P.G. wodehouse, author without equal

One of my regrets is that I never met P.G. Wodehouse (pronounced “Woodhouse”). You will either absolutely love his style or quickly put the book down and move on. I wish I could have discussed two types of techniques and tricks with him.

Occasionally he would bring bridge into his delightful stories. My favorite Wodehouse character is Psmith (the ‘p’ is silent, as in pscallop). In “Psmith in the City,” Psmith watches his boss, Mr. Bickersdyke, playing bridge, and Psmith totally discombobulates the man.

Psmith is gaunt and garrulous, dilatory and dapper, with an easy-going attitude toward the problems of life. I think his favorite bridge deal would involve deception, so he would have enjoyed being South on today’s deal. To test yourself, cover the East-West cards and plan your play in three notrump against a low club lead.

Let Psmith describe the play: “I couldn’t win nine tricks without playing on diamonds, but that involved losing the lead twice. If I won the first trick with the knave (jack) of clubs, surely even Comrade Bickersdyke, who happened to be West, would see the futility in continuing that suit. And if he switched to spades, I would be knee-deep in the bouillon.

“This hand required subterfuge. I called for dummy’s knave of clubs but then played the king from my hand. When I led a diamond, Comrade Bickersdyke was sure I had ace-king doubleton of clubs. He continued with a low club, allowing me to win a third club trick with the nine. Comrade Bickersdyke spluttered; I smiled sweetly at him.

“I led another diamond and claimed 10 tricks.”