Six-Five, Come Alive.
Bridge Column for July 4, 2003, Harvey Bernstein
Both Sides vulnerable.  East deals.
                              North
                              S: 9 7 6 5          
                              H: J 8 5       
                              D: K 7         
                              C: A 8 6 5 3
            West                             East
            S: Q 8                           S: A K          
            H: K 9 7 6                       H: A 10 4 3 2 
            D: 5 4 3                         D: Q 8               
            C: K Q 4 2                       C: J 10 9      
                              South                         
                              S: J 10 4 3 2
                              H: Q          
                              D: A J 10 9 6 2
                              C: 7        
          The Bidding:  
                   West   North     East   South                  
                   Pass    Pass      1H     1S  
                    3H     3S        4H     4S  
                   Pass    Pass     Dbl     Pass
                   Pass    Pass
     West led the king of hearts and continued with a small
heart.  The North-South pair, with sixteen high card points, were
able to take ten tricks and make their doubled game.
     The hand illustrates a couple of very good points.  First,
the spade suit is, indeed, the 'master' suit.  If the opponents
want to compete, they have to go to the next level.  This is a
decided advantage in the bidding.  You should be more competitive
when you are bidding the spade suit than at any other time. 
Second, there is an old saying that goes "six-five, come alive". 
Don't let the absence of a lot of high card points keep you out
of the auction when you have this kind of distribution.  Be timid
when you have balanced distribution.  Let your wild side take
over with the South hand in today's deal.
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Bernstein is a free-lance writer in Solon.