Goren Bridge: Deceptive defence
The Hindu
John Kranyak, a leading American player, showcases his skill in a bridge game with a stunning defensive move.
John Kranyak, from San Francisco, started making a name for himself as a junior over 20 years ago and today is recognised as a leading American player. He was West in today’s deal.
Kranyak led the ace of spades and continued with the queen of spades, ruffed by South. South had one entry to dummy—the 10 of clubs—and he had to decide how to use it. Should he take the heart finesse or the diamond finesse? South started by cashing the ace of diamonds and saw the 10 fall from West. He was planning to combine his chances by cashing his two top diamonds—the queen might fall—and then using the 10 of clubs to take the heart finesse. The fall of the 10 of diamonds gave him an even better option. He could use the 10 of clubs to run the nine of diamonds from dummy. This would pick up all of East’s diamonds if the 10 had been a singleton. Should the diamond finesse lose to queen-10 doubleton in West’s hand, he could later ruff a club in dummy to take the heart finesse.
South led a club to dummy’s 10 and ran the nine of diamonds. Losing to the queen was not a big surprise, but he was gob-smacked when Kranyak continued with a third diamond. South was stuck in his hand and could no longer take the heart finesse. Down one, after a beautiful defense!
In a few days, there would be a burst of greetings. They would resonate with different wavelengths of emotion and effort. Simple and insincere. Simple but sincere. Complex yet insincere. Complex and sincere. That last category would encompass physical greeting cards that come at some price to the sender, the cost more hidden than revealed. These are customised and handcrafted cards; if the reader fancies sending them when 2026 dawns, they might want to pick the brains of these two residents of Chennai, one a corporate professional and the other yet to outgrow the school uniform
Jaideep Ahlawat has replaced Akshaye Khanna in Drishyam 3 after the actor refused to be "part of the film via a text message"
Medai The Stage brings Margazhi to Coimbatore
‘Pharma’ series review: Despite strong performances and solid premise, the narrative misses the mark
Pharma offers strong performances but falters in storytelling, making it a passable watch despite its intriguing premise.
Discover the creativity of individuals on the autism spectrum with Autism Club Ernakulam’s inspiring 2026 desktop calendar.
Screened at the IFFK 2025 recently under the Indian Cinema Now section, ‘Alaav’ is a still cinéma-vérité portrait of an ageing Indian artist caring for his real-life mother
The Kochi Biennale is evolving, better, I love it. There have been problems in the past but they it seems to have been ironed out. For me, the atmosphere, the fact of getting younger artists doing work, showing them, getting the involvement of the local people… it is the biggest asset, the People’s Biennale part of it. This Biennale has a great atmosphere and It is a feeling of having succeeded, everybody is feeling a sense of achievement… so that’s it is quite good!
How two stories named for a nightmare peel back polite veneers to expose a rot of moralities and the base human instinct to reach for tenderness anyway — here’s why ‘Monster’ (anime) and ‘Monster’ (film) belong on your watchlist
Indian cinema in 2025 reflected societal complexities, broke genre conventions, and sparked controversies as audiences engage in a two-way dialogue
Pluribus series review: Rhea Seehorn shines as a fantasy writer who might be the only person to save the world from unbridled niceness and is just one of many delights in this post-apocalyptic binge-fest
In Akhil Sathyan’s sophomore film ‘Sarvam Maya’, a sublime Nivin Pauly, with the help of Aju Varghese and Riya Shibu, propels a thin script
As the science-fiction-horror series, Stranger Things, returns on Friday with three new episodes from its fifth and final season, here are five things to know about it
Explore the debate on whether propaganda can transcend its messaging to become great art, featuring insights from critics and artists.