[MartyD24]

hi bbo-fellows,

after a strong 1 club opening, showing 16+ hcp, bidding was as follows:

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south became declarer in 3NT. east´s double was not alerted, thus showed hcp strength and was for take-out. West leads the spade 5.
how do you see the spade position after this lead?
what is your general plan of attack?

thanx in advance
martin

[WellSpyder]

MartyD24, on 2012-December-12, 04:46, said:

east´s double was not alerted, thus showed hcp strength and was for take-out.

Really? I think I would like to ask West just to check, despite the lack of an alert. (Here in England an alerted double of an artificial bid should show the suit being doubled, rather than being for take-out. But as a strong 1♣ player I would never expect a MI ruling in my favour if I didn't ask about an unalerted double of 1♣.)

[SteveMoe]

Duck the 1st ♠ for 2 reasons: 1) East will be on lead - we want that, and 2) East might only have 3♠ cards so a hold-up will help stop West from running ♠. Watch to see if West plays the ♠3 - the telltale sign of a 5-card suit.
Say East continues♠s. Win on table and lead a low ♥ toward the closed hand. East might pop with the Ace. If not you should have an entry for the 1st of 2 ♣ finesses (We are 74% sure to get 4 tricks from ♣s).

If east continues ♠ you are in hand and should continue your ♣ campaign.
If east plays ♥ instead, you will win your ♥K.
If East plays a ♦, then play small and see what West gives up if anything.

2♠ + 1/2♥ + 1/2♦ + 4♣ = 9/10 tricks.
There might be more on the run of the ♣...

The double usually says either clubs or equal or stronger hand. Majors (Mathe) requires an alert.

[Zelandakh]

WellSpyder, on 2012-December-12, 11:28, said:

Really? I think I would like to ask West just to check, despite the lack of an alert. (Here in England an alerted double of an artificial bid should show the suit being doubled, rather than being for take-out. But as a strong 1♣ player I would never expect a MI ruling in my favour if I didn't ask about an unalerted double of 1♣.)

It is worse than this. The OP's jurisdiction is Germany where no doubles are alerted. What does West say about the double? Would we be right to assume that this hand is posted because it resulted in a TD ruling that went against you?