Deals of Infamy

Circa 1943, my Uncle Cedric was assigned to the Manhattan Project. Despite being a renowned physicist, he was no help to the project because of his obsession with bridge. Instead of advancing nuclear fission, Cedric used their small hadron collider to accelerate playing cards, trying to prove that a winning finesse actually loses, and a losing finesse actually wins.

Was he successful? Well, yes and no. Cedric’s triumphant discovery of The Un-Finesse was soon proclaimed a deal of infamy, after which he was shunned by both bridge players and physicists. Besieged with disrespect, Cedric spent his remaining years creating useless bridge puzzles. (Fortunately none of his exploits rubbed off on me.)

Major bridge events also include some deals of infamy, most of which were widely publicized, fueling their notoriety. Six of these deals are presented with this puzzle. Your task will be to identify the contract — they were all doubled — and the declarer, both direction and name. I’ve made it multiple choice, so all you have to do is select buttons.

Good luck with your investigation… or make your best guesses!

Problem 1

West deals E-W vul	2 A J 9 3 K Q 10 9 8 6 5 5
J 10 5 4 2 A 7 K 10 7 6 4 2		A 6 5 4 3 K Q 10 8 6 4 2 A
	K Q 9 8 7 7 J 3 Q J 9 8 3

Contract? 4 × 5 × 5 × 6 ×

Declarer? West North East South

Lorenzo Lauria Sidney Lazard Agustin Madala Ron Schwartz

Problem 2

South deals N-S vul	4 3 7 4 Q J 8 6 Q 7 6 5 2
K 10 6 5 K 6 2 K 10 5 J 9 3		Q 9 9 5 3 4 3 2 A K 10 8 4
	A J 8 7 2 A Q J 10 8 A 9 7 —

Contract? 3 × 3 × 3 × 3 NT×

Declarer? West North East South

John Crawford Fulvio Fantoni Terence Reese Alan Sontag

Problem 3

South deals Both vul	A Q 10 3 A A Q 9 7 A 7 5 2
9 8 5 K 6 5 4 3 2 K J 9 8		6 2 10 3 2 K J 10 8 6 Q 10 3
	K J 7 4 Q J 9 8 7 5 4 — 6 4

Contract? 6 × 6 NT× 7 × 7 ×

Declarer? West North East South

Barry Crane Oswald Jacoby Ron Klinger Adam Zmudzinski

Puzzle 8Q35 Main

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Problem 4

West deals N-S vul	A Q 7 6 4 3 8 K Q 8 5 2 5
8 J 10 7 5 4 2 J 4 3 8 7 3		5 2 K 9 6 10 9 A J 10 9 6 4
	K J 10 9 A Q 3 A 7 6 K Q 2

Contract? 5 × 5 × 6 × 7 ×

Declarer? West North East South

Cezary Balicki Georg Nippgen Henri Szwarc Bobby Wolff

Problem 5

West deals Both vul	10 K Q 9 A 10 9 8 3 2 K 9 8
Q 9 5 3 2 J 8 5 4 Q 6 4 7		A K J 8 7 6 A 10 7 6 3 2 — 2
	4 — K J 7 5 A Q J 10 6 5 4 3

Contract? 6 × 6 × 7 × 7 ×

Declarer? West North East South

Gabriel Chagas Geir Helgemo Zia Mahmood Christian Mari

Problem 6

West deals N-S vul	A K A Q J 9 A K 10 9 6 4 2
J 9 8 5 2 8 5 4 K 4 J 5 3		10 3 9 7 3 Q 8 7 6 3 2 Q 8
	Q 7 6 4 K J 10 6 2 A 10 5 7

Contract? 6 × 6 NT× 7 × 7 ×

Declarer? West North East South

Jeff Meckstroth Claudio Nunes Michel Perron Alexander Smirnov

Enter the contest

Join the fun and participate! You won’t win anything, other than the satisfaction of making my Winner List if you’re clever or just lucky. Contest ends March 31, 2025 (midnight GMT). Winners and solutions will be published April 2, 2025. To enter, provide your name, location and e-mail address, then click Submit. A copy of your entry will be sent to you automatically, so be sure your address is correct. Multiple entries by the same person are allowed, but only the latest one counts.

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© 2025 Richard Pavlicek