Dubious Logic

The Last Mistake

"The winner of the game is the player who makes the next-to-last mistake." So quipped Dr Savielly Tartakower, polyglot and chess Grandmaster – about his game, naturally. It is sort of true about bridge too, but our game is limited to only 13 moves though to redress, each of those is comprised of four interactions rather than the two in chess.

Watch a deal played and defended by novices and you will see how often the advantage switches sides. However, even in a good game, especially early in the play while the lie of the cards is obscure, the same can happen. This deal from a County Teams match,

West did a good thing for his side by starting with a low trump. When the heart nine held, declarer led low to the spade king and played another; West ruffed and switched to a club, king, ace. Anxious not to help declarer by leading a spade, East tried another club but South ruffed. Declarer now ducked a diamond to East who returned the suit; this was the position.

South was on lead and needed the rest but nothing works, neither drawing trumps (East keeps a spade winner) nor a high cross-ruff (only five tricks). That arbiter of truth, the hand-record, showed that four hearts should make – who went wrong and where?

South followed the first guideline of bad trump breaks: stop drawing trumps. They provide an alternative strategy of the high cross-ruff and are transportation from hand to hand. However in playing spades he erred. True, had two spades cashed he would have been in excellent shape but his first move should be to establish diamonds. These can be played through the trump length and overruffed in dummy – using the suit as 'trump substitutes'.

Should East have ruffed the low spade towards dummy – 'ruffing a loser'? Yes, that was necessary, otherwise declarer threatened a high cross-ruff. Likewise the lead of a club next, before declarer could pitch his club on a spade – West was on good form. But East fell from grace; though it looks wrong to lead a spade which South will ruff high, East knows he will get in again, with a diamond (the defence's third trick). Thus when he leads a fourth round of spades South has to ruff again – but this is one of dummy's winners and that means declarer can no longer draw trumps.

South ducked a diamond but had he played ace and another East would have found himself on lead in the diagram above. Now any card sees declarer ruff in South and draw trumps to enjoy the ace-queen of spades. At least East (I confess that was me) got up with the play to avoid the last error and played a diamond to South, not a spade.

As ever, the early play is tough and it would be very hard on South to castigate him for the initial spade plays but later both he and East should have seen farther ahead – when there were fewer pieces on the board.

Published Saturday 28.Jan.2017