The Low Road

5th May – Board 13. Game All. Dealer North.

It is often very difficult to assess the trick-taking capability of a hand facing a preempt but even moderate hands you must deal with caution.

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

West	North	East	South
	2H	End

North has an obvious, middle-of-the-road weak two opening but it does leave South with a problem of sorts. If the hands fit well game could be on but then again even a venture to the three-level might get you uncomfortably high. Imagine though that you had been dealer and opened 1NT. North would transfer into hearts presumably and you would not dream of advancing, so perhaps the low road is the one to take. As you can see even a mild try will get you too high, with eight tricks being the limit of the hand with normal defence.