A.D. – The Three of Diamonds
Lieut. Col. A.D. Wintle MC1 once said that, in his experience, the best prison in England is the Tower of London - because that's where they serve the best food. His military background was his entry qualification to the ranks of the Diamond clan, though his sense of humour and fondness for practical jokes meant he would have been equally at home amongst the Clubs.
Today's champion abhorred injustice and institutional stupidity, which he would fight with a fervour and tenacity that often led him into trouble; hence the reference to his periods of imprisonment.
An avid horseman, he is on record as saying that "Heaven could be found in the saddle of a horse, or in the arms of one's lover, but not both at the same time."
The Pack's A.D. might have added that a well played bridge hand came a close third.
| NS Game, Dealer West. | Bard | ||
| ♠ AQJ3 | |||
| ♥ A9 | |||
| ♦ 9763 | |||
| ♣ 432 | |||
| Ermintrude | Alan | ||
| A.D. | |||
| ♠ 5 | |||
| ♥ Q872 | |||
| ♦ AK542 | |||
| ♣ 1087 | |||
| West | North | East | South | |
| Ermintrude | Bard | Alan | A.D. | |
| 1♠ | Pass | Pass | 2♦ | |
| Pass | 2♠1 | Pass | 3♦ | |
| All Pass | ||||
1. A good raise to 3 diamonds.
Ernie kicked off proceedings by cashing the ace, king and queen of clubs then switched to the eight of diamonds.
Take a little while before reading on to see if you match the sparking analysis of our hero.
Planning, that's the key… If trumps break there'll be two left in dummy to ruff the losing hearts, so I needn't risk the spade finesse; though I'm sure it's working. That's the optimist's view. I once heard that a pessimist believes all women behave badly, whereas an optimist simply hopes they do. That's not entirely relevant I know - but taking a pessimistic view, what if the trumps behave badly?
Ernie wouldn't lead the eight of diamonds from QJ108 - so thankfully I can rule out a four-nil break. It could be a singleton though, or possibly low from J108. And I'm inclined towards the latter for two reasons. Firstly, most players are reluctant to lead trump singletons, and secondly, if Alan has the QJ10 of trumps he'll gain the lead at some point and play a heart through, smothering the queen. As he passed West's opening bid he can't have three points in diamonds and the heart king.
Assuming there's a certain trump loser I'll need to avoid losing a heart trick. Say I take two rounds of trumps and discover Ernie started with three of the suit, what then?
I could lead the queen of hearts and hope Ernie doesn't cover – a "Chinese Finesse" I think it is called. (I wonder why it's called that. Why not English, or French, or Martian2?) Militarily, we'd call the sacrifice of the heart queen a "forlorn hope" as in this layout West's bound to cover. Indeed, it would be better to play for a singleton king of hearts – though as a battle plan it's as much a chance of success as the charge of the light brigade.
Are there possibilities if West holds a trump winner? Best, I imagine, will be to finesse the spade and throw her in with the last diamond. If she has the thirteenth club and plays it I'll still have a heart loser, even after the ruff and discard. No - the only hope is that West will have to play a major. This is the position I'm hoping to reach.
| Bard | |||
| ♠ AJ3 | |||
| ♥ A9 | |||
| ♦ 9 | |||
| ♣ --- | |||
| Ermintrude | Alan | ||
| ♠ Kxxx | ♠ x | ||
| ♥ Kx | ♥ xxxx | ||
| ♦ --- | ♦ --- | ||
| ♣ --- | ♣ J | ||
| A.D. | |||
| ♠ --- | |||
| ♥ Q872 | |||
| ♦ 54 | |||
| ♣ --- | |||
If West plays a heart I'll be home as the third heart can go on the ace of spades and the fourth can be ruffed. So I expect she'll play a spade, which will allow me to discard two hearts and come down to these four cards.
| Bard | |||
| ♠ 3 | |||
| ♥ A9 | |||
| ♦ 9 | |||
| ♣ --- | |||
| Ermintrude | Alan | ||
| ♠ Kx | ♠ --- | ||
| ♥ Kx | ♥ xxx | ||
| ♦ --- | ♦ --- | ||
| ♣ --- | ♣ J | ||
| A.D. | |||
| ♠ --- | |||
| ♥ Q8 | |||
| ♦ 54 | |||
| ♣ --- | |||
Now I see it, the light at the end of the tunnel; provided Ernie started with five spades she'll be squeezed when I cash the last two trumps. She'll have to keep a spade to prevent the three from winning, so her last two cards will be the king of hearts and a spade. But dummy, who discards after her, will keep the ace and nine of hearts. Then a heart to the ace and one back to my queen will land the contact.
Thunder and lightning! I almost missed it! "It" being that unless I have a small diamond to lead to my hand at this point I'll be stuck in dummy. It's strange, but the critical card in Bard's hand could well be myself, the three of diamonds. To safeguard against Ernie holding three trumps, the king of hearts and five or more spades I must unblock dummy's three high diamonds on the first three rounds of the suit.
This hand is typical of Diamonds' approach to the Quadrule marathon - it being their nature to fight with dogged determination for every part score, every overtrick and every undertrick.
The full deal:
| Bard | |||
| ♠ AQJ3 | |||
| ♥ A9 | |||
| ♦ 9763 | |||
| ♣ 432 | |||
| Ermintrude | Alan | ||
| ♠ K10987 | ♠ 642 | ||
| ♥ K10 | ♥ J6543 | ||
| ♦ J108 | ♦ Q | ||
| ♣ AKQ | ♣ J965 | ||
| A.D. | |||
| ♠ 5 | |||
| ♥ Q872 | |||
| ♦ AK542 | |||
| ♣ 1087 | |||
In his master class, Socrates gave his students the following advice when they reviewed this hand.
"With this type of holding make a point of automatically unblocking two of the high cards under the ace and king. That way, you retain the option of discarding the third high card should it prove necessary".
- For an entertaining read, keep an eye open for our hero's autobiography, "The Last Englishman".
- Has anyone any idea why it's called a "Chinese finesse"?
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.