Bridge

Just like having a natural aptitude for drawing or music, some lucky people seem to be born with a gift for bridge. My friend Oliver Burgess is one of them. He plays with effortless elegance, visualising end-plays or spotting chances to false-card while most of us are still struggling to marshal our thoughts.

Ollie’s gifts were obvious early on – but I hadn’t realised quite how early until I came across this hand from the Junior European Championships 22 years ago. Ollie (West) was just 18:

North’s 4♦️ showed a raise to 4♠️ with six good diamonds. 6♣️ showed two keycards and a void. South’s 6♥️ asked for the trump queen.

At the other table, Ollie’s teammate, a young David Gold, was also in 7♠️. He won the ♦️J lead with the A♦️, drew trumps, cashed the K♦️, and when East discarded, cashed the ♦️Q, ruffed a diamond, and played the ♣️K. When West played low, he discarded a heart and claimed.

Meanwhile, Ollie, who knew that his ♣️A would be ruffed, found the inspired lead of the ♣️J! Never suspecting he’d underlead an ace, declarer ruffed and the contract was doomed. He cashed the ♠️K, crossed to the ♠️A, then tried two top diamonds. When East ruffed and returned a club, he was two down. Had Ollie led the ♣️A, declarer could have made the grand by ruffing, cashing ♠️KQ, coming to hand with a heart and ruffing a second club. He could then return with a second heart, draw the last trump and cash two top clubs and three top diamonds for 13 tricks.