A Classic

	8
	9 3
	A 10 9 6 4 2
	A K Q 4
Q 5		K J 7 2
A K 5 2		Q 10 8 6
5		Q J 8 7 3
J 9 8 5 3 2		------
	A 10 9 6 4 3
	J 7 4
	K
	10 7 6

The bidding: 2 spades by South, 3 diamonds by North, 3 spades by South.

This is a classic case of misfit, with two remarkably similar 6-card suits opposite a singleton. Oh, it lacked the sometimes heard, one heart, one spade, two hearts, two spades, three hearts . . .! But since an opening bid of 2 spades is far more specific than an opening one bid and by definition, not strong enough to warrant much jockeying around, North for all practical purposes should recognize the misfit and not try for a better one.

There is good-news-bad-news in diamonds vs. spades: The diamond bidder gets a stiff king from his partner for the good news, and a 5-1 split for the bad. The upshot is that each suit seems capable of delivering 7 tricks, with an obvious disadvantage in diamonds of being one level higher.

This pair was vulnerable, and their counterpart went through the exact same bidding, the upshot being that either pair could have picked up 3 IMP's by simply recognizing the misfit quickly and passing two spades. See what I mean when I say misfits should be regarded as an opportunity to pick up points as much as a disaster. You can't help the misfit. You can't swear off weak two's because one goes wrong. It's not going to be fun to play. But you can pick up points by recognizing the misfit early. And having said that, I must warn against dropping a misfit too early.

Here, North counts 13 hcp's opposite a weak two without a fit. So game is unlikely, and the best thing North can do is to keep the bidding low by passing. And not so incidentally, you certainly risk a far greater possibility of a double by moving up one level, even if it didn't happen here.