Spaghetti Western

by Mark Horton

Do you recall the series of Western adventures that catapulted Clint Eastwood to stardom? The last of them was ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.’ International Popular Bridge Monthly, now incorporated into Bridge Magazine ran a series presenting bridge deals that fitted into each of the three categories. To which one of the three do you think this little gem from the Round 4 Bermuda Bowl match between India and Jordan belongs?

Board 3. Dealer South. E/W Vul.
	♠ K J 2 ♥ Q 2 ♦ Q 5 3 ♣ J 9 7 3 2
♠ Q 9 8 ♥ A J 8 5 4 ♦ 4 ♣ K 10 5 4		♠ 10 7 6 5 4 3 ♥ K 7 6 ♦ K 7 2 ♣ A
	♠ A ♥ 10 9 3 ♦ A J 10 9 8 6 ♣ Q 8 6

West	North	East	South
			1♦
1♥	1NT	2♦*	3NT
Pass	Pass	Dbl	All Pass

When I asked North/South about the bidding North– with tongue in cheek – said that he didn’t redouble in case his partner ran.

East led the five of spades to dummy’s ace. Declarer called for the queen of clubs, covered in turn by the king(!), two and ace. When East continued with a spade, declarer won and advanced the queen of diamonds. When East played low, North recalled Zia’s advice: ‘If they don’t cover, they don’t have it.’ However, when he kept his own counsel by playing low from dummy, he was able to collect a total of twelve tricks and +850.