Today’s deal was played some years ago in Marbella, Spain. South was Sydney Mathews, an American who had lived in Marbella for many years. Mathews was 100 years old at the time this deal was played, starting his second century of life.
The deal was played in a pairs competition where overtricks are very important. Mathews saw that 10 tricks would be easy enough if the suits split normally. There were two chances for an overtrick. One was a successful spade finesse, a 50% proposition, and the other was to find the missing diamonds splitting 4-3, a 62% chance. He did not have the entries to try both. Showing that his internal computer was working just fine, he went after the diamond suit. He won the opening club lead in hand with the ace and led a diamond to dummy’s ace. He ruffed a diamond and led a heart to dummy’s ace. He ruffed another diamond and led a heart to dummy’s king, pleased to see both red suits behaving normally. Mathews ruffed another diamond, establishing the long diamond in dummy, and led the queen of spades from his hand. The defence took one spade and one trump, but Mathews had his precious overtrick.
As Somerset Maugham once said, bridge can remain a comfort and a solace for our entire lifetimes. Beautifully played, Mr. Mathews!
Published – March 20, 2025 09:02 am IST
