 2S and South does best to double to show general values – after all what else can he do? Now I know in practise I would cowardly bid just 3S on that West hand but if you bid 4S – bidding to the total number of trumps held – then that would pose an impossible problem for the opposition. The likelihood is that they would double and with accurate defence attain an 800 point penalty, superficially good until they realise that a slam in both hearts and clubs is cold their way. In reality of course one is so often disappointed.