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This hand is one of my all-time favorites. When
I was West, I regretted opening so light after
hearing partner jump to Blackwood. But all's
well that ended well. I won the heart lead and
quickly claimed 11 tricks.

This hand occurred near the very end of a
close Bermuda Bowl final against Italy. My
partner, Bob Wolff, and I finished in the
Closed Room and went to the VuGraph room
to see the remaining boards being played at
the other table. We were down by 10 imps with
this hand and one flat board to go. We can't
win, I thought. But then a miracle took place.
Garozzo opened my hand 1 and Belladonna
bid 2NT, a forcing spade raise. Garozzo rebid
3 and Belladonna bid 4NT. Garozzo bid 5
and Belladonna bid 6, down one! There was
confusion in their methods, which I won't go
into here. And we won the championship on
this hand.
.

My Tip: Do as Wolfie did. When you have a
simple Blackwood hand, don't risk confusion,
just bid 4NT. Perhaps you think nothing bad
can happen if you bid 2NT and you know your
system. OK, suppose South has a 3 bid over
your 2NT and North jumps to 5....then how
do you ask for aces?