Marvin Melamed of Cleveland Heights passed away on September 14 in Danville, PA. Melamed was 72 years old and an active bridge player for the majority of his adult life. He accumulated over 4,500 master points and was considered one of the finest players in the state.
Today's hand was provided by Phillip Becker of Cleveland and features Melamed in the South seat. The two heart opening bid was a "weak two bid". Many players would prefer to open this hand with a one heart bid. Melamed was a conservative bidder and this holding was more fitting of his definition of a weak two bid.
North's three heart bid was a calculated attempt to keep the opponents from sacrificing over the eventual four heart bid. If it appeared that North was struggling to get to the heart game, it was unlikely that the opponents would risk taking a sacrifice against a game that might not make. This ploy is commonly known as "walking the dog" and was a favorite of Melameds. At any rate, this was effective and Melamed became the declarer at four hearts.
The opening lead was the ace of spades, all following. The eight of clubs went to the king and ace. The jack of clubs was returned to the queen. At this point, eleven tricks could have been claimed immediately, but that would not be fun. Melamed liked to make the hand look more exciting. He loved to execute the dreaded "Melamed finesse" (so named by his many friends at the rubber bridge table). This was a situation that occurred during the play of the hand where Melamed would appear to take a finesse when in fact, he held the missing high cards and was never in jeopardy of losing a trick.
This may seem to be cruel and unusual punishment of your friends at the bridge table, but the effect during the play of a close hand can be deadly. The defenders are constantly trying to place the outstanding high cards so as to better determine how to defend. One of the ways to do this is to take into account the way that declarer is playing the hand. When he appears to be finessing against a king or queen that you do not have, it is just human nature to assume that your partner, not declarer, has that card.
Melamed, winning the queen of clubs at trick three, led the seven of spades from the table and trumped with the ten of hearts. The three of diamonds was led from the South hand. When West played low, Melamed inserted the nine, which held the trick. It now appeared that West had the king of diamonds and also that Melamed wanted to lead hearts from dummy. This could mislead East even farther because he may mistakenly assume that his partner had a heart honor.
Next came the nine of hearts from dummy to the ace in the South hand. The eight of hearts to the queen drew the rest of the outstanding hearts. The two of diamonds was played to the ten and low and behold, the diamond "finesse" worked both ways. The king of diamonds was overtaken by the ace and the good queen provided a resting place for the losing club in the South hand.
While this all may seem quite foolish, Melamed just considered it to be good practice. He watched every spot card and knew exactly what he was doing. Many a trick was dropped by the defense because they assumed the existence of cards in their partners hand that were never there.
In my heart I know that there is a bridge game in heaven. I have many dear friends playing there right now. Our game, and for that matter, our world, has been diminished by Melamed's passing. The great game above, however, is stronger and a little more lively than ever before. ===================================================================