Better Bridge in Barry County
By Gerald Stein
North
ª: 9 8
©: A 9 4
¨: K 7 5 2
§: J 9 6 5
West East
ª: 6 4 3 2 ª: Q 10 5
©: K J 7 5 3 ©: 6 2
¨: 8 6 ¨: J 9
§: 8 3 §: A K Q 10 7 2
South
ª: A K J 7
ª: A K J 7
©: Q 10 8
¨: A Q 10 4 3
§: 4
Lead: ª5
As Ms. Tiffany W. Casement sat down at the bridge table, her thoughts were certainly not on her cards. Her mind was still back on Valentine’s Day when boyfriend James B. Bondo had proposed on bended knee. She still remembered the little black box that James had extended in her direction. With trembling hands, she had opened it to find an exquisite one carat marquise cut diamond in a stunning setting. She smiled to herself at the bridge table.
Ms. Casement was abruptly brought back to reality when the three others, including her partner, all cleared their throats. “Oh, it’s my bid,” she thought. Without much thought at all, a disaster in the bridge world, she pulled out the green Pass card from her bidding box and placed it on the table. “Oops,” she thought to herself. “What have I done? What have I done?” She straightened up in her chair, and then she realized what a powerful hand she had just passed with. “It’s time for concentration, dear girl, and no time for a diamond reverie.”
The bidding went as follows:
Dealer:
|
South
|
West
|
North
|
East
|
Pass!
|
Pass
|
Pass
|
1♣
| |
Dbl!
|
Pass
|
1♦
|
2♣
| |
4NT!
|
Pass
|
5♦
|
Pass
| |
6♦!
|
Pass
|
Pass
|
Pass
|
Ms. Casement recovered in time to make several astounding bids to make up for her faux pas on the opening bid. With her partner North playing the hand, and the lead of the ª5 (not best), it was clear to all at the table that the vulnerable North-South team would make the small slam in diamonds, losing the §A and scoring an impressive 1370 points.
How differently things had gone at the other table, when South, paying attention to her hand, had opened as follows:
South West North East
1¨ Pass 1NT 2§
2¨ Pass 3¨ All Pass
Lead: 8§
The contract at the second table ended up in a part-score in diamonds instead of the small diamond slam of the first table. Although the lead was better, (it is important to keep your partner happy by leading to their bid!) it made no difference at all in the playing of the hand. North-South still ended up with twelve tricks, losing just the §A as had happened at the first table. What a difference in scoring, however. At the second table, North-South had a three-trick bonus for 170 total points, nowhere close to the first table’s sparkling score of 1370. Was the first North-South team lucky? You could argue that, but the recovery for South was a brilliant shine on her part. Sometimes there are “potential train wrecks” due to bidding or playing the hand or defending in the game of bridge. How you cope with the situation at hand determines a plus score or a poor score.
As she looked over the score for her team, Ms. Tiffany W. Casement glanced down at her diamond engagement ring once again. With a big smile on her face, she thought to herself, “Diamonds are forever!”
New this week: A Bridge Question somehow related to the column above: What old movie featured a bridge hand that totally befuddled a villain by the name of D_ _ _? Who was the declarer on this hand? The bridge hand in question is often called “The Duke of Cumberland” hand and is a classic bridge hand. Good luck! No, it was not “Diamonds Are Forever” either although that is a good place to start looking.
Gerald Stein
February 17, 2012
668 words
Visit my bridge blog: http://betterbridgeinbarrycountymichigan.blogspot.com/
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