feb.indd

English 55 The club championship fi nal ( Alifut Hamoadonim ) is a relatively new feature of the bridge calendar, introduced by Gilad O fi r three years ago. Each club runs its own championship during the year. Then, based on the strength of the tournament and the number of sessions played, each club is entitled to send one, two or even three pairs to represent the club in the national club championship. This generates more participation in regular club tournaments. Prize money is very generous. In 2014 the club championship was held for the third time. The winners were Koby Shahar and Shachar Schwartz, representing Rehovot. Runners up were Moshe Mosesohn and Yaacov Levit, representing Holon. Well done! One hand in particular struck me, where my partner forgot about the Lightner double. However, the opponents who were missing two aces got too high and went down two doubled anyway. Below is the full hand: Board 4, Dealer West, Vul All ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ 862 9765 JT5 AJ7 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ AKT5 QJT - QT9653 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ QJ743 K3 A72 K84 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ 9 A842 KQ98643 2 West North East South 1 ♣ Pass 1 ♠ Pass 3 ♠ Pass 6 ♠ Pass Pass Dbl All Pass My double was about the worst exhibit of a Lightner double, because I had only one trick in my hand, but after my partner led the ♥ A, she quickly switched to her singleton club. I won my ♣ A and gave her a ruff, so it was down two doubled. That one worked out pretty well.  Anyway, what is the Lightner doubled, and why is it a good convention? It was devised by Theodore Lightner whose premise was: "A double of a slam by the hand NOT ON LEAD is conventional". He fi gured that the opening lead was often The Lightner Double in the Club Championship Brian Zietman