dec.indd

English 47 Brian Zietman It is always a pleasure playing in the 'Ligot'. There is a special kind of ambiance in playing 16 deals against one pair scored by IMPs, rather than the usual 2 or 3 hands against a wide variety of different opponents in Top-Bottom scoring. One of our team's encounters this year in 'Liga Artzit' was against the formidable Wax team, and I found myself in an unusual Moysian fi t. A Moysian fi t refers to a 4-3 seven card trump fi t. It is named after Alphonse Moyse Jr., who (in certain situations) strongly advocated opening 4-card majors and raising with 3-card support. Playing a Moysian trump fi t is often challenging, since one defender often has as many trumps as the declarer, or even more. The declarer's dilemma is how many rounds of trumps to play. Playing more than one round of trumps usually commits the declarer to a given line of play, hoping opponents' trumps and other suits split relatively evenly and favorably. Here is Board 21 of the fi nal session on November 12, 2011. You hold South ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ AKQT Q742 T963 3 The bidding (N/S Vul): West North East South 1 ♦ Pass 1 ♥ 3 ♣ Pass Pass 3 ♠ Pass 4 ♥ All Pass Maybe a double would have been better at my second turn. I wanted to show partner that I had game-going values after his opening, especially as my hand was strengthened by the club singleton. If partner held a ♣ stopper, then 3NT could be the best contract When I bid 3 ♠ , my partner took me for 5 Hearts and 4 Spades. He did not have a ♣ stopper, so he bid 4 ♥ opposite my presumed 5 card suit. Here is the full hand (rotated for convenience): ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ 962 AK2 AJ82 J54 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ 853 J6 Q4 AKT982 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ J74 T985 K75 Q76 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ AKQT Q743 T963 3 West led the ♣ A, followed by the ♣ K. I ruffed the second round and found myself left with a 3-3 trump fi t. I could see that even if the opponent's trumps broke 3-3, I would have my work cut out for me. I counted 3 hearts, 3 spades, a club ruff and a diamond – eight tricks. As so often happens in bridge, I had to disregard the axiom "ruff in the hand with short trumps". I played a heart to the ace and then the key play, another club ruff in my hand. I was pleased to see the ♣ Q drop from East, The Case of the Moysian Fit