Hand of the day #303
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This conundrum was written by Paul Thurston and was originally published in Bridge at the Breakfast Table - you can find out all about the book further down the page.
During a session of the Buffett Cup, multiple World Champion Giorgio Duboin of Italy, sitting East, found a ducking play the likes of which you may never have seen before (I hadn’t) and may wait a long, long time until you see again.
Opening lead: ♣K
North-South did well to stop in 3♥ after South sensibly signed off over his partner’s invitational response. Incidentally, would you and your favorite partner treat South’s rebid as a sign-off or a game acceptance simply showing extra heart length along the way? Food for thought.
As it was, there was little extra food or anything else of useful substance in the North-South hands, but the East-West cards were arranged in an apparently friendly fashion and the contract was due to succeed — at least until Signor Duboin sprang a most unfriendly trap!
West started with a top club and shifted to a diamond, dummy and East following low, taken by South’s queen. Declarer continued with ace and a third diamond to establish his last card in the suit as East won and returned a spade to the jack, queen and king.
South next ruffed a club in hand to lead a low trump towards dummy and win the trick with North’s king. Win? Yes, Duboin withheld the trump ace as if it hadn’t even been invented in Rome!
And, just as you and I would have, the expert declarer sensed a possible overtrick in the offing as he led and passed the trump nine in the hope that West’s ‘known’ ace would appear. It didn’t!
Many Canadians do indeed get their daily dose of bridge ‘at the breakfast table’ — by reading Paul thurston’s daily column in the National Post, one of only two newspapers in circulation throughout the whole of Canada. This book is a collection of some of his best and most interesting articles — tips, oddities, and just plain interesting deals and stories.
