This month’s deal was played at the FLBC in 1989 by Minerva Davis and Jeanne Poore. They conducted a beautiful auction to reach a grand slam. The bidding contained gusto, spirit, enthusiasm, fervor… just about everything except the cards to back it up.
The bidding should have ended in 4 , but Poore, North, had an attack of optimitis and launched into Blackwood. When South admitted to two aces and one king, she bid to the hilt. Seven spades!
West led a trump, solving any problem in that suit, and Davis, South, captured East’s eight with the nine. She next cashed the K and led the 10; jack, king. A spade to the ace was followed by another heart; queen, ace. Two more good hearts were cashed, discarding a club from dummy.
Davis, of course, knew all along there was no real hope. But she remembered a tip she had learned in the past: Lead those trumps! She continued by cashing her last two trumps, throwing clubs from dummy.
Meanwhile, the opponents (particularly East) were not so clever. Both were mesmerized by the sight of A-K-8-6 of diamonds in dummy and chose to keep three diamonds and only one club. The A was cashed and — presto! — the club three was good.
How sweet it was!
© 1997 Richard Pavlicek
by Richard Pavlicek by Richard Pavlicek