BRIDGE

Cool play

Susanna Gross

WHAT could be nicer in all this sunny weather than taking refuge in a cool, air- conditioned bridge club? Other people may want picnics in the park, but give me bridge in a basement any day.

Coming in from the heat last week, I was reminded of a recent holiday in Sweden with three other players. Ignoring the sun and lakeside setting, we spent all day indoors with curtains drawn; the only time we ventured out, we took our cards with us and carried on playing on the flattest rock we could find.

I'm afraid I didn't see much of Sweden. Never mind, I feel a certain affinity with the country as there are a couple of charming Swedish bridge professionals at my club. One of them, Gunnar Hallberg, plays in an extremely high-stake game with the likes of Zia Mahmood and Robert Sheehan.

He certainly knows how to keep his head in the heat, as he demonstrated last week on the hottest day June has seen for years: 6J 1065 II A 3

♦ AKQJ # A Q 7

4 Q 9 J 7 • 7 4 4 10

3 4 3 6 4 3

• A 2 • K Q 10 ♦ 10 5 2 • K 8 5 8 6

W N S E

4 K 8 7 4

• 9 5 2 ♦ 9 8 6

• J 9 2 The Bidding

East South West North

1• pass pass double pass 14 pass 2, pass 24 pass 34 pass 44 pass pass The ,4 was led; Gunnar (East) won with the ,Q and returned a , to dummy's •A. South now played the 45 from dummy. Should East put up his 4A or not? What would you do?

It may seem natural to play low — but look what happens. South wins with the 4K, ruffs a heart, plays three rounds of dia- monds and exits with a trump. East wins with the 4A and is well and truly end- played. He either has to play a •, giving South a ruff-and-discard, or lead a 40 into dummy's tenace.

But Gunnar foresaw the endplay immedi- ately. At trick three, he put up his 4A, and exited with a trump. South now had no choice but to take an eventual 4 finesse and went one down (he lost two trumps, a and a 4). Very simple — and very cool.