The Morning Record – 26 Ago 1970
A familiar face stopped me in Stockholm during the world championships in 1970. The face was topped by some unfamiliar hair, but the voice was familiar. It was Charles Monk, one of Belgium’s leading experts, and he had a sensational bridge hand to talk about.
West dealer Both sides vulnerable
Contract 6 spades; Opening lead — J
«This is your hand, and this is the dummy,» Monk announced as he scribbled two hands on my notepad. «The opening lead is the jack of spades. You win with the queen, and East plays the jack of hearts. Proceed.
» I shook my head dolefully. «I must ruff four red cards in the dummy. If West gets in, he’ll lead another trump. But even if I can stop West from leading a trump, I’ll have to ruff with dummy’s ace of spades. That will set up a trump trick for West.»
Monk looked at me triumphantly, so I took another look at the hand. And then I saw the light. Try it yourself and then try it on some of your bridge friends.
East’s signal at the first trick reveals the location of the king of hearts. Therefore lead a low heart at the second trick. East wins with the king and returns a diamond, you take the ace of diamonds, cash the ace of hearts to discard dummy’s remaining diamond, and cash the ace of clubs.
Ruff a heart in dummy, ruff a club in your hand, ruff a diamond in dummy, ruff another club, ruff another diamond, and ruff the four fourth round of clubs. With two cards left in each hand, you are down to the king of spades and a diamond.
Dummy has the ace of spades and a club. West has two trumps. You ruff a diamond with dummy’s ace and ruff the last club with the king of trumps. West helplessly underruffs at both tricks.
If you worked this out, perhaps you could he a successful player in Belgium.
The hands: