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but for which side?

"Crime" sometimes pays…even at Christmas!

In pre-Covid days, certainly 20+ years ago, the Christmas period was a total break from bridge. That is not so now with some clubs starting very early in January after finishing pretty late in December. That break has been made even shorter with on-line bridge.

One such place where life, bridge that is, goes on is on-line sessions run on Sunday nights by Patrick Cater with the occasional help from Liz Fitzgerald. There’s a free Pairs session at 7.00pm on Sunday nights (see Free Tournaments on BBO). A couple of interesting deals arose last Sunday. Here is one of them:

 

What is your lead?

The deal is interesting no matter what your choice is. However, not all leads are interesting to your side!

Just before we see all four hands, the opening bid is shall we say controversial. There is no text-book that promotes the concept of pre-empting at the 3-level a 6-card major with a reasonable 4-card  major on the side. That action was bound to create fireworks…and it sure did!

 

Such a double of a slam by the player not on lead is termed a Lightner Double, requesting an unusual lead and often dummy’s first bid suit because you would not normally make that lead. That and the fact that you would not lead a suit bid by your side are irrelevant here.

The double also does not request a trump lead. Where dummy has not bid a non-trump suit, it is usually reasonably obvious to the player on lead which suit to lead as the doubler, as here, has an ace and a void. Get partner to lead one’s void suit and all should be over, certainly the contract, at trick 2.

Anyone for a club?

There was no clear favourite from North’s point of view. However, North’s longest suit was clubs. So, if only to safeguard their post-mortem position, North might have chosen a club. Had they done so, the defence would have taken the first two tricks…+100.

Or a heart?

Say they led a heart? K wins trick 1 but the winning defence is not so obvious to South. Having got over the injustice of East only holding one heart, what then at trick 2? There’s only a choice of 3 suits.

A trump seems safe but normally West will not have too many hearts and what they have can be discarded on one minor suit.

A diamond is just not going to help (and we will soon how it does not help the defence) while a second high heart is not going to be of much use if West holds 7 spades…and that’s what they have shown. The only chance seems to be a second high heart and hope North has Qx, thus scoring one after declarer ruffs in dummy.

Well, if South worked that out, they could still be recording +100, a warm glow and even forgiving partner for not beating the slam more easily on the club lead. Yes J42 produces a second trick for the defence had declarer been forced to ruff in dummy.

What about a diamond?

Yet, North did not lead a heart either. The diamond lead which they found looks like it will favour the declarer…and indeed it will, though West would find the contract easier to play had East’s diamonds not been so strong.

After the diamond lead, West must cash dummy’s top trumps and then play K, not to discard hearts (there's the catch!) as only two can be discarded, but to ruff in hand and then draw North’s last trump.

Contract made? Well, not quite since West will play a club to K and will discover the 4-0 break. Perhaps by then, they did expect South to be void in clubs. No matter. The only way back to the West hand to take the marked club finesse is by ruffing the Q. This is much easier to see when dummy’s diamonds are A32 rather than AKQ.

This same line needs to be taken after an initial heart lead and diamond or spade switch.

There is one other interesting aspect to this deal. As East, what bid would you make after your partner’s 3 opening? If your partner could product 7 spades headed by the queen and A, you would want to be in 7 (a heart lead and the spade blockage would damage 7NT if clubs broke badly). Our East never looked for grand slam. Maybe East’s experience of playing with West suggested caution! 6 was also an option though the major looks a better bet at Pairs….and a high heart lead would certainly have defeated that contract as only a computer would ruff a diamond and take a first round club finesse!

So, did “crime pay”? It seemed so this time.

Richard Solomon

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