Pitiful Crutch

23rd January – Board 13: Game All. Dealer North.

Terence Reese once described fourth suit forcing as a pitiful crutch, meaning that it was bid too often when the correct bid was perhaps harder to find.

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

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

South is right to invoke the fourth suit here, not because he necessarily expects his partner to bid NTs but in the hope that he might find secondary support for clubs. That won’t happen here and opener will rebid his diamonds to show a 5-5 hand. It’s hard to imagine that South will do anything other than bid 3NT and on a heart lead declarer must duck a club to keep communications open. He will end up making eleven tricks via two spades, two hearts, two diamonds and five clubs but the 3-2 club break means that 6C is an excellent contract with the twelfth trick coming from a heart ruff in dummy. But bidding the slam is too hard for me.