March 2025 - 70

Special Contributor
George's World
C
orrespondent Steve Denenberg
sent a cute note about the
" Grosvenor Gambit, " but I
cannot publish it here, as he says
he reads my column after he reads
" Ruling the Game. " I mean, I do too,
but would never admit it.
The rest of the wild Vegas stories
will have to wait for a bit, as I have
recently been reminded by Steve
Beatty of a hand from long ago. A
recent post on Bridge Winners asked
if anyone ever had a deal where
the partnership held all 40 points,
because they had just seen one with
a combined total of 39. Steve wrote
that he and I played in a national
team game, and the opponents
had 39 HCP. Of course, they bid
and made the grand slam. At the
other table, however, it didn't go so
smoothly. Roy Welland (that rascal)
opened 1NT with no points. Tarek
Sadek, with 20 HCP, passed as did
Walid Elahmady with 19. Plus 350
was a very poor score.
Two things came out of this hand.
I had no memory of it, which is
strange, as I remember all my disasters.
In fact, my new book, " Kibitz
Me at Your Own Risk, " will be out in
hardcover this fall. The other thing
was this remark from Steve, said in
his very thick New Orleans accent
(which made me hungry for oyster
stew and egg rolls): " Well, you weren't
there! " It turns out we were getting
blown out in the match, and I left
early; Steve had a fill-in partner. He
didn't relish giving me the details.
Much more important is what
happened yesterday at Coco's Bridge
BY GEORGE JACOBS
NOBET8888@aol.com
Club in Puerto Vallarta. I opened
1NT, my left-hand opponent bid 2NT,
and it went all pass. I was kind of
chortling to myself (it is impolite to
chortle out loud, as it could lead to an
accidental guffaw) about how RHO
had screwed this up, as everyone
knows 2NT shows the minors.
The opening lead of a low spade
was made. Dummy's pattern was
2=5=2=4, so they missed their huge
club fit. I didn't really like it when the
doubleton sQ won in dummy, but
what could I do? I had lots of good
stuff in the minors. Declarer's next
play was a heart! I won't gift you with
all my trauma, but when the smoke
cleared, she had made 3NT. It turns
out that she had a 20-count(!) and,
somehow, her partner was on the
same wavelength! Why weren't these
our teammates back then, or why
didn't Tarek know this useful convention?
Apparently it comes up quite a
bit.
Claude has moved to California,
and I was visiting Mexico during our
district's GNT qualifier. It was our
first time missing that event in 40
years. It's one that I truly love. Maybe
they will add me and the lady with
the 20-count.
Bid this hand with Claude from the
final of the Blue Ribbon Pairs. He
held:
sK 7 4 h9 dA K 8 3 cQ 10 7 6.
The opps were silent. He opened
1d. The auction went 1d-1h;
2c-2s (game forcing); 2NT-3NT.
Lefty led a low spade. This is what he
saw:
s Q 8 5 3
h A K Q J 7
d 6
c J 5 2
s K 7 4
h 9
d A K 8 3
c Q 10 7 6
The spade lead rode to his king.
He has a spade, five hearts and two
diamonds, so he needed to try for a
club trick. He led a club to the jack
and king, and RHO returned a spade.
Strangely, it was won by the queen.
Claude then led a club to the queen
and ace, and LHO led a heart. Claude
was in dummy for the last time, so
he had to cash out. On the second
and third hearts, he pitched two diamonds.
The hearts split, and on the
fourth heart, RHO pitched his useless
last spade and so did Claude. Lo
and behold, when he did this, he discovered
the sA behind it! Did anyone
notice he only had 12 cards till now?
Be honest.
What to do? On the last heart, he
pitched the sA(!) and then cashed
two spades and the dA K, making
five. The people who knew they had
the sA bid 4s making five. We were
in 3NT making five for a near top.
Only Claude.
See y'all in Memphis where we will
share fried salami sandwiches and
egg rolls. 2
70 | Bridge Bulletin | March 2025
March 2025

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