Dubious Logic

The cost of passing

This deal from the recent county match against Essex brought about swings in the 'A' and 'B' matches.

1. Raise to at least 3 with 4+ trumps
2. "I've got a good hand, we might well have a slam"
3. "I was going to bid game anyway, I've got slam potential"
4. Asking for key-cards (aces and K)
5. 1 or 4 key-cards

North naturally led a club in response to South's double – and that doomed the slam. West was surely right to carry on; there was a chance the club could be discarded on a diamond or, missing the heart king, simply on a finesse.

Our auction was good, establishing general values for slam without pinpointing their location. Given that East's rebid was not the strongest, perhaps West might have simply jumped to slam, there being no real chance of a grand slam. Still, that seems a disproportionate sanction for using 4NT. I commented ruefully that those who used "zero or three; one or four" responses would dodge this pitfall.

We scored up; six hearts was bid at all four tables in the first team, making three times. In the 'B' team, slam was bid once going down. Reports from tables came in and as you might expect, auctions varied, sometimes East-West control bid, sometimes it was East who checked on key-cards (or aces). But it did transpire that at some tables, East bid five clubs but South didn't double – how did that happen?

I have to say, the first and foremost cause is inattention. It is all too easy to lose focus when the opponents are having a complicated auction to themselves, when the opportunity and safety of overcalling are long past, to "Pass" as a reflex. But as here, passing without thought can be terribly costly: how many good slams do you have to bid to offset not defeating one with a simple double?

Some way behind as a secondary concern is what would double mean? Even when opponents are at or beyond game, the motivation for doubling can be unclear; lead or sacrifice? As South above, would you find the double so easy with KQ10 tripleton? Might partner, quiet until now with a distributional hands and long clubs, start to get ideas?

Such dangers are overdone – and usually excuses for inattention – but I will take the opportunity to look at them next week.

Published Saturday 8.Apr.2017