Susanna Gross

Bridge | 29 November 2012

• From magazine issue: 01 December 2012

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  Susanna Gross

  Bridge | 29 November 2012

  

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Alexander Larman

What happened to the Rishi Sunak I knew at school?

He may have been a hopeless dummy, but at least Culbertson never rushed the play when he was declarer — a far more common form of impatience among the rest of us. This hand cropped up during a game of rubber bridge. Declarer saw dummy, thanked his partner, and immediately played the wrong card:

West led the ♥A, declarer played low from dummy and East discouraged with the ♥2. West switched to clubs. Declarer won, cashed the ♠A, then the ♣KQ and the ♥K — but then had to put West on play and eventually lose a diamond.

If South had slowed himself down at trick 1, he might have seen the need to play dummy’s ♥K under the ♥A. If trumps don’t divide 1–1 the only hope is to find West with a diamond void. Declarer can now eliminate hearts by coming to hand with the ♥Q and ruffing a heart — then exiting with a spade for a ruff-and-discard from West.