This is the last column of four where I am continuing in my mission to get my readers to buy, borrow and read more bridge books.

As I wrote in the first column on this topic, I’m always puzzled as to why bridge players rarely read bridge books – granted, there are some that are a bit technical and dry, and appeal only to the cognoscenti, but the majority of them are full of stories, wit and humour, and at the same time contain fascinating and instructional bridge hands.

I promised to introduce you to four great new bridge books in the hope that you will order them on Amazon or elsewhere – all four books are among the nominees for the International Bridge Press Association’s Book of the Year and I think you will enjoy them all.

In the first week, I featured Peter Weichsel’s Bridge’s First Hippie, the second week it was Bridge – A Love Story by Zia Mahmood, and last week it was David Bird’s Twelve Important Lessons on Declarer Play.

Today I introduce the last of the four – Barnet Shenkin’s Heroes, Icons and Scandals, 2022 Master Point Press, paperback or e-book (200 pages).

Twenty years ago, Shenkin’s Playing with the Bridge Legends gave its readers a fascinating insight into what it is like to play with and against the best in the game. In some ways this book is a sequel to that one – it focuses on the great characters in the history of bridge, both the heroes and those subject to scandal. Including chapters on Culbertson, Belladonna, Garozzo and Zia, the book also provides behind-the-scenes accounts of the cheating scandals in Stockholm, Bermuda (1975, and I was there!) and Buenos Aires involving Reese, Schapiro and the Italian Blue Team.

Like the first book, the author also draws on his own experiences at the very top of the game. The reader joins the author at the table, gaining a sense of exactly how it feels to “play with the bridge legends“.

Today’s hand (see Figure 1 and the bidding in Figure 2) is a little complicated in that you have to look at all four hands closely to see the impact of a fine play by declarer.

The bidding was good – South’s two clubs showed a big hand, North’s two diamonds was a negative response and when South bid two hearts North’s bid of three hearts showed a hand with some values – without, say, the Queen of diamonds North would have jumped to four hearts showing a bad hand (fast arrival – bad hand, slow arrival – good hand). Declarer then settled for the small slam when North denied any key cards.

West led an obvious Jack of spades. Declarer took the first trick with the King of spades and drew trumps with the Ace and King.

As trumps were 2-1, declarer saw that he had the extra chance to make a twelfth trick whenever West had the Ace of diamonds and the suit was 3-3.

Declarer was about to play the King of diamonds when he had second thoughts and came up with a better plan. First, declarer cashed the Ace of spades.

Now came a clever move: he led the five of diamonds towards dummy at trick five. This caught West in a Morton’s Fork: if he rose with the Ace of diamonds, declarer would have two certain diamond tricks. It was no better in practice when he played the seven of diamonds, for dummy’s Queen of diamonds won the trick.

Declarer continued with a low diamond to his King and West’s Ace and that player found himself end-played.

West knew that declarer had begun with seven hearts, two spades and two diamonds: that left declarer with exactly two clubs. So, it was clear to West that a spade back would see declarer ruff on table and discard a club from hand. Consequently, West exited with a low club and declarer claimed, making a second club trick and the slam.

Declarer might have been lucky that West had a doubleton Ace of diamonds. However, this approach wins whenever West has the Ace of diamonds singleton, doubleton or tripleton (when West can safely exit with a diamond, but that has the downside of establishing the suit after declarer ruffs high).

Finally, it also succeeds when West has four diamonds to the Ace and only one of the Jack, ten or nine of diamonds. In that case, after West wins the Ace of diamonds, a diamond return will see the eight of diamonds win a trick.

I told you it was complicated – go through it again and you will appreciate that once declarer played a low diamond towards the Queen West had no answer – a perfect Morton’s Fork!

• David Ezekiel can be contacted at davidezekiel999@gmail.com

BRIDGE CLUB RESULTS

Friday, July 19

1. Richard Hall-Heather Woolf

2. Jack Rhind-Sheena Rayner

3. Charles Hall-Martha Ferguson

Monday, July 22

1. John Burville-Charles Hall

2. Diana Diel-Patricia Siddle

3. Joyce Pearson-Greta Marshall

Tuesday, July 23

1. Benjamin Stone-Andrew Tobin

2. Barbara Elkin-Heidi Dyson

3. Felicity Lunn-Keri McKittrick

Wednesday, July 24

North/South

1. Diana Diel-Patricia Siddle

2. William Pollett-Linda Pollett

Thursday, July 25

1. Martha Ferguson-Margaret Way

2. Tim Mardon-Delton Outerbridge

3. Claude Guay-Lisa Ferrari