January 2013 - 45

Pink Bird blushes
By Irina Ladyzhensky

The Prince of Boca Venti recently
visited Daytona Beach for a bridge
tournament. This time, he was accompanied by his favorite pets, Ted (also
known as Teddy Bear), Black Duckling and Pink Bird (who snuck onto
the team just for her good looks).
Playing knockouts, they got to the
final.
Caddy Coocudy brought boards
from the other table, and Pink Bird
picked up her hand. She was curious
... what animal can deal that?
- - K Q J 10 6 5 3 2 A K J 8 4
Bird likes to fly high, so she opened
the bidding on an impossibly high
level.
West
6

North
BD
Pass
7

East
Pass
All Pass

South
PB
6

"You probably don't have one, but I
will lead the ace of spades anyway!"

said the lady on the left.
Dummy was great:
J 10 9 A J 7 5 4 A 8  6 3 2
PB ruffed the spade lead, played a
diamond to dummy's ace (LHO plays
the 9), pitched a club on the A, finessed in clubs, eventually ruffing the
fourth club with the 8.
Pink Bird had hoped that the long
trump and long clubs were in the
same hand - and her good technique
was rewarded.
After PB had claimed, Duckling
complained that the line of play was
wrong - she should have cashed the
A first. If West had been void - not
impossible considering the auction
- West would have ruffed to put the
contract down. Bird quickly replied:
"You never like my play anyway, but
I can make 7 even if my right-hand
opponent had five clubs!"
The last word came from West, who
blamed her husband for not bidding
the "obvious" 7, holding:

Time short to sign up for Collegiate Teams
The qualifying stage of the 2013 North American Collegiate Team Championship is scheduled for Feb. 16 on Bridge Base Online (software download available at bridgebase.com). Matches begin at 1 p.m. EST.
Each participating team must register and designate a captain online at
www.acbl.org prior to Feb. 1. At the discretion of the ACBL, late entries may
be accepted to accommodate bracket structure. Please send any questions
to collegiates@acbl.org. Instructions on the Internet event will be forwarded
to each team captain. Team rosters must be submitted to collegiates@acbl.
org by Feb. 4.
Any number of four-person teams from a college or university in North
America may enter. Eligible students must carry a minimum of seven semester hours and be born no earlier than 1988. Qualifying team members will be
invited to the Summer NABC in Atlanta GA to compete in the final and will
be eligible for economy round-trip airfare not to exceed $500 from a city in
North America, lodging for three nights and an expense supplement.

4 3 K 10 9 8 6 7 4 Q 10 9 5
At the other table, Prince and Ted
defeated 5 for down one (you will
say magic) after a conservative auction:
West

North
Pass
4
Pass
All Pass

East
Pass
Pass

South
1
5

"Nineteen IMPs is my biggest win
without using the red and blue cards,"
exclaimed Pink Bird, and her face
blushed.
r

Needed more
Many years ago, a player from
the Detroit area wrote in to say he
would continue to play duplicate
despite what happened to him
in a game at the bridge club. In
a competitive auction (the writer
bid hearts), the opponents got
to 4. The writer's partner led a
diamond. Declarer won, pulled
trumps and claimed an overtrick.
When asked why he didn't lead
the suit his partner had bid, the
new player cried, "I had only
one!"
January 2013 Bridge Bulletin

http://www.bridgebase.com http://www.acbl.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2013