Hand of the day #570
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This conundrum was written by Mark Horton and was originally published in the book, Misplay These Hands With Me - you can find out all about it further down the page.
Despite the fact that Chelsea are playing Barcelona in the Nou Camp I have, against my better judgment, agreed to play in a Swiss Teams at the local club. My partner is a fine player, although his bidding style is perhaps best described as eccentric. Our teammates are solid enough and by the time the last match starts, it is clear that any win will be enough for victory.
This has been the auction:
Ignoring his partner’s double, West leads the eight of clubs.
You see what I mean by eccentric!
Had I been North, it would not have occurred to me to do anything other than respond Two Clubs, although I suppose I must concede that the textbooks are not overflowing with advice on how to respond with this type of hand. Making a mental note to mention that to my publisher, I turn my attention to the contract.
If trumps are 2-2, this is a laydown. I can win the ace of clubs, draw two rounds of trumps ending in dummy, and then simply run the jack of clubs. It would be typical of our luck if they have blundered into Seven Hearts in the other room and the cards lie this way. Anyway, clearly I must win the opening lead, since if it’s singleton, East will win and return the suit, quite probably promoting a trump trick for West.
After taking the ace of clubs, I cross to the ace of hearts and then go back to dummy with the king. On this trick, East discards the two of spades. No matter. I simply play the jack of clubs, running it when East follows with the six. Disaster strikes from an unexpected quarter as West produces the king of clubs. The queen of hearts is the setting trick
This was the layout:
Post-mortem
Reflecting that I should have left partner to play in Six Clubs, I congratulate West on his lead and trudge wearily off to compare scores.
As it happens, our partners’ card is good enough to cope with this disaster, but when I describe the play, I receive a rude awakening. At the other table, our West also found the same cunning lead, but declarer won with the ace and ruffed a club with the nine of hearts. The appearance of West’s king was soon followed by a claim. If West had been able to overruff, declarer would have ruffed the spade return, drawn trumps ending in dummy and ruffed a club. There would still be a trump left in dummy to allow declarer to enjoy the clubs.
Horton leads the reader through a plausibly logical line of play on each instructive deal, but one that ends in failure. In each post-mortem, the 'expert' realizes how he could have improved on his play, and (usually) have made his contract. The deals are all from top-class events, which prove to be a remarkably fertile source of such material. A book filled with subtle humor and great bridge. Reviews Misplay with Me is the best written bridge book since Reese. I thoroughly enjoyed it. - Charles Lipman
