BOBBY WOLFF

“Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering.

There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.”

— Leonard Cohen

What makes today’s defense by Stig Werdelin and Steen Moeller so attractive is that East and West had to cooperate at every turn. Against four hearts, Moeller, West, found the critical trump opening lead. Declarer won and played a club to dummy to try a diamond to the king. Moeller took this and returned a trump, which declarer won in hand to ruff a club. He then led a low diamond from dummy.

Werdelin realized that if he took this trick, he could not kill the diamond ruff, so he imaginatively ducked! That let Moeller gain the lead with the diamond nine to press on with a third trump.

Now when declarer led the club jack from his hand, Moeller had to decide whether declarer had his actual hand or both black queens instead of the spade ace, in which case it would be necessary to cover the jack. Moeller decided that with the latter hand, South would have taken the ruffing finesse in clubs at trick five, so he ducked.

Declarer was still not finished; he ruffed the club and led dummy’s last trump. If Werdelin discarded a diamond, South could exit from dummy with the last diamond, and the defense would be endplayed to open up spades. Whichever spade East led, declarer could come home if he played for divided honors. However, Werdelin correctly discarded a spade on dummy’s trump, and declarer was now out of chances.

Ten tricks were made at all the 39 other tables in the Olympiad, where hearts was the final denomination.