Dealer
: West
Vuln : Both |
HAMMAN'S
TIPS #44
by Bob Hamman
the world's #1 ranked player
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The
reason that I gave you only three seconds to
make your
decision over 5 is
that if you think too
long, and pass,
partner will know that you paused
and
will be ethically bound not to lead a heart.
This
hand is from a USA team trials. At my table,
I defended
against 6 ,
and was minus 920. At the
other table, the contract was
7 with
the auction
shown. South, my teammate, bid Blackwood on
the
first round of the auction. His partner,
North, then
risked a 7 bid,
hoping that the missing ace was
in spades, or that West
would lead a spade.
West
did lead a spade, based on the fact that his
partner failed
to double the 5 response
to
Blackwood. He thought it was more likely to find
the
ace of spades in the East hand
than the ace of
hearts. Did you double 5 or
pass? It's true that
the double would also alert North,
and he would
not
raise 6 to
7.
So the board would be a push if you
doubled 5.
The pass, however, turned out worse,
because West led a
spade against the grand.
Perhaps
East should double 7,
but this double
calls for a diamond lead. It is possible
that the
double will convince North
to run to 7 ,
to avoid
a diamond ruff, and then East will be on lead,
but
this is farfetched. My advice is: Double
the
Blackwood response when you want that suit led,
and
don't worry about tipping off the opponents.
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—
East You