A weekly barometer tournament at the world’s biggest bridge club St.Erik in Stockholm. People had come this Domingo afternoon to meet friends and to play bridge in a relaxed environment. On a board where I sat East the bidding went at lightning speed: 4 hearts - pass - 6 hearts pass - pass - pass. The lead from South came also lightning fast – the 6 of clubs.
I examined dummy. At first glance, everything seemed perfect. At a second glance – much worse. Sure enough, I had read in Terence Reese's book Reese on Play and in Hugh Kelsey's and Eddie Kantar's books that there were two types of hypotheses in bridge - the hypothesis of fear and the hypothesis of necessity. You place a vital card in a certain way which makes the contract go home and you play accordingly, or you choose the hypothesis of fear that leads to certain fiasco. So, what were my options in this case? The worst thing would be if the lead was from several small cards and North had Ace and Queen (or even the Jack) of clubs. The best would be if the opening hand had Jack or Queen fourth or fifth. If I played small from the table, North could think I had the Queen and take his Ace. Was there another alternative? I ignored other hypotheses and played low covered by the Queen and followed by a new club to South’s Ace! One off! No one had bid the slam but everyone had taken 12 tricks.
The whole deal:
A little later, when I had recovered from the shock, I asked my 94-year-old opponent how she had found the brilliant lead.
- I always play according to the rules and choose the fourth card from the top – she said. It's called the rule of eleven. It was by no means extraordinary.
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