March 2008 - 62

Bridge with the Abbot

David Bird
Brother Cameron's
Indiscretion
Monsignor Vecchio was visiting
the monastery to check that all the required rules and standards were being
observed. The Abbot was alarmed
by the arrival of Brother Cameron at
their table. Surely the novice would
not choose this particular moment to
make any ill-considered remarks. The
players drew their cards:
Dlr: South  8 6 4 2
Vul: E-W  -
 K Q 10 9 7 5
AK2
 J 10 9 7
Q
N
AQJ5
987643
W E
J
63
S
QJ65
 10 9 8 3
AK53
 K 10 2
A842
74
West
North East South
Monsignor Brother The Brother
Vecchio
Damien Abbot Cameron
1
Dbl
4
Pass 4
Pass
6
All Pass
The Abbot surveyed the two
novices disapprovingly when they
bid a slam in just two rounds. Was
this any way to show respect for the
62

Monsignor's vulnerable take-out
double? If they managed to make the
slam, and scored a top as a result, he
would make sure they regretted the
incident. Nor would they gain anything from it, if he had anything to
do with the scoring. It went without
saying that the distinguished visitor
would have to finish in the top three,
at the very least.
Monsignor Vecchio led the J
against the slam and the queen appeared from East. Before winning
the trick, Brother Cameron paused to
assess his prospects. The spade suit
was surely breaking 4-1. How could
the contract be made in that case? He
could score an 11th trick by ruffing
a club in the short trump hand. It
seemed that a 12th trick could come
only from a major-suit squeeze. West
sat over the threats, too, so it would
have to be a trump squeeze.
Ignoring the Abbot's obvious signs
of impatience, Brother Cameron
turned his mind to the subject of
rectifying the count. How could that
be done? If he won this first trick and
surrendered a trick later, the defenders would be able to remove his last
spade entry. That was no good. The
best idea was surely to allow East's
Q to win.
Brother Cameron contributed the
3 to the first trick. The Abbot
then switched to the 10, won with
dummy's ace. Brother Cameron drew
trumps in two rounds, cashed dummy's second club winner and ruffed a
club in his hand. He then cashed two
more rounds of trumps in dummy,
arriving at this position:
See next column
"Play another trump," said Brother
Cameron, discarding a spade.
Monsignor Vecchio directed a
hostile glance at the young declarer.
What impertinence! How dare he put
the Vatican's official emissary to an

 10 9 7
AQ
-
-

864
-
97
-
N

W E
S

AK5
 K 10
-
-

-
98743
-
-

awkward discard? Did he not realize
how intolerable it would be if the
representative of such high authority
were to throw an unlucky card and
thereby surrender the contract?
Hoping for the best, the Monsignor
eventually discarded the 7. Brother
Cameron lost no time in cashing the
A K. He then reached the established long spade in the dummy by
ruffing a heart. Twelve tricks were
before him.
The Monsignor, greatly aggravated,
put a hand to his forehead. "I intended to keep three spades, of course,"
he declared. "The long journey here
was tiring. I could not keep track of
the cards."
"Nothing you could do about it,
your Eminence," observed Brother
Cameron. "It was a straightforward
trump squeeze. If you throw a heart,
I cross to a spade and set up the K
with a ruff."
"How dare you address our valued
guest in that tone?" exclaimed the
Abbot. "I must apologize, Monsignor.
I've never heard this novice speak so
disrespectfully. He must be overcome
at meeting someone so exalted."
"So it seems," said the Monsignor.
"Such an attitude cannot be tolerated,
it goes without saying. I trust you
will punish him sufficiently harshly
to dissuade him from any such misdemeanor in the future."
"I will see to it personally,

Bridge Bulletin
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2008
