The All-Time Bridge Greats (7)

Helen Sobel

Helen Sobel (1910-1969) is generally regarded as having been the best woman player of all time. Born in Philadelphia, she lived for many years in New York, then in Miami Beach and lastly Detroit.

Married three times, to Jack White, Al Sobel and Stanley Smith, Helen is best known by her name during her middle marriage to bridge expert Al Sobel.

Helen enjoyed a brief career as a chorus girl and appeared in several stage shows, the best known being 'Animal Crackers' with the Marx Brothers. It was another chorus girl who taught her the rudiments of bridge and she took to the game like the proverbial duck to water.

Helen won her first national title in 1934, the Women's Pairs, and over the next thirty years won a total of 33 national championships. Her best and longest lived partnership was with Charles Goren, with whom she won many of her titles. She was one of the very few women considered the equal of the best male players and this was reflected in the fact that the Culbertsons invited her to play in a world championship in Budapest in 1937, partnering Charles Vogelhofer. She and Goren also represented USA in the 1960 World Teams Olympiad and 1957 Bermuda Bowl.

Helen won the McKenney Trophy for most masterpoints won in a calendar year three times and from 1948 to 1964 was the leading woman in the ACBL's all-time masterpoint rankings.

The story goes that Helen was once asked what it was like to partner a real expert. Her reply was 'Why don't you ask Charlie (Goren)?'

How would you play this one? The contract is 4© and you win West's §Q lead and cash the ace and queen of trumps, West pitching an encouraging ¨9 on the second heart.

	ª 9 8 © K 10 9 2 ¨ Q J 5 § 9 8 7 3
	ª A 4 © A Q 8 7 6 ¨ A 10 § A 10 5 4

Taking the signal at face value, Helen decided that the diamond finesse was doomed. It was tempting to draw the outstanding trump, then play ace and ten of diamonds to establish a discard for the losing spade. Alas, this line will fail. West will surely switch to spades, knocking out the ace, and now the only entry to dummy will be with the fourth trump. You can take your discard but will never get the long club established as you have two honors to knock out and only one trump with which to stem the run of spades and diamonds.

Alternatively, you could play two rounds of diamonds without drawing the last trump. Now you win the spade switch and draw the last trump while crossing to dummy for the diamond winner. That could work but it would not have been good enough on the actual layout which was:

	ª 9 8 © K 10 9 2 ¨ Q J 5 § 9 8 7 3
ª K J 6 © 5 ¨ K 9 8 4 3 2 § Q J 6		ª Q 10 7 5 3 2 © J 4 3 ¨ 7 6 § K 2
	ª A 4 © A Q 8 7 6 ¨ A 10 § A 10 5 4

If you establish the diamond before drawing the trump West can simply play a third diamond for his partner to ruff. Sure, you can overruff, but you no longer have a discard for the spade loser.

Sobel's solution was simple and elegant. After the second trump she led ¨10 from hand. West could win and knock out the spade but now she could unblock the diamond, cross to dummy while drawing the trump, and take her pitch on the diamond. Still holding two trumps, she had time to establish her game-going trick in clubs.