September 2022 - 70

Special Contributor
Bridge with the Abbot
The Abbot's missed chance
L
ucius and Paulo arrived at the
table, and the Abbot muttered
a brief prayer that he would
pick up some good hand and have an
interesting contract to play. The first
card he saw was the 'Q. Not a bad
start, but ... the rest of his hand were
all spot cards. Typical! This was the
deal:
Dlr: North  A K 4
Vul: Both k Q J 8 3
l A 6 2
' J 4 3
 7 6 3
k K 10 2
l Q J 10 7 5
' K 8
 10 9 8 2
k 9 7 5 4
l 8 4 3
' Q 10
 Q J 5
k A 6
l K 9
' A 9 7 6 5 2
West North East
The
Bro.
Pass
Pass
Bro.
South
Bro.
Xavier Lucius Abbot Paulo
1NT Pass
3l Pass
3 Pass
3'
3k
6'
All Pass
Over his partner's 1NT opening,
Brother Paulo suggested a club slam
with his jump to 3'. A few moments
later, he decided to save some time
with a leap to 6'. The lQ was led
and down went the dummy.
" Very nice, indeed, " observed
Brother Paulo, noting that the slam
was less than laydown. Perhaps he
should have bid more slowly. " Low
diamond. "
Paulo won with the lK and played
the ace of trumps, no honor appearing.
What next? He would need a
70 | Bridge Bulletin | September 2022
 -
k K 10 2
l J 10
' K
 -
k A 6
l -
' 9 7 6 5
When a second trump was played,
Brother Xavier won with the king and
was endplayed. Because a diamond
return would give a ruff-and-discard,
he somewhat sheepishly tried a heart
instead. Paulo called for dummy's
queen and claimed the contract.
" I've rarely seen a more telegraphed
elimination play! " exclaimed the Abbot.
" Unblock the king of trumps, and
I can win the second round over here.
That's a whole top down the drain.
No one else will bid the slam on those
values. "
" You're nearly right, Abbot, " said
Brother Lucius, inspecting the scoresheet.
" Only one other pair bid 6'
and they went down. "
" Perhaps you missed a small
chance to beat it yourself, Abbot, "
observed Brother Paulo. " Suppose
2-2 trump break, obviously. If West
held the king of trumps, there was a
chance of endplaying him and thereby
avoiding the heart finesse.
Abandoning trumps for the moment,
Brother Paulo cashed three
rounds of spades successfully and
continued with the lA and another
diamond, ruffing in the South hand.
These cards remained:
 -
k Q J 8 3
l -
' J 4
 10
k 9 7 5 4
l -
' Q
BY DAVID BIRD
you play a smooth queen on the first
round of trumps. "
The Abbot looked at the Italian in
mystified fashion.
" You see what will happen? "
continued Brother Paulo. " There
is no point in me trying to endplay
you with K-Q doubleton of trumps,
because if you have the kK I can
take a finesse. So, I will play a trump
towards the jack immediately to pick
up the likely K-10-x with West. Xavier
wins with the king and exits safely
in spades or diamonds. The heart
finesse fails, and I am one down! "
" I've never heard anything so
absurd, " retorted the Abbot. " Xavier
misses the world's most obvious
unblock and you're trying to make out
that it was my fault? "
" It can't cost, can it? " said a reprieved
Brother Xavier. " If Paulo has
the 'A K, your queen is dead anyway. "
The
Abbot had heard enough. " If I
ever write a book on beginners' card
play, I'll put Xavier's hand in the very
first chapter, " he declared. " There's
no point even starting to play bridge
if you can't manage an elementary
unblock like that! "
September 2022

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