Bridge

A difficult challenge

Opening lead — queen of hearts.

It is an ancient privilege accorded to kibitzers and irate partners alike to point out — after play is completed — how declarer should have played and made the contract he has just finished butchering.

In fact, I have it on excellent authority that this right to criticise declarer’s play and call attention to his ineptitude — after the location of all 52 cards is known — was one of the many pledges exacted from King John at Runnymede when he agreed to sign the Magna Carta back in 1215.

Whether this actually occurred I have no way of knowing, but there is no doubt that the hideous practice of double-dummying partner to teach him the finer points of the game still goes on to this day.

All of which leads us to today’s unusual exercise where kibitzer, butcher and teacher alike are all challenged to score 10 tricks with spades as trump.

This is strictly a double-dummy affair, by which is meant that the reader is invited to study all four hands and take full advantage of seeing the opposing cards. Of course, best defence is assumed.

To get right to the meat of the matter, all declarer has to do to make the contract is to win the opening heart lead with the ace and play his king on it! This extraordinary stroke increases South’s losers from four to five — but at the same time it renders the defence helpless. Without this highly unusual play, four spades cannot be made.

Three rounds of trump are next drawn, after which South cashes the ace of clubs and ace of diamonds. West is then presented with his heart trick. Not only that, but West is also allowed to win the next two heart leads while dummy discards two diamonds and declarer two clubs.

South then takes the rest of the tricks, trumping two diamonds in dummy and two clubs in his hand!