Another Fine Mess . . .

I like to write about the things that go wrong at the bridge table.  First of all, that ensures that I always have something to write about.  I don't mean this in a self-critical way; most (all?) bridge players have hands they wish they had bid or played differently.  Second, thinking about what went wrong (okay, what I did wrong) helps me learn more about bidding or playing so that hopefully I don't make that particular mistake again.  That way I can move on to learn more conventions and plays and contemplate new mistakes.  And finally, perhaps most importantly, the reason I write about things that go awry is that I have the clearest memory of those hands.

Julie and I have played DONT successfully several times.  The key to our past triumphs with DONT, I learned on Wednesday, is that we had not gone beyond the 1NT overcaller's first bid.  Apparently we had that part of the convention down cold, but this time---you guessed it--we went so far beyond that we landed in Nebraska.  Here's what happened.

The dealer opened 1NT.  I had 14 HCP with 5 clubs and 4 spades, perfect for DONT.  I happily bid 2 clubs and waited to see what would happen.  Not surprisingly, my LHO passed.  Julie thought for a moment and then bid 2 diamonds.  I hesitated only briefly, confident that since this wasn't my other suit that I should bid 2 spades.  So I did, expecting my partner to pass or maybe even go back to clubs.  Instead, Julie bid 3 hearts.  The opponents, of course, had dropped out of the bidding by now.  This time I had to think harder about what to do.  Julie obviously didn't like my clubs or my spades; likewise, I did not like her diamonds or hearts.  Equally obvious, we had all of the suits stopped, so what else could I do?

I bid 3NT and my LHO doubled (nice, Darryl).

Of course I went down and got a bottom board.  This caused us to query several people and do more extensive reading about DONT.  Next time I will only bid if my lower suit has 5 cards (which I did do this time but have not always done) and if my partner bids, no matter what she bids, I will pass.