He said that we are all dealt a hand in life, and whether it's a big hand or a
small hand is not the important factor. It's how we play the hand that counts.
Recently I came across a hand played
by another Indian leader, Jawaharlal Nehru, who also expounded on free will,
bridge, and determinism: "Determinism is like the cards that are dealt you.
Free will is how you play them. The interaction between the two points out what
you are as a person — or even a nation."
Nehru was South and bid to 6S: rather
efficiently, without wasting time with cuebids. He took the heart lead in dummy
and led a trump to the ace. Then he went back to dummy in hearts and led a
trump to his 8. When this held, he cashed the king and gave up a trump,
claiming 12 tricks. His play, called a "safety play," demonstrated his free
will. He could have lazily cashed the ace and king of spades, but he made an
effort to protect against a bad trump division. (Some readers may think this is
nothing special, but I have seen plenty of declarers who were "too tired" to go
back to dummy for the second round of spades!)
The defense had a chance to
demonstrate their free will as well, but they failed to do anything. Can you
see how they might have succeeded?
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