Better Bridge in Barry County January 9 2014

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

	North ♠  9 2 ♥  A K J 9 3     ♦  Q 10 7 6   ♣  5 2
West ♠  J 10 8 4 ♥  6   ♦  J 9 8   ♣  J 9 8 6 3		East ♠  Q 7 ♥  Q 10 8 5 2 ♦  3 2   ♣  Q 10 7 4
	South ♠  A K 6 5 3 ♥  7 4 ♦  A K 5 4 ♣  A K

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

North East/West 8♦

 

North Pass 2♥ 6NT	East Pass Pass Pass	South 2♣ 3NT Pass	West Pass Pass Pass

Captain M. North stood outside of the Kalamazoo Bridge Center on New Year’s Eve. He had driven down from Barry County to enjoy the last day of the year with bridge friends. On the way down, he had recounted the year in passing: there had been another successful season of bridge cruises on the Thornapple River with the Barry County Bridge Barge now securely under wraps for the winter months. He smiled with delight as he remembered his trip to the wilds of Western Ontario and the Lake of the Woods fishing and bridge-playing on a remote island fishing lodge. Now as the year’s last hours wound down, he would settle in for an evening of bridge and socializing in Kalamazoo. He was looking forward to a great evening. He did not know just how great one of his bridge hands would be. It would be a fine ending to 2013.

As Captain North greeted the players at the club, he found himself paired with Don Jay, as fine a bridge partner as he could find. The Captain smiled to himself. This was going to be fun.

The fifth hand of the evening came to Captain North and Don as they greeted their East/West opponents, Edie and Wendy, two of the veteran players at the club. As dealer, Don passed, Edie passed, and Captain North took a look at his hand in detail. With 21 high card points and a solid spade suit, most experienced players might have opened the hand with 2NT. The trouble with that bid is that it is not forcing, and the Captain’s partner might pass out the hand, and a game might be missed. “Not tonight,” thought the Captain. “I will use the strong 2♣ opening and see what kind of response I receive from my partner Don.” Captain North bid 2♣, promising a big hand and demanding a response from partner Don.

A normal response without much to offer is a 2♦ waiting bid, but this New Year’s Eve, the bridge cards were aligned in the right patterns. Partner Don responded 2♥ promising a good five-card heart suit and at least eight points. This was the kind of news Captain North was looking for. He needed help in hearts, and his partner Don had promised help in hearts. What could be better? Captain North did not even hesitate and plunked down the 3NT bidding card. What a surprise he received when Partner Don plunked down the 6NT card. “Oh, boy! What fun,” thought Captain North.

Wendy West played the 8♦ as her opening lead, a safe lead, from her point of view. As Partner Don tabled his cards, Captain North began his plan. He thanked his partner Don and began to count the tricks that he could take immediately. He counted nine sure tricks, with three in diamonds, two in hearts, two in clubs, and two in spades. Where would the other three tricks come from? Perhaps the heart finesse might give an extra trick. Perhaps the diamonds would break favorably and the fourth diamond might give an extra trick. Still, there looked to be a trick or two short of the twelve tricks needed to make a New Year’s Eve small slam.

Captain North won the diamond lead in his hand with the A♦. Not hesitating a bit, Captain North went after the heart finesse, playing the J♥ on the second trick. When it lost to Edie’s Q♥, Captain North’s own heart sank a bit. Still, one never knows…

A dutiful partner, Edie returned the diamond lead, and Captain North took the trick with the K♦. He planned to lead another heart to see how the hearts would break, but he was sorely disappointed when Wendy showed out of hearts on the fourth trick. “Ouch. A bad heart break,” thought Captain North. “Edie had all of the hearts. There would be no extra tricks out of the hearts tonight.”

Captain North forged onward. He played a small diamond from his hand, and he was pleased to see Wendy put up the J♦, setting up the fourth diamond with the 10♦ on the board. When the Captain played the fourth winning diamond trick from the board, he noticed that both Edie and Wendy discarded a small spade each. The Captain had five tricks in and needed seven more. He played the K♥ while he was still on the board, and he discarded a small spade and saw Wendy discard another spade as well. Captain North then led a small club to his K♣ winning that trick and then played the A♣ winning that trick for eight tricks in.  

The moment of truth had arrived. Captain North had four spades left in his hand. He had counted four spade discards, two from Wendy, one from Edie, and one from him. There were two spades on the board. There were only three spades unaccounted for. Captain North played the A♠ and saw Edie play the Q♠. Wendy had also played a spade on that trick. Captain North played the K♠ and captured the J♠ in Wendy’s hand. The last two little spades in his hand were good, and Captain North claimed twelve tricks and made the small slam in spades.

Congratulations flowed from the table to Captain North on his fine play. He thanked everyone, and his partner Don commented that even though Captain North had five spades in his hand, he had never mentioned them in the bidding so that East and West had little idea that he had five spades back there. East and West were holding on to clubs and hearts and had pitched the spade suit.

At the end of the evening when the scores were posted, only Captain North and his partner Don had bid and made the 6NT slam hand. Others had tried, but failed. Only one other pair had found a small slam in diamonds and had made 6♦. Captain North left the bridge club feeling good. “Yes,” he said. “The final night of 2013 had turned out all right. All right indeed.”

 

Gerald Stein

January 3, 2014

Number of words: 1125