BRIDGE

Both vulnerable. North deals.
NORTH
x K 9 6 3
u 9 8
v A K J 10 9
w Q 5
WEST EAST
x 8 5 2 x Q 10 7
u 2 u Q 7 6 4
v Q 8 6 2 v 7 5 3
w J 8 7 6 4 w 10 9 3
SOUTH
x A J 4
u A K J 10 5 3
v 4
w A K 2
The bidding:
NORTH EAST SOUTH WEST
1v Pass 2u Pass
2x Pass 3w Pass
3NT Pass 7u Pass
Pass Pass
Opening lead: Six of w
This deal is from the quarterfinals of the 1943 Spingold Knockout Team Championship, played in New York. After three quarters, a team captained by Howard Schenken led Jigger Dornbusch by more than 1,000 points. With Lee Hazen and Dick Frey in spectacular form, the Dorbusch team was staging a rally, but the match was proceeding at a snail's pace. With one board still to play, Frey announced that he had to leave to make the last train home to Great Neck, and captain Dornbusch was pressed into service.
Unaware that his team was back in the match and thinking his team needed a big swing, Dornbusch barged into a grand slam in hearts on the last board. After a club lead, all the tricks were there for the taking had declarer taken a first-round trump finesse -- the percentage play -- or with a trump coup after he first cashed the king of hearts. As it was, he went down one.
When the scores were compared, Dornbusch was stunned to learn that, had he been content to play in a heart partscore, his team would have won. Known for always doing the right thing, Dornbusch offered to jump out of the window. A team meeting resolved to reject the offer -- after all, Dornbusch did not know the state of the match when he had to enter the fray. The four players reconvened, however, and because of Frey's hasty departure, by a 3-1 vote decided to accept a similar offer from Frey should it be tendered. It never was!
XThis column is written by Tannah Hirsch and Omar Sharif. For information about Charles Goren's newsletter for bridge players, call (800) 788-1225 or write Goren Bridge Letter, P.O. Box 4410, Chicago, Ill. 60680
& copy;2006, Tribune Media Services
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