Moviemistakes.com is an online database where people can enter errors in their favorite movies. These can range from fairly small, like person X is wearing black shoes one moment but brown shoes in the next shot, to major. A typical example: the movie is set in 1940, but all houses have TV antennas on top. Last week, the NBB released its first movie and they immediately ended up in this database. Why? Read on.
The NBB movie is called “Bridge, hoe hoort het eigenlijk” in Dutch which is best translated as “Bridge, a guide to proper etiquette”. The movie shows a bridge game. In part 1, the players play a hand with dozens of bigger and smaller infractions against the laws of the game. The hand is then shown again and this time all the mistakes are pointed out.
Before anybody says otherwise, I think this is a good idea. Of course, it is well overdone in the movie (but then again, it is a movie), but all this happens in practice and one can learn a lot from watching it. If you haven’t seen it yet, the movie is online on Vimeo, click on the image to watch it.
OK, did you notice what was wrong? If not, go back to about 1:23 from the start in the movie and take a close look at the west hand. Still haven’t seen it, scroll to 3:35 in the movie and look again:
That’s right, dummy has only 12 cards and west has 14, the full hand being:
North ends up as declarer in 6♦. I expected a problem at trick 13 with dummy running out of cards but, alas, declarer had claimed for down 1 earlier and the hands were returned to the board before anybody noticed.
O, and for what it is worth, I think the auction is somewhat unlikely too. NS have announced that they play a strong club but east overcalls 3♣ over 1♣ showing majors. That is a popular, though horrible, treatment here over a natural 1♣ but still have to meet a pair playing it over an artificial club.
Nevertheless, a good example of how bridge should not be played but the movie could have done with a bit of quality control.