HIGH LEVEL AUCTION

You and the opposition have competed up to and beyond game level.

Whose hand does this belong to?

Would it not be nice to know how many tricks your side has in defence? You could then determine whether the right action would be to double or bid one more, possibly as a cheap sacrifice.

How many times in the past have you made a phantom sacrifice, and bid one more when they could not make the contract?

Here is a neat gadget to use.

The situation is that you have bid to 4♥, and the opposition now bid 4♠ .

A defensive trick is an ace or a King and Queen combination in an outside suit. Our trump tricks do not count except the ace.

A PASS in direct seat shows 2 or more defensive tricks

A DOUBLE shows under 2 defensive tricks

Partner now will be able to use this information in conjunction with his own hand to determine what further action to take.