Bridge players' thoughts turn to the Regionals
With the end of the year in sight, thoughts turn to the Regional and the regulars who return each year.
Allan Graves from Canada has become a regular in Bermuda as a player and on the Panel Shows and he is a superb player, one of the best from Canada along with other great players such as Murray, Kehela, Kokish, Nagy and Mittelman.
I played against this group often when I was playing competitively and they were just very strong. Allan is a great player and his declarer play is brilliant ... take a look at this hand where he kept his nerve in a shocking contract and played for the cards to lie perfectly, as they did.
Board 1. Love All. Dealer North
♥AKQ109
◆A
♣85
♠K4 [nbsp][nbsp][nbsp][nbsp]♠J976
♥J52 [nbsp][nbsp][nbsp][nbsp]♥763
◆Q10432 [nbsp][nbsp][nbsp][nbsp]𦗆K9
♣732 [nbsp][nbsp][nbsp][nbsp]♣J1064
♠Q8
♥84
◆J8765
♣AKQ9
NORTH SOUTH
1♠ 2♣
2♥ 2NT
3♥ 3♥
6NT!!
The bidding won't win any awards ... the two club bid was a bit "individual" and the 6NT bid was bizarre on what was clearly a misfit ... North clearly had seen Allan play the hands before.
When East found the diamond lead the contract went from awful to terrible ... Allan needed all four clubs and five hearts at a minimum to have any chance ... and he couldn't afford to lose the lead even once.
So what did he do? At trick two he led a club from dummy and when West played low (the correct play) he closed his eyes and stuck in the nine! When his eyes opened and the club had held he was in business... or nearly, as there was still a lot to do for the 12th trick.
He now cashed all the hearts, grateful that the jack came down and then a couple of clubs and came down to this position with four cards left:
♠A1053
♥
◆
♣
♠K4 [nbsp][nbsp][nbsp][nbsp]♠J96
♥ [nbsp][nbsp][nbsp][nbsp]♥
◆Q10 [nbsp][nbsp][nbsp][nbsp]◆K
♣ [nbsp][nbsp][nbsp][nbsp]♣
♠Q8
♥
◆J
♣Q
On the Queen of Clubs, West had to discard a diamond and East discarded a spade.
At trick 11 Allan exited with the diamond, which East won and led a low spade. Allan realised that if East held the king of Spades he would have discarded the diamond King, so he played the eight of spades, forcing the king which he won with the Ace and then made the spade queen for his twelfth trick …. brilliant play from start to finish!
Remember …pay your Bridge Club dues before the year end to get the discount!
