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North opened 2S in third seat. Some might open 1S, especially in 1st or 2nd seat when partner is not a passed hand. Although the hand does not meet the rule of 20 or suggestion of 22, it is close. If the hand contained a red jack instead of one of the low red cards it would meet the rule but the hand wouldn’t be any better than without the jack.
In this case, being in 3rd seat, 2S is a fine choice. Partner has already passed making game unlikely.
The auction:
--------S--------W--------N--------E
--------P---------P--------2S-------2N
-------3S--------D--.------P--------4C
-------4S--------D---.-----P---------P
--------P
Now the fun begins. East, who knew better, tried 2NT hoping partner would take it as unusual for the minors. He did not. South competed to 3S despite having only 2 spades. This is a good bid as it obstructs the opponent’s notrump auction. The risk is minimized by the vulnerability and the Q4 in spades is well placed behind to notrump bidder.
West went into the tank. He expected 2NT to be a 15+ to 18 notrump with 2-3 spades and it seemed that south also had 2-3 spades. Adding his 4 spades to the mix made it look like there were 14-16 spades in the deck. He looked around the table at the backs of everyone’s cards to make sure it wasn’t a misdeal then went back into the tank. He finally decided that the only way this made sense at all was if east had the singleton Ace of Spades and south had only a doubleton. West doubled, showing values. This is often referred to as a DSI (do something intelligent) double. West would have been very happy with a pass by east.
North passed.
East, with no appreciable defense against a spade contract, bid 4C.
South, as it turned out, also thought the 2NT was unusual and pulled to 4S.
West, who had not caught on yet, gleefully doubled (penalty this time) expecting to score at least 800 on the hand.
The play:
With the diamond ace on side and the friendly heart suit there are only three losers outside of trump. North, expecting east to hold a notrump hand, did not finesse west’s jack and ended up down 1.
Funny thing, if south stays out of the auction east would pass west’s 3C (Stayman) and end up in an excellent contract. South’s 3S bid forced EW too high (4C) and +50 would have gotten NS about an average result. Even though 4S can be made, south’s second bid was poorly judged. Once you’ve made a risky bid and pushed your opponents up a level, leave them be.
--------N/S Results
Score-----Club-----Common Game
NS +50----50%---------42%
NS -100---25%---------22%
NS -110--.-n/a---------.15%
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