The Dog That Did Not Bark!
- Priya Balasubramanian
Fans of Sherlock Holmes will recognise this short story,” Silver Blaze”, in the Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. Holmes is called to investigate the disappearance of a famous racehorse in the night before the race.
Gregory (Scotland Yard detective): “Is there any other point to which you would wish to draw my attention?”
Holmes: “To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.”
Gregory: “The dog did nothing in the night-time.”
Holmes: “That was the curious incident.”
That fact that the dog did not bark led Holmes to conclude that the culprit was someone the dog recognised. Bridge hands are all about negative inferences. Can you imagine Holmes at a bridge table?
It was one lazy Sunday morning in BC times (before Corona). The student was enjoying her breakfast of onion uthampams at the club. These were delicious, just a few notches below Murugan Idli’s. While deep focus at the bridge table had yet to develop, her attention at the breakfast table was impeccable. So, she was pleasantly surprised when the Adv Life Master (ALM) joined her. As they conversed over piping hot filter coffee, they were joined by Doc. Doc said to the ALM, “If you have time, I have some bridge problems to tickle your brain.” He agreed. The Doc described his hand as below.
Doc:” Playing standard leads, 4th best, West leads ♥3 and East plays ♥K. Plan your play”
After a brief pause ALM said, “I will win with the ♥A and cash the ♣Q.”
The student eager to demonstrate her knowledge of safety plays said, “But what if clubs break 4-0 with Jxxx with East. Isn’t this risky?”
The ALM smiled and said,” How many hearts does West have?”
Student:” ♥3 was led, we have the ♥2, so he has four hearts.”
ALM: “If he had a 5 carder wouldn’t he have led it?”
The student finally catching on said,” He can’t have a void and no 5-carder suit. So, the club break at worst can be 1/3 or 4/0 between W/E. The play of the King caters to a 4-0 break with 4 clubs with West. This play allows to cash the 9 top tricks”
The ALM encouragingly said, “Well done.”
The Doc proceeded to the second hand. The hand and the bidding he described is as given in the diagram
The Doc continued,” West leads ♣A and ♣K with East playing high low and now continues a third club - plan your play”
The ALM considered and replied, “Ruff with the ♦K. Play the ♦A and if the ♦J does not fall, and finesse the ♦9.”
The student was stumped,” I understand the ♦K ruff but why cash the ♦A. How are you placed against ♦Jx with East?”
The ALM asked, “Can you tell me what is West’s hand. How many hearts will he have?”
The student considered, "With 9 hearts out the most even break would be 5:4. The 1♣ opener cannot have five hearts. So, East must have five hearts. But East bid 1♠. He has also followed to two clubs. So, he has at least five spades and five hearts which means he has a maximum of one diamond which could be the ♦J. So, if it’s a singleton honor you drop it by playing ♦K. This play also caters for ♦Jxx with West.”
The ALM continued, “If West had ♦J9xx, playing the third club would be clever defense and lead to a trump promotion.”
The student may not yet have ready answers for bridge problems. But, if ever asked what is the best way to spend your Sunday morning, pat will come the answer, “Elementary my dear friend, at the local bridge club of course.”
PS: Thanks to Dr Mukund Jagannathan and TV Ramani for bringing these hands to my attention. Many thanks to Subhash Bhavnani for the technical edit.
Is the restriction of playing the final restricted to Indian citizens ? OCIs resident in India and paying Income taxes are not eligible to play the finals ? 🙁
Not allowing OCIs is possibly against the law, as OCIs have all the rights of an Indian citizen, except to vote and own agricultural land. They will of course be restricted to represent India in international events.