JOHNNY SUPREMO'S MASTERCLASS IN DECEPTION.....

Johnny sitting West found himself having to defend a 3NT contract carrying most of the defence's ammunition. His partner could only be holding a 6/7 card spade suit and sod all else.
On a natural spade lead he could see declarer making this contract if diamonds were to be tackled rather than clubs ( 5D, 3H ,1S and 1C). Therefore , declarer had to be persuaded to play on clubs instead. And this involved casting a spell and creating an illusion.
Declarer sensibly ducked the first spade , and the second but was forced to play his Ace at trick 3. Seconds after his spade Ace went up West calmly threw away the Ace of diamonds ! The trap had been set and declarer fell right into it.
Believing that West had performed this unblocking move simply to create an entry into East's hand with the diamond queen ,  declarer could now confidently turn to clubs knowing that he only needed one of the two finesses to work. So if West switched to a small diamond , all that was required now was for declarer to go up with the boss King . Given the suit was breaking 2-2 , West yet again would be unable to get partner in to run off his spade winners.
At the table at trick 4 , declarer crossed to dummy with queen of hearts only to take a losing queen of clubs finesse. As predicted Johnny fired back his low diamond with declarer gleefully going up with dummy's King. Then at trick seven came the second attempt to finesse a club honour, and even though East showed out in clubs , declarer's smile certainly disappeared but it at least he had taken the best line at making the contract. But when Johnny pounced on declarer's club 10 with the jack to miraculously produce the diamond queen to beat the contract declarer knew that he had been well and truly shafted by a master of deception.

SLOPPY DEFENCE GIVES THE GAME AWAY

In a teams of four match I was sitting South holding J976 K543..10...KQJ6 , when my LHO opponent opened a spade 
........suppressing his 6 card diamond suit. This in due course
turned out to be a brilliant move on his part. My partner over
called 2H with a cavalier air of bold defiance. My RHO bid 
2NT alerted as a good raise. I responded 3H which was then blasted away by a 4S bid . Two passes to me and so I doubled.
What this is a wise double ? Sadly , on our defence it proved
a disaster. 
Partner led out the Ace of hearts which received a signal from me to switch to clubs . Oh no....then came the Ace of diamonds on which I played my singleton 10. Surely , my partner would continue the suit ?
Oh no....next came a heart taken by my King. End of defence and
minus 790.
Best defence for us would be two red aces , K of H and two diamond ruffs , which would have happened if my RHO had opened 1S. So where did my partner go wrong ?
If after the Ace of hearts he led a club declarer still has a real problem. He needs to force out the Ace of diamonds before drawing all my trumps. This he cannot do if partner holds up his Ace of diamonds until the third round. Then a second club forces declare to ruff in hand and ultimately my jack of spades will make.
Can declare do better ? I don't think so. Playing on diamonds exposes my singleton allowing partner to give me a ruff. Drawing my trumps with the diamond Ace still outstanding would be an act of suicidal madness. His only hope is to get North to part with his diamond Ace on the first round , then hopefully be in a position to finesse my jack of spades for the contract. 
Our pair went 2 off doubled in 4S for minus 500. A horror board indeed. 

HAVE I MISSED SOMETHING OR DID EVERYONE ELSE ? .......  (Article by Johnny Supremo )

Last night on board 24 ,  I elected to bid 5H over the opponents' 5C. Partner frowned clearly annoyed at being denied a confident double. Needless to say the contract went 2 down for minus 300,  which I thought was a decent save against a certain game in either no trumps or clubs. 
" But 5C by East can't make no matter what card I lead ! " protested partner. And the opponents also agreed , convinced they had a loser in clubs, hearts and diamonds. Even the computer prediction suggested only 10 tricks were possible. So am I missing something or is everyone else missing the obvious .....a simple squeeze is on if diamonds are not attacked straightaway.
Let's assume my partner would automatically lead out her Ace of hearts , followed by a low one. This lets the opponents in with the King to seize control. Trumps would cleared in three rounds with the loss of a trick to my partner's Ace. A belated diamond switch should then be by taken by West's King to set up the simple squeeze position. Declarer must resist the the temptation of ruffing the losing heart because this is the all important precious squeeze card. 
At trick 7 declarer should rattle off two more rounds of clubs and his 2 top spades. Dummy's remaining three cards will be the QS, H4 and D5.  Poor North . Left to guard both hearts and diamonds , he is obliged to throw in the towel when at trick eleven West is put in with his master spade. Five clubs bid and made on a simple squeeze. 
Maybe I was wrong to bid 5C , but let's face it I had no defensive tricks, and I could envisage partner leading out the heart Ace followed by low one. Would my opponents be up to the task of making the contract after such a helpful start I just don't know.        
     
