This might be the most beautiful hand I’ve ever seen. I came across it while reading one of the old bridge books in my collection (Test Your Play as Declarer by Paul Lukacs and Jeff Rubens), and was bowled over by the solution: the pure logic of it came as a sort of epiphany. Forgive me if you’ve seen the hand, or a variation of it, before — but if you haven’t, I hope you find, like I did, that your mind has entered a higher dimension. Cover up the East/West cards:
West leads the ♦K to East’s ace. East returns a trump to your ♠Q, West showing out. Assuming West started with seven diamonds, how would you proceed? Amazingly, this hand isn’t a matter of weighing up the odds. It is guaranteed, against any distribution. Here’s the first fact: it isn’t safe to start by cashing ♣A, since West’s distribution might be 7–6, but you can cash a heart, because even if West has 6 hearts, East must have 1.
Get Britain's best politics newsletters
Register to get The Spectator's insight and opinion straight to your inbox. You can then read two free articles each week.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in