Diamonds to Gold Deal 1
By: Larry Cohen
In the first of four "Diamonds to Gold" deals, I held:
KQ9
A76
962
A976. Vulnerable against not, I opened 1. Why not 1? Because my partner (David Berkowitz) and I were playing a Strong Club System where 1 would promise a big hand. LHO (Peter Schaltz, from the host country, Denmark) overcalled 2, which they played as natural. My partner made a Responder's double for takeout negative double and RHO passed. Now what?
, which they played as natural. My partner made a Responder's double for takeout negative double and RHO passed. Now what?Do I bid a 3-card major? 2NT without a stopper? My 4-card club suit? How about passing? If they make it, its not game (even doubled). This was the full deal:
| Vul:E-W Dlr: East |  J10876 Q954 -- J1084 | |
| A543 83 Q8 KQ532 | KQ9 A76 962 A976 | |
| 2 KJ102 AKJ107543 -- |
| West | North | East | South |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | ||
| Double | Pass | 3 | 5 |
| Pass | Pass | Double | All Pass |
I decided to bid 3 and everyone got a chuckle when LHO now jumped to 5! This came around to me and I foolishly doubled. As you can see, they had 11 easy tricks, for +550. That score was achieved at almost every table in play. At most tables it went 1 5 Double, All Pass.
and everyone got a chuckle when LHO now jumped to 5! This came around to me and I foolishly doubled. As you can see, they had 11 easy tricks, for +550. That score was achieved at almost every table in play. At most tables it went 1 5 Double, All Pass.What if I had passed 2
X? That would make with 3 overtricks. The score for that is only 480! I could have saved 2 IMPs against 550. I've never been -480 in such fashion. A "striped-tail ape" double is one where you double the opponents in game to keep them from reaching slam. (If they redouble, you run like a striped-tail ape). Here, I could have doubled them a partscore for a lower score than was actually achieved. Maybe it should be called the "striped-tail-ape Pass."