BRIDGE
What a coup
Susanna Gross
The Bidding West North East South pass 14 pass 1NT pass 3NT all pass Garozzo led the V10, on which East played the 113 after some thought (which to Zia signified that the suit was breaking as it did). Since the contact was safe on normal breaks, Zia considered the abnormal ones. Winning with the VIC, he continued with a • to the 4Q, and then came the master stroke — the .•J! Had Zia cashed his ace first, Garozzo would simply have let the 4,1 hold, leaving Zia unable to set up his long diamond, and unable to tackle spades with- out setting up a fifth trick for the defence. The 4J gave West an insoluble dilemma: if he ducked, Zia would set up his ninth trick in spades, so Garozzo took the • and played a 4, but Zia now rose with the ace, unblocked the • and took his nine tricks.
On the vast majority of layouts, Zia's play would have cost him an overtrick or two. Here, it helped him win an individual tour- nament in which the first prize was $40,000. WHO is the most famous bridge player in the world? Apart from Omar Sharif, the answer must be Zia Mahmood. This charis- matic Pakistani even has his own widely used catchphrase — 'I'm proud of you, my son!' (which he tells partners of either sex when they make an impressive play).
Zia, who lives in the aptly-named Trump Tower in New York, comes to London reg- ularly to play high-stake bridge at TGR's in Bayswater. There's always a tremendous amount of noise in the club when he's there: he somehow manages to flirt, joke and banter with everyone around him while simultaneously pulling off spectacu- lar coups at the table.
Few people are as much fun to watch. In his own words, he's a con-man: he has bluffed his opponents so often they never know what to expect. But, despite being known as a 'flair' player, he also has an ability to look deeply and analytically into each hand. Take the following example (Zia was South; West was the legendary Italian player Benito Garbzzo): Game All Dealer West 4 A K 6 4 3 • J 8 4 • A Q J
4
A5
4 7 5
• Q 10 9 7
• K 6 3 2 4 9 4 2 409
✓ K 6 5
• 10 9 7 5 4 4 Q J 10 4 J 10 8 2
✓ A 3 2 • 8 • K8 7 6 3
W E
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