You have at least an eight card spade fit, but your very good eight card diamond suit cannot be ignored! Plus you have a void in the opponents’ suit and an honour in clubs. All in all, a very good offensive hand. But what to do?

It is hard to determine the offensive potential of the hand. Does partner have a diamond fit? Longer spades? A secondary heart suit? Does South have 7 HCPS or 17? Should I steer the contract to spades or diamonds?

All very good questions. Unfortunately we won’t be able to answer most of these. The opponents have a step or two on us in the exchanging information race with their partner. They know a lot about each other’s hand. Whereas we are somewhat in the dark.

One question we can answer is what suit we want to be trump. The answer is diamonds. As we can see later, and what history supports, is hands with moderate support in partner’s suit with a long, strong suit of your own always plays better in the long suit of responder (or advancer as here).

As what to bid that is also fairly easy – 5♦. I expect to have a good chance to make this contract. If not, the opponents will more than likely make at least 11 tricks in hearts. Plus you will have taken away valuable bidding space from them. East-West don’t know each other’s exact distribution and relative strength. Since you haven’t promised spade support, the opponents may think that they have losers in that suit, with augers for them defending.

As it happens West now bids 5♥, pass, pass to you. Now what? Again a fairly easy bid. Partner has heard you and has passed, suggesting defence. You can overrule him with an unusually strong offensive hand, but here you have an ‘average’ 5♦ bid for this auction. However had you held something like ♠xxx ♥- ♦KQ10987632 ♣x 6♦ would have been in order. The full deal (hands rotated):

Declarer misplayed the club suit, leading the 10♣ from dummy which South covered. The 9♣ eventually was the deciding trick – down one.

The bidding over 5♦ was interesting and is instructive. An opening bid opposite a limit raise creates a forcing auction on E-W. Which means the opponents cannot play a contract undoubled.

I don’t agree with West’s 5♥ bid with such weak trumps and good defensive prospects. I would likely double to tell partner I am more interested in defending that declaring. This is especially true at IMPs where it isn’t a big loss if you are +300 instead of +450. If West had done so, East would have gladly passed and scored +500 as 5♦ is three down.

Lessons to Learn

1)    Play in a long good suit on hands where you have such a suit and support for partner. Here spades only plays marginally worse than diamonds. On three round of clubs declarer ruffs with the 4♠, and likely leads the K♦. East winds the ace and plays a 2^nd spade to the ace, as east plays the 4^th club ruffed in dummy with the last trump. East ruffs in on the Q♦, and declarer overruffs. In total the defensive scores 1 spade, 2 hearts, 1 diamond and 2 clubs. Down 4 for -800.

2)    At IMPs don’t push too high but tend to take a sure plus, as East should have done here.

3)    A double of 5♦ by West on this auction is a strong suggestion but not an order. East can pull with an exceptionally strong hand for his 2NT bid, such as ♠- ♥KQxxxx ♦Axx ♣10xxx.

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