    

JOHNNY FINDS THE
FOOLPROOF WAY............

The other night the Northern Pro was giving his partner a right good bollocking for going down in 4H. On a club lead the careless South took a losing heart finesse. Then , on regaining the lead with a second club , he immediately cleared hearts by playing his Ace, only to take a losing diamond finesse. The obvious spade switch by East sealed his fate.
The Northern Pro of course told his hapless partner in no uncertain terms the error of his ways. " Clearly West , by his take out double , has most of the outstanding HCPs with at least 8 or 9 cards in the black suits.....and therefore short in both red suits. By playing off the Ace of Hearts at trick two, followed by the other top club and both top diamonds, everything is set up to make the contract. Simply throw West in with his king of hearts. Even if he holds the diamond queen there's no risk whatsoever of losing two spades. Either West gives up a spade to your king , or plays a club providing you with a ruff and spade discard from hand. "
At this point Johnny stepped in to correct the Northern Pro. " But what if East turns with the King of hearts. The defence now has a simple task of taking their two spade winners along with the established queen of diamonds !  The safer option is to play the Ace of hearts at trick 2 followed by the queen. It doesn't matter now who holds the king. If it is East , he'll certainly shift to a spade, and so any spade continuation allows you to pitch a losing diamond from hand. If West does turn up with the king he can not harm you with a diamond switch.  By playing on spades yourself ,  the third spade can easily be set up in time for the diamond discard. Why take unnecessary risks ? "
The Northern Pro was not amused , but his partner couldn't help but smile .

COUNT ON JOHNNY : YOU KNOW IT MAKES SENSE 

If you ever need a partner to deliver time after time , then count on Johnny. He never lets you down.
Take a look at the hand opposite. Most pairs were in 5D with South as declarer , but very few made 11 tricks.The opening lead on every occasion was the queen of spades , taken in dummy with the Ace , to be followed   by two rounds of trumps.
At this point the majority of declarers opted to try the club finesse first  in order to secure the eleventh trick. However,  once West was in with the queen of clubs , he was quick to return a club to partner's Ace , leaving declarer at some point to take the doomed heart finesse for one down. But not Johnny. 
At trick four Johnny elected to take the heart finesse losing to West's King. So far Johnny had counted six of West's high card points ( QJ of spades and the heart King ). West ,  of course , safely exited with the jack of spades , with Johnny ruffing in dummy. Then a heart to his Ace followed by a heart ruff.  So with East showing 3 in that suit ,  West now held the Jack of hearts as well , nudging up his HCP tally to 7. 
It was obvious to Johnny that  if West held the Ace of clubs  ( giving him 11 points and a likely 5-4-1-3 or 4-4-4-1 distribution ) , then an black suit overcall or take out double was a mandatory bid ! Therefore West's pass clearly suggested the absence of the Ace of clubs. Armed with this deduced knowledge , Johnny played a club from dummy and rose with the King , when East played low. Eleven tricks were duly made along with a well deserved equal top. 
What a player.What a man. 
  

  
     

