Bridge has its funny side, but often you had to be there. However, articles can bring out the entertaining side. "It's All in the Game" by Bob Ewen and Jeff Rubens (Bridge World Books) is an excellent example of that. All the articles appeared in the 1960s and '70s in The American Bridge Digest, The Bridge Journal or The Bridge World. The bridge level is quite high, but intermediates will also gain a lot from this book.

In this deal, South is in four spades. What happens after West leads either the spade two; or the club 10, South taking the first trick with dummy's queen?

Ewen found the best lead of a trump. Declarer could have made his contract by cashing his diamond ace and continuing with the queen to squash East's jack. Then he could have endplayed East in spades to reach dummy. But he did not do this, losing two spades, one diamond and one club.

After the club lead, almost everyone got home. They discarded the club nine on the heart ace, then played a diamond to the queen. The finesse lost, but when East's jack dropped under the ace, the declarers conceded only two spades and one diamond.

Peter Leventritt (West) still beat the contract, though. When South led a diamond to his queen at trick three, Leventritt played low! South cashed the diamond ace. When East (an expert) dropped the jack, not the king, declarer should have smelled a rat and cashed his top trumps. But he ruffed a diamond in the dummy. East overruffed, then it went club ruff, diamond overruff, club, which promoted another trump trick for the defenders.

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