In the club lounge, we were talking about how to define an expert.

“Somebody who can explain why he lost,” Cy the Cynic said, in character, “or maybe somebody who has guessed right more than once.”

“Somebody who knows when it’s time to panic,” Unlucky Louie sighed.

“Somebody from out of town,” Ed, our best player, offered. There is a grain of truth in that: It’s human nature that visitors who play at our club are accorded more respect than our peers, who we regard as no better than us.

Average players think an expert has strange powers: He can see through the backs of the cards and produce exotic squeezes and end-plays. True, only an experienced player would have a chance at today’s 6NT.

South’s first two bids show a balanced 22 to 24 points; North’s two hearts promises two of the top three honors, so South zooms into slam. When West leads the jack of hearts, declarer wins with the queen and leads the king of diamonds. East takes the ace and returns a heart.

Declarer takes the king and cashes the jack, queen and nine of diamonds, pitching a club. West must discard twice. If he discards a heart or a spade, South gets his 12th trick, so West must let go two clubs. South then leads a club to his ace, and dummy’s nine is high: making six on a rare “clash squeeze.”

A spade opening lead would beat 6NT.

Personally, I would define an expert as someone who never makes an error in basic bidding and play. Solid play matters more in the long run than producing occasional brilliancies.

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