Quiz 8D35   Main

Valentine’s Legacy

by Richard Pavlicek

Few people are aware that Valentinus Episcopus, better known as St. Valentine, was the greatest bridge player of all time (future included) and if anyone doubts this I can offer proof.

Problem 1

2

3

4

5

6

Honor Roll

Archaeologists recently excavated six more clay tablets of hands played by St. Valentine, all fittingly in hearts, but water erosion has made his plays indiscernible. That’s where you fit in! Try to determine how St. Valentine played, but don’t fret. If you butcher the play, just chalk it up to another St. Valentine’s Day massacre.

Decide how you would play each contract — without peeking at the solution, which follows.

Are you ready? Then play away!

Problem 1

Total Points None Vul	7 2 Q J 10 A Q J 5 2 Q 7 3		West Pass Pass	North 2 4	EAST Pass Pass All Pass	South 1 3 NT
Lead: 8		East plays 2
4 South	A J 3 A K 5 4 3 4 3 A 10 2

Will you win the 10 or overtake in hand? If you take the diamond finesse, it loses.

Solution below

4 South	7 2		Trick	Lead	2nd	3rd	4th
	Q J 10		1 W	8	10	2	3
	A Q J 5 2		2 N	2	4	J	K
	Q 7 3		3 W	9	J	6	4
K 9 6		Q 10 8 5 4	4 N	7	5	A	6
9 8		7 6 2	5 S	3	9	Q	8
10 9 8 7 6		K	6 N	3	5	A	4
J 6 4		K 9 8 5	7 S	A	6	2	7
	A J 3		8 S	3	7	J	K
	A K 5 4 3		Win 4 more tricks
	4 3
Lead: 8	A 10 2

Ruffing a spade in dummy is a virtual guarantee, while trying to set up diamonds could run afoul with a bad break in either red suit.

Problem 2

Total Points Both Vul	4 3 K J 10 9 Q 10 6 K 8 7 6		West Pass Pass All Pass	North 1 NT 3	East Pass Pass	SOUTH 1 2 4
Lead: Q		East plays 5
4 South	A K 8 7 6 5 A Q 7 2 9 8 4

West continues with another club from Q-J-10-9.

Solution below

4 South	4 3		Trick	Lead	2nd	3rd	4th
	K J 10 9		1 W	Q	6	5	4
	Q 10 6		2 W	J	7	2	9!
	K 8 7 6		3 W	10	8	3	8!
J 10 2		Q 9	4 W	9	K	A	2
4		8 6 5 3	5 S	A	2	3	9
A 7 5 4 3		K J 2	6 S	K	10	4	Q
Q J 10 9		A 5 3 2	7 S	5	J	9	2
	A K 8 7 6 5		8 N	6	J	7	3
	A Q 7 2		Crossruff the rest
	9 8
Lead: Q	4

Do not ruff the second or third club! Postponing the ruff-in allows either a complete crossruff, or the ability to establish spades if West shifts to a trump.

Problem 3

Total Points N-S Vul	10 8 7 3 2 K Q K 10 9 8 J 6		West Pass Pass Pass	NORTH Pass 1 2 4	East Pass Pass Pass All Pass	South 1 2 3
Lead: 2		East wins Q
4 South	A J A 9 8 7 5 4 7 K Q 7 2

West’s lead shows an odd number of diamonds. After winning the Q, East shifts to the 6.

Solution below

4 South	10 8 7 3 2		Trick	Lead	2nd	3rd	4th
	K Q		1 W	2	8	Q	7
	K 10 9 8		2 E	6	A	4	2
	J 6		3 S	4	2	Q	3
K 4		Q 9 6 5	4 N	9	3	5	4
6 2		J 10 3	5 S	7	6	K	10
J 6 5 4 2		A Q 3	6 N	10	A	8	5
A 9 8 3		10 5 4	7 S	A	6	3	J
	A J		8 S	2	3	J	4
	A 9 8 7 5 4		9 N	K	5	J	J
	7		10 N	6	5	Q	A
Lead: 2	K Q 7 2		Win 2 more tricks

West’s lead suggests the A will ruff out, and the J will likely be a late entry. Note that pitching the J on the 9 fails with a club shift.

Problem 4

Total Points None Vul	9 8 7 10 2 10 7 2 Q 6 5 4 2		West Pass	North Pass	EAST 4 Pass	South 6
Lead: 6		East plays 10
6 South	A A K Q J 9 A J 4 A K 8 7

Not much science in your bidding, but luckily you caught a suitable dummy.

