March 2019 - 28

Mr. Careful's Sad Walk
While Mr. Careful was shaving in
the morning, he allowed himself a faint
smile, remembering the distributional
monster from the club the previous
evening. Never had he seen anything
like it - but he and his partner, Mrs.
Stout, had been able to cope with the
bidding problem:
Dlr: East
Vul: Both
Bd: 10

♠KQ74
♥Q8753
♦A75
♣9
♠ A J 10 3 2
♠5
♥-
♥AK642
♦-
♦KQJ843
♣ K Q J 10 8 6 5 4
♣A
♠986
♥ J 10 9
♦ 10 9 6 2
♣732
West
Mr. Careful
2♣
2♠
4♣
Pass

East
Mrs. Stout
1♦
2♥
3♥
5♣

This was the ultimate self-restraint
by both East and West. He remembered how his first inclination had
been to bid 7NT when he heard his
partner reverse with 2♥, but he had
controlled himself. His 4♣ established
clubs as trumps. And how clever of
Mrs. Stout to realize that only top honors in spades and clubs were of interest
and to bid 5♣, thereby denying a spade
honor!
After North had led the obvious
trump, Mr. Careful had discarded
two spades on the ♥A K and made
exactly 11 tricks. He was certain that
this would prove to be a top. Who else
would be able to stop in time?
He could hardly wait to go into town
to discuss this remarkable hand with

28 Bridge Bulletin March 2019

BY SVEND NOVRUP

his less successful fellow club members. The weather was bad, but Mr.
Careful could not wait for the rain to
stop. The first person he met was the
postman, Mr. Timid. It occurred to Mr.
Careful that maybe Mr. Timid had been
so afraid of the distribution that he had
not even reached game.
"What did you think of that terrible
hand yesterday?" Mr. Timid shouted
before Mr. Careful could say anything
himself, "I never thought that I ever
would play 3NT with a double void."
Mr. Careful was taken aback. 3NT?
A ridiculous contract, but the postman
was whistling for joy.
"The bidding was nothing to be
proud of, I guess. My partner opened
1♦ and rebid 2♥ over my 2♣. I realized that the misfit was extreme and
simply closed the bidding with 3NT.
And you know, I think that it is my best
played hand ever!" he continued, almost unable to control his satisfaction.
"Never have I been so afraid as when
I ducked North's ♠K opening lead.
He was certain that his partner's ♠8
was a come-on signal and continued
a low spade. I discarded the ♣A from
dummy, won the ♠10 in hand and went
on to cash eight clubs and the ♠A. Ten
tricks and 630. Oh, I am sorry - maybe
I should have asked what you did first."
"No, you have every reason to be
proud of your result. Indeed, I think
that you will be the only ones to improve on our 5♣ bid and made," said
Mr. Careful.
The postman did not care about the
rain, thinking about his nice 3NT. And
his result on a difficult hand was better
than that of Mr. Careful. Mr. Timid was
not whistling any more - he was singing in the rain.
Somewhat disappointed, Mr. Careful
went down the road to get his newspaper at the newsstand. Mr. Bad News
handed it to him with a broad smile.

"You, too,
must have
been thinking about
that monstrous hand
from yesterday!" he almost cried. "A most difficult
hand it was, and we nearly got too high.
The most difficult bid in bridge is pass,
but, as you know, 'a pass in time saves
the day.'"
Fearing the worst, Mr. Careful
almost dared not ask but had to: "You
mean that double-void hand, I presume. We bid that rather nicely to 5♣
and made it. What did you do?"
"I opened 1♦, reversed into 2♥,
rebid first 4♦ and then 5♦. You know,
playing with my wife, I have to bid her
cards a bit, too. She would never have
survived playing that hand with just
two black cards in dummy, but finally
she pulled herself together and passed.
South led ♥J, which I won. Next,
North won my ♦K; he did not realize
that he had to cut communications
with dummy, and he continued hearts.
I won, cashed two diamonds and the
♣A, and went to dummy with the ♠A
to discard three hearts on the clubs.
South made his ♦10, but I had my 11
tricks."
Mr. Careful was breathing heavily.
This was almost immoral. Making
5♦! This meant that at best, 5♣ made
was just a shared second top. He was
shocked, but found the strength to
smile while he grabbed the newspaper
and left the small shop and its Bad
News.
He considered briefly if it was worth
continuing his walk, but did so anyway.
After all, his club was not made up
exclusively of raving lunatics. Others
must have been less successful.
He did not have to wait long before
his name was shouted from far down
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2019
