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

Index