Lesson Hand 28
Today's Commandment: Don't push your opponents into something better — Let them wallow in something worse. The trick, of course, is to know when this applies.
The hand shown actually did happen on BBO where players from around the world can compare their varying expertise, systems and judgements.
With such a club suit, several unstoppable Souths broke not just one commandment, but two. They chose an opening of three or four clubs followed by a five club call: The Sin of Raising Your Own Preempt. These declarers were properly punished with -500, more than the opponents are entitled to on their own.
At most tables, East-West understandably had a tough time finding their game. East's options for a second-round call are truly ugly: He can't go leaping, can't bid notrump without a stopper in the opponents suit, and can't show his near-game values with a non-jump call (poor East).
At the Gaymsters' table, sitting in his second-round passout seat, South had all the information he needed to generate a very superior score. His very smart opening of one (rather than something higher) made this possible.
1. North had been unable to make a peep even at the one level: no negative double, no measly notrump call -- nothing. A hand that can make no bid over one spade usually holds one defensive trick or less.
2. You might argue that West could psych a spade call (not unusual in lofty competition), but this is highly unlikely. West would have to hold cards where a spade psych is called for, and one where a genuine bid in some other suit is not called for. That value vacuum in the West hand would leave either North or East opening values, and that hasn't happened (Those cards have to be somewhere).
3. Adding South's optimistically counted two defensive tricks to North's inferred average of one, (13-3) reveals that the opposition probably own the wherewithal for ten tricks whether they realize it or not. So South's most logical tactic is a discrete pass.
At a few tables, Souths repeatedly raised the stakes, and drove East-West into game (-420).
Our Gaymster was just plain lucky. He realized that the opponents had been given not one but two opportunities, and to push them any farther would be to push them into a contract he could not possibly double. So at long last, a pass (whew!). Minus 50 was the second best result in this field. One spade making four (-170) would have been sixth out of sixteen, still a superior score.
The embarrasing but valuable review of the hand record afterward revealed just how lucky he had been.
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