Sitting North, you are dealt a motley collection of cards:

♠️ K 2
♥️ K 9 7 5 2
♦️ 8 6 3
♣️ K 3 2

As South, partner opens 1♠️. Faute de mieux, you respond 1NT. Partner rebids 2♦️. More often than not, partner will hold five spades, four diamonds and anywhere from 12 to 18 high-card points.

What to do now? Instead of leaving partner high and dry in 2♦️, you rightly revert to 2♠️. Though you have more diamonds in your hand, this strategy is known as “false preference.”

There are two important reasons for your decision.