Hand of the Month “With a Little Bit of Luck” 

By Joel Hoersch

Editor, District 22 Forum

(Note: This month’s hand is a fictional account of the first day’s adventures of bridge expert Henry Huddle and his protégé, Eliza Bidlittle, as they sit down to play in the Blue Ribbon Pairs. The subhed of this article reflects the name of one 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!

North♠ AQ7
♥ J4
♦ 95
♣ KQ10964

(Huddle)                          (Eliza)
♠ 10985                            ♠ KJ4
♥ 92                                 ♥ A10632
♦ QJ7432                          ♦ 86
♣ 3                                  ♣ AJ2

South
♠ 632
♥ KQ87
♦ AK10
♣ 875

The bidding, N/S vulnerable:

North     Eliza     South     Huddle
1♣        1♥         3NT      (All Pass)

It was the first hand of her first national bridge tournament … the six-session San Diego Blue Ribbons, no less! … and Eliza Bidlittle was terrified. She and her mentor, Professor Henry Huddle, had almost failed to qualify to play in the event at all, but had survived to win a small Midwestern regional Open Pairs by a single matchpoint … despite the fact that Eliza had carelessly revoked on the last round against Warren Buffett and his partner.

“Concentrate!” Eliza told herself sternly. “Huddle always reminds me to concentrate, so I can’t let such a mental lapse happen ever again!”

The auction was routine: Eliza had an easy overcall at the 1-level, and with the vulnerability as it was, the South player had no reason to do anything but bid a game in notrump.

Professor Huddle, after a slight pause, produced the ♥9 for his opening lead, and the declarer called for dummy's jack, to set up a marked finesse against Eliza’s 10-spot. Thankful she didn’t have much to think about, Eliza pulled out the ace, but her first-hand jitters caused her shaking fingers to brush against the ♠K. That treacherous monarch promptly fell face up alongside the ♥A.

Disaster! By the rules, the king was the forced lead to Trick 2, causing everyone at the table … including the dummy … to blink incredulously!

Eliza struggled to keep her composure and to appear nonchalant in the face of this accident. “Never let them see you sweat!” was one of the first mottos Huddle had taught her when she was learning the basics. But as the seconds ticked away, Eliza noticed that the declarer seemed none too happy with this unusual turn of events. He followed low from his hand, and when Huddle signaled encouragement with the 10-spot, ducked in dummy.

Well, thought Eliza, maybe this isn’t so bad after all. She continued with the ♠J, and when declarer won that trick and led the ♣K she was ready, playing low smoothly. When the king held, declarer shrugged his shoulders, finessed in hearts and then hopefully led a club toward dummy, sighing when Huddle showed out of the suit.

When Eliza won and cleared spades, the declarer was forced to settle for eight tricks: two spades, three hearts, two diamonds … but only ONE club trick.

The declarer was crestfallen. “Sorry, partner, I blew it. I was in too much of a hurry to set up that finesse position in hearts, and made a rookie mistake by playing too fast at Trick 1. If I just play second hand low, I don’t think she can beat me!”

Huddle’s face cracked into a rare smile. “Great defense, Eliza! I could have made it much easier for you if I had guessed to lead a spade at Trick 1 … but then, I can’t expect you to maintain discipline and lead my suits if I don’t do the same for you! But you made that brilliant switch at Trick 2 almost without thinking: I’m happy to see that you memorized that lesson on page 572 of my book – the one about attacking seemingly impregnable entries to prevent a long suit’s establishment. Even better, you showed that you could pull it off at the table, under pressure. With this result, we are on our way with a fine start toward your first National title!”

“Thank you, Mr. Huddle,” replied Eliza with a demure Mona Lisa smile. Evidently Huddle didn’t realize that her great defensive coup was just “A Little Bit of Luck.” As she pulled out her cards to play the second board, Eliza made a silent vow to herself: “Never will I tell Huddle that it was just a plucky recovery to a lucky accident. And, never will I admit to anyone that I always fall sound asleep before page 72 – let alone page 572 – when reading Huddle’s book!”