DESERT ISLAND HANDS:
ALEX FEARNHEAD
Alex learnt Bridge with her family, and with friends at school (in Birmingham). The school children were so keen that they played on the hockey pitch during a fire practice! Such dedication has clearly payed off, for Alex is a force to be reckoned with at the bridge table.
Nowadays Alex teaches mathematics at Oxford High School.
The first hand comes from a Varsity match. Alex (playing West) does some quick thinking to beat a contract which would probably make 9 times out of 10.
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ª J 9© A K Q 4 ¨ A 10 9 4 3 § J 2 |
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ª K 5 3© 8 7 ¨ K J § A 9 8 7 6 4 |
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ª 8 6 4© J 9 3 2 ¨ Q 5 § K 10 5 3 |
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ª A Q 10 7 2© 10 6 5 ¨ 8 7 6 2 § Q |
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With EW Vulnerable, South opens 2ª and North raises to 4ª . Alex leads her top heart. Declarer wins, and runs ªJ - but Alex ducks smoothly. Declarer leads a second spade to his 10 - Alex wins with the King, and leads a second heart. Now declarer is stuck in dummy. He tries Ace and another diamond, losing to the King, but Alex underleads §A to put her partner in and receive a heart ruff - one down. This contract was made in the other room - the defence starting with two rounds of clubs.
The second hand is from a Tollemache match against Lancashire, and this time Alex is East. At Game All, the auction proceeds:
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E (Alex) |
S |
W (Paul) |
N |
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Pass |
Pass |
2NT |
Pass |
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3§ |
3¨ |
Pass |
Pass |
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Double |
All Pass |
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3§ is five card Stayman, and the final double is take-out. The hands are as follows:
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ª K 9© Q 10 8 7 ¨ 10 7 4 § J 10 8 6 |
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ª A 10© A J 6 5 ¨ K 8 2 § A K Q 3 |
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ª 6 5 4 3 2© K 9 3 2 ¨ 3 § 5 4 2 |
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ª Q J 8 7© 4 ¨ A Q J 9 6 5 § 9 7 |
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Paul leads §K and Alex shows an odd number. Paul can now see that the contract should be at least one off and, based upon the bidding, he deduces that Alex is likely to have a 5-4-1-3 shape. Paul is keen to deny declarer any spade ruffs and extract the maximum penalty - but Alex must lead the first diamond if they are to remove all the trumps from dummy. Therefore Paul leads a small heart, to get Alex in to lead a trump. Declarer plays ©10, and Alex plays........
Now if declarer has a singleton Ace or Ace-Jack doubleton, then it is costly to play the King - and as Paul admits: "Whose partner underleads an Ace against a doubled part score?".
As in a Greek tragedy, the ending is inevitable ........ Alex plays low, giving declarer his ninth trick.