October 2014 - 64

Special Contributors

Bridge with the Abbot
BY DAVID BIRD

Brother Julian's clever play
A recent innovation at the monastery was a Tuesday night mini-league.
Eight teams-of-four competed, and
the matches were of 20 boards, with
a victory-point scale applied. There
was a buzz of excitement as the first
four matches were about to start in the
senior cardroom. The Abbot's team
would begin their campaign against the
second-best team from the novitiate.
"Anything less than a 25-0 win will
be the equivalent of losing the match,"
the Abbot informed his colleagues.
"If we apply ourselves in these early
encounters, we should acquire a good
bank of victory points to protect ourselves later."
Brother Paulo could scarcely believe
how seriously the Abbot was taking the
event. He affected a nod of agreement.
"I was thinking along the same lines,
Abbot," he replied.
The four matches were soon underway and this was an early board at the
Abbot's table:
Dlr: South ♠ Q 7 2
Vul: Both ♥ Q 4 2
♦AKQ53
♣62
♠J84
♠ 10 9 6 5
♥986
♥ K J 10 5 3
♦ J 10 8 4
♦7
♣ Q 10 7
♣KJ4
♠AK3
♥A7
♦962
♣A9853

64 Bridge Bulletin October 2014

West
The
Abbot
Pass

North
East
South
Brother Brother Brother
Evan
Xavier Julian
1NT
3NT
All Pass

With only 4 points in his hand, the
Abbot decided to look for his partner's
best suit. North had not used Stayman,
so it looked best to try a major suit. He
led the ♥9 and down went the dummy.
With a self-congratulatory nod, the Abbot surveyed dummy's diamond suit.
So much for a diamond lead! With any
luck, partner would hold something
good in hearts, and a big swing could be
entered in the appropriate column.
Brother Julian played low from dummy. He won the heart lead with the ace
and saw that he had eight tricks on top.
One extra trick from the diamond suit
would give him the game. If the heart
division was 3-5, though, he could not
afford to lose a diamond trick to West.
What could be done if West held four
diamonds?
The Abbot surveyed the young
declarer disapprovingly. What was the
point in such an inexperienced player
trying to make a plan? He knew virtually nothing about the game.
It seemed to Brother Julian that
there might be some merit in leading
the ♦9 on the first round. If East held
a singleton 8 or 7, West would have to
cover the 9 to prevent the trick being
ducked into the safe hand. After winning with dummy's ace, he could then

come back to his hand with a spade and
lead the ♦6, intending to run that card
into the safe hand. If West covered the
6 and diamonds were 4-1, dummy's
♦5 could participate in a third-round
finesse! Leading the 9 would also work
against a singleton jack or 10 in the
East hand. Even if West put up the jack
to swallow his partner's 10, a finessing
position could be established. Excellent! Thank goodness he had taken the
trouble to make a plan. It wasn't easy
with the Abbot glaring at him like that.
Brother Julian led the ♦9, covered
by the 10 and ace, and the ♦7 fell from
East. He returned to his hand with the
♠A and led the ♦6. The Abbot played
low, hoping that the youngster would
go wrong, but Brother Julian made no
such mistake. "Play low, please," he
said.
With a full five diamond tricks now
available, Brother Julian ended with an
overtrick.
The Abbot sighed. "There's no point
in me covering the 6," he explained.
"Dummy's Q-5 is then a tenace over
my J-4. He can finesse."
"True," replied Brother Xavier. "It
was a very thoughtful line of play.
I hope Lucius is awake at the other
table"
The Abbot thrust his cards back
into the board. Why did weak players
always make their one good play of the
year when they happened to be facing
him?
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of October 2014
