jan-Interactive

English 55 Horror Corner (10) – Late Night Bridge Ram Soffer Simple mistakes, due to lack of concentration, are an integral part of bridge. In theory, professionals avoid these mistakes, which is one of the reasons they usually have better results than amateurs. However, from time to time even the very best have their lapses. The following hand was played in a very recent tournament, the Invitational Pairs (Rand Cup) of the Red Sea Festival, Eilat, November 2018. North was Ilai Baniri , key member of the very successful Israel Youngsters team which narrowly lost the final of the world championship 2018. His partner was Asaf Yekutieli , another promising Israeli junior. Traditionally, the Invitational Pairs, a 24-board barometer IMPs across the field tournament, starts after dinner and finishes well after midnight. This fact might explain what happened in the following deal: Board 14. Dealer East, Vul None ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ QJT9864 2 AT62 J ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ 2 AK86 - K9875432 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ A QT54 QJ9853 QT ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ K753 J973 K74 A6 West North East South Bitran Baniri Macura Yekutieli 1 ♦ Pass 2♣ 4♠ Pass Pass Dbl Pass Pass Pass Against the opponents’ strong auction, Baniri immediately preempted at the four-level, a sensible decision in view of his good suit. I am afraid that few would agree with West’s double of four spades, due to the simple fact that 8410 hands are not very suitable for defense. West should just bid on his long suit despite the fear that South is loaded in clubs! In fact, as the cards lay, even six clubs could be made. Probably South would have bid on to five spades, in which case, besides the possibility of bidding and making (or not making) six clubs, East-West would have had the option of collecting a sure plus by doubling. East’s hand did not contain much defense, but he made a disciplined Pass and led the diamond queen. For sure, dummy was a very pleasant sight for Ilai Baniri: four trumps headed by the king, ace of clubs, king of diamonds… what more can you ask from a silent partner?! There were just three obvious losers. The chess grandmasterAlexander Kotov called it “dizziness due to success”. Without much thinking, declarer asked for dummy’s king (I cannot see how this play can help declarer make more tricks). He couldn’t imagine that East led from a six-card suit. West ruffed (unluckily, his singleton trump