Bridge: May 14, 2023

A reader sent me today’s deal from a team-of-four match. It furnished support for my opinion (which I cherish against almost universal opposition) that the modern, dominant “game-forcing two-over-one” bidding style has its shortcomings.

At one table, North-South stopped safely at four spades. North’s bid of two diamonds suggested to South that the hands fit together poorly, so South took a conservative view.

West led the ten of diamonds: king, ace, ruff. South then cashed the A-K of trumps.

When West threw a diamond, South had to be careful. He led a heart to dummy’s king and returned a heart. East couldn’t gain by ruffing a loser; he discarded, and South’s ace won. South then led a club to the king, threw a club on the queen of diamonds and led a third heart. East had to discard again, and South won and ruffed his last heart in dummy with dummy’s last trump. He lost two trumps and one club. Well played!

In the replay, North-South were using “2/1,” and North had to respond 1NT to one spade. A response of two diamonds would have forced to game, and North’s hand was too weak to force. South liked his controls and jump-shifted to three hearts, and then North tried to catch up by jumping to four spades.

South could — maybe should — have settled for a five-club cue bid, and then he might have survived. But unlike the first South, he didn’t know that North had values in diamonds and hoped that North might have useful values elsewhere. So South took a chance and jumped to six spades. Alas.

South dealer

N-S vulnerable

NORTH

S 9 4 2

H K 9 3

D K Q 5 2

C K 6 3

WEST

S 3

H J 10 6 5 4

D 10 9 8 7 4

C J 9

EAST

S Q J 10 7

H 7

D A J 6 3

C Q 10 8 4

SOUTH

S A K 8 6 5

H A Q 8 2

D None

C A 7 5 2

South West North East
1 S Pass 2 D Pass
2 H Pass 2 S Pass
4 S All Pass
Opening lead — D 10

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