JOHNNY TELLS BIGOT TO GET BACK TO BASICS

When it comes to defending slams , always be prepared to find yourself the victim of a squeeze. This hand proved to be a tale of woe for the impulsive and reckless Bigot.
After West opened the bidding with a pre-emptive 3H South still finished up bidding 6NT. Bigot ( East ) held a slam breaking A1097.....98.....J1096 ...962
Not surprisingly partner's opening lead was the queen of hearts, which Johnny Supremo as declarer won with the king. At trick two the spade switch went to dummy's jack , which Bigot pounced upon with the Ace. Slam made : no problem. 
Johnny won the heart return, and cashed four top clubs, on which poor Bigot had to find a discard from either his spade or diamond suit. Whatever choice he made declarer was home making 2H, 4C, 4D and 2S.... or 2H, 4C, 3D, and 3S. Because Johnny had rectified the count Bigot was unable to protect both these suits. 
The living legend turned to Bigot and said "  That defence of yours was not so much heavy handed but naive. You really must get back to the basics of this game ".
" Listen up you smart arse......I assumed......quite rightly in my opinion..... that partner must have an outside honour to go with his 7 card heart suit.....therefore it seemed right to clear the heart suit.....but that brainless idiot was bidding on filth again ".
Johnny smiled.  "There was no need whatsoever to rely on partner. If he has a quick trick in either clubs or diamonds he would surely make that in the fullness of time. Your first requirement was to stop declarer rectifying the count , by ducking the first two rounds of spades , if only to protect yourself from being squeezed. Declarer can only come to 11 tricks.  This means you didn't need the minor miracle of partner winning a trick to beat the slam. "
As Bigot walked away to ask the bar steward for the muffle cushion , everyone could hear the same word being repeated over and over again. 
" Bugger....bugger.....bugger.....bugger.....bugger..... "

The full hand was : 

DO CHEATS PROSPER ? : TOO BLOODY RIGHT THEY DO !! ..............( Says a shocked and deflated Johnny Supremo )


A few weeks ago my partner and I witnessed the most blatant example of soft cheating anyone is ever likely to experience at one of our many centres of approved cheating here in the UK. 
Vulnerable against not my partner opened the bidding with a gambling 3NT on his 1-3-7-2 distrubution. My RHO asked what this meant , and I explained that it promised a solid minor, and possibly an outside honour but not an ace. As it happened he had Kx of clubs to go with his seven trick diamond suit. Armed with this information she went into a huddle.......umming and aring....dillying and dallying.... her arm to-ing and fro-ing towards the bidding box........horribly undecided .......hesitant.....and hesitating ........before eventually PASSING !!
Anyone looking on would have sussed that she had a fist full of points but unsure as to what she should do with her fairly flat 5-3-3-2 hand. 
In the West seat I was looking at my 3-3-1-6 hand with 3 to the Ace in hearts and 6 to the QJ in clubs. Despite having no guard in spades I decided to pass hoping that there might be a play a play for 3NT. Poor choice on my part as it happened. 
But now we come to North , my LHO, who on her flat 4-4-2-3 distribution with just the queen of hearts as her only points....suddenly came in with a double !! ......having certainly picked up on her's partner's " I've got points over here " hand. Well, as far as I'm concerned no other player in the world would bid on such tat....whether he/she was aware of this information or not.
Once the double came in......her partner had no hesitation now bidding 4S , which then duly made ,  because at trick 3 after cashing two top diamonds, my partner switched to hearts which compelled me to take my Ace. This now meant we were unable to establish a club trick in time. Declarer had a simple task of drawing trumps, and establishing dummy's 4th heart for a losing club discard. Tricks taken were 5S, club Ace, 3 hearts and a diamond ruff in dummy, for minus 420.
I called for the director not so much in the hope of getting a score adjustment.....but more to have her questionable behaviour noted for breach of ethical bidding.  What galled me most was her pathetic arguments that there was nothing wrong with her double. Thankfully , the director agreed that no one in their right mind would make such a bid even at favourable vulnerability. Consequently , the 4S score was scrapped with the 3NT bid allowed to stand. The thing was this went off 2 , for minus 200 , with my RHO cashing out the first 5 spade tricks plus the Ace of clubs. This still proved to be a thumping great bottom since all the other North-Souths were scoring either 140 or 170.
Is there any justice in is game ? I think not.....especially when that pair went on to win the duplicate.  

