A year ago at a local sectional my partner and I suffered an extreme bidding misunderstanding that resulted in an utterly hopeless 4♥ contract. We went down eight undoubled and not vulnerable. That's right; our opponents took eleven tricks. They would have been better off bidding 5♥! On Wednesday I had a deja vu experience on hand #1.
Board #1
North dealer
Neither side vulnerable
| | North
♠ J 8
♥ A K 8 6 4
♦ A K 10
♣ 9 8 3
| | West
♠ K 9 7 6 5 3
♥ 10 5 2
♦ Q 4 2
♣ 4
| | East
♠ A 10
♥ Q J 9
♦ J 8 6 5
♣ K J 10 2
| | | South
♠ Q 4 2
♥ 7 3
♦ 9 7 3
♣ A Q 7 6 5
| |
|
| | | | |
| South | West | North | East |
| | 1♥ | P |
| 2♣ | 2♠ | P | 2NT |
| P | P | P | |
As North I opened 1♥. I might have bid 1NT with some partners, but we were not playing Puppet Stayman, and we did not check the "5-card Major common" box on our convention card.
East squirmed a bit and then passed. My partner considered her hand good enough to bid 2♣. West then ventured 2♠, which left me with nothing to say.
Like many, I like to play the "non-forcing constructive" protocol when partner overcalls. This means that I will bid a new suit only if I either have a self-sufficient suit (such as KQJxxx) or tolerance for partner's suit. West clearly has tolerance for spades, but there is no biddable suit. Instead, she tried 2NT. After all, she could see five honors in the two suits bid by North and South. This was quickly passed around to me.
My partner's 2♣ bid should have shown ten points, and I counted fifteen in my hand. Even if they could get six spade tricks, I doubted that they could make 2NT. Should I double? If I did, East would probably run to 3♠, and I would have to double again. I would not want to do that with such a meager holding in spades. So, I reluctantly passed.
The contract had no chance. We beat it by four tricks for +200. Did I make the right decision?
Actually my best bid was probably to bid 3NT myself! We took nine tricks while defending against 2NT. I could have taken the same tricks if I declared 3NT. East-West can only get two spade tricks. West has no side entries as long as North saves one of his diamond honors for West's queen.
If East had passed, I would have bid 3NT in round 2. I don't recommend overcalling with only five points, but this time it worked. It made his partner make a bad bid, but it kept me from making a good one.