Contract bridge j.R.wignall Practising the art of camouflage

Press, 8 December 1976, Page 32

Contract bridge j.R.wi g n a ll Practising the art of camouflage

' Tony Priday had been near | or at the top of English | bridge for most of the 1950 s ■ before he represented Great i Britain in 1961 when he helped win the European championship and subsequently contested the world championship. Throughout his bridge career he has remained loyal to his favourite Acol system and in recent years has' been a regular member of the British team. Much of the credit for Great Britain’s third placing in the last World Bridge Olympiad is due to him and his regular partner, Claude Rodrigue. He is the third entry in the International Bridge Press Association’s 1976 Bols Bridge Tips competition, in which nine invited top players compete for the $lOOO first prize donated by the Dutch liqueur company. His tip concerns the fascinating subject of deceptive play. Just as military men give much thought to camouflage, says Priday, pretending to be strong in a part of their line where they are weak, so can defenders at bridge. By concealing their strength in one suit, they can often persuade the declarer to misread the position in another, perhaps vital, place. He gives as an example; this deal from a match between England and Northern Ireland: N. 4—7 V—J 10 ♦—AKQJ 10 6 ♦—A K Q 5 W. E. 4—lo 8 4 2 4—A K Q J V— A954 V— QB73 ♦—542 4—9 7 4—7 2 4— J 9 3 S. 4—9653 V— K6 2 ♦—B3 4—1086 4 Despite an opening bid • from East, the Irish pair soon ■ reached five clubs played by 1 South: 1 W. N. E. S. 14 No 1 24 Dble No 34 No. 4NT No 54 , All Pass After West had raised his partner’s opening bid to two

(spades, North made a take!out double and was mildly i excited bv South’s three club ‘bid. He jumped to four no--trumps thinking that if his -partner had the ace of hearts, six clubs would be an easy -contract, and if he held the spade ace, maybe West would -choose a spade as his opening lead. But when South denied any ace with his five club response, North had to pass. West led the two of spades, and East quickly saw that to beat the contract the defenders had to take two tricks in hearts. Since he had opened the bidding, South would place him with most of the i missing strength, but he | would still expect West tohave a high card or two forj his raise to two spades. If East had won the firsttrick with the jack of spades. I the declarer would have had little difficulty in placing the vital cards. ’To camouflage the position, East won the first trick with the ace of spades, denying on the face

-lof it possession of the king. He then switched to a low > heart. • ! Placing West with somesi thing like the king of spades . and queen of hearts, the -declarer rose with the king i of hearts. West took the ace I-and returned the suit to his -partners queen, putting an - apparently unbeatable con- • tract one down. Friday’s second example is more subtle: N. 4—lo 6 V— J 84 ♦—QlOB • 4— Q 10974 W E. 4— Q74 4— A52 i ♦—7 4 V—6 3 - ♦—A 65 3 ♦—K J 7 4 4— A652 4— KJB3 4— KJ 98 3 V— AKQ 1092 ♦ —9 2 4 — • The auction may not meet with everyone's approval but South finished in a reasonable four heart contract: S. W. N. E. IV No INT No 24 No 2NT No 4 V All Pass West led the ace of diamonds and when his partner encouraged with the seven continued the suit. After wanning the second trick with the jack, East realised that the declarer almost certainly held five spades, six hearts and two diamonds. In that case he might have to take a vital guess in the spade suit. East therefore set out to camouflage his spade holding. To the third trick he laid down the king of clubs. South ruffed and entered dummy with a heart to lead the 10 of spades. By this time, the declarer was convinced that East had started with the king and jack of diamonds, and the ace and king of clubs. He was thus unlikely to hold the ace of spades as well or he might well have entered the bidding. When East followed to the 10 of spades with the two. South also played low, hoping the queen. of spades was in ihis right and that the 10 i would force out West’s probiable ace. West, however, won with the queen and in the fullness of time the ace of spades defeated the contract. Friday’s Bols tip then is: "When defending remember the art of camouflage. If you can mislead the declarer in one suit he may jump to the wrong conclusion in another."