AM I BEING OVERLY SUSPICIOUS ? ......( Article by Johnny Supremo )


The other night my partner and I had a torrid time. We made quite a few uncharacteristic mistakes, but somehow the Gods were on the side of our opponents. 
However , there was one board we played , against a regular pairing of some standing , which made me feel very uneasy indeed. More often than not they deliberate over their bids as you would expect of players who think intelligently about the game ,  always looking to make highly constructive bids whenever possible.
Well, on the hand shown opposite , my LHO opened 1S , and no sooner had my partner passed , my RHO immediately plonked a 2S bid on the table. The change in tempo had all the hallmarks of a super light raise.
Despite having 14 HCPs and a 4 card heart suit , the vulnerability was not in my favour. So rather timidly I elected to pass , and duly took my medicine as 2S came rolling home. 
But what really stuck in my craw was that my LHO also passed quickly despite having extra values. For if responder also had the king of hearts or clubs ( still justifying a 2S response on 6 HCPs ) , then 4S has more than a reasonable chance of making.
Was it unfair of me to have suspicions about an enhanced , albeit tacit understanding on their part  ? Or am I right in assuming there is more to the art of bidding than correct card selection ?

JOHNNY EXPLAINS.............

During a post match discussion one team player desperately tried to defend an accusation that " she butchered the defence ".
The contract was 4H by the North, and by sneaking in a frisky 2S overcall during the auction on AKxxxx....void...xxxx...xxx , her partner made an opening lead of spade 10. 
Dummy came down with xx.....AKQxx....Q9xx....xx.
Declarers bidding suggested a semi-balanced no trump hand with 12-14 HCPs , of which four points could be accounted for : QJ of spades and J of hearts. This left partner with a minimum 8 points in the minors.
Having taken the first trick with the spade King, the lady in question correctly switched to a minor suit..... but played 7 of diamonds !  Game over....10 tricks made no problem. Her partner took the trick with the Ace , but the chance to make his club king had now disappeared under the setting sun. The best the defence could do now was to play back a spade , planning to see a third spade ruffed and then over-ruffed. This would certainly stop declarer's queen of spades giving him the opportunity to lob away a losing club in dummy. Instead, after playing off  2 rounds of trumps , declarer ditched his losing queen of clubs on dummy's fourth diamond. Contract coming in with 5H , 3D, Club Ace and 1 ruff. 
In order to settle the argument for once and for all , Johnny stepped in to explain why a switch to club stood out by a country mile.
" The danger was all too plain to see. If declarer has both minor suit Aces, it was going to be an easy task to win the diamond switch with the Ace , and draw trumps before conceding a second spade. Then on the inevitable club switch, declarer would swiftly rise up with the Ace, to gleefully pitch a losing club from dummy on his establish spade winner. However, a club return guarantees a club trick to the defence, as well as a diamond and a spade, because there was no chance of three losing diamonds ever going away in dummy. Moreover ,  by giving partner the diamond Ace plus the club king and jack , then a switch to clubs at trick two was just as imperative. Also ,  if partner happens to have instead the diamond king / club Ace and Jack , then the switch to clubs cannot do any harm whatsoever ,  because once the second spade winner has been quickly cashed,  declarer  would still be left with a diamond to lose. So yes....the lady did screw up big time. "
Now can anyone argue with that logic ?

Declarer's hand : QJx....J9xxx.....KJ10.....AQ
East's hand : 10x...xxx.....Ax.....KJ10xxx

JOHNNY SEES THE DANGER...........

The other night I witnessed a great mind at work ,  when Johnny Supremo set about defeating a 4S contract. South had opened the bidding 3S , doubled by Johnny sitting West, and then 4S from North which ended the auction. 
Holding Ax....AKQx.....QJ10.....Q109x ,  every West in the room kicked off with K of hearts, and with dummy ( North ) revealing Q9....J10xx.....xxxx.....AKx ,  there were still 5 outstanding hearts to be accounted for. When East revealed an odd number in the suit , it was fairly obvious that declarer was sitting there with a losing doubleton.
At trick 2 the Ace of hearts was played confirming the 4-4-3-2 distribution in that suit. At this point all the Wests decided against continuing hearts for fear of setting up dummy's jack, and so they all switched to queen of diamonds as the logical choice.....but now 4S tick for declarer appeared on every line of the score-sheet . For when the diamond Queen was taken by declarer with his Ace, it was time to set about clearing trumps in two rounds, putting West again on lead. A second diamond was routinely ruffed by South, who simply played out all the remaining spades. Every West was forced to squirm in his seat , squeezed to death , being unable to guard both hearts and clubs.
But not at Johnny's table. He could see the pending squeeze a mile off.   If Declarer held 3 clubs in the Jack ( which in fact  he had ), then his best line of defence was to simply remove the heart menace. At trick 3 he continued with the queen of hearts , which was gleefully ruffed by declarer. But as soon as spades were played, Johnny rose with the Ace to play a fourth heart. This was ruffed by partner with his remaining trump, and although the inevitable over-ruff took place, declarer was condemned to concede a losing club.
What vision...... what great defence..... what a player. And if Johnny Supremo isn't nominated for the Bridge Hall Of Fame , then all I can say is.... there ain't any justice left in this bizarre world of bridge !

