JULY2020

and intended 5 ♥ to show the lack of a cuebid (bad hand). North bid the slam anyway, and West made a Lightner double, indicating a possible ruff at trick one. However, instead of the killing diamond lead, East put the club nine on the table. All declarer had to do now was to cover the ♣9 and avoid the ruff. North evidently regarded that trick as lost and called "small" without sparing a thought. This is not the first, nor the last contract to be thrown away due to thoughtless play at the first trick. Despite numerous warnings by bridge teachers and authors, this is still being done even at the highest levels. West carefully played ♣3 under his partner's winning ♣9, and East duly found the diamond switch. This lapse cost North/South's team no less than 25 IMPs - losing 12 instead of gaining 13. Dealer South. Vul E/W T975 KT94 A864 A A42 Q83 AQJ 8753 JT52 93 K54 8732 KJ6 62 KQ7 QJT96 West has a decision to make with his flat 15 HCP hand after South's one club opening. Both players preferred a double to a risky vulnerable 1NT overcall, yet they couldn't avoid a penalty at the one level, as both North/South pairs did extremely well in the bidding. West North East South 1♣ Dbl RDbl Pass Pass 1 ♦ Dbl 1 ♥ Pass Pass Dbl All Pass This is the standard way to bid the North/South cards, following the redouble, every double is for penalties. West North East South 1♣ Dbl Pass 1 ♥ Pass Pass Dbl All Pass This sequence looks odd, but some top pairs play that Pass ing the opponent's takeout double may actually conceal a strong hand. Eventually, both East had the misfortune to be declarer in one heart doubled, and both Souths mercilessly found the best lead – a trump. North let dummy's heart jack win the first trick, then declarer played a diamond from dummy, won by South who continued hearts. The heart queen lost to the king and North continued hearts, killing East's last hope to win a trick in his hand. After winning the next diamond, both Souths led ♣Q, and here the play diverged. Meckstroth, the more experienced declarer, believed South's queen to be a natural card and played small. North had to win the trick perforce, and the club king became declarer's fourth trick. Even though plus 800 represented optimal bidding and defense, his opponents had to concede 7 IMPs, because at the other table the Norwegian Bakke assumed that South was trying to steal a trick from ♣AQJx and covered the queen to go minus 1100. Sometimes bridge is a cruel game.