Today’s deal is from a team match between a team from Egypt and a team from Kenya. The Egyptians were massive favourites and their top pair was sitting East-West in this deal. The Kenyan player sitting South was too bold when he leaped to slam over East’s lightweight overcall. He caught a great dummy, however, and the slam would have rolled home. Unfortunately, North thought he had substantial extras for his opening bid — he did! — and raised to seven. Oops!
The ”Lightner” double is a tool used by good players everywhere. It is a request for partner to make an unusual lead. If the doubler has bid a suit during the auction, it specifically says “don’t lead my suit”. It is most often used against a high-level suit contract, often a slam, and suggests that the doubler has a void and can ruff the opening lead if partner leads the right suit. This is often an easy choice for the opening leader. He ignores the trump suit and partner’s suit and leads the side suit in which he has the greater length.
Against a no-trump contract, however, the doubler probably has an ace in one of the side suits and the right lead is often harder to find. West knew exactly what the double meant, and he thought long and hard about his lead. In the end, he could find no reason to lead one suit over the other, between hearts and clubs, and led a heart. 13 easy tricks were the result and a huge gain to the team from Kenya!
