Another Opportunity

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

This isn't the most glaring of misfits, the type where one has a singleton or void opposite a partner who's fallen in love with his long but not altogether strong suit. But considering that if you don't have an 8-card or better fit, any 26 cards must allow two, possibly 3, 7-card fits. So you can't get lower than that for your best fit. Further, the 5-1 split in each of N-S's 7-card fits makes the misfit all the more glaring. On top of that, this was played on OKbridge, which allows one to note how it was handled by a variety of people. So I have placed it in Misfits.

Only 11 out of 20 pairs settled in a sane two spade bid. ("One spade, one no, two diamonds, two spades.") This can be beat with best defense, it seems to me. I took the opening club lead, went to the ace of diamonds, back to the king and -- whoa! Ruffed! Had my LHO then simply laid down the ace and then a low spade, I don't see how I could have avoided losing (after those two tricks, the ruff & the ace), 3 diamonds and a heart. However, he didn't, and when my RHO went low on a heart lead from dummy, I emerged with plus 3 (nine tricks).

This was through no great astuteness on my part, of course. A gift from the defense. But it does indicate the opportunities if you treat a misfit respectfuly. Let me go through the 9 people who didn't settle in 2 spades. Three overbid in spades, one in game going down one, which is to say he probably got the same 9 tricks I got, but had overbid. Keep the bidding low on these misfits, i.e., when your point count doesn't strongly indicate game, and you're going to pick up some points here and there.

One North player stuck in a 2 heart bid and wound up declarer. Now, wait a minute. You know of a 7-card spade fit. If your partner has 2 hearts, you've only come out even as far as number of trump is concerned, but perhaps with fewer honors. Do you have any reason to suppose your partner, who has bid spades and diamonds, has 3 hearts? Three were in no trump, one making one no, for a better score than the people going down in spades, the other two going down for a very bad score. And two were in diamonds, which makes no sense, particularly in a matchpoint event. You've got just as good a fit, and from North's viewpoint, just as good support in spades as in diamonds and should certainly go for the major.

The top 8 scores were all 2 spade bids, with the 9th the declarer making one no. The next three scores were 2 spades going down, a respectable score given the uneven breaks and presumably good defense. All three pairs that overbid from 2 spades got at least 8 tricks and presumably could have been among the lucky ones with a plus score.

Look at that North hand. You have only 9 hcp's and no particularly good fit. A good fit, with the same number of hcp's, could warrant a jump to 4 spades (with a singleton or void, a standard book bid). A poorly fitting hand should predispose you to throw in the towel very early. Yes, the hand could make 4 spades with even breaks, five spades even, six if you sneak the king of hearts past East. But you just can't count on those lucky breaks. You've got to bid the cards you see. And these cards just shouldn't invite exploring past the two level.