Board 17

Board 17
Neither vulnerable

♠ Q J 9 8 7 ♥ 6 3 ♦ Q 9 5 2 ♣ K 5

Partner opens two diamonds (weak) in first seat, and RHO passes. I could simply raise diamonds, but I'm not sure how high to raise. I need to know if we have a spade fit or not. If we do, it increases our trick-taking potential. It also means we might be able to save a level lower. So I bid two spades. LHO passes, and partner bids three diamonds. I expected a little more action. With the opponents in a coma, I see no reason to keep bidding. I pass; LHO passes as well. West leads the jack of hearts.

	NORTH ♠ Q J 9 8 7 ♥ 6 3 ♦ Q 9 5 2 ♣ K 5
	SOUTH ♠ 6 ♥ 9 2 ♦ A 10 7 6 4 3 ♣ Q J 6 3

West	North	East	South
			2 ♦1
Pass	2 ♠2	Pass	3 ♦
(All pass)
1Weak two
2Forcing

The opponents have kept quiet with twenty-five high-card points between them and only three diamonds. That's often an indication that there are singleton honors floating about, so I have high hopes of dropping the king of diamonds and making this. It's not clear how many hearts they can make, but it seems likely they can make four, so I'm pretty happy with my position.

There isn't much to the play. The opponents cash their four tricks, the king of diamonds doesn't drop, somewhat surprisingly, and I'm down one:

	NORTH ♠ Q J 9 8 7 ♥ 6 3 ♦ Q 9 5 2 ♣ K 5
WEST ♠ 10 4 3 ♥ K J 10 7 4 ♦ 8 ♣ A 9 8 4		EAST ♠ A K 5 2 ♥ A Q 8 5 ♦ K J ♣ 10 7 2
	SOUTH ♠ 6 ♥ 9 2 ♦ A 10 7 6 4 3 ♣ Q J 6 3

My two spade bid would usually be based on a better hand, so it seems to have silenced East. That wasn't what I had in mind when I bid it. I was simply trying to gauge our own offensive prospects. Surely East should have done something. Although it's not clear what, since there is, to my knowledge, no consensus on what one's bids even mean after a pre-empt and a new suit. I know some people who say that a double must be for penalties. Otherwise your opponents can psyche with impunity. Others play double as a two-suited takeout. Still others play that double is a three-suited takeout with responder's suit still in play. Thus a later bid in responder's suit by either doubler or advancer is natural. This approach makes the most sense to me. With that agreement, East can double two spades. Without that agreement, East should probably bid two notrump. It's a dangerous action to take. But then so is passing.

In the replay, my hand raised two diamonds to three. East doubled, and West bid a rather timid three hearts. North led a diamond to the jack and ace, and declarer had a pitch for his spade loser. Making four.

Me: -50
Jack: -170

Score on board 17: +3 IMPs
Total: +39 IMPs