While I was wondering about the outcome on Board 1 Tuesday (Blog 672-A), people were talking about Board 12 in tones of disbelief before the game was over. 3 No Trump, they’d say as they tried to keep from laughing. OK, it was a gamble. I admit it, but I thought it had a chance. Here are the hands.
North
Spades: K-Q-8-6; Hearts: A-K-J-7
Diamonds: 8-7-3; Clubs: Q-9
South
Spades: A-7-4-3; Hearts: 10-9-5
Diamonds: 6-5; Clubs: K-J-8-6
East
Spades: 9-2; Hearts: Q
Diamonds: A-K-Q-10-9-4-2; Clubs: A-7-2
West
Spades: J-10-5; Hearts: 8-6-4-3-2
Diamonds: J; Clubs: 10-5-4-3
For Board 12, West is dealer. North-South is vulnerable, East-West is not. West (Ken Meier) passes. I bid 1 No Trump. East (Joe Rooney) doubles. Pawan bids 2 Clubs – Stayman – and I go 2 Hearts, bidding my four-card major suits up the line. Rooney bids 3 Diamonds, revealing the long suit implied by his double. Pawan might have passed, but goes 3 NT. OK, she’s got a stopper in Diamonds. The rest just might work out.
Wrong! Joe leads his Ace of Diamonds and I see just how exposed we are. He takes seven Diamond tricks and the Ace of Clubs. Down four. Joe, who’s usually quick to double my wilder bids, says he didn’t want to double this time and chase us into one of our suits.
No question that it’s a bottom board. Only a few North-Souths wound up with plus scores on this one. Top board was 3 Spades, played by South, making the bid. Next best were North-Souths who let East-West play it at 4 Diamonds (down two) and 3 Diamonds (down one doubled).
Four North-Souths went to 4 Spades (three of them down one – yes, it only makes 3 – and the other down two). Another went down two at 3 Hearts. No Trump? Naaahhh!
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