One of the Saddest Cases


J 7 4
9 8 7
9 5
J 9 8 5 4
Q 9 8 2 K 5
J A K Q 10 5 3 2
A 10 8 7 6 4 2
A 3 K 10 6
A 10 6 3
6 4
K Q J 3 Vul: N-S
Q 7 2 Opening lead: J of hearts

SouthWestNorthEast
1 Pass Pass Dbl
Pass Pass Redbl All pass

The has to be one of the saddest cases of a redouble gone sour. Declarer wound up down 3 for minus 1600! Yikes! Partners have gotten cranky on far less points lost than that. But the hand offers some scope for discussion and perhaps enlightenment.
First, I would say the S.O.S. redouble is a very dangerous weapon. Indeed, I would hafta say I don't think I've ever seen it work. Not that I recall. And I think the logic behind it is questionable. The presuption seems to be, "Partner, I can't offer you much help in diamonds, so please pick anything but diamonds!" Which is to say that with a singleton diamond and 4-4-4 in the other three suits, then I would consider the S.O.S. redouble reasonable.
Another problem is that the partner of the redoubler might misinterpret the call. "Is my partner saying he likes diamonds? Or that he wants any suit but diamonds?" Further, North has a five-card suit and awfully skimply help elsewhere. If he's going to save his partner, then I think his bid has to be 2 clubs, and cross your fingers. Alas, as I go through best defense in a 2 club contract, I find down four with an outside chance of down three. Hardly an improvement.
In any event, you're going to get these disasters from time to time -- has it never crossed your mind that an opening bid contracts for the majority of the tricks on a third or less of the hcp's? There are various protections that prevent a 13-point opener from running into a buzzsaw, to wit: the vulnerability and what the opponents could make if they used their power in their best suit; that we rarely find all these protections missing at the same time; and with negative doubles and other conventions, opponents quite often don't find the means to effect a penalty double at a low level.
In any event, it looks to me as though North has two choices, and neither is a redouble, doubling your trouble. He can pass, hunker down, hope the other guys have made a mistake, which has been known to happen, you know. And the other is to bid his 5-card suit. I could respect either bid, but not a bid that allows a doubling of the disaster awaiting you. Keep your bidding sound, and you might have a bit of company. And if you just happened to step into the only pair that'd pass out a penalty double at the one level, well, so be it. There's no magic wand that says you can always find a better resting spot when you're doubled.
For what it's worth, those other guys have a slam in hearts on anything but a trump lead. Is it likely that they'd get there? If so, is it not possible that South would lead a trump? I think the latter very unlikely and the former not a whole lot more likely, though I've certainly seen less promising hands bid to slam.
Still, there is a slim chance you'll pick up a few there, and in any event, if you've stepped into a beartrap, you (probably) can't unstep out of it now. Not with any fancy conventions or bids.