Lucky And Good: Sanjoy Bhattacharyya On Bridge

Most of the great and good in the Indian bridge fraternity assembled in Pune in mid-February to participate in the team Selection Trial for the Bermuda Bowl to be played in September this year at Wuhan, China. Not only is the event a test of technique, character and stamina, it is fair to say that luck does play a cameo role. Take a look at some of the hands that had the expert declarer scratching his head and see how you might have fared..Some plays in bridge are admittedly baffling – so much so that the winning line is not easy to spot even double dummy! After a fairly prosaic auction, South landed in 3NT and was confronted by the lead of the spade Queen. How would you have set about arriving at 9 tricks?.The full deal is given below with South dealer and neither side vulnerable..Sniffing Out A Lead.Your initial thoughts focus on the club finesse but a losing effort would potentially give the defenders a club, 3 spades, and the heart Ace. Clearly, the heart suit needs to be brought home for a couple of tricks since a spade, 4 diamonds and 2 clubs add up to seven. What heart holding does the defense need to possess for this to be achieved? 3-3 seems necessary unless one opponent has the improbable holding of J10 doubleton. What is your only chance? The possibility that West holds either AJ or A10 in hearts and only 3 spades is your best shot. Therefore, you duck the first 2 spades and win the third in dummy discarding a club from hand. To strip West of exit cards, it is ideal to take the 2 top clubs and the knave of diamonds at this stage..The fate of the contract hinges on the card you play next..Keeping in mind what you expect West to have in hearts, the ♥9 is the correct play! Regardless of East opting to cover this card, West can only squirm and wriggle..On the next hand, NS felt they needed to push their luck and landed in the optimistic little slam in hearts. A multiple National champion kibitzing at the table was heard bemoaning India’s prospects at the World Championships if they persisted with the habit of bidding highly wishful slams. Can you find the best line for declarer to get home?.Two puzzles arise from the play of this deal. First, what is the best way to tackle the spades after winning the ♦9 lead in dummy..Combine Your Chances.For the slam to have any chance at all, trumps need to divide 3-3. What is the most beneficial spade distribution you can hope for? A 4-3 break with West holding King third..He is damned if he covers the Queen and equally badly off in case he chooses not to!.Second, is there a need to play the trumps in a particular order to optimize entries? Interestingly enough, it is vital to play a low trump towards your King at trick 2. Now the spade Queen ducked around followed by a second diamond and a low spade ruffed in hand. Next, a trump to the Ace and a second spade ruffed in hand felling the King! You now exit with the only remaining trump in your hand and claim 12 tricks when both opponents follow suit. Try playing any other card at trick 2 and you will soon realize why the slam fails to make. For the sake of completeness, West held ♠K73 ♥Q98 ♦9872 ♣QJ5 ..The final deal provides a simple but elegant exposition of excellent technique based on counting up to 13 and the consequent inferences that are available..After North had shown 9 cards in the majors and close to the upper range in terms of high card points, South decided to take a stab at 6NT. There was nothing wrong with the final contract, however – so long as South made it! West leads the ♦8 and some basic arithmetic makes it clear that ten top tricks are available..After winning ♦K, what card do you propose to play at trick 2?.The full hand appears below, both sides vulnerable and North dealer:.The Bidder’s Game.Since the extra tricks need to be developed in clubs, it is worth exploring the distribution of the major suits. This should provide a fair clue how to tackle the suit at a later stage. Should you choose to cash the AK of spades, the 5-1 break in the suit will come to light. The diamond lead has a suspicious whiff to it. You have now got 11 sure tricks and the twelfth may come from either hearts or clubs. Winning 2 top hearts may help you get an even better fix on where to look for the elusive trick. When the knave appears from RHO on the second round of hearts, you wonder whether he is false-carding with J10x. Does LHO have 5-4-2-2 shape given your strange feelings about the initial lead? Since it is way too risky to cash the third heart and be stymied by an adverse break, the odds favour playing ♣Q next. LHO wins the Ace and continues with a spade. You cash all the winners in dummy (spade Queen and ten and the heart Queen) and have no option but to play a low club. When East plays low, you play the nine in a jiffy since he is marked with 10 cards in the minor suits. Partner is quick to congratulate you on your thoughtful play!.As Thomas Jefferson put it so well, “He who knows best, best knows how little he knows.”.Sanjoy Bhattacharyya is Managing Partner at Fortuna Capital and an avid bridge player..The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of BloombergQuint or its editorial team.

Lucky And Good: Sanjoy Bhattacharyya On Bridge

Where Sanjoy Bhattacharyya quotes Thomas Jefferson after a game of bridge.

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