If you asked bridge aficionados to name the three greatest players of all time, Benito Garozzo would be on almost everyone’s list. Born in Italy but a United States resident for many years, Garozzo had his 84th birthday on Monday.
He has won 13 world titles, five European championships, numerous Italian titles and four North American national championships.
He plays almost daily on Bridge Base Online under the screen name of sillafu. He was the declarer in the diagramed deal on that Web site two months ago.
North liked his hand enough to open one diamond, despite only nine high-card points.
After the opponents have bid a minor and a major, a takeout double usually indicates exactly four cards in the unbid major and four plus in the other minor. With at least 5-5 in the unbid suits, you make a conventional no-trump overcall. Here, though, perhaps West was not sure if a one-no-trump overcall would have been taken as natural or as at least 5-5 in the unbid suits. And being vulnerable, he did not want to jump to two no-trump.
East’s double of four spades is not recommended. Even when the contract is going down, a good declarer — and Garozzo is one of the best ever — will often play one trick better than when he has not been forewarned about a bad trump break.
West led the club king and shifted to the heart jack. Garozzo (South) won with his ace and played a low spade to dummy’s king, getting the expected news.
Now South cashed dummy’s diamond king, dropping East’s queen, and led a diamond toward his hand. When East ruffed, declarer unblocked his ace.
After East returned a club, South trumped in the dummy and led another diamond, ruffed by East.
If East had played a club, declarer would have ruffed in the dummy and led diamonds. Whenever East ruffed, South would have overruffed; played a trump to dummy’s queen, removing East’s last spade; and finished the diamonds.
When East actually led a heart, declarer won with his king, drew two rounds of trumps ending in the dummy and ran the diamonds for plus 790.
That was a textbook example of using a side suit to maintain trump control by making an opponent ruff and reduce his trump length to the same as declarer’s. Also note that if South had cashed his spade ace at Trick 2, he would have gone down, dummy being forced to ruff the third round of clubs with a spade honor, and giving East a third trump trick.