February 2008 - 62

In San Francisco, I went
back to my roots. I played
with Claude in the Blue
Ribbon Pairs. There were the
usual strange and interesting
things that occurred, but
none was stranger than what
follows.
It was the fourth or fifth
round of the opening day
of the event and Claude
disappeared for a few
minutes. When he returned,
he had a button of some sort
on his lapel with a small red
flashing light. He looked like an old
gray police car or something. I badly
wanted to ask what it was about and
why he was wearing it then, but I
have grown so strong from my thriceweekly sessions with my psychiatrist
that I was able to hold out.
I admit that it was painful to hold
it in. You know the feeling when you
should stop at a rest stop and you
pass it by, knowing the next one is
only 38 miles farther and all 38 of
those miles you regret not stopping?
Anyway, wait until you see what
he did to Bob Levin and Steve
Weinstein. On each of the first two
days, they assured me that they had
not qualified, but each day they snuck
in by a whisker. On the final day, they
had some momentum and were doing
well until they, Claude and board 24
all met at our table:
Dlr: West  K J 8 3
Vul: None  K 10
KQ762
94
 10 7 6 5 4
9
N
Q4
6532
W E
 10 5
J9843
S
 A Q 10 6
873
AQ2
AJ987
A
KJ52
62

By George Jacobs

West
North East
South
Levin
Me
Weinstein Claude
Pass
1
Pass
1
2 (2)
Pass
1 (1) Pass
Pass
2
Pass
3
Pass
3
Pass
3
Pass
4
Pass
4NT
Pass
5
Pass
6NT
All Pass
(1) Alerted as forcing. We may be the
only pair to play 1 forcing, but I no
longer remember why we do it.
(2) Fourth-suit forcing to game.
6NT is not the greatest of contracts,
but if you find the Q and take five
heart tricks, you can avoid playing on
clubs.
And so it was to be. Claude won
the spade lead in hand, played a
heart to the 10, cashed the king and
claimed six. I felt bad for Steve and

Bob. Bridge can be a cruel
game. On top of that, they
had to play with me the
next day.
But we are not done with
this deal!
At another table, Mr. B and
Mr. P had an unusual auction
to 3, where they rested
when Mr. P passed a forcing
bid. Now Mr. B, South,
started screaming at Mr. P.
He insisted that 3 could
never be passed and that
they had a slam. Why should
that make this magazine? Watch ...
The opening lead was a spade, won
in hand. Declarer played a heart to
the king and then passed the 10
to the bare queen. Now, a spade was
ruffed, a club returned, a second
spade ruffed, a club returned, then
a diamond to declarer's stiff ace.
Dummy was toast. Two more clubs
had to be lost for a total of seven
tricks to the defense. I think it would
have been okay if Mr. B hadn't asked
about which slam they had missed.
Claude and I (mostly me) struggled
the last day and managed to barely
make the top 50, but it was fun to
be back in the Blue Ribbons with
Claude after a long lapse.
I shall leave you with this visual.
Claude has a new (different) coat.
During the day, he reached in and
took out an apple. It was missing
a few bites. He took a bite or two
and put it back in his coat. I guess
I should be grateful they weren't
serving chili that day.
Ciao for now.
r

Patron Member addition
The list of 2007 ACBL Patron members that appeared in the January
issue should have included Sherry D. Jackson of New York NY.

Bridge Bulletin
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of February 2008
