BRIDGE

ZIA MAHMOOD

The second Mind Sports Olympiad, held last month, was an even bigger success than the first. Just about every mental activity was represented: chess, go, crossword puzzles and bridge. Espen Erichsen, a Norwegian living in London, performed the remarkable feat of winning both the Pairs and the Teams events in the bridge, with a different partner each time.

I played in the Pairs tournament with Paul Chemla, the bridge equivalent of the athlete Michael Johnson. Chemla dominates his sport in the way that only a few truly great performers have done. When we played against the eventual winners, Erichsen and Unal Durmus, Chemla had a difficult opening lead to find on this hand. See if you can make the winning choice. You are dealer at love all, and these are your cards:

A 8 5 4 2 None J 9 7 6 3 A J 2

You choose to open one spade - not classic, but it's a bidder's game these days, and light openings are very much part of the modern aggressive style. Your left-hand opponent overcalls two spades, showing at least 5-5 in hearts and a minor suit. Partner passes, and right-hand opponent jumps to four hearts. You're considering what to lead against this contract when a different problem presents itself. Left-hand opponent bids six hearts, partner doubles, and everyone passes. This has been the auction:

South	West	North	East
Erichsen	Chemla	Durmus	Zia
	1	2	Pass
4	Pass	6	Double
Pass	Pass	Pass	Pass

It's not often that you are on lead with two aces against a slam, and partner doubles it. His double, of course, is of the Lightner variety asking you to lead a suit for him to ruff. But which suit? If you and dummy both have long diamonds, perhaps that's the right lead. It's just possible, though, that the opponents have a massive club fit, and that partner's void is in clubs. Can you hedge your bets in some way, or must you make the right decision at the first trick?

Chemla thought he could have two bites at the cherry. He would lead the ace of clubs. If I had a club void, I could ruff the second round. If I had a diamond void, the ace of clubs would hold the trick and he could switch to a diamond.

Sadly for our side, though, this was the full deal:

NORTH

Q J 7

A K Q 8 4

A K Q 5 2

None

WEST	EAST
A 8 5 4 2	10 3
None	6 5 2
J 9 7 6 3	None
A J 2	K Q 10 9 8 6 4 3

SOUTH

K 9 6

J 10 9 7 3

10 8 4

7 5

Declarer ruffed the ace of clubs in dummy, drew trumps, and lost only to the ace of spades. Chemla politely inquired whether it had occurred to me to mention my eight-card club suit at some stage during the auction. I had wondered how all this was going to be my fault, and now I knew.