Noor – The Ten of Diamonds
The real life Princess, Noor Inayat Khan, is one of the more tragic personas to be selected as a roll model by a Pack member. Noor was born in Russia, in the Kremlin, to her Indian father Pir Inayat Khan and his American wife. When she was three years old, the family left Moscow for France to escape the troubles of the 1917 revolution.
She studied psychology at the Sorbonne and music at the Paris Conservatoire. Later, she began writing poetry and children's stories. All was well until the German invasion forced them to flee for a second time.
After settling in England, Noor abandoned the pacifist ethos of her Sufi upbringing to join the fight against the Axis forces. In time she was inducted into the S.O.E., the Special Operations Executive. At one point in her training, it looked as though she would fail the course because of a fundamental dilemma she had with lying; a decided weakness for a spy. It is notable that this trait has filtered through to the Pack's personification of her character.
Noor, who was described as quiet, shy, sensitive, and dreamy, became the first female agent to be sent into occupied France. The story of her work as a radio operator, her capture, her escape attempts and the problems she caused capturers, is long and, at times, harrowing.
She was executed in Dachau Concentration Camp in September 1944. For her bravery she was awarded the George Cross and Croix de Guerre.
| Game All, Dealer South | Juliet | ||
| ♠ 654 | |||
| ♥ AQ654 | |||
| ♦ 2 | |||
| ♣ 7542 | |||
| Aristotle | Hypatia | ||
| Noor | |||
| ♠ AKQJ1092 | |||
| ♥ K2 | |||
| ♦ K1094 | |||
| ♣ --- | |||
| West | North | East | South | |
| Aristotle | Juliet | Hypatia | Noor | |
| 2♣1 | ||||
| 2♦ | 2♥2 | 3♣ | 3♠3 | |
| Pass | 4♦4 | Pass | 5♣5 | |
| Pass | 5♥5 | Pass | 6♠ | |
| All Pass | ||||
1. In the Diamond's Enigma system – 2C shows one of a variety of hands
2. Natural! Alerted as the almost all Enigma System bids are artificial
3. Showing a strong two-spade opening
4. Splinter
5. Control-bids
Aristotle led the eight of spades, Hypatia discarded a club and Noor perforce won in hand.
Achchacha, here we go again.
A cursory glance shows I've seven trump tricks, three heart tricks; that's ten. I can lose a diamond and ruff one in dummy, just the one, as West is bound to continue trumps. Eleven tricks; one short as usual, so where's the twelfth to come from?
If hearts are 3-3 it'll be easy. And if Aristotle has four hearts, he'll be squeezed in the red suits. Let me think… that will mean his shape is three spades, four hearts, six diamonds and a club void. Hmmm, that leaves Hypatia with a nine-card club suit. Even if west has three hearts, east will have eight clubs, which doesn't tally with the bidding.
Could I be so lucky in hearts? In Russia they have a saying: "If you're born lucky, even your rooster will lay eggs."
Wait a moment! I have made an assumption in the analysis.
I've assumed west will play a trump when he wins the diamond, but what if east wins the diamond at trick two? I know he hasn't a trump to play.
Twelve tricks will be assured, provided west can't ruff a heart return. Say Hypatia returns a club – I'll ruff, ruff a diamond, ruff a club, ruff a second diamond, ruff a club, draw trumps and claim.
Since the plan is to have east win the diamond, it must be better to play high from my hand - if I play the four of diamonds, Aristotle might win the trick with a middling card. When east has a singleton honour, any card will do but, if she has Qx or Jx, I must to lead the ten or nine.
| ♦ 2 | |||
| Aristotle | Hypatia | ||
| ♦ A(Q/J)xxxx | ♦ (Q/J)x | ||
| ♦ K1094 | |||
| If west ducks, east will win the trick and I'll score two diamond ruffs. And when Aristotle wins and plays a second trump, I have a counter move - I'll play the king of diamonds at trick four; forcing west to cover and promoting my nine to a winner as Hypatia follows with the remaining honour. | |||
The case where Aristotle holds all three diamond honours nothing can be done. And when east holds Ax of diamonds, I'll do the wrong thing, but it's surely best to play Hypatia for Qx or Jx.
There's no guarantee of success, but it won't hurt to try. Ok here goes… time to play my name card, The Ten of Diamonds.
As it transpired, west held the Jx of diamonds - so Noor's thoughtful play brought home the tricky slam.
The full deal:
| Juliet | |||
| ♠ 654 | |||
| ♥ AQ654 | |||
| ♦ 2 | |||
| ♣ 7542 | |||
| Aristotle | Hypatia | ||
| ♠ 873 | ♠ --- | ||
| ♥ 108 | ♥ J973 | ||
| ♦ AQ8765 | ♦ J3 | ||
| ♣ Q6 | ♣ AKJ10985 | ||
| Noor | |||
| ♠ AKQJ1092 | |||
| ♥ K2 | |||
| ♦ K1094 | |||
| ♣ --- | |||
Confucius, who was watching the players score up the hand, felt compelled to comment: "So you didn't find the cheap save in clubs then? It's only 800."
Noor turned to him and asked: "Have you ever heard the children's story of the talkative tortoise?"
"No."
"Well the tortoise made friends with two ducks, and one day they offered to help him see more of the countryside around his lake. The tortoise was very excited and agreed to go along, but didn't understand how he could fly with them. The ducks explained they would get a strong stick and carry it between them while he held on with his mouth."
"I bet the tortoise enjoyed that," Confucius chipped in.
"He did indeed. Until they were flying over the mountains and he couldn't resist opening his mouth to say how magnificent they looked."
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.