Imagine you are sitting East with this massive hand and you hear the bidding
below:
S: AKQ
H: AKQ
D: AKQJ
C: KJ9
| South |
West |
North |
East (you) |
| 3S |
P |
P |
Dbl |
| 4C |
P |
5C |
Dbl |
| 6C |
P |
7C |
Dbl |
| Redbl |
P |
P |
? |
What are you thinking at this point? Maybe you think the opponents are out
of their minds and you are looking forward to gaining a huge number of
points. What you should be thinking is that someone fixed the cards, for you
have been dealt a hand famous from the days of whist, 200 years ago. It cost
the Duke of Cumberland 20,000 British pounds—a large fortune 200 years ago.
The Duke’s opponents at whist wagered that, with the Duke holding the hand
above (or a slight variation of it—sources differ) and clubs as trumps, the
Duke would not take a single trick. Unwisely, he took the wager. In fact,
declarer can always take thirteen tricks, no matter how the defence plays.
This was the full deal:
South dealer:
| |
S: - |
|
| |
H: 5432 |
|
| |
D: 5432 |
|
| |
C: 65432 |
|
| S: J10 |
|
S: AKQ |
| H: J109876 |
|
H: AKQ |
| D: 109876 |
|
D: AKQJ |
| C: - |
|
C: KJ9 |
| |
S: 98765432 |
|
| |
H: - |
|
| |
D: - |
|
| |
C: AQ1087 |
|
West leads, say, a diamond or a heart and declarer
trumps. Declarer then ruffs a spade in dummy and returns a club finessing
East. Next comes another spade ruff and another club finesse. A third spade
ruff in dummy sets up declarer’s spades. He returns to hand by ruffing a
heart or diamond and pulls the last trump with his ace. His hand is now
good. Another routine six point grand slam!
I would like to hear from readers about their favourite hands—please do
contact me at bridgethailand@live.com. Bridge Club of Chiang Mai welcomes
all players. We have members from seventeen different countries already. For
information on the Club go to the web site www.bridgewebs. com/chiangmai.
