BRIDGE, A LOVE STORY
Today’s deal comes from a book, titled as above and first published earlier this year in England by a London company seemingly formed for that precise purpose. My review copy of its subsequent Australian edition (published by Canada-based masterpointpress.com) came from bridgeshop.com.au whence an eBook version can be purchased for $29.99 compared with $55 for the physical soft-back that I for one unfashionably prefer
The book is an auto-biography of Pakistani Zia Mahmood. He (need I say?) is the eponymous lover and the object of his affections is the game of bridge. So much so that in 1979, despite his more than adequately relevant education in England as well as the total astonishment of Ali Mahmood, his brother and business partner, he left “…all my assets with him to multiply (hopefully), took £1000 from our joint funds and boarded the next flight to London. My target was the rubber bridge clubs.”
Before long, however, he added tournament bridge to the range of his activities and there became world-famous merely as “Zia“ (no surname appears on the front cover of the book). Visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZiaMahmood for the enviably long list of his honours, awards, international and national victories et cetera in that context. Included are two gold and five silver medals in world championships as well as election in 2007 to the American Contract Bridge League’s Hall of Fame.
What follows demonstrates Zia's praiseworthy readiness to tell an amusing tale against himself.
In the diagrammed auction from the 121st of 128 boards in the USA-Italy grand final of the 2009 Bermuda Bowl, the World Bridge Federation’s longest established and most important teams championship, Zia, by then a US international, was in the East seat facing multiple world champion Robert Hamman. North’s alertable 2NT over Hammans take-out double of the first-seat 1♥ bid promised a good heart raise. Zia’s double of North’s control-showing 6♦(logically showing grand slam interest) was evidently lead–directing. Had he subsequently passed North’s retreat to 6♥, that small slam would most likely have been taken one down; but his actual second double, intended as for penalties, was instead read by his partner as a Lightner double, asking for an unexpected lead and hence cancelling the message conveyed by its predecessor.
The play accordingly went ♣K-4-2-♥2, ♥J-♣3-♥4-A, ♠9-A-7-6, ♥Q-♠2-♥9-10, ♦7-2-8-♣5, at which point declarer claimed and EW conceded the remaining tricks and his contract.
Remarkably, readers may agree, that result was duplicated at the other table. The auction there was 1♥-Dble-3♣-4♠, Pass-Pass-5♦-Dble, 6♥-Pass-Pass-Dble, in which 3♣ was alerted as a game forcing heart raise. ♣K was likewise led to A-2-♦5 after which ♣4-5-♥2-♣Q, ♠A-2-6-8, ♠K-5-♣8-♠3, ♠10-7-♥4-♠4, ♥6-A-3-♦2, ♥10-Q-♣J-♥7, ♦10-3-8 were played before play ceased.
6♥ one down at the second table but not at the first would have generated a 15-IMP swing to the Italians, reducing the number of IMPs by which, at that point, they trailed the Americans to only 10. Not enough, as the last seven boards did go to deny the former their actually comfortable victory, but who can tell what the psychological effect would have been?
Meanwhile, at the Canberra Bridge Club in Deakin, eight self-formed combinations are competing for the right to become Australia’s 2024 open team. Of six ACT players involved, only two survived the quarter-finals. Andrew Spooner partnering Phil Markey (SA) and Will Jenner-O’Shea partnering Mike Doecke (SA). As this apologetically late column is at last being completed they and their NSW teammates, Shane Harrison and Matt Smith, were only nine IMPs behind (104-113) half-way through one of the semi-finals with realistic hopes of figuring in the grand final which can be “watched” cost-free via bridgebase.com bid-by-bid and card-by-card on Wednesday and Thursday. Visit bridgetv.com.au before logging on to see what Australian expert commentary is being provided each day.