Better Bridge in Barry County June 14 2012

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

	North ♠ 7543 ♥ K987 ♦ A53 ♣ K2
West ♠ KQ6 ♥ 10642 ♦ K84 ♣ 754		East ♠ 109 ♥ QJ53 ♦ 762 ♣ QJ96
	South ♠ AJ82 ♥ A ♦ QJ109 ♣ A1083

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

West None 2♥

North Pass 1♥ 3♠ 4♦ 5♦ Pass	East Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass	South 1♦ 1♠ 4♣ 4NT 6♠	West Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass

Captain M. North surveyed the deck of his pride and  joy. The Barry County Bridge Barge was all set to leave shortly from the Charlton Park Pier. What was he missing? Or who was he missing? This nagged at the captain as he set about aligning chairs and tables for the trip down the mighty Thornapple River for the weekly cruise and bridge tournament.

Just then two of the bridge players prepared to board the BCBB for the afternoon’s session. Rosy and Vera, two experienced players, were bouncing up the gangplank. “Oh, Captain North! We are so glad to see you!”

Captain North looked up with a smile. “Of course! Rosy and Vera! Where have you two been the last couple of weeks? We all missed you and your bubbling personalities.” “Captain North, you say that to all of the ladies,” retorted Rosy. But the Captain could see that they were happy to be back. “Where have you two been recently?” he asked.

The Captain realized too late that he had asked the fatal question. Now he was a captive as Rosy and Vera pulled up empty chairs, and he knew that they would tell all. He shrugged and smiled. “Fire away,” said the Captain.

“Oh, Captain North, we have had the best vacation ever!” started Vera, with a huge smile. “We left Barry County for the northern-most regions of the Upper Peninsula.” “Da Yooper!” giggled Rosa, and they broke into laughter. Captain North waited.

“Yes,” interjected Rosy, “we wanted to play bridge in another state so we went to the Upper Peninsula to a huge bridge tournament near a town called Escanaba. You may have heard of it?” Before the captain could respond, Vera said, “Youbetcha!’ and they again broke into peals of laughter.

Regaining their composure, Vera and Rosy continued with their northern adventure. “We went to the north to play in the WUMBA tournament. It’s an old Indian word for Wisconsin Upper Michigan Bridge Association, and they run the tournament for a week up there. Can you imagine?” The Captain sat still.

“Well, we had a wonderful time, and we found one bridge hand that we just had to share with you. Here it is,” and Rosy pulled out today’s hand. “The bidding was quite extraordinary as you imagine, Captain North.” “Yes,” said Vera, “imagine getting all the way to a six spade contract with that hand, eh?”

The Captain looked over the hand in question. “Hmmm…the North-South team doesn’t seem to have enough points for a small slam hand. How did they…?” But he was too late. Rosy and Vera were ready for him. “Captain North, we will tell you how it happened.”

“West led the safe 2♥ for an opening lead. South took the A♥,  having made her plan. There looked to be definite losers in the spade trump suit. Wouldn’t you agree, Captain North?” asked Rosy. The Captain could only nod.

“From then on, South was in charge all the way. She led the 9♦, the 10♦, and the J♦ finally capturing West’s K♦ with the A♦ in the dummy. South then played the K♥ and threw away the good Q♦. Imagine that!” said Rosy.

“Then, Captain North, South called for the K♣ and played a small club from her hand. She led a small heart from the dummy and trumped it in her hand with 2♠. She then led the A♣ from her hand and played the small club from the dummy. She then led the 8♣ from her hand and trumped it on the board with the 3♠. She then led the 9♥ from the dummy and trumped it in hand with 8♠.” Here Rosy paused to catch her breath. Her eyes were dancing with excitement.

Vera continued, “This is the best part, Captain North. Did you notice South has not drawn one trump yet?” Captain North could only nod. “South then led her last club planning to trump on the board. West is in a predicament with K♠, Q♠, and 6♠. If she trumps with the 6♠, then South will call for the 7♠ on the board. So just what did West do, Captain North?”

The Captain waited. Rosy jumped in immediately. “West put up the Q♠ and took the trick, but now she is in a no-win situation. She was stuck in an end-play. She led the 6♠, with everyone following to South’s J♠ which won the trick. South’s A♠ took the 12^th and final trick, making the six spade small slam! How about that, Captain North!”

The Captain rose from his seat. “Congratulations, Rosy and Vera. Who of you played South on this hand?” They both began to giggle immediately. “Oh, Captain North, neither of us played that hand. We found it on the hand records after the tournament, and we thought you might like to hear about this hand that we didn’t play.” They broke into laughter.

The Captain was speechless. “Oh Captain. We also stopped at the Fort Michilimackinac once we crossed the bridge. We wanted to enlist in the British army, but they told us we were “trolls” because we lived under the bridge, and that we couldn’t cut the mustard. I think they were wrong.” Both Vera and Rosy started laughing again. The Captain walked away shaking his head once again. “Welcome back, Rosy and Vera,” was all he could muster.

Recent answers to Bridge questions: “To cut one’s leg off” in bridge lingo means that your opponents have won a game and your part score was eliminated.

“A Golden Fit” in Bridge lingo means that you and your partner have an eight-card or more trump fit.

Today’s question: What does it mean to “cut the muster”?

Gerald Stein

June 7 2012 Number of words 1037