Hand Question 10
Selecting Right Contract
The bidding went (N /S) with EW passing throughout. N 1H, S 2C, N 2D, S 2NT, N 3D, passed out. My partner thought that I should bid 4H, but I thought that without an honour in H I should pass. What is your opinion? (3D plus 2 was a top).
Bernard's Answer
You had the perfect auction. Clearly when hearts sit perfectly - breaking 3-3 with ace-queen underneath, then hearts can score well, but more normally diamonds are much better than hearts. Also note that the only player who knows about the heart solidity is North not South, so it is North who would need to insist on hearts for the partnership to finish there. (note that had North held KJ432 he would bid the same and now a heart contract looks really poor. Much better is to have the natural auction you had and finish in the right place - even with the hearts perfect you have got a top score for playing in diamonds anyway.