October 2015 - 64

Special Contributors

Bridge with the Abbot
BY DAVID BIRD

Ethel Bagge's recommendation
The Abbot and Brother Xavier were
playing a session at the bridge club in
Balcombe Village. The Abbot's offer to
lead a discussion session on the deals
afterwards had been turned down
by the organizer, Virginia Bottome.
He was not particularly entranced to
discover that he would face this lady in
the last round of the event.
"We'll have to play fairly quickly, I'm
afraid," said Mrs. Bottome. "It's quarter
to 10 already and we have to finish by
10."
The Abbot maintained a passive
expression. Were these people totally
mad? What did they fear would happen
to them if they continued playing until
five minutes past 10? Would they all
turn into werewolves?
This was the first board of the last
round:
Dlr: North ♠ A 10 8 7
Vul: N-S ♥ 10 7
♦ A K 10 5 4
♣J2
♠KQJ3
♠9642
♥652
♥A3
♦J96
♦Q8732
♣Q84
♣97
♠5
♥KQJ984
♦-
♣ A K 10 6 5 3

64 Bridge Bulletin October 2015

West
The
Abbot
Pass
Pass
Pass
All Pass

North
Ethel
Bagge
1♦
2♠
3NT
5♥

East
Brother
Xavier
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass

South
Virginia
Bottome
2♥
3♣
4NT
6♥

The Abbot led the ♠K and down
went the dummy. "Not much for you,"
croaked the elderly North player. "A
minimum 12-count."
"It's my fault if we're too high,"
her partner replied. "I took a bit of a
gamble."
Mrs. Bottome won the spade lead
with dummy's ace and called for the
♣J. She nodded thoughtfully when
East failed to cover this card. West
obviously held the ♣Q and a finesse in
the suit was destined to fail. Still, what
could she do in that case?
Inspiration struck. Perhaps there
would still be a chance if she won with
the ♣A. She could then play the ♣K
and the ♣Q might drop. If not, then ...
yes, she could ruff a club in the dummy.
That would be clever.
Both defenders followed to two
rounds of clubs but the queen failed to
show. When declarer led a third round
of the suit, the queen appeared from the
Abbot in the West seat. "Better ruff that
one high, partner," said Mrs. Bottome.
Brother Xavier overruffed dummy's
10 with the ace and returned a spade,
but the contract was secure. Declarer
ruffed in her hand, drew trumps and
triumphantly played out the remaining

tricks one by one. The slam was hers.
"We needed a trump lead," said
Brother Xavier. "Once dummy's
trumps are removed, she'd have to lose
a club."
Ethel Bagge stirred in her seat. "It's
usually best to lead a trump against a
slam," she declared. "The other side
will hold most of the high cards when
they bid a slam. You need to cut down
on the ruffs."
"I was going to take the club finesse,"
observed Virginia Bottome, "but this
man gave away the position by not
covering. I knew the queen would be
wrong after that."
"It's a pity you didn't accept the offer that strange person made on the
phone," observed Ethel Bagge. She
turned towards the Abbot. "I think
you'd have found a discussion session
quite helpful. He could have explained
more fully why you should lead a trump
against a slam."
Virginia Bottome winced at this
indiscretion, shaking her head in an
effort to stem her partner's line of
conversation.
Ethel Bagge gave the Abbot a friendly
pat on the hand. "There's so much to
learn about this game," she continued.
"I can recommend a very good book for
you, one that I've had in my handbag
for several decades. 'Get Started at
Bridge,' it's called, by Eileen Wilkinson. She covers everything you need to
know about bidding, declarer play and
defense. I'll tell you the main reason
why I like her book. It's only 48 pages
long!"
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of October 2015
