Pretty Fearless

30th October – Board 13. Game All. Dealer North.

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that making the right decision at the five level is one of the hardest things in bridge to do successfully on a regular basis and both hands this week demonstrate just that. Mind you, you have to be pretty fearless at times.

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

West	North	East	South
	1H	Dbl	3H
3S	4D	4S	No
No	???

South mustn’t be afraid of bidding 3H after his partner’s 1H bid has been doubled, for it is not a strong bid but merely pre-emptive in an attempt to derail the opponents. With a genuine full-blooded raise to 3H you start with a bid of 2NT as you all know but if you are wondering what you would do with a genuine desire to bid 2NT then you start with a redouble. Again West shouldn’t be afraid to bid 3S and North would make a slam try with 4D because give partner the queen of hearts, the ace of clubs and a singleton spade and the slam is virtually cast iron. However when 4S is passed back to him North has a problem. 4S is cold if declarer finds the queen of trumps but so ironically is 5H. I would take my chances by bidding just that and now the opponents have to wonder whether or not to save in 5S.