Fall of the Cards.
Bridge Column for May 2, 2003, Harvey Bernstein
Neither side vulnerable.  South deals.
                              North
                              S: K 8 5            
                              H: A 7 3       
                              D: K 6 3 2     
                              C: A 6 4   
            West                             East
            S: 10 7 2                        S: J 9 4 3      
            H: K 8 5 2                       H: 6          
            D: 8 7 4                         D: Q J 10            
            C: Q J 10                        C: 9 8 5 3 2   
                              South                         
                              S: A Q 6  
                              H: Q J 10 9 4 
                              D: A 9 5   
                              C: K 7      
          The Bidding:  
                  South    West    North    East                  
                   1H      Pass     2NT     Pass
                   4NT     Pass     5H      Pass
                   6H      Dbl      Pass    Pass
                   Rdbl    Pass     Pass    Pass
     The opening lead from West is the queen of clubs.  Would you
prefer to wager on the declarer, or do you think that the
defenders will prevail?
     In 1959, Donald Parson wrote a book entitled Fall of the
Cards, 100 provocative Bridge Hands.  This is hand number eleven. 
     Declarer won the opening lead in hand with the king of clubs
and led the queen of hearts.  West played low and the queen held
the trick.  The jack of hearts came next.  West played low again.
     Declarer switched to a club, winning the ace in dummy.  A
club was trumped with the four of hearts.  Three rounds of spades
were followed by three rounds of diamonds, East winning the third
round with the queen.  Here is what the two card ending looked
like:
                              North
                              S:             
                              H: A       

                              D: 6     
                              C:         
            West                             East
            S:                               S: J            
            H: K 8                           H:            
            D:                               D:                   
            C:                               C: 9 8         
                              South                         
                              S:        
                              H: 10 9   
                              D:         
                              C:    
     With East on lead, West could not score a trick and the slam
came rolling home.
     When Ron Garber, Publisher of SQeeZe Books, was selecting
bridge books for his company, he recalled how much he liked this
particular book when he was a graduate student at UCLA.  He
contacted Donald Parson, Jr. and through their collaborative
effort, the book was re-published in 2002.  
     Some of the bidding appears archaic by modern standards, but
the hands are unique and present situations which, if studied,
will give the reader a new view to consider.  
     Fall of the Cards is available from Vivisphere Publishing,
www.vivisphere.com or by calling 1-800-724-1100, or from where
ever good bridge books are sold.  The retail price is $17.00 and
I would consider that to be a very good value considering the
content.
_______________________________________________________
Bernstein is a free-lance writer in Solon.