Bridge

I wish I’d been at the teams event held last week by the World Bridge Tour in Reykjavik. The sights, I’m told, were amazing. No, not the snow-capped mountains or hot springs. I mean the famous faces at every table – Bas Drijver, Michal Klukowski, Boye Brogeland, Sabine Auken, the Rimstedt twins…it was a bridge player’s paradise.

The venue wasn’t too shabby, either: Reykjavik’s iconic Harpa Concert Hall (though all I really want when I play is a well-lit room, a water dispenser and a nearby loo). I followed the action as much as I could from home. I particularly enjoyed this deal, from a match between two of the leading teams:

EW were the top American players Vincent Demuy and John Hurd. South led the ♣️6. Hurd won in hand, cashed the ♠️A, then cashed the ♥️AK and ruffed a heart. Next he ruffed the ♠️Q, crossed back to dummy with a trump, cashed the ♦️A and played a diamond to his ♦️Q. Bad luck: the line would have worked if North had held the ♦️K, or South doubleton ♦️Kx.

At the other table, Tom Townsend was also in 6♣️. He too got a trump lead, and
followed the same line, up to where he played the ♠️Q. Now, instead of ruffing, he discarded a diamond, forcing South to win and lead away from his ♦️K. Slam made! But how did he know? Surely the odds favoured the missing kings to be split, rather than both with South? I emailed Tom later. I had missed a vital clue: South’s trump lead. Like Hurd, Tom had denied a diamond control when he cue-bid 4♥️ over 4♣️. So a diamond would surely have been South’s first choice of lead – unless he held the ♦️K. A brilliant piece of deduction.