Sunday, July 20, 2025

Bridge Blog 1159-F: Do the Bridge Gods give birthday presents? Yes, they do.


On the very first board we played on Wednesday, July 16, at the Bridge Centre of Niagara in St.
Catharines, I was dealt this hand.

Spades K 9 3

Hearts A J 9 4

Diamonds A K Q 8 7 6

Clubs ----- (void)

It's Board 7. All vulnerable. I'm sitting South, as usual, and I'm the dealer. I open 1 Diamond, although a 2 Club bid, signaling a killer hand, might be more appropriate. Mary House, sitting West, passes. Selina may or may not have bid 1 Spade with this hand.

Spades Q 6 5 2

Hearts Q 8 3

Diamonds J 10 9 5

Clubs 10 5

Don Pratt, sitting East, does not hesitate to bid 2 Clubs. He's got six of them and 13 high card points. I rebid my Diamonds. Mary raises Don's Clubs. Selina raises my Diamonds. Don plunges ahead to 5 Clubs. I go 5 Diamonds. Don doubles. Feisty and full of myself on this occasion, I do not hesitate for a second. Redouble!

Mary leads the Ace of Clubs and I nail it with a trump. I draw Diamonds in two rounds. I lose the Ace of Spades (Don obligingly playing his Ace the first time they go around) and one Heart. The score? A nice round 1,000. Top board to start the day. 

In the rest of the room, three other North-Souths bid 5 Diamonds. One of them made an overtrick. They must have double-finessed East's Hearts. Another was down one trick. I'll bet West held up on the Ace of Spades, which I was fearing. At one unfortunate table, North-South wound up at 3 No Trump by North. East-West ran their Clubs. Down three. 

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