Goren on Bridge

Cardinal Morton, in bygone days, was charged with collecting the King’s taxes. His view was that if a merchant lived comfortably, he obviously had plenty of money to share with the king. A merchant that lived humbly was no doubt hoarding his money, and he also could afford to share with the king. This was known as Morton’s Fork.

South in today’s deal was top American expert Michael Rosenberg. He ducked the opening heart lead in dummy and won with the queen in his hand. He had 10 top tricks at this point, assuming diamonds ran, and he needed two more. One more was readily available from the heart suit, but he would have to give up the lead to establish it. A spade to the jack, if successful, would give him 11 tricks and he could then set up another heart trick. Even if the spade finesse lost, a 3-3 spade split would see him home.

Rosenberg tried something else. He started by cashing three top diamonds in dummy. When East showed out on the third diamond, Rosenberg decided to play East for the king of spades. A 3-3 spade split would still save him should West have the king. Rosenberg led a low spade from dummy and East was caught on Morton’s Fork. Should East rise with his king, Rosenberg would have two additional spade tricks and make his contract. A low spade from East and Rosenberg would win and revert to hearts for another trick. 12 tricks either way and a salute to Cardinal Morton!

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