Better Bridge in Barry County
By Gerald Stein
North
♠ A 10 4 2
♥ K 10 8 3
♦ K Q 8 3
♣ 6
| ||
West
♠ 3
♥ A Q 9
♦ A 7 3
♣ K 8 7 5 4 3
|
East
♠ 8 7
♥ 5 4
♦ 10 8 6 4
♣ A Q J 9 2
| |
South
♠ K Q J 9 6 5
♥ J 7 6 2
♦ J 9
♣ 10
|
Dealer:
Vulnerable:
Lead:
|
South
East/West
3♠
|
North
4♠
|
East
Pass
|
South
2♠
Pass
|
West
Pass
Pass
|
Captain M. North looked over the Barry County Bridge Barge as it lay at rest at the Charlton Park Pier. It was time for winterizing the trusty vessel and time for putting her away for the winter. Captain North mused that it had been a successful year of bridge voyages up and down the Thornapple River, starting at Lake Thornapple, stopping at points along the way including the Charlton Park Pier, the Tyden Park Pier, and the Irving Township Pier. These weekly voyages had been successful bridge tournaments as well, with as many as seven tables each week on these popular cruises. Captain North was doing all of the last minute details before the Barry County Bridge Barge would be pulled from the river, wrapped in shrink-wrap, and stored away until spring came back again.
A call from the shore caught Captain North’s attention. “Oh, Captain North. Captain North, it’s Vera and Rosy to see you. May we come aboard?” Captain North turned toward his two favorite bridge players, and he waved for them to step aboard. “Be careful,” he warned. “I am preparing the BCBB for her winter’s rest. There will be no more voyages this season.”
As Vera and Rosy came aboard, they were breathless with excitement. “Oh Captain North, we know that there will be no more bridge cruises this year, but we just have to bring you something special.” Captain North looked up, amused as usual. “What did you bring me, Vera and Rosy?” he asked.
“Tricks and Treats!” they both exclaimed in unison with peals of laughter coming from both of them. Captain North shook his head. “Do you mean Trick or Treat? This is Halloween time, you know.”
“Oh, Captain North, we know about Trick or Treat. This is more than that. We are talking bridge talk here, you know.” Captain North knew that it was time to take a break from his winter prep work. “Sit down, Vera and Rosy, and let’s hear your story about Tricks and Treats!”
Vera and Rosy took a seat at one of the last card tables still up. Rosy began as usual, “Captain North, we must tell you about our recent success playing at the Kalamazoo Club. We had such a day. May we share just one hand with you?”
Captain North was relieved. “I think I have time to hear about one of your latest hands. Go ahead, please.” Vera chimed in. “You won’t be disappointed, Captain, on this hand. It has to do with the Law of Total Tricks. Do you know about the Law of Total Tricks, Captain North?” Captain North suppressed his smile and nodded.
Rosy spoke next. “Captain, I was South in this hand, and I had a good six-card spade suit, and not many points. Only about nine high card points, but a good time for a weak-two bid with six spades and most of my points in spades. I opened as the dealer with two spades.”
Vera immediately took up the thread. “I looked at my hand carefully, and I saw four more spades in my hand to go with Rosy’s six spades. My spades were good too with the A♠ and the 10♠ as well as two others. Do you know what I bid, Captain North?” Before he could answer, Vera almost shouted out, “I bid four spades, Captain North. Can you believe it?” Captain North only nodded.
Rosy spoke again. “The contract was four spades in the South, and I was playing the hand. The lead was a safe trump lead since our opponents knew we had a lot of spades between us. The lead did not hurt us.” Here she paused for a second.
“I thanked Vera for her wonderful bid. We have been playing the Law of Total Tricks lately, and Vera knew that I had six good spades, and she had four good spades. We added them together, got to ten, and we knew we had a good shot of making ten tricks with spades as trump. Such fun, Captain North.” Captain North could only nod and smile.
“Making my plan was the next step on my way to making four spades. I saw that we had three losers once trumps were drawn. We would lose the A♣, the A♦, and the A♥ for three losers. Once the trumps were drawn, I led the J♦, set up the diamonds, and lost the three tricks as expected. But, we made our contract of 4♠.”
Captain North nodded and commented, “Well done, Rosy and Vera. It sounds like you enjoy using the Law of Total Tricks to find a trump fit in your two hands.”
“Oh, we do, Captain North. That is why we called out to you about ‘Tricks and Treats’ just a bit ago. We took our ten “Tricks” and we were one of the few pairs to make the right bid and so we took top “Treats” as well in the scoring column.” Both Vera and Rosy burst into laughter as Captain North could only smile and say, “Tricks and Treats? Yes, I see your point.” Vera and Rosy beamed as the Captain slowly stood up to finish the winterizing of the Barry County Bridge Barge. “See you in the spring,” he said, as Vera and Rosy skipped off the BCBB.
Gerald Stein
October 26, 2012 Number of words: 1055
Bridge Question for this week: What is Captain North’s first name? It has never been mentioned in all of the bridge columns about Captain North and Vera and Rosy. The correct answer will win a copy of the Hastings Banner with my autograph. Send your entries to the editor of the Banner. Answer will be announced next week if there is a winner.
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