Sheffield Bridge Club	Established 1936

THE  CONTINUING  ADVENTURES  OF  THE  PIG  TRADER

(From Sheffield Bridge Club Newsletter No 68, June 1992.)

Board 3, last board of the last round at Table 3 on Saturday, 25 April 1992, and the Pig Trader was installed in the North seat.

With EW vulnerable, the bidding proceeded:

W                          N                           E                            S

                              Pig Trader

                                                                                          No

1¨                         No                         4©                         No

4NT                       No                         5¨                         No

5NT                       No                         5¨                         No

6NT                       Dbl                        No                         No

No

There’s no misprint. East did bid 5¨ twice! This was in the days before bidding boxes! By the time the Pig Trader noticed it, his partner who, with her hand had virtually packed up for the evening, had already mead the fourth of her five passes! Anyway, that was irrelevant!

The Pig Trader felt on top of the board right from West’s opening bid, but his final double was lousy to say the least. At Match Pointed Pairs, if the opponents have bid to the wrong contract, then you should get a good enough score without the need to double. And if the opponents have the distribution to make the contract, your double may turn a Middle into a Bottom. Your double may also remove the element of surprise and allow declarer to make a contract in which he would otherwise have gone off, as we shall see.

The Pig Trader, too, appeared to have second thoughts about his double as he consulted the ceiling for a consensus on his opening lead. At least he had realised the danger of any diamond lead, which would have handed the contract on a plate. He led ª3.

West has eleven tricks on top. In the normal way, West might have tried the double finesse in clubs to try to make a twelfth, and failed. But the Pig Trader, for his double, must hold at least the missing kings and queen. If §10 lost to §J, West would have been alerted by the Double to squeeze the Pig Trader in the black suits via a Vienna Coup, rather than to try the club finesse again. Unfortunately, West was not up to it and tried squeezing the Pig Trader without first trying the club finesse to rectify the count (or, in the event, to set up §Q), and so the Pig Trader lived to tell the tale!

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