A Q J 9 5 4 
4 
K 10 2 
6 4 3.
vol. 8, nr. 4/5, July 1998.
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He got up irritated - angry even. At his partner, who had shaken his head in resignation. At those two nasty little brothers who were scarcely trying to conceal their urge to gloat...But mostly, at himself.
How could he possibly have made such a gigantic blunder? And at this
stage of the match? The hand would be the hot topic of conversation, at
the bar, in the newspaper, in the bridge magazines. There was barely a
shred left of his pedestal. For many years he had rated as the king of
the national bridge scene. Dozens of championships, international recognition.
But these past several years had brought few victories. Opponents no longer
seemed impressed as they sat down at his table. And, he felt certain, they
were laughing at him behind his back. The respect which he had enjoyed
for so long was now waning. And things were starting to go wrong again.
His scores were not so hot to begin with, and now this minus 1100....
His hand moved towards the pocket of his jacket. His fingers, looking
for the small box, had found it, squeezed it. His selfrespect fell easy
prey to the thought of the 1100 set. He thought back of the inner
struggle of the past few days, when he had decided that the king of national
bridge wasn't going to stoop to....
He asked the barman for a glass of water, went to the bathroom and locked himself in. The little plastic box contained ten blue tablets. The name 'VIAGIB' was imprinted on the diamond-shaped miracle tablets. He took one, and a sip of water. He was going to calmly walk back to the table, pretending nothing had happened, and then... The thought of those two nasty jerks fuelled his anger once more. Quickly he washed down another tablet.
Back at the table, he ignored the quizzical looks and picked up the
next hand: A Q J 9 5 4
4 K 10 2
6 4 3.
RHO opened 1NT, and he overcalled 2.
LHO now called 3 which was explained
as weak, and partner raised to 3.
The brother to his right gave him a contemptuous look and bid 4.
Still, there was little left but to bid 4.
West led the Q and dummy
appeared:
| - |
10 3 2
K 7 2
Q J 4 3
A Q 5 |
||
| - |  |
------ | |
| e | A Q J 9 5 4
4
K 10 2
6 4 3 |
||
K
to avoid an unwelcome switch to clubs, and ruffed the next round of hearts.
Next came the routine stuff: he 10, dummy 12, left at least 3, and right
a strong NT. All the remaining picture cards therefore had to be to his
right. There were enough tricks: with the finesse, six in spades, three
in diamonds, and the ace of clubs. But there were entry problems. First
he would to get to dummy for the spade finesse, and again later to cash
the fourth diamond. Suppose he were to lead the K
and East were to win his ace rightaway...No, too simple. They would laugh
at him again.
K, 10,
other diamond. East would have to hold off 'til the third round. If he
were out of hearts he could only exit in clubs. Not bad. That would work
if the spades were 2-2 or the hearts 7-2, or A-doubleton.
Excellent odds. He was about to lead a club when a wave of nausea came
over him and a blue haze appeared before his eyes. The tablets, he concluded.
He shouldn't have taken two at once. The haze lingered, but his head become
more clear as the nausea faded. Again he looked at the hand.
10 with J.
Not bad either. He'd succeed also if the diamonds broke 3-3. In addition,
there'd be communicationin diamonds for a squeeze. Not bad, those tablets.
No, there couldn't be a squeeze. Only East could have length in diamonds,
and he'd also be sitting with the K
over dummy. Besides, he couldn't conveniently lose a trick to rectify the
count. He found the energy to analyse further. What would East have to
keep after A and, for example
diamond return? Club to the ace, trump finesse, and the remaining trumps.
He'd have left 10 and 6-4,
and dummy J-4 and Q.
And East? Two diamonds and, of course, K.
And therefore no more hearts. That's it! A real steppingstone.
| - |
10 3 2
K 7 2
Q J 4 3
A Q 5 |
||
| 7
Q J 10 6 5 3
8 6
10 9 8 2- |
|
K 8
6
A 9 8
A 9 7 5
K J 7 |
|
| e | A Q J 9 5 4
4
K 10 2
6 4 3 |
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10
and West showed out. So the diamonds were 2-4. Small diamond from dummy.
Club to the queen and king. East reluctantly had to give dummy's J
the last trick. Not a word was said.
On to the next hand, and a nice one at that:
A J 5 A K 2
A 8 3 2 K 3 2.
He opened the bidding with 1.
Jerk to the left overcalled again, 2,
weak. He heard 5 from across the
table and, with regained selfconfidence, he called six. Again, the lead
was the Q.
| - |
4 3
10 7 4
9
A J 10 9 8 7 4 |
||
| -- | |
---------- | |
| e | A J 5
A K 2
A 8 3 2
K 3 2 |
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K.
Eleven tricks. The lead appeared to be from queen-jack. His immediate thought
was a throw-in. If West also had K-Q,
he could be thrown in with 100% certainty, and he would be forced to lead
from J-x. But what if East
held one of the spade honors?. West could then unblock by throwing his
king under the ace, and East would get in and simply cash a diamond or
return a heart. A new wave of energy welled up and he analyzed further.
What will happen in the endgame? Dummy would be left with 4-3
and 10 7, South with A-J
and K-2, and West could simply
keep honor-small in spades, and J-x.
But wait, suppose he kept three spades. West, too, would have to hang on
to three spades, for otherwise South ducks a round of spades, and so, he
would have to blank his J.
Only, after cashing the K,
there wouldn't be an entry to dummy.
10? In that case,
he would have to be stripped of his diamonds. He made a quick calculation,
and started to glow excitement. The play began: A
(West showing out), A,
diamond ruff, J, club
to the king, diamond ruff. The diamonds appeared to be 4-4. On with it!
Spade to the ace, diamond ruff. They did break 4-4. He could still go for
the throw-in, but by now West had already shown with K
and Q-J (presumably), and
thus, the spade honons were likely divided. The position was now:
| - |
4 3
10 7
-
10 |
||
| K 10
J 9
-
-- |
|
Q
8 6 5
-
- |
|
| e | J 5
K 2
-
- |
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2,
according to plan. West contributed the 9.
So he had blanked the J.
| - |
4 3
10 7 4
9
A J 10 9 8 7 4 |
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| K 10 9 7 6 2
Q J 9
K 7 5 4
-- |
|
Q 8
8 6 5 3
Q J 10 6
Q 6 5 |
|
| e | A J 5
A K 2
A 8 3 2
K 3 2 |
||
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