Unbelievable


10 7 4 3
Q 2
J 7
A J 7 6 3
K Q J 6 A 8 2
A K J 10 9 4
A K 9 6 2 10 8 4 3
K Q 10 9
9 5
8 7 6 5 3
Q 5 Vul: E-W
8 5 4 2 Opening lead: K of spades

WestNorthEastSouth
2 3 Pass 3 no trump
Dbl All pass

What on earth! This wound up minus 7, as the defense missed a trick in spades, for minus 1700. My first impulse was to say, this is an illustration of how bidders feel a little too comfortable with favorable vulnerability. Minus 1700? That's worse than the vulnerable slam the opponents have, and it shoulda been minus 2000.
But wait a minute! I cautioned myself. What's so wrong with 3 clubs, presumably doubled. You lose two spades, two hearts, two diamonds and a club for down three or 500 points to the other guys. A fleabite. Assuming they don't go onto their slam. If they do, well, there's not much you can do about it.
Anyway, North's 3 club bid was in no way hazardous to the N-S fortunes. But South's bid? Three no? With 2 hcp's and an unbalanced distribution. And a fit, if North's bid is read for an overcall over an artificial 2 club opener. It just defies belief. And if the 3 club bid is read as substantially a takeout double, then South has a 5-card heart suit to try out. (Actually, at that vulnerability, South would be safe passing. If the bid gets doubled, South could then weigh the possibility that the bid was a simple overcall vs. a takeout double.)
I have elsewhere spoken of the time a player raised his partner's 4 spade opener to 5 (over a 5 heart bid) with nothing in his hand that could be construed as helpful to his partner. "Shucks, one too many," he later said as his partner was down 4, and when it was pointed out that he had nothing of help, he insouciantly said, "I don't need any help to raise my partner." Oh, you don't? That's a new one on me. I always thought bidding was an exploration of the total values of the two hands, and zero plus the opener's promised 7 winners (they were non-vul) adds up to opener's hand -- which she had already described.
This was an illustration of that mind set carried to a ridiculous extreme. "Oh, weren't they down just one too many here?" Yes, actually they were. But then the defense missed a trick, so you'd do well to regard that as two too many and a totally off-the-wall bid.