March 2024 - 70

Special Contributor
George's World
Atlanta NABC, part deux
O
n the very last hand of the
Blue Ribbon Pairs, my
partner, Jay Barron, made a
" state-of-the-match " bid:
Me
s A 8 6 5 2
h A 8
d A J 10 5
c 9 2
Jay
s K Q 3
h Q 10
d 9 8 7 3
c A K J 5
I opened one innocent spade, and
he bid two game-forcing diamonds. I
bid three cooperating diamonds, and
he bid 3s, showing me where we were
going in spades. I bid four reluctant
diamonds to show the ace, and he bid
an aggressive Blackwood with his
flat 15-count. I admitted to three key
cards, and then nary a king, and he
nestled us into six potentially dangerous
spades.
If they lead a heart, what card do
you play from dummy? Luckily, they
didn't lead a heart, as both honors
were wrong. So all you need is one
of two diamond finesses, the club
finesse so you can pitch your heart,
spades to split and no heart lead. We
got 91%. How did they all miss this
great slam?
This one is titled " Man at Work. "
Yes, it is Jay again. This time, the deal
is from the semis of the Blue Ribbon
Pairs. All red, what is your opening
bid with:
sA Q 4 hK Q 8 6 4 3 dA 5 cA 7?
In the Senior Pairs, where I was
lucky enough to come in second
after being carried for two days by
Glenn (Do you suppose that somewhere,
someone has three n's in a row
in their name?) Eisenstein, many
70 | Bridge Bulletin | March 2024
strange and Senior-like things happened.
For instance, against Becky
Rogers and her pard, we had a competitive
auction. At some point, Becky
jumped to 4d, and there we played.
Afterward, her partner said he was
unsure what 4d meant, and Becky
said, " I wasn't sure either. "
Probably nothing was quite as
strange as this. The night before the
event, Glennn and I were discussing
our card and regaling one another
with stories. (Have you ever just galed
someone one time?) I mentioned a famous
story from the Omaha Regional
where I turned down the opportunity
to play on a team with Bill Gates and
Warren Buffett. (Claude calls him
Boofey). I did so because Steve Beatty
and I were forming a partnership, and
he was coming from Seattle. Good
thing, because they asked him first!
But I digress. Steve and I took a sacrifice
against a major-suit slam when
I bid 7d. It then went double, pass,
double! There are lead penalties now,
but in the old days, Glennn pointed
out that you had the choice of playing
doubled or undoubled. Because I made
it, I would have played it redoubled.
So, on the very first hand of the
first session of the Senior Pairs, it
goes 2s by Glennnn, double, pass,
double. I kid you not.
Back to Jay for a second. With just
us bidding, it went 1h by me, 1s by
him, 1NT by me, 2c by him (that
starts all invitational sequences
and forces me to bid 2d), 2d by me,
4s by him. Later he asked me what I
thought it showed, and I said seven
spades. It made no sense, but I'm glad
we were on the same wavelength.
BY GEORGE JACOBS
NOBET8888@aol.com
Back to the opening bid question:
He opened the obvious 2NT! I had a
mundane 3=4=3=3 with an 8-count,
so I went for the notrump bonus,
spurning Stayman. I held:
sK 7 5 hJ 9 7 2 d7 6 4 cK J 4.
Luckily for us, they led a club. If
they had led a diamond, it would have
been drapes. And you would have
been denied another cool story. 91%
we got for this operationnn.
More to come down the road.
Claude and I are going to Louisville
early for the NAPs, and he says he
knows a great place for egg rolls and
waffles. Chow. 2
Remember when your
parents taught you to
play bridge?
Reward Their Patience
With A Tribute Gift.
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March 2024

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