BRIDGE

South dealer Both sides vulnerable This deal occurred in a playoff between the B Jay Becker and Curtis Smith teams to determine which would represent the US in the 1973 world championship. The Becker team won the match handily, but not before it was badly clawed on this hand.

Becker, West, doubled five spades and led the king of hearts, ruffed in dummy. Declarer then conceded a club to the ace, after which Becker could do no better than cash the ace of diamonds to hold South to 11 tricks.

Losing 850 points was surely a bitter pill for Becker to swallow, but what happened at the other table was no doubt even worse than he might have expected.

With his teammates now holding the NorthSouth cards, the bidding went: Here Smith, East, decided to muddy the waters by throwing in a psychic twospade bid, and it worked like a charm. Becker’s befuddled teammates never got themselves straightened out, and they wound up doubling five hearts.

West then proceeded to wrap up that contract for another 850 points, losing only a spade and a trump.

Thus the Smith team made five spades doubled at one table and five hearts doubled at the other table for a combined gain of 1,700 points. Fortunately for Becker’s squad, it was able to recover from this disastrous loss, proving that one hand does not a bridge match make.