Goren Bridge

Today’s deal is from a highstakes rubber bridge game in England many years ago. The combatants included two of Britain’s all-time great players: John Collings was West and Irving Rose was South. Collings was on his way to a great career when he suffered a near-fatal heart attack at age 33 and was never quite the same. Rose, nicknamed “The Great Rose,” founded the famed TGR’s Club in London, named for the initials of his nickname. He was a colorful personality in addition to being a great player.

Colling’s overcall was a “Comic no-trump,” which enjoyed some popularity a few decades ago but is seldom seen today. The idea was to confuse the opponents about your strength and defensive ability while having a safe place to run if you got doubled

Collings under led his diamond honors at trick one. East played the 10 and Rose, for reasons unknown, played low. We suspect that Rose’s concentration lapsed a little, never expecting there was a chance to win the opening lead with his jack. East quickly fired back a club for Collings to ruff. Collings could have cashed the ace of diamonds for down one, but he wanted the extra 100 points, worth 10 pounds at the current stake, so he led a low diamond to his partner’s “known” jack. Rose, who had completely kept his composure when he realized what had happened at trick one, gleefully won with his jack and claimed the balance. Collings’s tirade at Rose went on for some time, as did Rose’s laughter in response. Email responses may be sent to gorenbridge@aol.com.