Improving your hand evaluation.
Bridge Column for August 30, 2002, Harvey Bernstein
Both sides vulnerable.  South deals.
                              North
                              S: 9 6 5 3 
                              H: K Q 6 5 4
                              D: 7 6     
                              C: 9 2      
            West                             East
            S: Q 10                          S: K 2     
            H: J 10 9                        H: 8 7 3 2        
            D: Q J 10                        D: 8 4 3 2           
            C: A K 10 6 3                    C: Q J 7         
                              South                         
                              S: A J 8 7 4        
                              H: A           
                              D: A K 9 5     
                              C: 8 5 4   
          The Bidding:  
                  South    West    North    East                  
                   1S       2C      2S      Pass
                   3S      Pass     4S      Pass
                   Pass    Pass
                   
     This hand came up in a duplicate game and Mort Pierce of
Chagrin Falls held the North cards.  I opened the bidding and
after West's two club bid, Pierce raised spades.  Three spades
was an old fashioned game try and Pierce accepted by bidding four
spades.
     The play was fairly straight forward.  The defense took the
first two club tricks and one spade.  What was surprising,
however, was that so few pairs had actually bid the game.  At the
end of the day, it appeared that only three pairs had bid four
spades.  The rest of the field played a spade partial, making
four.  
     The North hand would be a better dummy if the king-queen of
hearts was the king-queen of spades, but they aren't.  Holding
four trumps, two doubletons, and the king-queen of hearts, North
should accept the game try.  The outstanding spades will be 2-2
40.7% of the time.  When you factor in the 3-1 splits where the
singleton is one of the outstanding honor cards, this becomes
better than a 60% chance for game.  This means that the game will
succeed more often than not and you should be in it.
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Bernstein is a free-lance writer in Solon.