Dubious Logic

Psychic Attraction

Now I suspect I may get into trouble for this – in a family newspaper and all but as I tidied my desk I came across a set of hands I'd played some time ago. They were pretty much anonymous. Except for this one:

Now as you can see, East-West have a fairly comfortable small slam in spades available. Even more so if they can arrange for West to declare. Here is our auction.

The reason I remember it however was not because of my 'baby psychic' third in hand –though how I wished I had picked off the spade suit instead – but the early play. I led the ace of hearts and continued the suit, partner ducking dummy's knave on the second round. Declarer cashed the spade ace and then time stood still. It occurred to me that he thought I was likely to have the guarded spade queen and was looking for a route back to hand. For a fabulous moment or two I imagined he might think it was safe to cross in my bid suit. But after toying with my expectations for a what seemed like ages, he played a club and another flat board ensued.

I could take some consolation in that I had put them to a guess in the auction; one they had judged well though the outcome would have been less successful for them if my partner held the heart king – the inference that East drew that his partner would be short in hearts is that much greater if you cannot trust the opposition.

Why remember this? Well the sheer thrill of attempting to perpetrate a deceptive manoeuvre however blatant is quite startling. That's the attraction, not just the points it might earn, and it does lead some players to over-use the device. Thus psychic bids get a very bad press where once in the game's early days they were common-place. My opponents were playing a national event (with more success than us) – it's counter productive both for the table atmosphere and the inferences you hope will be drawn to employ such tactics against weaker or less experienced opponents. So use sparingly, for surprise as well good manners, but remember it's part of the game.

Published Saturday 29.Sep.2001