Solution below

6 South	9 8 7		Trick	Lead	2nd	3rd	4th
	10 2		1 W	6	7	10	A
	10 7 2		2 S	A	3	2	7
	Q 6 5 4 2		3 S	9	4	10	8
6 2		K Q J 10 5 4 3	4 N	8	J	8!	2
6 5 4 3		8 7	5 E	K	J	3	9
Q 9 6 3		K 8 5	6 S	K	5	2	3
J 10 9		3	7 S	Q	6	7	4
	A		Win the rest
	A K Q J 9
	A J 4
Lead: 6	A K 8 7

Internal blockage in the club suit is overcome by pitching a club on a spade after ensuring that trumps split no worse than 4-2.

Problem 5

Total Points E-W Vul	Q J 10 9 J 10 4 Q J 8 2 A 6		West Pass Pass Pass All Pass	North 1 4 5	East Pass Pass Pass	SOUTH 1 3 NT 4 6
Lead: J		East plays 7
6 South	A 2 A K 9 8 3 2 K 10 9 K Q

You immediately cash the A, on which West discards the 2.

Solution below

6 South	Q J 10 9		Trick	Lead	2nd	3rd	4th
	J 10 4		1 W	J	6	4	K
	Q J 8 2		2 S	A	2	10!	5
	A 6		3 S	10!	3	J!	6
K 5 4 3		8 7 6	4 N	J	6	2	3
—		Q 7 6 5	5 N	4	7	8	3
5 4 3		A 7 6	6 S	K	7	9	Q
J 10 8 7 3 2		9 5 4	7 S	K	4	2	7
	A 2		8 S	9	5	8	A
	A K 9 8 3 2		9 E	6	A	4	10
	K 10 9		Win the rest
Lead: J	K Q

Unblock in hearts to facilitate drawing trumps, then lead a diamond to reach dummy. Note that if you wasted the A entry early, East could hold up the A to shut out dummy’s fourth diamond.

Problem 6

Total Points N-S Vul	A J 6 5 4 3 A K 2 2 K 9 8		West Pass Pass All Pass	NORTH 1 4 1 5	East Pass Pass Pass	South 2 5 6
Lead: J		East plays 4
6 South	— Q 8 7 6 3 A J 7 6 5 4 A J		1. splinter bid

Partner’s aggressive splinter bid drove you to a difficult slam — for anyone but St. Valentine.

Solution below

6 South	A J 6 5 4 3		Trick	Lead	2nd	3rd	4th
	A K 2		1 W	J	K	4	3
	2		2 N	3	2	7!	10
	K 9 8		3 W	9	A	5	6
K 10 8		Q 9 7 2	4 N	4	7	7	8
J 10 9		5 4	5 S	A	10	2	3
Q 10		K 9 8 3	6 S	6	Q	2	8
Q 5 4 3 2		10 7 6	7 N	5	9	8	K
	—		8 S	Q	10	8	9
	Q 8 7 6 3		Win the rest
	A J 7 6 5 4
Lead: J	A J

Establishing diamonds requires a 3-3 split (unlikely) so play to establish spades, which depends on a 4-3 split (likely). You can only ruff twice in hand, so concede a spade early while it is safe.

Ding-Hwa Hsieh Wins!

These six problems were published in 2018 as a long-running contest, which is now closed. Congratulations to Ding-Hwa Hsieh (Missouri) who topped all participants with the only perfect score. Scoring was based on how many of the first eight plays on each problem matched my recommended plays, so the best possible score was 48 (8×6). Equivalent plays or transpositions were accepted as correct.

There were 49 participants, and only one attempt was allowed for each. Only those scoring 32 or higher are listed below. Ties are broken by the date and time of entry (earliest wins).

Honor Roll

Rank	Name	Location	Score
1	Ding-Hwa Hsieh	Missouri	48
2	Ben Norton	England	47
3	Eddy Choi	Hong Kong	46
4	John Lusky	Oregon	46
5	Tony Elmroth	Sweden	43
6	Jonathan Mestel	England	42
7	Perry Groot	Netherlands	42
8	Nicholas Greer	England	41
9	Tom Slater	England	41
10	Katalin Szentkiralyi	Hungary	41
11	Ido Moskovits	Israel	41
12	Grant Peacock	Maryland	38
13	Ufuk Cotuk	England	37
14	Sjaak Smetsers	Netherlands	37
15	Richard Stein	California	36
16	Margaret Reardon	England	36
17	Gareth Birdsall	England	35
18	Sherman Yuen	Singapore	35
19	Charles Blair	Illinois	34
20	Jim Munday	Mississippi	32
21	Tomasz Miauczynski	Poland	32
22	Jean-Baptiste Courtois	France	32

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© 2018 Richard Pavlicek