May 2019 - 64

Special Contributors

Bridge with the Abbot
BY DAVID BIRD

Brother Cameron's trap
The Abbot had invited James
Bradrick, a young cousin of Brother
Lucius, to partner him in his monthly
inspection session of the novices'
duplicate. They had just suffered a
near-bottom against the disrespectful
Brother Cameron, and the Abbot was
hoping for better things as he drew
his cards for the next board. If there
was any justice, he would pick up a
shapely hand, end as declarer and be
able to impress everyone with some
imaginative line of play.
This was the deal that awaited them:
Dlr: South ♠ J 9
Vul: None ♥ A 8 6
♦86
♣ J 10 9 7 5 2
♠K43
♠ Q 10 7 6 5
♥J753
♥92
♦K92
♦ Q 10 5 3
♣K84
♣63
♠A82
♥ K Q 10 4
♦AJ74
♣AQ
West
The
Abbot
Pass

North
East
South
Brother James Brother
Damien Bradrick Cameron
2NT
3NT
All Pass

The Abbot maintained a passive
disposition as, once again, it was
Brother Cameron who ended as
declarer. His own hand offered
little prospect of any defensive

64 Bridge Bulletin May 2019

masterpiece - 10 high-card points
with a drab 4-3-3-3 shape. The Abbot
led the ♥3 against 3NT and down
went the dummy. Brother Cameron
considered his prospects with no great
enthusiasm. He had escaped a spade
lead, yes, but what could be done if
the defenders were able to hold up the
♣K? It didn't look too promising. The
Abbot was staring at him. Why was
that?
"Thank you, partner," he muttered
quickly, just beating the Abbot to the
draw. "Low heart, please."
The ♥9 appeared from James
Bradrick and Brother Cameron won
with the queen. Both defenders
followed when the ace and queen of
clubs were played, but the king failed
to show. Only one apparent chance
remained. If it worked, mind you,
he would have a great story to tell
afterwards! Brother Cameron flipped
the ♥4 onto the table, and the Abbot
followed with the ♥5.
"Play the eight, please," said Brother
Cameron. Yes, the ♥8 won and East
followed with the ♥2! "And the jack of
clubs," he said.
The Abbot could not believe what he
had just seen. At trick one his partner's
♥9 had forced declarer's queen. Why
on earth had he not won the second
round of hearts with the 10? The awful
truth dawned. The villainous Brother
Cameron had hidden the ♥10 on the
first trick. In an hour or two, every
novice in St. Titus would be relishing
full details of the board.

The Abbot won with the ♣K and
switched to a spade, but Brother
Cameron soon had 11 tricks before
him.
"Yes, yes, inserting the jack kills the
second entry," declared the Abbot. "I
considered the play, of course, but suppose my partner has the 10-9 to your
K-Q-4-2. I would set up the ♥8 as a
second entry to dummy."
James Bradrick was looking slightly
puzzled. "Ah, I see what happened
now!" he exclaimed. He smiled at
Brother Cameron. "Yeah, that was a
clever play. You won the first round
with the queen from K-Q-10."
Brother Cameron nodded modestly.
"Fairly obvious," he replied. "Wasn't
likely to cost."
The Abbot returned his cards to the
board. He surveyed the other tables
around the room, noting with disapproval that half of them were still in
play. Where was the call of "Move for
the next round!" when you needed it? It
was bad enough that most of these novices played such a weak game. Did they
have to play at a snail's pace as well?
The Abbot thought back to the
Bermuda Bowl, where he had played
so heroically on the Upper Bhumpopo
team. How many of the other world
stars there would now be suffering
such a low standard game in their
home countries? Would Meckstroth
and Rodwell be required to play against
a roomful of clueless teenagers? He
wouldn't bet on it.
◾
May 2019

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