BRIDGE

North-South vulnerable. South deals.
NORTH
x J 2
u 7 4
v A K 3
w K Q 10 7 3 2
WEST EAST
x K 10 8 7 6 4 3 x 9
u K 6 u J 10 8 5 3
v 10 6 v 7 5 4 2
w 9 5 w 8 6 4
SOUTH
x A Q 5
u A Q 9 2
v Q J 9 8
w A J
The bidding:
SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST
2NT Pass 4w Pass
4NT Pass 7NT Pass
Pass Dbl Pass Pass
Pass
Opening lead: Ten of v
To double a voluntarily bid slam for penalties is an extreme case of avarice. You rate to gain 100 or so points and the potential loss is far greater, especially since the information given by the double can be of tremendous advantage to declarer.
The cards had been running well for North so, when partner opened two no trump, North immediately used the Gerber Convention to ask for aces. On learning that partner held three and looking at a sure eight tricks in the minors with only 12 of partner's points accounted for, North bounced into the grand slam. Since South had shown three aces, West reckoned that one of his kings was sure to make and so doubled.
West led the ten of diamonds and one look at dummy was all South needed to know where the missing kings were. Accordingly, he gave up on a straight finesse and instead executed a Vienna Coup.
Declarer won the opening lead in dummy and immediately led a spade to the ace, setting the coup in motion. Next declarer ran the minor-suit winners ending in dummy, reducing all hands to two cards. Dummy held the jack of spades and a heart and declarer kept the ace-queen of hearts. West, who had to hold on to the king of spades, was forced to unguard the king of hearts. A heart to the ace felled the king and declarer had racked up 2,690 points.
The Vienna Coup requires two specific cards to be in one hand whereas the straight finesse needs only one. Without the double declarer would play the hand in the same way right up to the end, but then would have taken a straight finesse for down two. In an attempt to gain an extra 100 points, West had cost his side 2,690 -- an unsound investment no matter how you look at it.
& copy; 2005 Tribune Media Services