August 2018 - 60

Advanced Players

Mike's Advice
BY MIKE LAWRENCE

michaelslawrence.com

An amazing hand
In a recent tournament on BBO, this
hand came up. Both tables were full of
excellent players.
As South, you have this attractive
collection:
♠K 4 ♥A Q 10 9 6 3 ♦A K 9 ♣A 6
With both sides vulnerable, your
RHO opens 4♦, a natural preempt.
(This occurred at both tables.) What is
the best action over 4♦?
Table One
West

North

Pass

4♥

East
4♦
Pass

South
Dbl
?

Doubling was a dangerous action. If
partner were to bid 4♠ or 5♣, I can't
imagine being very happy. But South
got lucky: His partner bid 4♥. South
was enchanted with this and asked for
key cards. North had zero, so the final
contract was 5♥, which went down
two. So South was lucky twice. First,
his partner bid hearts in response to
the double. Second, South's Blackwood
bid didn't do a lot of harm because 4♥
wouldn't make. Down 200 was bad, but
only a little bad.
Table Two
West

North

Pass
Pass
5♣
Pass
All Pass

East
4♦
4♠
5♦

South
4♥
Dbl
Dbl

At this table, South made the practical bid of 4♥. As good as his hand was,

60 Bridge Bulletin August 2018

it would need a lot to make a slam. If
North had the ♠A and the ♥K, South
might make slam, but if North has a
weaker hand, playing in game might be
best. Preempts are intended to give you
problems and this 4♦ bid was especially well-timed to do that.
So South got to 4♥ but East, the
preempter, was still there. He bid 4♠.
South doubled that. West bid 5♣, and
North passed. Is it Christmas yet? East
bid 5♦, and South doubled, expecting
some large number.
So which result to you like the most?
Would you rather play in 5♥ going down two or would you prefer to
double 5♦?
What do you lead? Can it make a difference? South wanted to lead an ace,
but didn't know which one to lead. He
knew East had a void somewhere and
leading the wrong ace might be bad. So
South compromised and led the ♦A.
He hoped that after seeing dummy he
would know what to do. Here is what
he saw:
Dummy
♠AQ6
♥K4
♦4
♣ K Q J 10 8 7 3
You
♠K4
♥ A Q 10 9 6 3
♦AK9
♣A6
Have you ever had a "What the
@#*#%! is that?" moment? Your

vulnerable opponent has bid up to 5♦
all by himself. He is missing the
♠A K Q. He is missing the ♥A K Q. He
is missing the ♦A K. He is missing the
♣A K Q J.
I suggest this is a record.
At trick one, your partner plays the
♦10. That's a big oops. This means that
your ♦A K 9 would have taken three
tricks on defense. Your lead just cost
you a diamond trick.
Now what? Do you guess which ace
to lead? If you lead either of your other
two aces, declarer might ruff and later
discard a loser. It's probably better to
lead more diamonds and wait for your
other trick, assuming you have one.
Here's the entire deal:
♠ 10 9 2
♥J8752
♦ 10
♣9542
♠AQ6
♠J8753
♥K4
♥-
♦4
♦QJ876532
♣ K Q J 10 8 7 3
♣-
♠K4
♥ A Q 10 9 6 3
♦AK9
♣A6
No matter what South does after
leading the ♦A, he will get only one
more trick. East guessed the rest of
the play and made plus 750 for his
troubles.
Victor Mollo would have been proud
of this.
◾
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