Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - January 2, 2023 - Take out double

 

Question: 

W has 16 HCP and opens 1 D, E responds 1 H and S overcalls 2C. Declarer,  then bids 4H and S bids 4S to give partner a choice of suit. W doubles and N passes. N/S went down 4 giving E/W 800 pts. 

This hand has several questions so here goes: First of all, would it have been better for S to bid a T/O dbl instead of the C overcall? With the bids as shown, should N have bid 5D over the penalty dbl?

Vic:

North has 3 HCPs, all of them "Quacks", & no distributional feature of any interest. At no point during the auction should North have bid anything. Gold star award to North for their three Passes. 

 Opener (West) promised a minimum of 12-13 HCPs. Responder (East) promised a minimum of 6 HCPs. South is holding 15 HCPs. Clearly, North must have a very weak hand. It is reasonable, in fact, for South to expect that partner (North) may have no HCPs at all. Looks like NS are going to be defending. South would love an opening club lead. I have no problem with South overcalling 2C for lead directing purposes. Other than that, South should be passing, just like partner.

 Closing Comment: A classic example of overbidding that allows opponents (via a penalty DBL) to make a better score than they could have made by winning the contract & playing the hand.

 Ain't bridge a great game?