( Declarer's hand was KJ10xxxx....xx....A....Jxx )

JOHNNY 
PULLS
OFF A
MASTER
STROKE
......
......
......
......
In a recent team of 8 intercity league match, Johnny returned a perfect score card, and certainly board 27 was his highlight of his achievements.
On the other table against 6S doubled, the N/S opponents had no difficulty in rapping up the contract when West led 2 of clubs at trick one. After winning the trick in dummy declarer played a spade towards his AQ only to get the bad news, but undeterred he simply went up with the Ace. East's opening bid of 1C suggested most of the outstanding points were in his mitt, and so South decided to play him for three hearts to the queen. His vision was rewarded when the third heart was ruffed, establishing the jack as a winner. At trick 6,  a club from hand was ruffed in dummy, and now the jack of hearts provided a discard for declarer's losing diamond. Slam made...... with only the king of spades to lose.
However, on Johnny's table the same contract of 6S doubled netted our hero with +200 .

" How come you got it off with nothing to guide your partner to find the killing diamond lead ? "
" It was easy.....despite having an identical first round bidding sequence of 1C-4S-5C-5S "
" But did you not bid 6C as an obvious non-vulnerable sacrifice against a vulnerable game ? "
" No "
" How come ? "
" I bid 5NT instead "
" How come ? "
" I had to flag up a message to partner that I did not want a club lead "
" How come.....he might well have had the Ace of clubs? "
" True.....but with such a good club fit, there was a real possibility that one of the opponents had 
   a void in the suit.....and even if partner did have the Ace I would not want him to lead it ( or   
   under lead it for that matter ) in case declarer had Kx "
" So how come your partner found the diamond lead as opposed to a heart ? "
" Easy.......because as luck would have it...... the week before I had showed him an almost  
   carbon copy hand taken from the US team trials the 1966 Olympiad, where one of the world's 
   best players made the same brilliant and highly informative bid "
" Amazing "
" Yes, what's even more amazing was that my partner managed to remember what it meant "
" And who was that ? "
" Bigot-Johnson "
" Now that is amazing ! "

  

  
  

JOHNNY
AS
USUAL
TAKES
THE
RIGHT
INFERENCE
.........
.........
.........

Never one to miss an easy inference, Johnny brought home his 6H slam to the delight of his team mates.
The defence got off to cracking start with the jack of clubs lead which the maestro took straightaway at trick one. Ruffing out diamonds high whilst clearing trumps in the process, it was imperative to end up in dummy in order to get off lead with a low club.
When his LHO opponent played the 7 of clubs under dummy's 8,  Johnny knew that that this expert defender held the king of spades !. For him to take the club trick only to finesse himself in spades would be the act of a madman or complete fool. Moreover, he desperately needed his partner to take the trick with the club 10, and fire a spade through and put declarer on a guess.
But Johnny didn't need to guess. When his RHO switched to a low spade, the 10 was immediately inserted from dummy being the only possible winning option........and the slam came rolling home. 
So I ask you, is there any player on God's earth who can match the sheer brilliance of this man other than The Northern Pro ? 

JOHNNY SUPREMO DOES IT AGAIN.........

