Bridge & Humor: Danger!!! Experts at Play

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Beaver County Times – Mar 11, 2007 por Jay Becker

Steve Becker
Steve Becker

The best players are capable of wondrous technique. But they can also perpetrate monstrous errors.

In a team championship, Charles Goren found himself playing a contract of five spades with a trump suit consisting of K 10 5 4 opposite a void in partner’s hand—he would’ve made it had he been able to handle the trump suit for only two losers.

In the mid-’50s a British pair bid a grand slam missing the ace of trumps: «They might have made it had not the ace of trumps been off-side,» remarked Boris Schapiro.

Los mejores jugadores son capaces de desarrollar técnicas maravillosas. Pero también pueden cometer errores monstruosos. En un campeonato por equipos, Charles Goren se encontró jugando un contrato de cinco espadas con un palo de triunfo consistente de K 10 5 4 frente a un fallo en la mano de su compañero-él hubiera sido capaz de cumplir si solo hubiera perdido dos bazas de triunfo.

A mediados de los años 50 una pareja británica declaró un Grand Slam faltandole el as de triunfo: «Ellos podrían haberlo cumplido si el as de triunfo hubiera estabo bien ubicado» comentó Boris Schapiro.

In the 1966 European Championship Pietro Bernasconi and Jimmy Ortiz Patiño for Switzerland, against Italy, lost the first 13 tricks in a three-no-trump contract doubled and redoubled…Becker 3

In 1971, France played a partnership of Roudinesco-Trezel; they took the wrong view in a 5 response to Blackwood and ended in seven no-trump missing all four aces — difficult on any lead.

These pale in comparison with this deal. North’s two spades was strong and South’s jump to four hearts was a splinter bid showing shortness in the bid suit and good spade support.

North’s four no-trump was for-ward-going, followed by two red-suit cue-bids, when South cue-bid six hearts as a grand-slam probe, North decided his side had had a misunderstanding and that South held a strong, long heart suit, so he passed!

A suit slam without a single trump in either declarer’s hand or dummy is a record that can never be beaten!