Bridge: The ploy

Sitting south in the diagrammed deal was the eminent consultant psychologist, Dr P.D. Boaz. He runs an institution for the mentally retarded, giving them lifetime care. He is also the President of the Chennai District Bridge Association. Watch him in action below where he sets a neat trap on the defender to fulfil an impossible contract!

South dealer. Both vul

Bidding comments: Dr Boaz could well have pre-empted 3C or even 4C. However, he wanted to await developments and so passed his hand in the first seat, planning to enter the bidding at a later stage. West opened 1S. North passed, and east jumped to 4H.Undaunted, Boaz entered the bidding at the five level with 5C, as only he can! A thundering double by west ended the auction.

West led the SA. East followed with the nine and declarer the two. West exited in a spade to dummy's king, east petering with the eight, declarer following with the ten!

Declarer could have quietly gone one down by cashing the DA, to pitch a heart loser, entering hand by the club ace, and ruffing a spade. But Boaz, set a neat trap on west. Leaving the DA stranded, he started reeling clubs to reach the six-card ending:

When declarer led a trump, west made the fatal mistake of discarding the S J, as he felt he had to keep parity with dummy's diamond length. Declarer exited in a spade to west's queen who had to lead a diamond. Boaz finessed the queen and when it won, discarded the heart losers in his hand on the two diamond winners, entered hand by ruffing a diamond, cashed the spade which had become a winner!, to claim the doubled contract. Result: + 750 and an absolute top. The complete hands are:

Discussion:

Declarer's clever false-card of the spade ten at trick two, led west to believe that south was out of spades.

Also, he could never imagine that declarer had stranded his diamond winner in dummy. You will agree that a thinking defender is more easily ‘tricked' than somone who doesn't think at all.

Obviously, this west was a thinking player, as he played declarer for S 10-x H x D J-x-x C A-K-Q-10-9-x-x.

Finding himself in a situation he shouldn't have been in the first place, declarer executed the play with masterly skills to fulfil the contract and west fell for his clever ruse.

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