By Joel
Hoersch
Editor, D22
Forum
“Close Games, Sound Slams
and Careful Dummy Play”
(Note: This is a continuation of the fictional account of the adventures of
bridge expert Henry Huddle and his protégé, Eliza Bidlittle. Last month we saw
Eliza as she turned the accidental drop of a card into a brilliant defensive
coup which started the pair off with a bang in the Blue Ribbon Pairs, (although
it needed a “Little Bit of Luck.”)
The subhed of this article reflects the name of another of the major songs
featured in the musical comedy “My Fair (Little Old) Lady,” which will be the
centerpiece entertainment at the NABC Nationals in San Diego in November. To
discover how that event finally develops for this Pygmalion pair, be sure to
attend a performance of that production!
Eliza
♠ AKQ10987
♥ 52
♦ A1097
♣ void
West
East
♠ void
♠ J643
♥ 10986
♥ KQ74
♦ J86
♦ K5432
♣ 876543
♣ void
Huddle
♠ 52
♥ AJ3
♦ Q
♣ AKQJ1092
Eliza
East
Huddle
West
1♠
Pass
2♣
Pass
3♠
Pass
4NT
Pass
5♣(*)
Pass
7NT
(AllPass)
(*)
3 Key Cards for spades)
As Henry Huddle sorted his cards for the first board of the San Diego Blue
Ribbon semifinals, he felt quite pleased with himself. He and his inexperienced
protégé, Eliza Bidlittle, had qualified comfortably at the end of the first
day’s competition, despite the expected number of gaffes on her part. But … to
give the devil her due … she had also come up with several brilliancies,
especially her spectacular Merrimac Coup on her very first board in a national
event
(see September’s “Hand of the Month.”)
And it was gratifying to notice that he had picked up several kibitzers since
yesterday: a player of his caliber deserved an appreciative audience, even when
his partner is not up to his level!
The auction went briskly: Eliza’s jump to 3♠ at her second turn showed a long
solid suit in a good hand, so when she confirmed possession of the high spades
and the ♦A, Huddle pulled out the 7NT card with an air of boredom.
West’s opening lead was the ♥10. “Well bid, Eliza,” said Huddle approvingly.
“This is certainly a
‘Sound Slam,’
and shouldn’t take long.” But when
East
showed out on the first round of clubs, Huddle paused to reconnoiter. “However,
even what looks like a cut-and-dried claimer could turn nasty, so there’s no
reason not to give this hand my full attention; it may yet require
‘Careful Dummy Play,’
and perhaps even that
‘Little Bit of Luck’
your mother keeps singing about”!
The problem was that the 1-in-16 chance that spades were breaking 4-0 with
East
became much more probable when it was proved that he had not been dealt any
clubs. And it was annoying that the opening lead had been a heart, removing
Huddle’s only hand entry: without it he could have tested spades and cashed his
♦A before running the club suit.
But
now the six-card ending had to be as below:
Eliza
♠ AKQ109
♥ –
♦ A
♣ –
West
East
♠ J643
imma-
♥ K
terial
♦ K
♣ –
Huddle
♠ 52
♥ J3
♦ Q
♣ 2
When Huddle cashed the ♣2, he paused dramatically: “Be so kind, Eliza, as to
discard the ♦A!” His RHO hopefully discarded the ♦K, then shoved his cards back
into the board disgustedly when Huddle showed him the ♦Q and ♥J.
There were gasps of admiration from the kibitzers. “That was awesome!” said his
most admiring acolyte. “How did you know to do that?”
Huddle chuckled. “Well, from the opening lead I knew I would have a spade-heart
squeeze on
East,
but since I wasn’t able to cash the ♦A, I could not apply enough pressure. The
only solution was to throw that ace away and turn the hand into a
three-suit
squeeze, hoping that if a squeeze was necessary East held the ♦K as well.
Besides, I’m sure I once read something about it in Holy Scriptures – the Book
of Matthew, I believe:
If thy ♦A offend thee, pluck it out and cast it off; for it is more profitable
to you that one of your bullets perish, rather than to have the whole grand slam
go down the drain!”