The Cardturner (40 page)

the donkey hand:

I told her about the donkey hand. She didn't think it was my fault. She said there were lots of times when it's right to overtake your partner's king with your ace. "You might need to unblock. . . ."

The diagram on the opposite page gives an example of when it would be right to overtake your partner's king with your ace in order to
unblock
the suit.

The contract is 3NT, and West makes the normal opening lead of the
K. If you look at the other suits, you will see that the declarer can take plenty of tricks: three heart tricks, five diamond tricks, and three club tricks. So it is imperative that East-West take five spade tricks before the declarer wins a trick.

If East plays the
4, the suit will be blocked. East will win the second spade trick with the ace, but will have no more spades left and will have to lead another suit, allowing the declarer to make the contract. So the correct play is for East to overtake his partner's
K with the
A and then lead the
4. This will unblock the suit and allow East-West to take five tricks and set the contract.

Alton's Rule:

If you can see that plan A won't work, don't do it, even if you don't have a plan B.

Alton's rule is a good one. If you're stuck, it often helps to let the opponents win a trick. Remember, they don't know what your problem is. They can't see your hand. Quite often, they'll lead a card that helps you out.

I started with six diamonds in my hand, and the dummy began with two, for a total of eight. That meant the opponents had five diamonds between them. If they split 3-2, I could run off six diamond tricks.

If you are missing five cards in a suit, the odds of them splitting 3-2 are 68 percent. So really, it would have been unlucky if the diamonds
hadn't
split 3-2. Even if that had happened, however, I still think Alton would have gotten a "nicely played" from Trapp. An unlucky lie of the cards wouldn't change the fact that his line of play was both accurate and elegant.

About the Author

LOUIS SACHAR is the internationally acclaimed author of the award-winning
Small Steps
and the number one
New York Times
bestseller
Holes,
as well as
Stanley Yelnats' Survival Guide to Camp Green Lake
. His books for younger readers include
There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom, The Boy Who Lost His Face, Dogs Don't Tell Jokes
and the Marvin Redpost series. He is an avid bridge player.