Nowadays, competitive auctions are the norm, uncompetitive sequences a rarity. So you and your partner should be ready to handle the wild bids that your opponents will throw at you. And you should be prepared to do your fair share of destructive interventions when you think the opponents have you outgunned.

A good analysis of the possibilities is "Getting Into the Bidding" by Bill Treble (Master Point Press). It is aimed at intermediate players. Also, when there is more than one popular method -- for example, in competing against an opening one no-trump -- the author discusses their pluses and minuses.

In this deal, look at the West hand. With both sides vulnerable, your partner opens one club and righty overcalls one spade. What would you do?

If you use fit-showing jumps in competition (of which I am a big fan), you might bid three or four diamonds, showing length in that suit and good club support. But as Treble points out, this gives North room to describe his hand.

At the table, Treble jumped immediately to five clubs. Yes, that might have been -- and was -- only an eight-card fit, but it was likely to be better than that. And he pressured North.

Here, over five clubs, which can go down three, North bid five hearts, East doubled, North ran to five spades, and East doubled again.

The defenders took one club, two diamonds and two heart ruffs for plus 800.

Bridge is not a game for cowards; blast away with a big fit and a distributional hand.

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