Bidding for a poor result.
Bridge Column for December 2, 2001, Harvey Bernstein
East-West vulnerable.  North deals.
                              North
                              S: Q 4 3            
                              H: A 4 3 2     
                              D: 5           
                              C: 10 9 6 5 4 
            West                             East
            S: A 7 5                         S: K 2            
            H: K 10 5                        H: Q 7       
            D: Q J 10 9 8 7                  D: A 6 4 3           
            C: 7                             C: A K J 8 2   
                              South                         
                              S: J 10 9 8 6 
                              H: J 9 8 6    
                              D: K 2       
                              C: Q 3      
          The Bidding:  
                  North    East    South    West                  
                   Pass     1NT      2H      3NT
                   4H      Pass     Pass     Dbl
                   Pass    Pass     Pass
     As difficult as it may be to believe, this hand is from a
Fligh A team event.  I present it in the hopes of showing the
average player that the "A" level players are just as prone to
flights of fancy as anybody else.
     East was not wild about his one no trump opening bid, but it
appeared to be the best way to describe his values.  The North-
South pair was playing a defensive convention over one no trump
openings where two hearts was used for a hand of unknown strength
with both hearts and spades.  In this situation, South had "no
strength" along with both major suits.
     West bid the no trump game and North, thinking that he had a
double fit and an outside singleton, bid four hearts as a non-
vulnerable sacrifice.  East had already bid his values and passed
so that West could make the final decision.  
     The opening club lead went to the king.  East continued with
the ace as West discarded the seven of spades.  Responding to
this signal, East led the king of spades.  When the king held, he
continued with a small spade to the ace.  West led a diamond back
to East's ace.  The jack of clubs was trumped by South with the
jack.  West over trumped with the king.  There was no way to
avoid losing the queen of hearts later in the play, so South
wound up losing seven tricks for down four, or minus 800 points. 
     At the companion table, three no trump by East made five for
plus 660, which worked out to a 4 IMP (international match point)
swing.  
     Players justify these bids for their "disruptive" value, but
I think that overall, good bidding and play will prove to be more
valuable.
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Bernstein is a free-lance writer in Solon.