Competitive Bidding 2

This question was asked to: Julian Pottage

Question

We were vulnerable against non vulnerable and I opened one diamond with bare nine of spades,AK94 in hearts, KQ876 in diamonds and Q72 in clubs. West made a weak jump overcall of two spades and partner with bare 4 of spades, QJ1087 in hearts, A9 in diamonds and KJ984 in clubs doubled to show four plus hearts. East, with five spades, bid three spades, I bid four hearts and west four spades which partner doubled. I felt that i should respect my partner’s double and passed, four spades went two down for a top while five hearts was cold. Where did we go wrong?

Julian Pottage's Answer

On the first round your partner, with five decent hearts and a hand that clearly would have been worth an opening bid, should have bid three hearts rather doubling. Your partner should only double when holding more than four hearts if the hand is too weak to bid the hearts. Here, despite the misfit in spades, I think your partner undervalued the hand. The way the bidding went you thought your side might well have only a 4-4 heart fit, in which case bidding five hearts would not have been sensible.

What do you think? Click here for Julian Pottage's Answer

Questions are taken from the Bernard Magee Bridge forum which is available with BMB paid memberships.