ACES ON BRIDGE

I have a lifetime appointment and I intend to serve it. I expect to die at 110, shot by a jealous husband.

— Thurgood Marshall

This deal might represent some kind of record. I frequently use deals played by the giants of the game, but it is relatively rare to receive a deal that was played 80 years ago.

Tony Priday of England died a few years back, having dominated the international scene in England through the ’70s and ’80s, and having then become a much respected nonplaying captain. When he learned bridge at school, the pupils used Mahjongg tiles in place of cards, which were regarded at that time as the devil’s playthings.

In today’s deal, splinters were 30 years away from being invented. When North opened one spade, Priday was able to jump to four diamonds, natural and pre-emptive, and was raised to five diamonds.

When West led the club king, East made a thoughtful but catastrophic play by overtaking with the ace, hoping that he could lead a heart through declarer. However, Priday could ruff with the diamond six, then lead the trump seven to the ace, to find the bad news.

Undaunted, Priday saw that he would still be able to make his game as long as he could keep East off lead until spades were established. So he advanced the club jack and discarded a spade from hand. Since West was unable to attack hearts successfully, Priday could ruff out the spades, using a high trump again, then knock out the master trump. Now he could cross to the diamond three and discard two hearts from hand on the spades.

ANSWER: If you play two-over-one game forcing, you are already in a game force, of course. The two-heart bid suggests weak length with no convenient call. You cannot bid no-trump without a stopper, and raising clubs would show three, so all that is left is a two-spade call. This does not guarantee six, and at least your main values are here.

If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, email him at

bobbywolff@mindspring.com