I never make psychic bids. The only time I tried, it backfired horribly: my partner leapt to slam and we went for an unthinkable penalty. I decided there and then that psyching was best left to those with a real nose for it – not to mention nerves of steel.

The art of psyching is, of course, nearly as old as the game itself. As a young man in the 1930s, the brilliant British player Adam ‘Plum’ Meredith – later world champion – was already renowned for it. ‘For Plum, a three-card suit is not only biddable, it is rebiddable. More, it is playable,’ one of his partners said. He had a particular fondness for opening spades, whether or not he held the suit. It made him a very tricky opponent, especially at the rubber bridge table, where he made his living.

This hand from a rubber game was typical Plum:

In response to 1♠️, Plum’s partner, Joel Tarlo, bid 2♣️. Plum bid 2♦️. Tarlo jumped to 4♦️, which, given the 40-part-score, was a slam-try. And Plum accepted! His partner, he reasoned, had no spade fit, long solid clubs, a diamond fit and two aces – just what he needed. West led the ♠️Q. East overtook and played back a heart. Plum won with the ♥️A, drew trumps, ruffed a club and claimed. When West scolded East for not playing a second spade to shorten dummy’s trumps, Plum at once retorted that he could have simply come back to hand with a trump, ruffed his third spade with the ♦️A, and run his remaining diamonds, squeezing West in clubs and hearts.