Carolyn Siracuse and I
wind up defending against a 4 Heart bid by Joe Rooney and Bill Boardman on this
layout.
West (Joe)
Spades: 10-8-2; Hearts:
A-K-9-6-4; Diamond: 4; Clubs: A-K-J-3.
North (moi)
Spades: Q; Hearts:
Q-J-10-3; Diamond: A-Q-J-7-3; Clubs: 9-8-6.
East (Bill)
Spades: K-J-6-4-3;
Hearts: 8-2; Diamonds: 10-6-5; Clubs: 10-7-4.
South (Carolyn)
Spades: A-9-7-5;
Hearts: 7-5; Diamonds: K-9-8-2; Clubs: Q-5-2.
It's Board 8. Nobody
vulnerable. West is dealer. Joe opens 1 Heart. I overcall 2 Diamonds. Bill bids
2 Spades. Carolyn supports the Diamonds. And if I remember correctly, Joe jumps
right to 4 Hearts. I'm pretty sure he won't make it, but I only see three
tricks in my hand. I pass.
Opening lead is the
singleton Queen of Spades. King. Ace. But then Carolyn follows one rule – lead the
suit your partner bid, i.e., a Diamond – while breaking another – return the
suit your partner led.
I win with the Jack of
Diamonds, reckon Joe's 4 is a singleton. Least damaging option is lead a Club,
or is it? Carolyn's Queen is finessed.
He wins the Club, pulls
one round of Hearts, then leads a Spade. I discard a Club. He draws a second
round of trumps and leads another Spade. This time I ruff and return a Diamond.
He ruffs and sends back a Club and another Club. I ruff Club #2 and send back a
Diamond. For the final three tricks, I have a winning Heart and two winning long
Diamonds. Down three.
Did Carolyn's switch to
Diamonds give us an extra trick by delaying my ruffs until the long Diamonds
were good? I keep looking at it now, several hours later, and I'm not sure where that extra trick came from (Did Joe play an unnecessary high card somewhere?), but I thought at the time it was Carolyn's move that set us up for a top board.
The hand
record says East-West should make 2 Hearts (they do one trick better in
Spades). And North-South can bring home a 3 Diamond bid, a plus 110 versus a
plus 100 for 4 Hearts down two.
In actual play in this
six-table game at the Airport Bridge Club, three North-Souths get to play 3
Diamonds. One goes to 4 Diamonds and falls one short. None of the East-Wests find
their eight-card Spade fit. Judi Marshall and Sharon Benz are the only ones lucky
enough to get to play it at 2 Hearts.
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