It is of particular interest in pairs tournaments that if you can score the same number of tricks in no trumps as you would in your major suit fit then playing in no trumps will get you a better score. Also if you have both a major suit fit and a minor suit fit then playing in the major suit fit requires one less trick to make game (and scores better if a slam is on in either denomination) and you should consider playing in the major even if the minor suit fit is longer and/or stronger.

However the following hand, played in a swiss pairs event, shows that you can take a good principle too far.

You pick up the following collection as dealer at love all:

	9 7 2
	Q 10 4
	8
	A Q 10 5 4 2

It's not much of a hand but well worth a 3 opening. LHO makes a simple overcall of 3, partner bounces the bidding to 5 (you think good thoughts about your singleton in opponents' suit) and RHO tanks for several minutes before making a penalty double. You pass quietly, and now LHO goes into the tank for even longer than his partner before producing 5 (presumably showing some big 6-5 hand). RHO now pauses before raising to 6. Happy to defend with your three low trumps and singleton in their first suit (not to mention the Q), you are even more pleased to hear partner double, which ends the auction.

Perhaps now would be the time to look at the full deal, which you probably wouldn't expect to look like this:

None Vuln Dealer S	A K 3 J 8 6 5 3 3 K 8 7 6			West North East South 3 3 5 X Pass 5 Pass 6 Pass Pass X AP
J 8 5 4 K 7 A K Q J 10 6 5 2 —		Q 10 6 A 9 2 9 7 4 2 J 9 3
	9 7 2 Q 10 4 8 A Q 10 5 4 2

RHO's penalty double is a little aggressive — he only has 1.5 defensive tricks, not to mention four card support for his partner's overcall thus reducing the defensive potential of partner's high cards in diamonds — and LHO's decision to remove the double seems a little strange on a possible misfit, though as the cards lie it works because 5 is only 1 off and 5 makes. However, removing to a four card jack-high suit at the 5 level for which partner might not have any support is unlikely to be a good move. In the context of the bidding the raise to 6 is quite sensible (placing partner with something like A K x x x x x A K x x x x —). Partner now decides that AKx of trumps is a sound double of 6 (he has an easy lead against 7 too).

I will draw a veil over the play, but suffice to say that repeated club forces and a misdefence mean that the contract goes for "only" -1100 and an outright top for us.

This piece of absurdity — ignoring a solid eleven card diamond fit in favour of a 4-3 spade fit missing the AK, at the 6 level — helped us to win the match 20-0. However, more importantly it earned our opponents the right to appear on poorbridge.com!

The principle I began this article with still holds though — opponents playing in their major gave us a much better score than if they had played in their minor!