If ever a man could pull of an impossible slam then it is Johnny Supremo. The other day I watched this wizard weave his magic, after he launched himself into a risky 6H in order to secure a trophy winning top. The bidding went 2C-2D-2H-4H-6H
The maestro's monster hand was.....  Axx.....AK109xx.....void.....AQJ10,  but dummy's motley collection was a very disappointing..... Jxxx.......Qxx......Jxxxx........x
The defence got off to a cracking good lead of a small heart ( from 3), which Johnny correctly won in dummy, RHO opponent playing the J. However, this restricted dummy hand to making only two ruffs. Johnny soon realised the chances of making this contract depending on 4 things:
(i) the clubs breaking 4-4
(ii) the spades breaking 3-3
(iii) the club king being off-side 
(iv) RHO having both the KQ of spades.
So a plan was hatched. At trick 2,  a club to the Ace.  Queen of clubs, covered and ruffed in dummy. Back to hand with a diamond ruff. Jack and 10 of clubs allowing  two small spades to be pitched from dummy. Now came a low spade to the jack taken by RHO's queen. The diamond return was ruffed. Next the ace of spades, with Johnny's third spade being ruffed in dummy. Now came a third diamond ruff to enable declarer to get back in to pull his LHO's remaining two trumps to secure the contract.
So yes, miracles can happen if the cards lay right.....but every now and again in bridge, a miracle is what you have to plan for if asked to take on a mission impossible .

   

BIGOT 
GETS
SHAFTED
YET
AGAIN
BY
JOHNNY
SUPREMO
........
On this hand it was Bigot's turn to get active in defense ,   having seen Johnny confidently sail into a rather ambitious game contract in clubs. Naturally Bigot stuck in a more than hopeful double in the knowledge that he had two certain winners, and his partner could well have one in diamonds. 
With three aces missing, Johnny initially viewed the contract as hopeless, unless of course he could hoodwink Bigot into making a mistake. So when West led the three of spades towards Bigot's known suit, Johnny now hatched his cunning plan. He called for the 5 of spades from dummy !
Bigot of course took stock of the spade situation. Surely declarer would not have played low from dummy unless of course he held the 10. Therefore, it had to be right to take the trick with the Ace...... on which Johnny smoothly played the 7. Bigot stopped to analyse the situation further. " If declarer started with 107, then that suggests partner started off with 63, but in our system the top card from a doubleton is mandatory. This means partner's 3 must be a singleton with South holding 1076. "
Convinced by this line of reasoning, Bigot promptly played the 9 of spades at trick two ( a suit preference for hearts ) fully expecting partner to ruff.
Now the horror of having been shafted yet again by Johnny's deceptive play came to fruition, with Johnny discarding the first of his three hearts, drawing trumps, and pitching two more losing hearts and one diamond on dummy's top spades.  With two trumps still left in dummy, Johnny limited his diamond losers to one. Game made.
To say that Bigot was an unhappy bunny would be an understatement......the man simply fell to the floor, curled up into the fetal position, and cried out for his dummy !

JOHNNY
RISES 
TO 
THE
OCCASION
AS
ALWAYS
.......
.......

Getting declarers to abandon a winning line for a losing one takes great skill at deceptive play, and Johnny had read all the books on this particular subject. For over 20 years he had been waiting for a hand , identical to the one which  earned Maurice Harrison-Gray well deserved praise from all of his illustrious peers.
After East had opened 3S  South, in the hideous shape and form of Bigot-Johnson, took the plunge and bid 3NT.
Sitting West was Johnny who, because it was Bigot,  doubled with real menace and intent.
With no further bidding, Johnny kicked off with his 8 of spades, and Bigot sensibly allowed East to take the first two tricks, before taking his Ace on the third round of the suit.
However, suspecting that his partner had no entry to his winning spades, Johnny could see that Bigot would make this contract harvesying 1S, 5D and 3H .....not to mention 1C .....as the cards appeared to be sitting. Bigot had to be deflected from tackling diamonds.....and just like Maurice over half a century ago.....he discarded his diamond Ace on the third round of spades !
Bigot of course fell for the trap, smug in his analysis that Johnny must have started off with Ax and was looking to create an entry to East's hand if he was holding Qx in diamonds. So Bigot put plan B into action by switching his attention to clubs. At trick 4 his overtook his heart jack with dummy's queen to try a club finesse with the queen. Johnny pounced with his King, only to return the predictable diamond. 
In a flash, Bigot took the trick with the King to attempt yet another club finesse, quietly confident that East still had room for the jack with his original bid. 
So when Johnny pounced on Bigot's 10 of clubs with that nasty jack.... only to follow it up with the winning queen of diamonds, Bigot's shame and embarrassment was complete. And to see a grown man cry like a blubbering schoolboy was indeed a sorry and pitiful sight. As for the onlookers they could only admire a great man following in the footsteps of a former star from a bygone era.

