Bridge in the Cupboard

Nemesis - The Eight of Clubs

Nemesis lived up to her namesake's reputation - that is, the divine goddess of justice and vengeance of Greek mythology. Outwardly her persona was of a quiet school-ma'am, aloof, reserved, a very private person. One or two lascivious members of the Pack wondered if she, like the original Nemesis, was fond of welding a whip and out of earshot they referred to her as "Madam Discipline".

Whether this was true or not, her bridge playing had a certain sadistic quality. She would play steadily, unnoticed, floating from hand to hand, watching quietly as her opponents confidence grew until, with a subtle play, she would bring them crashing down to earth.

Here is an example of her style, and remember, it was with good reason that the ancients called her "she whom none can escape".

		Romeo
		♠ Q
		♥ K95432
		♦ KJ73
		♣ QJ
	Nemesis
	♠ A9652
	♥ Q106
	♦ 1054
	♣ K8

Game all, Dealer East

	West	North	East	South
	Nemesis	Romeo	Sun-Tzu	Evariste
			2♠1	3♣
	4♠	5♣	End

1. Weak, 6 card suit, 6-10 HCP

Sun-Tzu opened a weak two spades, Evariste overcalled with a natural three clubs and Nemesis pre-empted with four spades. Romeo, after a little thought, bid five clubs which closed the auction.

Nemesis led the ace of spades to the queen, eight and seven. While her skill of reading the opponents' feelings was not as finely tuned as the Heart suit, there was one emotion she could detect a mile off, and that was - confidence. To Nemesis such a reaction was an affront to her dignity. So before leading to the second trick she gave the matter serious consideration.

Would you, like our heroine, be Evariste's Nemesis on this hand?

If Sun-Tzu held the ace of hearts or a heart void he would have played a high spade at trick one - the king, for instance, as a suit preference signal to lead the higher suit. Likewise, if he held the ace of diamonds he would have played his lowest spade. So the eight tells me that declarer holds both red aces and only two or three hearts.

Partner's bid promised six points, four of which are the king and jack of spades, which leaves at least two more. Since we need a red suit winner, these must include the queen of diamonds, else our cause is hopeless.

I can't see any prospect for the defence if declarer has two hearts. At some point I'll take my trump trick, but Evariste will establish all the winners he needs by ruffing a heart.

So, if we are to stand a chance, declarer's hand must look something like this…;

	♠ x
	♥ Axx
	♦ Ax
	♣ A109xxxx

A lead in either red suit is not without danger. If declarer holds the jack of hearts, a heart costs a trick and the same goes for a diamonds if he holds the nine. If I play a spade, giving a ruff and discard, our presumed heart trick disappears.

So there's only one card I can lead with relative safety and that of course is myself. Provided Evariste believes partner holds the king he'll win in dummy and take the trump finesse. After winning the king I can play a spade and we'll eventually come to our red suit winner.

Of course there wouldn't be a tale to tell if this wasn't what happened. Evariste ran the trumps to reach this position in the reds, but he still had to lose the setting trick.

		♥ K9
		♦ KJ7
	♥ Q106		♥ 8
	♦ 105		♦ Q862
		♥ AJ7
		♦ A9

It would be a long time before Evariste felt over-confident again. And when he did, Nemesis would be there waiting for him.

The full hand.

		Romeo
		♠ Q
		♥ K95432
		♦ KJ73
		♣ QJ
	Nemesis		Sun-Tzu
	♠ A9652		♠ KJ10843
	♥ Q106		♥ 8
	♦ 1054		♦ Q862
	♣ K8		♣ 53
		Evariste
		♠ 7
		♥ AJ7
		♦ A9
		♣ A1097642

Naturally, the Clubs scored well on the hand, but the spades too had a success. After an identical auction Euclid, sensing that he would prefer to have partner on lead, courageously opened proceedings with the two of spades. When a club was returned, declarer's fate was sealed.