If you are a regular reader of this column — do I have a regular reader who did not actually give birth to me? — you may remember that a couple of weeks ago no one could have felt sorrier for themselves than moi. We had been knocked out of every competition you could think of and a few you couldn’t. Well, I have one thing to say to you, my regular reader: a good moan helps! Last weekend we trouped off to Stratford-upon-Avon, more in hope than expectation, to play Britain’s Premier Congress, the Schapiro Spring Foursomes. We plodded on. And on. And on. And finally we won! As I said — A Good Moan Helps.
On this hand, Nick Sandqvist had the pleasure of pulling a fast one on one of his ex-partners.
West led a Club, as instructed, and East played three rounds of the suit.
When South ruffed with the ♥9, West considered his options, giving declarer time to plan his next move. As East passed initially, West was known to hold both the red Kings. Nick also knew that a player of West’s class would not hesitate to over-ruff if he held Kx of trumps, as with that holding he is clearly exposed to a throw in.
When West eventually elected to discard a Spade, declarer had formed a devious plan; he casually led a small trump from hand! This time it worked – West played low instinctively, and must have felt an icy chill when dummy’s 10 held the trick. A heart back to the Ace was followed by three rounds of Spades. West saw his miserable fate and, thoroughly fed up with himself, didn’t wait for the inevitable trump throw-in. With a sincere ‘Well done’, he conceded the game.
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