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The Truth, The Truth …nothing but the Truth!

There are those who have been playing this game, bridge, for some 50 years (well, that could be me! I must have learnt when I was very young….well young!) who can be heard saying: “I have never seen that happen before” about what happened during a game of bridge. Cynics would say that their memory must be going just a little (notice the use now of the “third person”..this could not be me!). Yet, bridge throws up the unusual quite regularly: oxymoron intended!

Now, just so that you do know what today is..the day of “All Fools”…it would be nice to cast doubt about the authenticity of every word above and below. How could I still be playing that badly if I had been playing for 50 years? (Letters of genuine support can be emailed to me at any time!) The wonderful thing about this day is that you must doubt the truth of anything said or written…and so to yesterday’s problem. Problem, how can it be a problem?

 

2 showed a 6 card-suit, 11-14 hcp with 5 indicating one ace (that is “ace” not “key card”). So, do you…or don’t you?

So, you doubt whether I am having you on? How could the above sequence ever have happened… in the last 50 years? In our game, there is something called “insurance” like when you have a very cheap sacrifice over the opponents’ 5 level contract which could go down, well maybe not!

So, on the unlikely event that I am telling the truth, how about answering the question? NOW!

So, you passed 6NT because

• you were assured that you were going to beat the contract (you are playing Pairs if that makes a difference) or because
• you had not realised you were on lead                                                                                                              or because
• you had gone off to get a cup of coffee.                                  (Do not answer which!)

At the table, North was alive and alert to the situation and reckoned they could collect 200 instead of 100 by doubling. Oh dear! One of the opponents twigged to what you, North, might be holding and decided to do something about it. They decided to make East declarer because if there was an AK missing, they must be in the North hand … and South might make a wrong guess on opening lead.

It is time to introduce you to the hero of this deal who is very much alive and well and still playing good bridge at her local New Zealand bridge club. Welcome to South, Nelda Wormald. She soon found herself on lead to 7 x with a hand which you would think would not cause you problems.

The other interesting fact is that it was West (“I got us into this mess, partner. Let me see if I can get us out of it!”) who bid 7, the only way he (that eliminates much of the bridge population!) could get his partner to be declarer. Look at the number of spades West held!                              The Action of a Desparate Man!

                                                                     7            x               All Pass

So, which suit would you have led against 7x as South? Nelda found a wonderful reason for getting the answer right. Diamonds could be the suit which had the biggest potential gain! 

We do not know if North gave just a little smile when the opening lead was made but it was not long before three rounds of diamonds had soon yielded three tricks and +800 for the defence. East had come to the party admirably for their partner in the trump suit but had let them down rather badly with their diamond holding.

So, was it right to double 6NT? Too right it was, as long as your partner was as shrewd as Nelda Wormald.

So, was your score     +100 (you will win many events in the future without stress)

(Please do not tell me you would have scored a near top for +100. I suspect that many pairs might try for slam on the East-West cards.)

                                  + 800 (you do have a good partner!)

                                  -2470 (keep trying. One day partner will make a good lead)

and did you doubt for even a millisecond that this was not a true hand? Shame on you, even on this day of “All Fools”. 

Back to reality!

 

A question for the second day of the new tax year. There seem to be two options here. Which one would you take?

Richard Solomon

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