This is aHand:

How do you reacht to your two-suited hand when the auction is sky-high before you get a chance to bid?

Bid?

Pass?

Double?

If you choose to bid, what is that choice?

Bidding.

As dealer West opens 1♥ and partner makes an overcall of 2♥. This is Michaels again, but this time it shows 5-5 in Spades and a minor. Which minor? “Ay, there’s the rub�.

East attempts to close matters with 4♥ but we know there is a colossal fit our way. But where? With a fit and a 1∙1∙5∙6 hand we should be bidding (when both sides have a big trump fit it’s rarely right to sell out too early). But bid what?

You might think that the right bid is 5♣, allowing North to Pass (with Clubs) or correct (with Diamonds). However, this is the way that misunderstandings happen. Tomorrow you will be dealt eight Clubs after a similar auction and will be mightily displeased if partner were to disturb 5♣…

The blanket agreement after Michaels (adopted by most players) is that a bid in No-trumps asks partner to name his minor. Here 4NT isn’t Blackwood, still less is natural (can you really want to play there?), it says, “Partner – please bid your minor.�

To forestall that (West doesn’t fancy defending 5♦ – or 5♣, come to that), West bids 5♥. Having pushed them as high as we can that’s enough. Bidding a slam on this hand is too much. Surely it can’t make and 5♥ may fail.

[Note: Had the bidding around the table gone (1♥) – 2♥ – (Pass) – to you, then 2NT would have asked for partner’s minor as well. Remember this! 3♣ would show that you have Clubs and are not interested in partner’s suits].

Play.

There is not much to the play. Partner has an automatic lead of the â™ K and West stares with dismay at the unexpected holding of three low Spades on table. He was expecting to be able to ruff his Spade losers in dummy.

He really has nothing to play for. He takes the â™ A, draws trumps in two rounds, plays three rounds of Clubs to eliminate the suit and leads a Diamond. North takes the Queen, cashes two Spades and West claims the rest. One off.

“I had to bid that�, claims West defiantly, “I thought they’d make 5♦�. Not with four top losers we wouldn’t. Note just how difficult these high level bidding decisions are. Move a few small cards about and 5♥ would have made.

Sometimes bridge is not so easy.