|
MAN ABOUT
UNIVERSE (II)
by
Bernard Marcoux, Ste-Adèle
In 1996, I had
entitled this way an article that won the prestigious Bols
Bridge Press Award (Click
here).
The year before, I had made the final with
The Apple, the Law and the Principle that you can find
on this site also. A man about universe is penetrating,
profound, contrary to the man about town who is superficial.
The man about universe bridge player sees through appearances,
like a poet, very different from the man about town bridge
player who takes the 1rst finesse he can and… goes down.
The following
hand was played by Nicolas L’Écuyer in the finals of the
Canadian Championships, against Eric Kokish, contributor to the
Argentinean bridge site (Click
Here) and number One bridge coach in the
world.
Your partner
opens 1 , Kokish on your right bids 1 and you have:
K 10
K Q J 5 2
 7 3
K 7 3 2
As the finals of
a National Championships are not for timid souls, you jump to
3NT and all pass.
Dummy
852
A96
KJ4
AQ96
L’Écuyer
K10
KQJ52
73
K732
George
Mittelman, Canadian Champion and World Mixed Pairs Champion,
leads the 4 of spades (attitude lead). Kokish wins the Ace and
plays back the 7, showing probably 3 cards. You win the King
and… you have to make the rest, the spades being established.
You have 8 sure
tricks: 1 spade, 4 hearts (your heart spots are not enough to
make 5 tricks), and 3 clubs. You can find the missing 9th
trick in clubs if they break 3-2. Even if the divide 4-1, if you
find J or 10 stiff on your right, you will make 4 tricks. Do
you play clubs right away? All the men about town would, and
complain after, if they go down, of their bad luck.
Nicolas, like
all champions, hates to go down in cold contracts and hates even
more to play without thinking, without trying all he can to
avoid being forced to guess. The top players never guess, they
count. And if ever they guess, it is because they are forced
to, the events force them to guess. At the crucial moment, when
they absolutely have to guess, they then transport themselves
into another dimension, the 4th dimension, reserved
to really exceptional players, brilliant, men about universe.
After winning
the 2nd trick with the King of spades, Nicolas cashed
his 4 heart tricks, watching intently Mittelman’s discards: 3
diamonds (8, 9 and 10), then the 9 of spades. Nicolas knew at
that moment that Mittelman had 5 spades, and most probably 4
diamonds and 4 clubs. With 5 diamonds, he could have led that
suit. As he led spades, it should be his 5 card suit.
The more Nicolas
cashed his heart tricks, the more Mittelman was finding the
situation difficult, if not unbearable.
Dummy
--
--
KJ4
AQ96
Mittelman
Kokish
QJ
3
---
10
Q
A652
J1085
4
L’Écuyer
--
2
73
K732
Finally Nicolas
played his 2 of clubs and Mittelman followed with the 5, in
tempo. Well maybe a tiny too much in tempo, with that forced
relaxed way that wants to show: No problem here. Nicolas knew
at that moment Mittelman had 4 clubs and he asked himself why he
didn't discard one.
Follow closely:
Nicolas knew that Mittelman knew that Nicolas could play small
club to the Ace, then club to his King, finding the 4-1 break
and pinning the Jack or the 10 stiff with Kokish, if ever that
was the case.
Why didn't he
discard a club? Nicolas was asking himself. To put yourself in
the other player’s position is one of the top qualities of a
champion. So Nicolas put himself in Mittelman’s shoes.
When he played
the 2 of clubs, he knew he was missing J10854 in the suit. He
knew also Mittelman had 4 clubs and Kokish only one. When
Mittelman put the 5 of clubs on the table, Nicolas knew this was
a true card, the lowest (Kokish-Mittelman play udca), and thus,
Kokish could have only the… 4. If the 5 is the lowest, then
Mittelman’s clubs have to be J1085.
Nicolas called
for the 9, making 4 tricks in the suit and claiming eventually
the Canadian Championship.
Would you say
Nicolas was lucky? No, luck doesn't exist at bridge. Nicolas
would tell you that playing the 9 of clubs was a 100% play, that
he was taking NO CHANCE.
I told you:
great players don’t guess, they count. However, in this
arithmetic enter not only the cards, but also all the
information floating around the table: the hand count for sure,
but also the way the players stay still or move, their twitches,
their tempo, their will to play in tempo, their determination
not to have twitches, not to hesitate. And, in case of really
superior players, we have to add, I think, this other power,
indescribable, non measurable, that we can almost associate with
the instinct of an animal who ‘’smells’’ the cards.
Only a man about
universe can access to this supernatural arithmetic, and has
enough confidence in himself, enough courage to play the way
Nicolas played.
The kibitzers,
and maybe Mittelman himself, must have thought Nicolas had seen
the cards. When a player makes a play that prodigious, we first
are shocked. Then we might become a bit irritated, telling
ourselves that play was impossible, that he really saw the cards.
Then, after
being forced to admit everything happened correctly and
ethically, that nobody peaked, we feel, I think, a bit of
jealousy in front of that amount of intelligence. And finally,
if we are honest, if we can put aside all our mistrustfulness,
we cannot help feeling a profound admiration for the infinitely
superior player, and marvel once again about this magnificent
game we play, that gives us sometimes the chance to equal the
gods.
Dummy
852
A96
KJ4
AQ96
Mittelman
Kokish
QJ964
A73
---
108743
Q1098
A652
J1085
4
L’Écuyer
K10
KQJ52
73
K732
|