Better Bridge in Barry County
By
Gerald Stein
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North
♠ 8 7 3
♥ A Q 7 6
♦ K 5
♣ 9 5 3 2
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West
♠ K 10 9
♥ 10 8
♦ Q J 8 7 6 4 3 2
♣ ---
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East
♠ 5 4
♥ J 9 5 3 2
♦ 10 9
♣ Q J 10 7
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South
♠ A Q J 6 2
♥ K 4
♦ A
♣ A K 8 6 4
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Dealer:
Vulnerable:
Lead:
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East
Both
Q♦
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North
Pass
4NT
5♦
6♠
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East
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
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South
2♣
4♠
5♣
5NT
Pass
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West
4♦
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
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Captain M. North looked over the Barry County Bridge
Barge. It had been another fun summer cruising on the Thornapple River, playing
bridge, and taking in the local nature sites. Even if it had been a cooler than
normal summer, still the enthusiasm for the river trips had not waned. Now it
was time to pull the Barry County Bridge Barry from the river and stow her away
for another winter. Hopefully, this coming winter would not be as severe as
last winter had been. Captain North shuddered when he thought of the damage
that had had happened to the B.C.B.B. when the roof where she was stored had
given way under the heavy snows. Not again, he hoped.
As Captain North mused about the last winter, he
heard the sounds of “Yoo-hoo, Captain North! Yoo-hoo!” Who could that be? he
wondered. The last bridge cruise had been over Labor Day weekend, and all of
the bridge players had said adieu until next spring. Captain North stood up to
see Rosie and Vera, two of his favorite bridge players, getting ready to board
the Barry County Bridge Barge.
As they quickly were making their way toward him, they
seemed to be in an excited, even agitated state. Whatever could be the matter? “Oh,
Captain North, are we ever glad to see you,” exclaimed Rosie, the more
talkative of the two. “We played a hand of bridge this past week, and we wrote
it down for some of your expert help.” Captain North smiled. “Of course. Let’s
see the situation.”
Vera spoke up next. “Captain North, the bidding was
pretty straightforward as you can see. We reached a 6♠ slam contract with Rosie
as the declarer. But, unfortunately, we went down two tricks for a minus 200
points and a bottom score.”
Here Rosie chimed in, “I might add, Captain North, that
we were not the only ones to go down to defeat on this hand. In fact, only one
declarer made a 6♠ contract while over twenty other declarers went down two
tricks or more. It is a pickle.” Here she stopped long enough to straighten her
glasses.
Here Captain North looked at the bidding. It seemed
straightforward as Rosie and Vera had said, but something bothered him. “What
about this 4♦ bid from West? Did you think about
the meaning of that bid?”
Rosie and Vera looked blankly at each other. “Of
course not,” they responded in unison. “That was just an interference bid.”
Captain North persisted, “How many diamonds did West have? How many points did
West have?” Again, Rosie and Vera shrugged. “How about eight diamonds in the
West hand and not too many points. Probably short in one or two other suits.
Did you think about that?” Rosie and Vera squirmed a bit. Rosie spoke up. “I
see what you are suggesting, Captain North. We should have taken the 4♦ bid as not only an interference bid but also a
suggestion of shortness in the other suits.” “Bingo,” said Captain North.
“With that kind of knowledge, you need to make a
plan that will make sure that you are not a victim of that shortness,” said the
Captain. “What was the lead and how did you play the first three tricks?” Here
Vera spoke up, “Since I was the dummy, I watched West play the Q♦ from her hand. It was probably the top of a
sequence, suggesting that she had the J♦ behind
the queen. I had the K♦, so I guessed that my
partner Rosie had the A♦.” Rosie spoke up. “I
had the A♦ as a singleton. I won the trick in my
hand. By the way, I did thank Vera for such a nice hand.” “Oh, yes, she did,” giggled
Vera. The Captain smiled.
“Rosie, what did you do on the second trick? That is
the key to making this hand, you know.” The Captain waited for Rosie to answer.
“I led the K♥ from my hand, and my plan was to
use as many of my side suits as possible before drawing trumps. I played the K♥, led a small heart to my A♥,
played the K♦, and played the Q♥. I was pitching clubs while doing that.
Unfortunately, West trumped the third heart with the 9♠. I lost the K♠ to West
as well and eventually lost a final club to East when West had no clubs. Can
you tell me where I went wrong?”
Captain North looked up and said, “Rosie, the bid of
6♠ was the correct bid on this hand. You mainly forgot several points of business
before you cashed your side winners. What is the first rule of bridge?” He
looked up with a smile. Vera and Rosie responded together. “Get the kiddies off
the street.” Did you do that first?” Rose shook her head, “No, but…”
What should Rosie have done next? Tune in next week
for the second part of Rosie and Vera’s talk with Captain North on the 6♠
contract.
TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK
Gerald Stein
September 14, 2014
Number of words: 961
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