Evil 22-08
This rather freakish deal came up in a teams match some time ago. Yes, the hands were somewhat freakish but such freakish hands do occur, and in a teams match can create huge swings both ways.
Dealer S All Vul
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AQ4
83
QT
JT9532South opened 1D and West overcalled 1H. Yes, West did have more options available but the reasoning was sound enough, wait and see what will happen. North bid 2C, a slight overbid but reasonable enough, and East bid 3H, this time perhaps an underbid but with the diamond suit sitting under South’s opening 1D, not unreasonable. South of course bid 5C but West bid 5H. All passed and one North led the queen of diamonds and the other North led the jack of clubs. The diamond queen spelt disaster from the time it and dummy hit the deck. The jack of clubs led to a slower death. Both declarers made their contract in comfort.
Did you notice that there was only one opening lead that defeats 5H, and that is what seems to be, on the surface, a terrible, in fact abominable, lead, one that not one sensible bridge player would contemplate: the FOUR OF SPADES! Replay this board by clicking here.
Yet, if you and your partner play “Evil doubles”, had you been NS you would have been able to use the “Evil Double” to ensure that North led the four of spades. There is no real mystery or secret to this treatment but the Evil double is somewhat left field and does not come up very often. It would have come up in the sequence I described when East bid 3H but would also have been possible had East bid 4H rather than just 3H. I won’t discuss it any more because it is something that a partnership needs to discuss and understand.
Anyone interested in the theory can request the next chapter from me at villyn@xtra.co.nz but it won’t be posted on the X-Clubs web pages.
