The Flannery convention (bidding 2♦ to show a hand with five hearts, four spades, and 11-15 HCP) has caused me quite a few problems. In fairness I must admit that it really came through for us last Saturday. North dealt with neither side vulnerable. I was West.

My partner opened 2♦. I thought for a moment and then bid 3NT. North was understandably reluctant to underlead the ♥ A Q. Her choice of a diamond set up my best suit, which had never been bid. I won ten tricks in a row and then scored the ♥10 on the last trick after I surrendered the lead. No other east-west pair came close to matching this result. The next best was a partial score.

If we had not used Flannery, my partner would have opened 1♥. I would have responded 1NT. His only conceivable bid would be 2♦, which I would raise to 3. Since he did not know about my clubs, and I did not know about his diamonds, we would have probably played it at 3♦.