Besse Shows the Art of Card Play

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The Sydney Morning Herald – Jan 4, 1983 by Dick Cummings

Part of the art of card-play is to get full value for your high honours. An ace tends to be most effective when it is beating a king, rather than when it is beating thin air. Such a principle is useful in the long run, but circumstances alter cases.

For example, look what the Swiss international Jean Besse did with an ace on a deal from the World Championships in Biarritz:

f2
 f3
 

Opening lead: 5

Declarer misguessed by putting up the 10 in dummy. Besse, sitting East, covered with the J, which was allowed to hold the trick.

Clubs were continued. West captured the K with the A.

Next came a third round of clubs, on which Besse made the brilliant play of discarding the A of diamonds. That meant that when diamonds were developed host had an entry with the Q to cash his long clubs and defeat the contract. . .