Barry County Bridge
By Gerald Stein
North
ª: 9 7 5 4
©: A Q 8 7 5
¨: A
§: 9 8 5
West East
ª: A 3 ª: K J 8 6 2
©: K J 4 3 ©: ____
¨: Q 10 8 6 2 ¨: J 5 4
§: Q J §: K 10 7 3 2
South
ª: Q 10
©: 10 9 6 2
¨: K 9 7 3
§: A 6 4
As Captain M. North glanced over the dining room of his ship, he smiled. All had gone well on the maiden voyage of the USS: BCBB. Leaving Port Nashville earlier in the day, the 36 passengers had embarked with high expectations. They were looking forward to a scenic river cruise, crossing the mighty Thornapple Lake, gliding silently past the quiet Quimby, and calling at Port Hastings for a brief respite, before reaching their final stop of the day at Port Irving on the Thornapple. Yes, the voyage of the first ever USS: Barry County Bridge Barge had gone flawlessly on his part. No rocks, no snags, no hidden logs to hinder their way.
But there was a decided unhappiness about the nine tables of bridge players. One of the hands that all had played sometime throughout the voyage had caused a lot of commotion and admitted failure at eight of the nine tables. Was it poor bidding, bad luck, poor playing or a combination of all three of these that had caused a ripple in the bridge world for these bridge-playing passengers?
As the passengers were finishing their dinner on board the USS: BCBB, Captain M. North sought to find out just what had happened for only one table on the trip to make the proper contract. He approached the smiling pair at their table and asked them, “How did you do it?”
“The bidding went like this,” interjected Sir Eager East. “North was the dealer… Here let me show you the bidding as I remember it.” He scribbled down the following bidding notations on a napkin.
North East South West
I© Pass *1NT (forcing for one round) 2¨
2© 3¨! All pass
“Yes,” spoke up Ms. Winsome West, Sir Eager East’s partner. “I was surprised to see that we had won the contract. When I saw my partner’s hand, I knew that he expected me to make a good plan and win the day for our team. With neither team vulnerable, it was up to me to do my best.”
“The lead was the §9,” commented Sir Eager East. “It looked to be the top of nothing.” He smiled. Ms. Winsome West continued, “Before I dared make a play, I had to look carefully at both of our hands to see what my plan would be. This is what I discovered by stopping for a full minute to see how many losers I had in my hand. I needed nine tricks of the 13 to make our contract of 3¨.
Here Ms. Winsome West sat back recalling her hand: “I had no losers in spades with the ªA and ªK; I had 4© losers in my hand; I had 2¨ losers, the ¨K and the ¨A; and I had one club loser, the §A. I had a total of seven losers. How was I going to make some of those losers go away?”
She munched daintily on a radish. “Here was my Plan, and I formulated it silently in these words: I will not draw trumps immediately. I will use the three trumps that my partner provided for me to trump three heart tricks from my hand, and I will try to use a long suit to dispose of one other loser.”
“And that is just what she did,” interjected Sir Eager East. “After the lead of the §9, she called for a small club from the dummy. South put up her §A, and Ms. Winsome selected the §J. South huddled for a bit, but then resolutely returned her partner’s lead, much to the delight of my partner who took the second trick with the §Q in her hand. She immediately began to follow her plan by leading the ©3 from her hand, and she trumped it with the ¨4. For the next trick, she led the good §K, and she pitched another heart loser from her hand. She next led a small spade from the dummy and took the ªA in her hand. She led another heart and trumped it with the ¨5, making three of her hearts go away.”
“Yes,” continued the Ms. Winsome West. “Everything was going according to my plan. I next led the ªK, and I noticed that the south defender had played the ªQ while I played my last spade, the ª3. I led the ªJ next expecting her to trump. She did with the ¨3; I overtrumped with the ¨6, and I was back in my hand, right where I wanted to be. I led the ©K, my last losing heart, and I trumped it with the ¨J. I was on the board with eight tricks for our side, and I still had four trumps left in my hand. I led a small spade and when South followed with a heart discard, I trumped it with the ¨2 and North had to follow suit with his last spade. I led the ¨8 to North’s ¨A, a club discard from the dummy, and South’s lowest diamond. North then led the ©8; I pitched the ª8 from the board, and South played the ¨K while I played my ¨10. The last trick was mine with the ¨Q. We made our contract of 3¨ with an overtrick. ” She finished with a flourish and a huge smile.
Captain M. North walked away slowly. “Playing bridge like that,” he thought, “is a lot like navigating the Mighty Thornapple. Watch out for snags; follow your compass, and you will make it to a safe port.” He smiled too. It had been a good day.
Gerald Stein
January 29, 2012
1020 words
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