“My wife and I make mistakes,” a club player told me, “but they fall into different categories: When she makes one, it’s just a case of momentary absent-mindedness; when I make one, it’s gross negligence.”

My friend was today's West, and North-South bid as if there were no tomorrow and got to six spades. North's raise to three spades was bold; his hand was worth two-and-a-half spades. South's Blackwood bid was unjustified; for all he knew, North held Q J 1 0 9, 8. Q J 6 5, A K Q 3.

“My wife had overcalled,”West said, "and when she doubled the slam, I thought she was saying she had the tricks to beat it. I led the nine of hearts, the suit she’d bid, and she petulantly took her ace and and shifted to a trump. Declarer drew trumps and cashed his K-Q-J of hearts, pitching three diamonds from dummy. He claimed the rest, and my wife said I was grossly negligent.”

When North-South voluntarily bid a slam, East’s double was “Lightner,” asking West to make an unlikely lead — usually the lead of the first suit dummy bid. If West correctly leads a diamond, he sets up a trick for East’s king while East has the ace of hearts.

Still, the slam should have failed. When West leads the nine of hearts, East can place declarer with the missing honors. If East follows low on the first heart, South can win two heart tricks but not three. With West holding J-9-8 in diamonds and East holding the eight of hearts, South loses either two diamond tricks or a heart and a diamond.

North dealer

N-S vulnerable

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