Play Hard, Play Well:  A Tribute to Paul!

-Robert S. Todd

Dealer: West                            ♠ A6543

Vul. Vs NV                              ♥ --

IMPs                                        ♦  J943

♣ 9872

♠ KQJ1098

                                                ♥ 942

♦ K

♣ A43

The auction goes…

P    P   1♥   1♠

4♥  4♠  5♦   P

5♥  5♠  P     P

X   AP

You find yourself in 5♠x!

After a low ♥ lead, the play proceeds…

1:  ♥3 ♠3 ♥5 ♥2           (+1)

2:  ♦3 A K 2                 (-1)

3:  ♣J A 5 2                 (+2)

4:  ♠K 7 4 2                 (+3)

5:  ♥4 ♥7 ♠5 ♥6           (+4)

6:  ♦4 ♦5 ♠8 ♦10          (+5)

7:  ♥9 ♥8 ♠6 ♥10         (+6)

Plan your play.

Were you paying attention to ♦ spots?  Did you figure out the opponents’ ♦ holdings? 

From the auction, ♦ surely are 5-3.  (RHO seems to be 1-5-5-2.)  When LHO played ♦2 then ♦10, we can see hope for ♦Q102.  All we have to do is ruff the ♦9, return to dummy with a trump, and use the ♦J to discard one ♣ loser.

Did you find that very nice line of play?  If so, you joined the Japanese declarer from the 2001 Bermuda Bowl in being fooled by a Master – Paul Soloway!  When you ruff the ♦9, LHO plays the ♦6.  LHO’s diamond holding was ♦1062. 

The complete hand was

                                                ♠ A6543

                                                ♥ --

                                                ♦ J943

♣ 9872

♠ 7                                                                               ♠ 2

♥ KJ873                                                                      ♥ AQ1065

♦ 1062                                                                         ♦ AQ875

♣ KQ105                                                                    ♣ J6 

♠ KQJ1098

                                                ♥ 942

♦ K

♣ A43

Paul was a step ahead of a world class declarer.  If you look closely and think about the auction, you will see that declarer will likely play RHO for AQ of diamonds.  Thus, his only line of play to setup a ♦ trick is to hope his LHO has ♦10xx (leading the ♦J off the dummy on the third round.)  This was going to work and Paul saw it coming – so he played the ♦10, in tempo, on the second round of ♦.  This gave declarer a “losing option” and he took it!  Paul was rewarded for his thoughtful play with +11 IMPs.

Paul Soloway, the all time leading ACBL-masterpoint winner, and a true “Gentleman of Bridge” passed away in November.  Paul was an inspiration to players of all ages and skill levels.  He truly enjoyed the game whenever he played it – young or old, sick or well, club game or World Championship! 

My fondest memory of Paul is from the 2005 World Championships in Estoril, Portugal.  I was there kibitzing and writing about the Championships – my first.  Paul was very kind and encouraging to me.  In spite of not being in the best of health, Paul shared many of his experiences with me and allowed me to get a true understanding of what bridge at the highest levels is all about.  I was not surprised to discover that Paul’s kindness was experienced by many others as well - see Matthew Granovetter’s newsletter for a nice story about his experience with Paul when he was “a brash 21-year-old kid”.

I hope that as I progress as a bridge player I will always find the enjoyment in the game that Paul did!  I also hope I can continue his tradition of being kind and encouraging to young bridge players.  Paul, we all thank you.