Bridge Blog 1025-A: Mayday! Mayday!

     Some hands are just plain ridiculous. They should work, but they don't. Or they shouldn't work, but they come through. Board 20 at the Airport Bridge Club on Tuesday, May 1, was one of the latter.

     West is dealer. All are vulnerable.

West (Linda Zittel)

Spades: 10-8; Hearts: A-9-7-6-3; Diamonds: K-Q-J-7; Clubs: J-10.

North (me)

Spades: A-K-9-6-4; Hearts: 5-4; Diamonds: 10-9-8-6-4; Clubs: 5.

East (Jan Hasselback)

Spades: Q-7; Hearts: K-Q-2; Diamonds: A-5-3-2; Clubs: K-Q-4-2.

South (Nadine Stein)

Spades: J-5-3-2; Hearts: J-10-8; Diamonds: None; Clubs: A-9-8-7-6-3.

     As I dimly recall the bidding, Jan opens 1 No Trump, Linda bids 2 Diamonds to transfer to Hearts. Having passed originally, I jump in at 2 Spades. Jan, undeterred, bids 3 Hearts. Nadine goes to 3 Spades. When Linda plops down the 4 Hearts card, I figure they'll make it and just maybe we can take eight tricks in Spades. 4 Spades! Linda makes what feels like a perfectly reasonable double. I brace myself for a noble sacrifice.

    Jan leads the King of Hearts and they take two Heart tricks. I ruff the third Heart in the dummy. Then the great cross-ruff begins. Linda overruffs me on the third Club lead, but that's their last trick. Plus 790.

     According to the hand record, we should make only 3 Spades, while they're good for 3 Diamonds or 1 No Trump. For some reason, it doesn't display a result for East-West in Hearts, although five of the six East-Wests who win the auction wind up at 4 Hearts. They have 27 High Card Points between them, but they don't make it. Two are down one, two are down two, one is down three. The most successful East-West plays it at 3 No Trump and makes an overtrick.

     Then there are those three North-Souths who are allowed to play it in Spades. One stops at 2 Spades and somehow makes three overtricks. Then there's the two of us at 4 Spades, both doubled, both taking 10 tricks. Go figure!