We were sitting east-west at Sutton's Bay NLM tournament and I opened a diamond. My LHO overcalled a heart and I waited to see what Julie would do. She reached confidently for the bidding box . . . and then paused. I watched with interest as her hand hovered momentarily in mid-air: Would she bid a spade, and if she did, would it mean that she had five of them or that she had once again reverted to the old ingrained system that meant she could have four? If she bid a spade, and if she only had four, it didn't really matter in terms of my next bid. In this situation I always responded as if she had five, in the hopes that one day the result would be so disastrous that she would never again forget about negative doubles. It would be better, though, if that day arrived when we were not at a tournament.
Julie's hand was once again in motion and slowly moved to the back of the box. Here we go, I thought, and just then her hand made a quick dip forward and she flipped the double card onto the table. She had a little grin on her face and I quickly looked away before we both burst into laughter.
I don't remember what happened next and I don't know or if that was a good board for us or not. It doesn't really matter.
I know exactly what you are talking about here. It is a wonderful thing in a partnership the first time BOTH of you remember and execute a new convention correctly. Just this past week, Mike and I bid our first Bergen raise. Mike bid it and, after a second or two, I recognized what he was doing and said, ALERT. We were both so proud.
ReplyDeleteExactly! (I had to look up "Bergen raise")
ReplyDelete