  

JOHNNY
FEELS
THE FULL
FORCE
OF
BIGOT'S
BLOW 
OUT
........
In a rather tense and tetchy league match , Bigot-Johnson thought victory was in his sights , being able at last to stick one on Johnny. However , on the penultimate deal ( see above ) disaster struck when Johnny , sitting South elected to bid 1C only to hear an a 1S overcall from Bigot. North passed , hoping for partner to reopen with an obligaory double , which duly took place . This ended the auction.
With both sides vulnerable, a great deal was at stake. North got off to a cracking start with the Ace of Diamonds , followed the two. This was ruffed by Johnny, who promptly played off the A/K of clubs. Bigot ruffed in only be be over-ruffed by the 9. Another diamond was played , which was quickly trumped by South.
Now Johnny forwarded the queen of hearts , covered by Bigot with the King , who inwardly screamed in agony as the Ace take the trick. Back came a heart to South's Jack.........followed a 3rd round of clubs , ruffed and over-ruffed.  With eight tricks already in the bag and another two certain trump tricks to come,  poor Bigot was facing up to a very embarrassing 1100 penalty.
As the score was entered up, Johnny leaned across towards his red-faced opponent, only to whisper ".....but for the unfortunate lay out of the cards that was a reasonable overcall.....but there again might not a 1D overcall been better "
Bigot then rose up from his seat, grabbed Johnny by the lapels of his white tuxedo, and snapped back ....." I'll give you buts ........" , whereupon he head-butted him in front of several concerned onlookers.
When the devastating news came back that on the other table Bigot's team mates had ended up in 6C , going off one doubled , the pot boiled over completely as Bigot took it upon himself to beat them into a pulp. Taking defeat lightly was never one of his strengths.    

  

JOHNNY
SO
HAPPY
TO
RUB
IT 
IN
....
....
....
....
....
....
Johnny Supremo met up with a crestfallen  Bigot-Johnson in the bar ,  after securing yet another fine tournament victory. Bigot was still bemoaning his fate of having gone off one in 7S on the above hand.
After winning the opening jack of diamonds lead with dummy's queen he foolishly played off two top spades , before embarking upon his plan to ruff 3 losing clubs. Using top hearts as entries Bigot then found himself unable to get back to dummy to draw West's last trump. Praying that AK would now stand up to pitch away dummy's losing heart , the roof caved in when West pounced with lightening speed and malevolent glee to ruff the trick. 
Johnny was quick to point out the error of his ways. " At trick 2 play the Ace of clubs and ruff the next ( noting of course the fall of East's queen ). Return to dummy with a spade and lead another club to ruff. West's best move is to pitch a diamond . Return to dummy with a heart and ruff the fourth club high. Now of course you still have a spade to get to dummy to draw West's remaining trumps. With one top heart and two top diamonds to cash ,  the grand slam is made in comfort . "   
" .....And I suppose a smart arse like you immediately found that line of play ?......" retorted a rather upset and embarrassed Bigot.
" Oh no " , said Johnny , " I found a much more elegant play. Having worked out that East held 6 clubs and a singleton in both majors , I only needed to ruff 2 clubs keeping my club jack as a menace card. So after 10 tricks I had made 1D, 2H, 1C , two club ruffs , and 4 spades.....but crucially I was still in dummy. East of course had been squeezed to death and in order to keep his club king he was forced to come down to 2 diamonds. So my last 3 winners were the AKx of diamonds.  "  
And on that note , a sour face Bigot-Johnson left the building ready and willing to lay his head on a nearby train track.....  

NEWS FLASH :
JOHNNY
SHAFTS
BIGOT BIG
TIME........


