Maximum Pressure

17th July – Board 5: North/South Game. Dealer North.

West should not be afraid of putting maximum pressure on the opposition on the hand shown below – not that it should really matter!

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

West	North	East	South
	No	1H	Dbl
3H	3S	No	4S
End

In case you might wonder at that 3H bid from West it is standard tactics to reserve such a bid as weak and preemptive, the corollary being that with a full-blooded 3H raise you start off by bidding 2NT. And in case you wonder what West might do if he had a balanced 11 points and wanted to bid 2NT naturally, why then he starts off by redoubling! Sounds complicated but it really isn’t. North as it happens has an easy 3S bid and equally South has an easy raise to game. Although at the prevailing colours East/West can beat par by sacrificing in 5H it is hard to see that happening and the reality is that North/South will clock up an easy 620.