Hand of the day #64
The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff Sally Brock has just won England’s first wor...
This conundrum was written by John Carruthers and was originally published in the book, Bridge with Another Perfect Partner - you can find out all about it further down the page.
“Allow me to give you a play problem.”
Selby uttered when I met him at Jill’s Gastropub for dinner before our weekly game at the club. While I had gainful employment and family commitments, Selby seemed not to have either, although he claimed to be the Director of the Harrow Research Station, a Department of Agriculture laboratory and experimental farm in a nearby town. For anyone else, the statement about a play problem might have been a request; for Selby it was a command.
“Of course,” I agreed readily, knowing that demurral was hardly an option.
“You reach six spades on this layout, after some optimistic bidding.”
Dealer South, Neither vulnerable
“Wow,” I exclaimed, “four hearts was a bit of a stretch, was it not?”
“I did not say I was South,” Selby responded, perhaps with a bit of starch. “South was in fact Kit. West leads the two of clubs. How would you play?”
Kit Marlowe was well-known as the most aggressive and imaginative bidder in the club. He was, however, given to flights of fancy. “And West?” I asked. “Nashe,” replied Selby. Thomas Nashe was a competent performer, one who was loath to lead away from kings. “Thinking out loud,” I mused, “on the face of it, I have three possible finesses to consider, as well as a potential source of tricks in hearts. It seems complicated. Suppose, first, that I duck the club in dummy. Then: If East wins and returns a diamond and I win with the ace, I need the spade finesse and either a diamond ruff or an extra heart trick. An unblock
of the queen of clubs might also be a consideration. If I am able to win with the queen of clubs, I’m a little better off, but not much. I still need to negotiate the other three suits for just one loser. If the queen of clubs wins, I think a spade to the ace might be best. Finally, if I win with the ace of clubs, I need to establish hearts for a club discard while ruffing diamonds.
“By and large, I think ducking the club and taking the spade finesse if the club loses looks simplest and best.”
“Succinctly put,” countered Selby, “but down one, I’m afraid. Here’s the full deal:
“Kit told me afterwards that Thomas, despite being a very good player, has a proclivity for non-aggressive leads. Since I’m rather new here, I was not yet aware of that. Kit won the opening lead with the ace of clubs and cashed the ace of spades! His plan was to ruff two diamonds in the dummy while setting up the hearts, then discard his club loser on an established heart. I’m not convinced that was the best line, but here’s how it went:
“The fall of the king of spades under the ace was great news, but Kit was not yet out of the woods. He played the ace and king of hearts, then led a third one, ruffing it high in hand with the jack. Then came the ace of diamonds and a diamond ruff. Now what?”
I was too hasty with my response. “The hearts are set up for a discard of the queen of clubs, yes?”
“True, but you are too quick to get rid of that queen of clubs. Look what would happen: West would ruff the heart and lead his last trump — you’d be left with a diamond loser.”
“Oh, but if I ruff a heart high, I’d promote the nine of spades into a trick.”
“Agreed, but that would have been your only loser. Although dummy’s hearts were good, Kit ruffed the fourth round of hearts with the queen of spades. That allowed him to ruff the queen of diamonds in the dummy; only then did he discard the queen of clubs. On the fifth heart, West could ruff and lead a club, but declarer ruffed, drew the nine of spades with the ten and scored 1430. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that play before: ruffing a winner high to promote a trump trick for the defense while, at the same time, ensuring the contract.”
I smiled. “If you’re not careful, Kit may just eclipse you as the star of the club.”
Selby just looked at me questioningly, as if I’d lost my mind. Perhaps I had.
“Well, we’ll see about that. If Kit had won Trick 1 with the ace of clubs, led a diamond to the ace, ruffed a diamond, played three rounds of hearts, ruffing high, ruffed a diamond and then cashed the ace of spades, dropping the king, he’d have been able to discard the club queen on a good heart without the necessity of another high ruff. However, on that line, if hearts were not three-three or if the king of spades did not fall under the ace, he’d have been in big trouble.”
“That works on the actual lie of the cards, but are you sure that’s not resulting a bit?”
“Perhaps you’re right and Kit’s line was better after all. It certainly was the winning line.”
I knew to quit when I was ahead.
Bridge with a Perfect Partner, by P. F. Saunders, was published in 1976. Many read and delighted in Saunders’ articles in Bridge Magazine (UK), and Saunders’ character Wilson, according to the flyleaf of the book, is “…an austere character, whose scholarly discourses are enlivened by frequent flashes of mordant wit.” The anonymous narrator comments, “He is very kind in explaining, when I go down in a contract, just how I could have made it and, when he goes down, just how my bidding misled him.” We’ve all played with partners like that, though few of them have had Wilson’s devastating, articulate wit.
In this sequel, John Carruthers, one of the world’s top bridge journalists,takes the reader through a brilliant series of deals, collected from tournaments all over the world. The style is highly reminiscent of Saunders’ original and will give its readers just as much pleasure.
