Opening bid.

  From the Rhode Island Swiss 1/29/12.

  Imps, neither vul, you hold S-J109876 H-4 D-653 C-KQJ.

  Your RHO deals and passes. Would you open a weak two spades or pass?

Second seat?  Clear pass.

First seat NV, depends upon partnership style.  Otherwise, actions seem pretty clear to me: open 2S in third seat, pass elsewise.

  Not that it proves anything, but the full deal was
 something like:

                        S-AQ3
                        H-QJ763
                        D-AK108
 S-2                  C-2                S-K54
 H-AK1082                             H-95
 D-Q94                                   D-J72
 C-A1064          S-J109876     C-98753
                        H-4
                        D-653
                        C-KQJ

  I passed in second seat, Sheila Gabay opened 1H,
 and Jeff was stuck with passing. After this start, I
 doubt we were bidding game. I elected not to balance
 for fear they might have missed game. I don't
 recall the exact defense, but I think it went DK, DA
 unblocking DQ, SQ to dummy's SK, H9 run to HJ, club
 to CA, HA, DJ, S ruff, club exit and so declarer scored
 4 trumps and a trick in each side suit for +80. This is bad
 defense, as there are several ways to beat 1H.

  At the other table, my counterpart (either Lew Gamerman
 or Victor King) opened 2S, LHO doubled, and partner
 bid 4S. On this unrevealing auction, I can't fault Steve
 McDevitt for not finding the killing diamond opening
 lead. He led a high heart, and now declarer had the
 time and transport to get the clubs going and avoid a
 diamond loser. A trump lead is interesting. Declarer makes
 if he rises SA, but if he finesses, he has to do so with the SQ,
 lest a diamond shift leave him without the necessary entries.
 So, we got outbid, but could have gone positive at both
 tables with best defense.

   The problem as presented is mostly a matter of style. The
 weak two will lead to a faster, less revealing auction. If you
 wind up on defense, it directs a likely poor opening lead and
 tells declarer about the distribution. On the other side of the
 ledger, it might wrong side a spade contract, but offers a
 straight path to a make or save, by revealing the nature
 of the deal to partner. I don't know if its long-run expectancy
 is great, but it sure worked here.

I agree with Bill's opening pass.

But thereafter, I criticize each of us.

First, and most importantly, I chose to pass but I don't subscribe to the view that I "was stuck with passing".  I think overcalling 1NT would have been a much better choice, and certainly would have limited or even eliminated the adverse swing.

Second, I think Bill's hand should balance 1S.  With heart shortness and a long spade suit, balancing is in order.  Worried about balancing the opponents into game?  Not an illegitimate fear against a poorish pair, but would not be a fear on my radar screen against the solid, aggressive opponents that we were playing.

That the SK would be played from dummy and would be opposite a singleton never entered my mind!  And so the bidding (lack of balance in this case), as is often the case, affected the defense, too.