IMPROVE YOUR PLAY

With Larry Matheny

The Lightner Double convention has been around for decades. It is used against slams to ask for either an unusual lead (which you will ruff) or dummy’s first bid suit. Here it is in action.

Scoring: Matchpoints (Pairs)

#13-20
Dlr	W
Vul	E/W

	109
	QJ872
	Q1075
	A10

	Q653
	105
	9862
	QJ2

	AJ842
	43
	987643

	K7
	AK96
	AKJ43
	K5

West	North	East	South
Pass	Pass	Pass	2
Pass	2	Pass	2NT
Pass	3	Pass	4
Pass	6	DBL	Pass
Pass	Pass

Bidding: North’s 2 response was game forcing showing values but no strong suit. South showed a balanced hand with 22-23 points and North transferred to hearts. South jumped to show a great fit and North bid the slam. East then made a Lightner Double asking for his partner to either lead dummy’s first bid suit or a long suit that he was likely to ruff.

Play: West thought a long time before selecting the deuce of diamonds. He finally decided if N/S held nine spades they probably would have bid them. East ruffed the diamond and cashed the ace of spades to defeat the contract.

Reflecting on the auction, South had an opportunity to convert to the ice-cold 6NT but failed to do so.

Copyright ©2013 Larry Matheny