East stages an extravaganza BRIDGE

Dear Mr. Becker: I am taking the liberty of writing to you even though I am primarily a devotee and practitioner of the ancient and honorable game of gin rummy, a game in which I can state, with all modesty, that there is no one who can hold a candle to me.

I realize, of course, that you write only about bridge, and that you may know nothing and care even less about gin, but I had an experience on the accompanying bridge hand which might be of interest to you.

As you can see from the bidding (I was South), I am no greenhorn at the game, and my play, I may add, also leaves little to be desired.

In fact, if I ever decided to put my mind to the game, there is no doubt that you would soon be out of a job.

I was merely wondering — and that is why I am writing you — whether it is possible that I had overlooked any angle in this hand where I went down at three notrump.

West led the A-Q of clubs, and I would have had a very easy time making three notrump except that the player on my right threw away the ace of diamonds and ace of spades on the first two tricks!

No matter how I figure it, I don’t see how I can now make this hand. If East had discarded just one ace, I would have gotten home with nine tricks, but two of them were just too much for me. Is there anything I could have done to make the contract? Sincerely yours, Joe Blow.

Dear Mr. Blow: Not a thing. You were up against superhuman defense. Apparently East is also a gin player, so my guess is that he threw away his aces in order to retain his other combinations.

Once he did this, there was nothing you could do to alter the outcome. Cordially yours, SB

Tomorrow: