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Askia – The Nine of Diamonds

Askia Mohammed Touré's alter ego was Africa's equivalent of Ghengis Khan. From 1493-1528 he ruled the Songhay empire in West Africa. The empire's capital at Timbuktu boasted a population of 100,000 persons, and its market traders dealt in everything from salt and gold to luxury goods from afar afield as China.

Militarily Askia was a skilled tactician, adept in the use of cavalry and naval forces. He was also a devotee of the Arts and Sciences. Under his patronage the University of Sankore became a renowned centre of learning. Scholars from Europe travelled to study with its academics and the books they penned are considered key to our knowledge of medieval African history.

The name Askia means "The forceful one", a trait he brought to the bridge table.

NS Game, Dealer South		Putto
		♠ AK93
		♥ QJ
		♦ 853
		♣ KQ52
	Cassandra		Askia
			♠ Q854
			♥ 987
			♦ Q92
			♣ 1074
		Gaia

	West	North	East	South
	Cassandra	Putto	Askia	Gaia
				1♥
	Pass	1♠	Pass	2♣
	Pass	2♦1	Pass	2NT2
	Pass	3NT	All Pass

1. 4^th Suit forcing.
2. Promises a diamond stop

East-West were playing third and fifth leads and Cassandra led the four of diamonds to Askia's queen and Gaia's jack. Take a minute or two before reading on to see if you can match the master tactician, Askia.

What's happening in the diamond suit? Given the bidding, Cassandra's lead would seem to be her fifth best. The rule of ten tells me South has two cards higher than the four, which appear to be the Jack and Ace. The natural play is to continue the suit to establish three winners in partner's hand. But before playing I'd better take stock. (I recall giving that advice to a fellow tribesman once and the next week I caught him stealing my cattle.)

Gaia might have supported spades on the second round with three, so a likely shape for her hand is, two spades, five hearts, two diamonds and four clubs. Pointswise – dummy has fifteen, I've four, if I allow South thirteen for his opening, that's thirty-two, leaving eight for partner – give or take one or two. Three of those eight will be the diamond king, so the chances are that Cassandra holds one significant high card.

Next step is to assume we can beat the contract; if declarer has nine or more top tricks there's nothing to be done.

Gaia will need heart tricks to make 3NT, which means she's no chance if Cassandra holds the ace of hearts. If instead, partner has the ace of clubs, declarer will have one diamond trick, five hearts and two spades – still one short of the nine she needs.

The only other high card of consequence is the king of hearts. If Cassandra holds that card, Gaia will be able to cash six black suit winners, but partner's last five cards will be three winning diamonds and the Kx of hearts. When declarer takes the heart finesse we'll take four more tricks.

Tsk-tsk, I'm thinking like a frog swimming in a crocodile pool! This will be the position after eight tricks, with the lead in dummy.

		Putto
		♠ 93
		♥ QJ
		♦ 8
		♣ ---
	Cassandra		Askia
	♠ ---		♠ Q8
	♥ K6		♥ 98
	♦ K107		♦ 2
	♣ ---		♣ ---
		Gaia
		♠ ---
		♥ A10542
		♦ ---
		♣ ---

Declarer needs two more tricks and she'll have the choice of finessing in hearts or playing a diamond to throw West in for a heart return at trick twelve.

Gaia has a mystical talent for reading her opponents. If a player pauses for longer than it takes a flea to jump from a camel to its rider, she'll delve into their thoughts and deduce what they're thinking. That's the player, not the flea or camel; though on second thoughts, she can probably read their minds too.

Cassandra's a world renowned worrier, so when she comes to discard on the clubs there's no way she'll create a problem for South by casually baring the heart king.

I'm coming to the conclusion that West needs an ace if we're to beat the contract.

An idea's just struck me! Say, instead of returning the textbook nine of diamonds, I return the two? When we reach the point where we've each five cards left, and Gaia plays a diamond from dummy, Cassandra will be able to play low to let me hold the lead. Then a heart from me will ensure Cassandra's king becomes the setting trick.

After Askia returned the two of diamonds Gaia sensed something wasn't quite right, but she couldn't find a better line than the heart finesse.

The full deal.

		Putto
		♠ AK93
		♥ QJ
		♦ 853
		♣ KQ52
	Cassandra		Askia
	♠ J107		♠ Q854
	♥ K63		♥ 987
	♦ K10764		♦ Q92
	♣ 98		♣ 1074
		Gaia
		♠ 62
		♥ A10542
		♦ AJ
		♣ AJ63

Cassandra congratulated Askia on his farsighted play, but he dismissed the compliment saying it was, "merely duck soup".

"Duck Soup" is a curious term, and for those who haven't met it before - it means an action or process that's much easier than it looks. The Etymology of the phrase and even its original meaning are somewhat obscure. It's been suggested that it relates to the ease of shooting sitting ducks, or that duck soup might be easy to make. Though apparently both of these proposals are based on guesswork and not founded on evidence.

The earliest known reference to "duck soup" is a 1902 cartoon drawn by Tad Dorgan. It shows a prisoner in the dock juggling a bottle, jug, plate and salt shaker, with the caption "Duck Soup". Make of that what you will.

Two movies were made with the title "Duck Soup", one in 1927 staring Laurel & Hardy and a second in 1933 staring the Marx brothers. The latter opens with a scene showing four ducks swimming in a cauldron over an open fire. When asked about the title Groucho reportedly provided the following answer, "Take two turkeys, one goose, four cabbages, but no duck, and mix them together. After one taste, you'll duck soup for the rest of your life."