Lesson Hand 27
West's preempt posed little difficulty to the hardened world champion sitting North. At the three level, a suit bid should contain a bit more than just a minimal opening hand, but it's a losing strategy to allow oneself to be shut out of the auction with a hand as good as North's.
East's raise was well calculated and applied the maximum pressure to the other lady champion sitting South. It worked. South took the bait and bid to the unmakable five-level.
Enter West.
Not content with letting partner be in charge, let alone the possibility that partner might have achieved a great victory, this novice pushed on. Naturally, North's double came with a pounding of thunder, even though it be just one Internet keystroke on the BBO screen. The error turned a 100 point victory into an eleven hundred point calamity.
By pushing to the next level, West broke one of the cardinal commandments of bidding:
Thou shalt not bid the same values twice.
Bridge offers many contexts in which one can make the error of bidding the same values twice: Raising your own preempt is just one of them.