What’s your call?
| 4♠ | 4NT | |||
| 5♣ | 5♦ | 5♥ | 5♠ | 5NT |
| 6♣ | 6♦ | 6♥ | 6♠ | 6NT |
| 7♣ | 7♦ | 7♥ | 7♠ | 7NT |
| Pass | Dbl |
Lee believes that it is better to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission. “Double. Forgive me, partner.”
Rigal just can’t stand it. “Double. Who knows? Partner may have more than five spades or a two-suiter. I’ll say the devil made me do it. Passing is like landing on the head of a needle, I think. Will I sit for 4♠ if it is doubled? Glad you didn’t ask!”
Cohen: “Thank you for not asking what I will do if (when) partner bids the likely 4♠. If he does anything else, however, I’m content.”
Weinstein, too, doubles. “This hand is too good to pass, and 4NT takes away two possible good spots: 4♥ doubled and 4♠. If they double partner’s 4♠, I might have to re-evaluate.”
Korbel, on the other hand, is prepared for just that contingency. “If partner bids 4♠, I will pull if East doubles. It’s too dangerous not to bid. They could easily be stealing us blind.”
Robinson doubles. “I have too much strength to pass. On good days, partner will have:
♠K J 10 x x x ♥x x ♦ A x x ♣J x
and we end up making 4♠. Of course on bad days, he has:
♠x x x x ♥x ♦ A x x x ♣K x x x.”
Falk, too: “Too much to pass. The real problem is what I will do if North bids 4♠. Maybe I’ll fake a heart attack before I have to put down dummy.”
Handley agrees. “Double. I have too much to pass and not enough minor cards to demand that partner pick one of my suits. The tougher problem is what to do when partner’s 4♠ comes back around to me.”
Kennedy doubles and expects to defend. “Most game-level doubles are usually left in.”
Boehm notes there are obvious risks with doubling, “but bidding 4NT precludes defending or playing in spades opposite length.”
Colchamiro makes a health-conscious double. “Isn’t A–Q just as good as J–x–x? Double is just a guess, and I have a sneaking admiration for passing, which may well be the long-term winner. Bidding 4NT and finding partner with 6–2–3–2 is just too much for an old man like me. I don’t need another heart attack.”
Lawrence is a glass-half-empty kind of a guy today. He passes. “I’m hoping we don’t have a game. Or a slam.”
Pass by Sanborn. “No safety and no guarantees that either of us can make anything.”
Ditto Hampson: “I have no appealing bid and there’s that dreaded second heart.”
Two panelists go looking for a minorsuit fit with 4NT.
One is Meckstroth. “What a nightmare of a bidding problem. If I double, partner will bid 4♠ most of the time. It’s very dangerous to bid. It’s equally dangerous not to bid.”
The other is Meyers. “This could be so wrong, but so could pass. It is a guess.”
