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This deal occurred in a match between Italy and the United States many years ago. The bidding went as shown when an American pair were North-South. West led a low club, and the Italian East-West pair quickly collected five club tricks and the ace of spades to put the contract down two -- 100 points.
Three notrump was a very poor contract, and the question is whether the much better contract of four hearts should have been reached.
Of course, North could have bid four hearts over two diamonds or three notrump and gotten to the proper contract that way, but most analysts felt that North's pass of three notrump was eminently correct and that there was no good reason for North to think that a 10-trick game had a better chance than a nine-trick game.
The major blame was assigned to South for bidding three notrump without a club stopper. Virtually all the experts present agreed that he should have bid three spades over three hearts, in which case North would surely have bid four hearts.
Three spades — clearly showing a spade stopper while expressing doubt about the best final contract -- would have shifted the question of where to play the hand to North, which was where the final decision belonged. It would have allowed North to bid three notrump if he had the clubs stopped, or to go on in hearts or diamonds if he lacked a club stopper.
At the second table, the Italian North-South pair did indeed follow that prescribed route to the best contract when their bidding went:
North lost only two clubs and a spade after an opening club lead, and the Italians gained 520 points on the deal.
Tomorrow: Six plus seven equls 13.