Deadlier than most males

Mark Amory

THE RIXI MARKUS BOOK OF BRIDGE

Collins Willow, f9.95

Abook was published recently called Why Women Lose at Bridge. The most convincing explanation I have heard was `The trouble is that, deep down, some- where at the back of their minds, they retain the idea that it is only a game.' Be that as it may, Rixi Markus has been the most conspicuous exception for several years now. In her latest book, the hands are used to illustrate her arguments, though often they are amusing as well. Here she is discussing jump overcalls and how they give away information: Dealer North; love all

# A 8 6 2

(.2 J 7 3

<3 A K 10 6 4 + A

♦ J6K9Q3 10 7 5 4

O

+ Q 10 3

# 9 3 C2 A K Q 10 9 5 4 O 8 7 2 +6

SouthWor est North East 10 2416

30 5+ 6C2 NB

NB NB

`West led the jack of spades against six hearts, and the fact that the defenders spades were known to be 6-1 meant that there were strong possibilities of a success- ful avoidance play in diamonds. South won in dummy with the ace of spades, cashed the ace of clubs and crossed to hand with a trump to lead a small diamond towards dummy. When West played low, declarer went up with dummy's ace and crossed back to hand with a trump to lead a second diamond. When West produced the queen' South ducked to ensure the contract: the 3-2 diamond break meant that he could eventually discard his losing spade 00 dummy's long diamond, without East ever being able to gain the lead to cash a winning spade. It would have made no difference if West had contributed the queen of dia- monds on the first round of the suit: South would still have ducked the queen in order to establish dummy's long suit with perfect safety.' •

c) 8 2 O Q 5 + K J 9 8 7 5 4 2

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