Cleopatra – The Eight of Diamonds
Today's heroine is Cleopatra VII Philopator 69 BC – 30 BC, the last pharaoh of Egypt. It's curious that while her beauty is celebrated today, her intellectual talents are largely forgotten. Whereas in records contemporary with her life, the emphasis is reversed(a).
She is alleged to have been a fine businesswoman, skilled mathematician, knowledgeable in literature, astronomy, and medicine. Her linguistic skills extended to nine languages. Indeed, she was the first Ptolemaic ruler of Egypt that could actually speak Egyptian! She is described as being quick-witted with a fine sense of humour(b).
Often these remarks were made by her adversaries – proving they were not the compliments of fawning courtiers. Though, her courtiers did remark that she was driven to distraction by the boorish Mark Anthony when compared to the cerebral Julius Caesar.
North-South Game, Dealer East.
| Evariste | |||
| ♠ J10753 | |||
| ♥ 73 | |||
| ♦ 73 | |||
| ♣ A862 | |||
| Hypatia | Srinivasa | ||
| Cleopatra | |||
| ♠ AK | |||
| ♥ KQ6 | |||
| ♦ A865 | |||
| ♣ KQJ4 | |||
| West | North | East | South | |
| Hypatia | Evariste | Srinivasa | Cleopatra | |
| 1NT1 | Dble | |||
| 2♦2 | 2♠ | Pass | 3NT | |
| Pass | Pass | Pass |
1. 12-14 HCP.
2. Transfer
Hypatia opened proceedings with the jack of diamonds; Srinivasa overtook with the queen and south ducked. East continued with the king and four as south ducked for a second time. Here are Cleopatra's musings as she planned her campaign:
Ducking the first two tricks looked right – Hypatia followed with the jack, two and nine so she's sure to hold the ten. Srini's no-trump opening places the remaining honour cards in his hand; that's the queen of spades and ace, jack of hearts. So west's diamond is one winner for the defence I needn't worry about.
Counting tricks - I've four clubs, one diamond and two spades; that's seven. And as east is guaranteed to hold the ace of hearts, leading hearts from dummy will secure the eighth and ninth. The problem is, entries to dummy are scarce, but provided clubs break 3-2, I'll be able to overtake one of my club honours with the ace, and then the four to the eight will provide the second route to dummy.
Cleopatra cashed the king clubs, but when she played the queen, west discarded a heart.
How frustrating! There goes north's second entry. What's to be done? Perhaps the queen of spades will fall under the AK - no that won't work. West's transfer bid showed five or six hearts. So Srini's shape has to be 4333 with four clubs, or 4432 with 4-4 in the black suits and two hearts.
Ah, there's a chance - if east has two hearts, specifically the AJ, a single entry to dummy will suffice. But wouldn't Hypatia have led a heart from 1098532 in preference to the four card diamond suit? Is there a solution if west has three hearts? Let me try to picture the hand in this case.
| Evariste | |||
| ♠ J1075 | |||
| ♥ 73 | |||
| ♦ --- | |||
| ♣ A8 | |||
| Hypatia | Srinivasa | ||
| ♠ xxx | ♠ Qxx | ||
| ♥ xxxx | ♥ AJx | ||
| ♦ 10 | ♦ --- | ||
| ♣ --- | ♣ 109 | ||
| Cleopatra | |||
| ♠ AK | |||
| ♥ KQ6 | |||
| ♦ 8 | |||
| ♣ J4 | |||
Interestingly, if east had one less card there'd be no problem. A spade less the queen would fall under the AK, a heart less and one entry to north would suffice to setup the KQ, and with a club less, I'd have two entries to dummy. That's it; I can see the answer now. A historian once wrote of my other self: "Her design of attacking Rome by means of Romans, was one of such stupendous audacity that we must suppose that she saw no other way."
I'll attack my opponents by letting Hypatia win her diamond trick. When I play my named card, that's The Eight of Diamonds, west will come under an odd suicide squeeze in three suits.
After some thought, Srinivasa discarded a club on east's winning diamond and declarer easily made her contract. Cleopatra was too regal a character to gloat over her triumphs, though all knew she had the habit of preening herself if she was especially happy… While they waited for the next board Cleopatra took out a hand-mirror and fussed with a misplaced hair.
The full deal:
| Evariste | |||
| ♠ J10753 | |||
| ♥ 73 | |||
| ♦ 73 | |||
| ♣ A862 | |||
| Hypatia | Srinivasa | ||
| ♠ 864 | ♠ Q92 | ||
| ♥ 98542 | ♥ AJ10 | ||
| ♦ J1092 | ♦ KQ4 | ||
| ♣ 5 | ♣ 10973 | ||
| Cleopatra | |||
| ♠ AK | |||
| ♥ KQ6 | |||
| ♦ A865 | |||
| ♣ KQJ4 | |||
- Plutarch wrote of her… "For her actual beauty, it is said, was not in itself so remarkable that none could be compared with her, or that no one could see her without being struck by it, but the contact of her presence, if you lived with her, was irresistible; the attraction of her person, joining with the charm of her conversation, and the character that attended all she said or did, was something bewitching."
- Once, when Antony and Cleopatra went fishing he failed to catch a single fish. So he secretly arranged to have a fisherman dive and attach fish to his hooks, but Cleopatra guessed what was going on.
The next day she invited a large audience to witness his prowess and after they had had gathered and Antony had lowered his line, Cleopatra told one of her slaves to dive in ahead of the others and attach a salted fish to his hook. When Antony thought he had caught something he pulled it up, and when (as might be expected) loud laughter ensued, she said "General, leave the fishing rod to us, the rulers of the Pharos and Canopus; your game is cities and kingdoms and countries".
Mike Chanter
This sequence of articles was written and conceived by Mike Chanter.
Mike has been a member of Suffolk for a long time despite no longer living in the county and retaining his connection by being an associate. He still has many friends in Suffolk and returns from time to time to play in local events. He would be delighted to hear your impressions of Bridge in the Cupboard.