The Cardinal's Little Gem

Pages: Page 5 of 5

Dealer: East
Vuln: E-W
Scoring: Pairs
  1. spade8 3
  2. heart8 7 2
  3. diamond8 6 5 3
  4. clubK 7 6 2
  1. spadeK 9
  2. heartQ 10 3
  3. diamondK 9 4
  4. clubQ 10 9 5 4
club diamond heart spade NT
N - 1 - - -
S - 1 - - -
E 3 - 1 3 2
W 3 - - 3 2
Green square in centre
  1. spadeA Q J 10 6 5
  2. heartA J 9
  3. diamond7
  4. clubJ 8 3

Contract: 4spade
Declarer: East
Lead: clubA
  1. spade7 4 2
  2. heartK 6 5 4
  3. diamondA Q J 10 2
  4. clubA
Double dummy analyser: makeable contracts
West North East South
1spade 2diamond
Dble 3diamond 3spade Pass
4spade End
Declarer's "Morton's Fork" coup had North on the horns of an impossible dilemma in a similar way that the Cardinal Morton did hundreds of years ago. Morton was the Chancellor of King Henry VII , and he extracted taxes from the prosperous merchants by arguing that if the victims lived frugally then they must have plenty of saved money available for paying taxes. If on the other hand they lived ostentatiously then they must have plenty of spare cash to keep the King's coffers full. A bit like today's Chancellor, really.
Previous page
This section is a placeholder for the forum. For the time being it will be a noshow class.