BRIDGE
One of the old school
Susanna Gross
THEY don't make them like Tony Priday nowadays. He's one of the last survivors of the old gentlemanly tradition of bridge play- ers — considerate, unflappable, immacu- lately turned out and invariably polite (you might call him the David Niven of bridge).
But even the most gentlemanly player can sometimes have his patience sorely tried, and there's one occasion at least where Tony must have come close to exploding. Indeed, Tony has never forgotten the hand — it arose during the 1961 European Championships, and he was sitting West: Dealer West E/W Vulnerable 4 A K 10 3 • A 7 2 ♦ A Q J 5 2 • K 4
• K9 • 8 4 3 + A J 10 8 6 5 3
N W E S
4 6 3
✓ J 10 6 4 3 ♦ 10 6 • Q 9 7 4
4 Q 9 8 7 4 2 • Q 8 5
• K 9 7 + 2
The Bidding
West North East South
3+ double pass 44 pass 5+ pass 74 pass pass pass pass South was the Italian player Cremonci- ni. His jump to 74 seems a little wild, but all will become clear. From Tony's point of view, his bid seemed to be based on a club void, so he led a 'safe' 43. Cremoncini drew 2 rounds of trumps and cashed the diamonds. Now he cashed the remaining spades, leaving himself with 4Q VQ8 opposite +K ♦A7. On the last trump, Tony was squeezed: he had either to dis- card his +A or bare his ♦K.
It was not until Cremoncini tried to score up his 'overtrick' that the others realised what was going on: his mastery of English was poor, and he thought he was in 64, not 74! Tony was left reeling, but in characteristic form, he quickly recovered his composure and went on to win the Championships for Great Britain that year.
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