GRAND SLAMS

By Simon Ainger

Surely nothing in bridge can match the thrill of bidding and making a grand slam. Even being dealt a hand which looks to have chances of such an outcome (if partner has the right cards) gets the adrenaline flowing.

Sometimes an audience cannot contain its excitement. Since one commentator suggested that this hand might be regarded as the as 'the hand of the century' (the last century), we have to start with it. The final of the 1975 Bermuda Bowl between North America and Italy had reached a crucial late stage with the former needing to engineer a significant swing:

Dealer: West. E/W Vul.     A K 10 9   -   A 9 7   J 9 8 6 3 2     4 3   Q 10 8 7   Q 10 6 4   7 5 4   7 6 5 2   K 4 3 2   J 5 3   K 10     Q J 8   A J 9 6 5   K 8 2   A Q

North America had reached a comfortable 6NT but, after a tortuous sequence, Italy bid to 7 by North. Seeing the favourable trump layout, a wild (but unheard) cheer erupted from the Italian supporters in the Vu-Graph room. The successful club finesse was taken and Italy had won the Bermuda Bowl. Lucky? Certainly, since the K could have been offside. There was also much debate about what might have happened if East had gone up with the K on the first round of trumps. If declarer had assumed this card to be a singleton, (a possible, but far from certain, assumption) the contract would have failed and North America would have won the cup.

Should you ever double a grand slam even if you have a certain trump trick? The short answer is no, since the potential gain is minimal and the possibility that opponents can escape to a makeable 7NT would be hugely costly. Consider this deal:

Dealer: South. Love All. Teams     K 4 2   5 3   K Q 7 5   K 8 6 4     8 7 6 5 3   -   J 10 8 4   J 10 9 2   J 10 9   10 9 8 7 6   3 2   Q 7 5     A Q   A K Q J 4 2   A 9 6   A 3

As it happened the auction was quickly over. South opened 2, North responded an ostensibly negative 2, South bid 3NT, and North raised to 7NT. However, the bidding might have progressed more slowly with South choosing to end matters with a 7 bid. East, with his certain trump trick, doubles. Foolhardy? For sure: South converts to 7NT.

West leads the J, won in hand, and South cashes the A to get the bad news. However, he continues with the A-Q followed by three top diamonds, ending in dummy, and cashes the K, discarding a heart. All now are left with five cards:

-   5   7   K 8 6     8   -   J   10 9 2   -   10 9 8 7   Q   -     -   K Q J 4   -   3

When declarer cashes his three top heart winners, West is squeezed. Either the 7 or the 8 is destined to become the thirteenth trick.

Since a penalty double of a freely bid slam - small or grand - has little potential gain, Theodore Lightner, a partner of the legendary Ely Culbertson, suggested a more productive reason to double a slam. The 'Lightner Double' asks partner to find an 'unusual' lead. Most likely, the doubler has a side-suit void in an opponent's trump contract.

This leads me to my favourite Grand Slam story recounted by Mary Edwards, who played for Great Britain in 1959. Some many years later, her London team of four women was drawn away in a latish round of a major open competition, and had to travel to Cromwell Road. It was a cold winter, the ladies were well muffled and had some difficulty in climbing a steep flight of stairs to the top floor flat. In short they gave every impression of being 'LOLs' (a bridge acronym for 'Little Old Ladies'). Their four young male opponents were very gracious, but surely thought that they'd got a soft draw. They were soon to revise that opinion after a certain hand.

When Mary told me the story of the hand, she said that the North-South bidding was too convoluted to remember except that South arrived in 7, East doubled and South converted to 7NT. This changed a cast-iron contract into one which depended on a heart finesse (wrong, of course). East held 9 6 4 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 7 5 2 - the key card being the 9 which protected West against a squeeze.

A psyche at the seven level on a balanced yarborough must be something special if not unique. Mary did not identify East. However, I do know that, as a schoolgirl in Carlisle, she learnt poker from my aunt Molly.