The long awaited showdown between 
Johnny Supremo and Bigot-Johnson came to fruition , when they faced up to each other on table 1 on the final round of the Walnut Tree Invitation Swiss Pairs competition.
Bigot was with his favourite partner , Freddie Flywheel , and with this 7 board match very much in the balance , the trophy was going to be determined by the outcome of this hand. By bidding his way to 7S , Bigot seemingly had his greasy mitts on the silverware....but if only he could steer the contract home on a heart lead. 
As the cards lie , he could afford to ruff the third round of hearts high, clear trumps ( discarding a diamond from dummy ) , then test diamonds first to see if the queen falls ,  before playing off 4 rounds of clubs ( discarding his losing diamond ) , claiming 13 tricks. 
But Johnny sitting East had envisaged all this , and being a great believer in the nil desperandum philosophy decided there was a glimmer of hope in redirecting Bigot to follow a different line.....one that might possibly cost him the contract.
So when Bigot took the first heart trick in dummy, he played off two round of trumps with his Ace and Queen , getting the news about the mildly irritating 4-1 trump break. Still full of confidence ,  he cashed the King of hearts at trick 4 , and played another heart to be ruffed by dummy's King......only to see Johnny under-ruff  with his 6 of spades !
What on earth was going on ? Why on earth would Johnny do that ? Bigot's expert analysis came to the only possible conclusion : with 2 H and 4S , the bugger must also be holding 3 diamonds to the queen and four clubs to the jack.  " I can't squeeze him with two more round of spades since dummy has to discard ahead of him , so the finesse of the club with my wonderful 9 will surely see the contract home. But first I must cash my top two diamonds just in case the queen does fall ". 
With no luck in the diamond department , Bigot quickly overtook his spade 8 with dummy's 9 , to play out clubs. However, to his great shock and horror , when the 9 of clubs was played from hand   West pounced on it with his jack , his face filling up with unbridled joy as he did so. Then to add even more misery on a distraught and shell-shocked Bigot , the diamond switch secured another defensive trick for the trophy winners.
Yet again Johnny reigned supreme.  Bigot indeed had been shafted good and proper.......... proving that bad-uns in bridge always get their comeuppance.......... 
     
   

DOUBLING
JOHNNY
IS
A MUG'S
GAME
.....
.....
.....
.....
.....
Yet again The Great Man seized upon a " double "  to steer home a game contract that may well have failed...... but for the well received warning of impending danger. 
After 2 passes East barraged with 4H , fortified no doubt by favourable vulnerability conditions .
Johnny was having none of that and calmly bid 4S. West with 3 certain tricks in his hand could not restrain himself from doubling. And so Johnny took stock of the situation ,  when the opening lead of a heart hit the table.

Clearly, his main concern was to avoid losing 2 spades and 2 clubs , and so a neat little elimination play was called for. Ruffing the heart in hand , he then entered dummy with the diamond queen ,  ruffing a second heart at trick 3. Quickly, the Ace/King of diamonds followed  on which dummy's last heart was thrown. Next came a small spade to dummy's ten and West's fate was sealed.
Forlorn and crestfallen , this impetuous doubler knew he had been stitched up good and proper. The play of either a diamond or a heart would provide Johnny with a ruff and discard ( of a club from hand ). Yet the play of a club would open up the suit for Johnny to restrict his losers to one.

What a man....what a player.... 

HATS OFF TO JOHNNY...........

Yes...unbelievable things happened at Johnny's table on board 23 . His partner had been dealt a yarborough , Johnny had opened 1NT on a ropey  KJ10x.....Kxx....Qx.....QJ10x , and his expert opponents sailed into a 6NT contract played by South.
In a matter of seconds declarer had rattled off 8 top red suit tricks picking up both Johnny's heart king and diamond queen in the process. By trick 6 the only honours left in dummy were the AQ of spades , and so Johnny's first discard was naturally the 10 of spades. On tricks 7 and 8 Johnny calmly played the QJ of clubs , patently aware that declarer had both the AK of clubs in his sweaty mitt. 
Johnny's vision was now rewarded when declarer played off the AK of clubs , under which the 10x was played. Then when South volunteered the club 8 it was a rather surprised partner who popped in with his 9 to win the trick ! With a spade fired back a forlorn declarer played the queen only to see a triumphant Johnny swoop in with the King to defeat the contract.
So when a kibitzer queried whether declarer , knowing Johnny to be out of clubs but with spades left to the KJx , ducking a spade all round would set up an end play in spades . The answer was swift as it was obvious. If partner held the 98 of spades, which he did, then the 9 would force the play of dummy's queen . So having taken this trick with the king, a return of a spade to partner's 8 will force out dummy's Ace to set up the jack for the setting trick.
Well, I say hats off to Johnny for quick thinking , spotting the danger , and providing the best example of unblocking play I've seen in years......