[thepossum]

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I often feel there are unnecessary cue bids pushing us unnecessarily high in competition. North does not have much



Hand 2

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This was something of a tragedy all around. There were various outcomes. Some saw the peril and took out the double into hearts Some even ended in 3NT- n which scored better. I am not sure that X represented that hand

[Huibertus]

First hand, of course North is going to overbid the combined hands. He expects a 54 fit ♠, sometimes 53. I don't understand south initial double, there's no reason to do so with a doubleton ♠.

Board 2. I Do understand the double, you just have to act in order NOT to have the part score stolen from you. What happened here illustrated the risk of off shape doubles like on hand 1. However, off shape doubles have to happen a increasingly more often the higher the bidding went. I feel North might have bid 3!♥ over the double of 3♦ but I'm not sure, it might as well be wrong too, either if East was going to bid, or if South had more ♦s. It's a bit of a gamble (which is why preempts like 3♣ here exist).