This hand was played in the Interpolis tourney in Amsterdam, several
years ago. Most players bid and made the slam in spade, but one
declarer "managed" to go down. Dear readers, take a look at all 4
hands, and try to imagine how the defense
managed to set that cold contract. I'll bet none of you will guess how
things went (it’s a challenge!).
Dealer South, North - South vul
Defenders were the Dutch pair Guinness - Mulder. Guinness, sitting
West, thought for a long time before leading. It was a pairs tournament
where overtricks are valuable. He "smelled" that the slam was cold and
thought that making the slam would get them a bad
score anyway, so he decided to risk all or nothing. His only chance to
set was to find his partner
with the ♦10 in
order to get a heart ruff. He lead the ♦3,
praying that his partner wins the trick. The Dutch declarer in South
examined the dummy for 2 seconds and then said: "Dank U wel. Doe maar
kleintje (Thank you. Small please)". So... the ♦2 was played from dummy,
the ♦5 from East
and... the ♦4 from
South. Mulder in East stared at his hand in confusion when he realized
(more than 20 seconds later...) that he had actually won the trick.
It didn't take him long to understand, looking at dummy, that his
partner wanted a heart switch, and down
went the slam after West ruffed with his one and only trump. It must
be a record for a singleton 5 to win the trick in 3rd when everyone
else follows! No doubt - a Guinness record.
No comments:
Post a Comment