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Time to Break the Rule?

Our game is full of rules/guidelines about how we are best to play, bid or defend. We glory in knowing the right time to go against the recommended approach. The question today is whether “now is the hour” to do something different. It’s all about the opening lead, a vexed problem at the best of times.

 

It is a difficult situation when one side opens a 15-17 1NT and yet it is their opponent who ends up declaring in 3NT, not unsurprisingly doubled! During the bidding all four players made free bids including your hand bidding twice, once in each suit held.

North’s double showed a hand as strong as the opening bid and was for penalties. That left precious few hcps for East and South. What then would you lead?

Our Panel seem in no doubt what the double means and what West is suggesting you lead:

Leon Meier “ 9: I'd lead a heart. I think double would be asking to lead dummy's suit here.”

Nigel Kearney “9: Partner's double requests that I lead the suit bid by dummy. There is nothing in my hand that suggests leading one of my own suits.will be better.”

Anthony Ker “9: North has a strong club suit and stoppers in diamonds and spades. South has a weak hand with long hearts and West’s double suggests something good in hearts. If they wanted us to lead one of our suits, they wouldn’t have doubled.”

Michael Cornell “9: I cannot see what the doubler (of 1NT) can hold in hearts. He has good clubs and stops in my pointed suits. Furthermore, I think the double asks for dummy’s suit anyway.”

The above group think that the double suggests a heart lead, dummy’s first (and in this case only) bid suit, like a Lightner double of a slam. They are supported by:

Peter Newell “9: the choice is between a diamond and a heart.  It would be crazy to lead North’s suit, and a spade with a poor suit, no side entry and partner green against red unable to bid 3 doesn't make sense.  What of partner's double? It seems that partner has strength in the opponents’ suits and partner may well be keen for a heart lead through dummy.

Andy Braithwaite “9: It looks like declarer lacked a heart stop when bidding 3 and is now happy to give 3NT a go. So, I need to lead a heart to set up some tricks for partner.”

Bruce Anderson “9: Not happy about all of this; partner may think I have more than 3 high card points to bid twice. Nonetheless, he/she thinks this game is going light. I am taking the view partner has strong hearts. So, I am leading a heart.”

Bruce has touched on the problem. West has a strong no trump and you, their partner, have bid twice. The double may simply be saying here that West thinks this contract will be defeated.

Stephen Blackstock “ 6/4 depending on whether we lead 4ths or 3rd/5th. A black suit looks wrong. Clubs are out and West cannot have much length or strength in spades or he would have raised over 3.

 I don't expect great hearts opposite either, given the failure to double 3, even though I cannot see a double of 3NT without something to stop the heart suit running from the top. That only leaves diamonds! It's not clear, given all the above, that the double of 3NT has any special lead-directing significance. Perhaps West expects the contract is going down no matter what I lead.”

In a vacuum, and in just about any bridge book you might read, West’s double of 3NT, when not on lead, suggests the lead of dummy’s first bid suit. Most of the Panel think that still applies here. Yet, the East-West bidding complicates the issue and as Stephen points out above, West did not double 3.

So, let’s hear from the player faced with the opening lead:

Wayne Burrows “J: Yes, I thought Clair (West) might want a heart lead but I also thought she might just think it is going down since she opened a strong no trump. 

One of the other considerations that I had was that Clair did not bid 3 so I thought she rated to have at least semi-decent diamonds. I think a double out of the blue will be lead directing but a double from an already known strong hand is not so clearly lead directing. 

If she had four diamonds and the declarer had to lose the lead then we might have lots of diamond tricks. Perhaps I was too greedy. 

 

I think the auction says Clair has good hearts without the double. Declarer has clubs and spades and diamonds stopped so he cannot have great hearts. And dummy has a weak hand so their hearts cannot be great either.”

 

Indeed, dummy’s hearts were not that strong:

 

 

Yesterday, we saw a board where the North Island Pairs winners did not score so well. They scored much better on this one.

We can see why Clair Miao did not bid 3…and she was right! Yes, 3 can make and generally did (though it can be beaten on an initial heart lead and then the underlead of AK when North wins K) but not only can 4 make but accurate play will see 5 making!

Clair was happy to defend 3 undoubled which barring a void spade in an opponent’s hand would be one down. She thought the double of 3NT suggested a heart lead but as we see above, there were complications arising from the auction.

Johnny Davidson (North) had a little bit of work to do after that J lead. He could play one round of clubs, cross to dummy and take the club finesse which seemed very likely to work given the bidding. There were no overtricks but + 750 gave Johnny and Sam 54 matchpoints out of 56. Bob Hurley (North) only scored 6 when after a similar auction and final double of 3NT, Christine Gibbons found a heart lead. Most tables played in a spade contract. No pair bid to 5.

This was no time to break the recommended lead.

Richard Solomon

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