15
February 2016 English Bridge
West North East South
1´ Pass 2t1 Pass
2NT2 Pass 3t Pass
3´ Pass 4®3 Dble
Pass Pass Redble4 Pass
4t5 Pass 4NT6 Pass
5t7 Pass 6t Pass
Pass Pass
1 Not game-forcing; 2 Usually 6+ spades, extra
values, forcing to game; 3 Cue bid agreeing spades;
4 First-round club control; 5 After six and a half
minutes; 6 Keycard Blackwood for spades; 7 Three
key cards
If Zia Mahmood had been sitting South the
double of 4® might have been mischievous, but as
he was playing for another team in another room
declarer knew the club finesse wasn't going to work.
From that moment England were doomed,
because whatever declarer did that involved not
taking the club finesse was bound to succeed. It was
hard to blame South for his double, though - for all
he knew West was going to play the hand in spades,
and he really wanted a club lead rather than a heart
against a spade (or no trump) contract.
That wasn't the end of the story. The tempo of
West's bid of 4t had, in the opinion of the English,
facilitated the auction for East-West - in particular,
it was contended that East might not have found it
so easy to drive to a slam had he not been sure that
his partner was considering alternatives to 4t. Since
West would have no such alternatives without a
heart control, East could infer that West had one
and use Blackwood with two losers in a suit that had
not so far been bid. Ultimately, the officials did not
concur with this view and the result was allowed to
stand. Debate continues to this day. r