Bridge players in general, and experts in particular, occasionally get greedy. One of the most famous cases of this sort occurred many years ago — in 1935, to be exact.

Dick Frey and Ely Culbertson, world-famous experts in those early days of contract bridge, were playing a set game at very high stakes against two prominent French experts.

Frey opened one no-trump, and Culbertson raised him to four. This was simply an invitational raise in no-trump, asking South to bid a slam if he had a maximum for his opening no-trump bid. But Frey, with minimum values, declined the invitation.

West led the diamond nine, won with the ten, and Frey could count only nine sure tricks. The spade suit could always be tested later, if necessary, for a 3-3 break, so Frey decided to try to develop a club trick. Accordingly, he led the 10 of clubs at trick two, planning to finesse in the hope that West held the jack.

After West followed low, Frey played the six from dummy, at which point East (Pierre Albarran) followed with the deuce! Frey now had 10 tricks, but enamored with his success in having found West with the jack of clubs — or so he thought — he continued with the nine of clubs in a greedy effort to make five no-trump.

This was greeted with open arms by the wily Albarran, who proceeded to cash four club tricks for down one.

Nearly 90 years have passed, but the story lingers on. Certainly Albarran, France’s top player of that era, deserves great credit for his deuce-of-clubs play at trick two. But whether Frey should be censured for leading a second club or praised for making it possible for Albarran’s defensive play to be brought to public attention, is left to the tender mercies of the reader.

Tomorrow >> Famous Hand.

— Steve Becker