(11) COUGHING SIGNALS DUPLICATE BRIDGE

Submitted to Bridge Bulletin's Letters to the Editor
July 22, 2014 
     I have a question about bids exchanged by partner and me in yesterday's game.  

     My hand:  5 hearts to the ten, Qxx diamonds, and clubs KQJxx.

     Partner's hand:  hearts AKQx, diamonds AKx, clubs Axxxx , and 1 spade.

     He opened with a club, right hand opponent bid a spade.  If this bid had not been made, I would have cheerfully, without coughing, bid my dishonorable heart suit. 
     I paused for a long time, mentally chewing my nails, then bid a nervous 2 hearts with my 5 point high-card count. Partner jumped to 4 clubs.  Wow!  I asked for aces via Blackwood, settled on 6 clubs, making seven.  Our inexperienced opponents had a sure-fire spade slam they didn’t bid; all the other E-W pairs did.

     Post mortem:  Partner said I should have bid 6 hearts instead, but when I thought it over later, it seemed to me that he should have bid the heart slam.  I had no way of knowing his hearts were so solid, and he knew mine must be JXXXX at best. (Left-hand opponent’s opening lead was the singleton jack of hearts.)

     If I’m mistaken in my thinking, please let me know.

P. S. I read the article about the coughing signals in the June Bridge Bulletin.  That pair deserved the comeuppance and notoriety they received.