A double may suggest a bad trump break

Ron Klinger from Australia is a leading teacher, writer and player. He has probably lost count of both the number of times he has represented his country and the number of books he has written. His latest work is "Playing Doubled Contracts" (Weidenfeld & Nicolson).

Klinger packs a lot of material into a short space. There are 58 quiz questions and answers in 96 pages. In today's diagram, look only at the auction and the North-South hands. Against four spades doubled, West leads heart king and continues with the heart queen. East overtakes with his ace and shifts to a low club. How would you plan the play?

East's pre-empt was in the modern style - open high with a long suit and a weak hand, almost regardless of suit quality and vulnerability.