From tough bidding to easier play

Yogi Berra said, "It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future."

If you would like to make a tough prediction, cover the auction and decide how it should go.

After South opens one heart, and West makes a takeout double, North has two choices: He can respond one spade, planning to try to bid as if West has not entered the auction; or he can redouble to show 10 points or more with fewer than four hearts. Here, North preferred to redouble. After this call, the simplest rule is that either the opening side buys the contract or the intervening pair plays in something doubled for penalty.