Trust Thy Partner

I'm playing in the finals of a compact knockout with one of my favorite partners. There was only one other strong team in the event; we dispatched them handily in the semifinals. We are winning the finals as well.

At favorable vulnerability, in fourth seat, I pick up

AQ876

AK93 Pretty good hand. LHO opens 1

and there are two passes to me. With a hand this strong, I have to double, which the next two players pass. RHO runs to 1

. He's in trouble. I double in tempo. Amazingly, LHO runs to 2

! Not surprisingly, that's passed around to me. Of course, I double again. It looks like I have about six tricks in my hand and partner is not broke.

LHO passes 2 and partner goes into the tank. She eventually emerges with 3, passed to me. The bidding has gone:

LHO	Partner	RHO	Me
1	Pass	Pass	Dbl
Pass	Pass	1	Dbl
2	Pass	Pass	Dbl
Pass	3	Pass	?

Rats. They were getting creamed. My natural reaction is to bid 3NT out of pique, but is that right? No, I'm sure it is not. Partner has nothing but diamonds, and if she had the A, she would have bid 3 in order to reach 3NT from my side. If she had anything outside of diamonds, she would surely have left in the double. Upon reflection, I'm sure it is right to pass. We might make 5, but we rate to lose a spade and a couple of diamond tricks, so we are high enough now. I'm glad I didn't react simply due to testosterone; I'm sure that I've done the right thing by passing.

It turns out to be true. Partner has Jxxx — KQJ1087x xx. 3 is quite high enough, although the opponents misdefend by never leading trumps, so partner makes eleven tricks.

At the other table, my hand was in a vaguely similar position and bid 3NT. He went down a bunch, so we obtained a moderate pickup.

I knew partner couldn't have much more than just diamonds, because I knew my partner. I think, however, that she might have bid 3 directly over 2. Once I doubled 1, we were in a forcing auction, so to bid 3 immediately should show a weaker hand than to pass and then pull my double of 2. On the other hand, I could have had one more quick trick, and then 5 would have made, so maybe the stronger of the two sequences was justified.