MIT/DL Session Note, May'98 15 May 98 ------------------- Paul Wendt "PILING ON" OR "UNNECESSARY TALENT" "Piling on" is the American football infraction committed by diving on someone who is already down, a form of "unnecessary roughness". One North-South pair committed "piling on" at the bridge table in our 12 May IMP Pairs. The culprits bid well enough to win the deal in the auction, reaching a super game that many would miss and inducing a "giveaway" penalty double. Then declarer played unnecessarily well, making the contract without accepting the "gift" and making the internet with a pretty finish. North dealer, EW vulnerable (#19 rotated for convenience): xx KTxx QJxx xxx Ax KQJxx J98x x xx xxxx AJxxx xxx xxxx AQxx AKx KQ By opening 2S, East would probably win this deal, but that is a little rich, second seat red, in a room filled by graduate students and their elders. With East-West silent, North-South would probably reach 4H or languish in 1N depending on their opening notrump range. Competition over 1D might keep them out of 4H; competition over 1N might help them find it. Our pair of weak notrumpers did suffer competition over 1D but bid game nonetheless: W N E S -- -- 1D 2C -- 2S -- -- X -- 4H X -- -- -- The last line is no mistake: West found a "giveaway" double of the sort that is featured almost daily in bridge columns. Defenders would normally lead three rounds of spades, tapping dummy, so that declarer would not see the trump break until too late to finesse. But the double gives away the contract, regardless of that defense, if only South sees through it to West's trumps --that is, if South accepts the "gift". xx repeated for convenience KTxx QJxx xxx Ax KQJxx J98x x xx xxxx AJxxx xxx xxxx AQxx AKx KQ Perhaps our defenders hoped to see this bridge column resumed, for they yielded another chance. Two spades tricks marked the suit 2:5, on the auction. East switched to a low club, continued but not ruffed, which marked that suit 5:3 (standard high from doubletons). With trumps intact, that suit might now be tested rather than rely on the "gift" double. Or could it? At second glance, it appears that declarer must fatally block diamonds in order to test trumps, finesse the third round, ruff a club, and return to dummy to draw the last trump. This would be the ending after testing (finding Jxxx:x as expected), finessing, and ruffing: - K QJxx - - K J - xx xxxx Jx - xx - AKx - How can South win the rest? Must doubler's gift be accepted, after all? Nay, for declarer took a third glance. 4:1 trumps mean 2:4 diamonds, so that spades and diamonds lie together onside to be squeezed. South rejected the gift by testing trumps; finessed and ruffed to reach the ending shown here. Two rounds of diamonds to dummy did indeed block the suit, but the last trump squeezed the long diamond good, so the blocking honor could be dropped from hand. +590. Secure, on the bidding and initial defense, against both the giveaway double with Jxxx and its diabolical cousin with three small. Before even gloating, South was whistled for "piling on". ----Paul Wendt, 15 May 98 slightly reworded, 4 Sep 98