Tuesday 11 March 2014

AM I BEING OVERLY SUSPICIOUS ? ......( Article by Johnny Supremo )


The other night my partner and I had a torrid time. We made quite a few uncharacteristic mistakes, but somehow the Gods were on the side of our opponents. 
However , there was one board we played , against a regular pairing of some standing , which made me feel very uneasy indeed. More often than not they deliberate over their bids as you would expect of players who think intelligently about the game ,  always looking to make highly constructive bids whenever possible.
Well, on the hand shown opposite , my LHO opened 1S , and no sooner had my partner passed , my RHO immediately plonked a 2S bid on the table. The change in tempo had all the hallmarks of a super light raise.
Despite having 14 HCPs and a 4 card heart suit , the vulnerability was not in my favour. So rather timidly I elected to pass , and duly took my medicine as 2S came rolling home. 
But what really stuck in my craw was that my LHO also passed quickly despite having extra values. For if responder also had the king of hearts or clubs ( still justifying a 2S response on 6 HCPs ) , then 4S has more than a reasonable chance of making.
Was it unfair of me to have suspicions about an enhanced , albeit tacit understanding on their part  ? Or am I right in assuming there is more to the art of bidding than correct card selection ?

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