IT COULD ONLY HAPPEN AT BRIDGE....... ( An almost true story by Bridgemeister Gibson )


Sitting large as life at the table was The Northern Pro , when along came his old long standing Nemisis , the man in the long black coat.
In an uncontested auction the Northern Pro opened 1NT only to wonder why his partner failed to inform the opponents of the point range.On receiving a 2D response the Northern Pro dutifully announced " transfer to hearts " , which he did as instructed. The next bid from partner was 2NT which was followed by 3H , showing 3 card support. Partner then bid 3NT to end the auction.
However , when Nemisis made his opening lead , the Northern Pro was onto him in a flash.
" It's not your lead. I bid no trumps first ". Nemisis turned towards him with an air of contempt :
" But you didn't.....after you opened 1S , you then rebid 2H in response to your alert ." The
Northern Pro was dumbstruck. He had indeed opened 1S when intending to open 1NT only to make an incorrect alert,  and the subsequent explanation of the bid. 
" I want a ruling " said Nemisis , and so the TD was called over. After hearing about the Northern Pro's mechanical error and subsequent false announcement , the TD suggested that the hand should be played out in 3NT , and if the injured parties felt damaged by the result , he should called back to make a decision.
So by making a poor lead against 3NT , Nemisis saw the contract come rolling in for a complete top. He was not a happy bunny. Moreover , he was adamant the final contract should have been four hearts, since the Northern Pro's bidding suggesting that the he had two-suited hand in the majors , with partner having the sufficient values to bid game. This contract of course was doomed to go two off for a complete bottom. Inevitably , the TD agreed with Nemisis , and so 4H-2 was the result entered into the well behaved grounded bridgemate.

Given the Fact The Northern Pro genuinely intended to bid 1NT , all his subsequent bids ( and alert ) were all in keeping with both his hand and system card. The 3NT call over his 3H was one he was happy to leave in trusting in partner's judgement.
Partner will of course have wondered what the Northern Pro was doing,  and so this thinking may have been as follows:
1S - he's got an opening hand with at least 4 or more spades 
2D - best bid I've got available but at least it shows my strongest suit  
2H ( after alert and announcement ) - what the blue blazes is partner about . I haven't got any bloody hearts......but has he ? 
2NT - This bid shows 11-12 HCPs and a flatish hand. Perfect.
3H  - Good God.....does the Northern Pro still think I've got hearts and is now showing support
....or is he now confirming 5-5 in the majors ?  I've no bloody idea
3NT - I should bid 3S now showing 3 card support for his first bid suit , but 3NT could be a superior contract if we're making the same nine tricks 
However,  moving over Nemisis , his analysis of the auction will be slightly different :
1S - The man got a spade suit
2D - Clearly 9+ points with a diamond suit
2H !! - What's all this nonsense ? Is this conventional bid on their system suit ? The Northern Pro likes to be clever , so I do wonder. May be I should start asking questions after this ?  
2NT - His partner clearly has values to bid on , and is offering an alternative spot to play
3H - Either the Northern Pro is showing 3 card support for his partner's hearts .....or he's confirming a strong 2 suited hand in the majors
3NT - Why aren't they in 4H ?   Surely that's their best spot for game ?  3NT is clearly an inferior contract and could well go off on a club lead. Happy to defend this contract against these numpties.

So in my view Nemisis didn't suffer any real damage , because 3NT was a bad contract which should have handed him a fair share of the match points. Certainly if the Northern Pro had opened 1NT and was playing in three , the obvious spade lead would have sunk the contract there and then. So had the spade bid scuppered the best line of defence ? Yes ...certainly in respect to the choice of opening lead. The lead of a club instead of the spade simply handed declarer with at least 2 tricks in the suit. And the subsequent ducking a heart now set up 8 tricks , unless Nemisis quickly switches attention to the spade suit. He should see that there was another club winner plus a whole load of red suit winners ready to be cashed. An immediate spade switch clearly offered his only hope of beating the contract. Dummy's miserable 764 of spades were a dead giveaway.    
Both 3NT and 4H were doomed contracts.  So were the opponents damaged by the opening spade bid ? Yes....far more so than the subsequent incorrect alert. Therefore , 4H-2 should not have been the substituted score. Either 3NT -1 or 3H-1 would seem a much fairer amended score. But with Nemisis , he wants much much more ,  and getting easy tops from opponents' transgressions , courtesy of helpful TDs ,  has always been a skillful feature of his game.