MADE IR A
BRIDGE
Huge hands
Andrew Robson
IT NEVER ceases to amaze me how often the most powerful hands turn sour. Look at South's hand below, from a deal played nearly 40 years ago and first reported by the late Maurice Harrison-Grey, brilliant British international of the Forties, Fifties and Sixties. Can you imaging losing 1,100 points with such an enormous hand?
Dealer South Both Vulnerable The Bidding South West North East 2+ Double Pass 2* 2V 3* 3V 4* 7V Pass Pass Double All pass South opened 2+ to show a game-forcing hand and as soon as he heard support from his partner, he brushed aside the opponents • bidding and bid 711P. East doubled this to suggest an unusual lead — i.e. not •s. West had no 4s to lead so selected +Q. South's grand slam was defeated at trick one when East trumped the lead, but worse was to follow: East returned a 4, South played 4K, and West trumped; West led a second • and East trumped again. East now tried unsuccess- fully to cash *A; South trumped but because of dummy's unfortunate pips, he had only one entry to dummy for the 4 finesse (which required two entries); he had to lose a further trick to East's 40 and went down four, 1,100!
Unbelievably, the story has a happy end- ing for our poor South. The hand was played in a Teams tournament, and the member of the opposing team who held the South cards at the other table suffered an even worse fate! Having bid to 6,, the opponents 'sacrificed' in 7* which South doubled. He led +A and declarer (East) was able to establish West's +s to discard his three Vs. He actually made 7* dou- bled, scoring 2,330 points!
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