HOOFDSTUK ♣Q

Leo and Linda had won a bridge cruise, together with their spouses Loes and Lex. Loes and Lex were only occasional players, but they were looking forward to an unusually luxurious holiday. And Leo and Linda certainly relished the thought of a week loaded with bridge!
When Black and Jack learned that next to various tournaments there would be opportunity for high stake rubber bridge, they decided last minute to book as well. The six Groningers met on the quay in Rotterdam and boarded full of expectation.

The cruise started in spectacular fashion, with a gala teams of four event. Linda, Black and Loes entered the splendidly decorated playing room wearing long daringly low cut dresses, followed by Leo, Jack and Lex sporting impeccable tuxedos. Loes and Lex decided to kibitz Leo and Linda, while Black and Jack moved to the other end of the hall. Their opponents were two retired couples, and everybody sorted their cards in pleasant anticipation.

Leo, who had already had two cocktails and secretly admired all the female beauty around him, launched forcefully into 4♥. The elderly opponents did not look impressive, and he confidently ordered a third cocktail. This provoked withering looks from both Linda and Loes, which went completely unnoticed. Leo only paid attention to the lead of ♠4 and the dummy which Linda put down in four straight lines.
"Thank you Linda", smiled Leo. "King please."
Hadewijn won with ♠A and after some thought returned ♣Q. Leo took this trick with ♣A and drew trumps in three rounds. West followed suit all the way, and East followed twice and then discarded a small spade.

N/NS	♠ K Q 6 3 ♥ 7 2 ♦ K 9 4 ♣ 9 7 4 3
	N W         E S
	♠ 2 ♥ A K Q 10 6 4 ♦ Q 10 3 ♣ A K 5
West Hadewych -   pass   pass	North Linda pass   1 NT   pass	East Hadewijn 1 ♠   pass   pass	South Leo double   4 ♥

What now, thought Leo in an attempt to concentrate. He sipped from his delicious Sex on the Beach cocktail, but that did not help to get his plan straight. East more or less had to have all missing points, but West could just possess ♦J. In addition there were fair chances that he could reach dummy and dispose of his losing club on the ♠Q. Satisfied with this analysis he advanced ♦Q. If East took his ace he would be home, and if East ducked he could fall back on the finesse against ♦J.

>>>

Hadewijn ducked smoothly , and Leo continued with a tempting ♦10. Hadewych however played low, so did dummy, and to Leo's great annoyance Hadewijn took the trick with ♦J. The alert East player also cashed ♦A on which everybody followed suit, and proceeded with ♣8 to Leo's ♣K. A few moments later Leo reluctantly had to enter 1 down.
"Why didn't you bid 3NT?", hissed Linda angrily. "Nine trick are on ice!"
Hadewych opened her mouth to say something but then changed her mind and smiled amiably.

This happened at the other table a while later:

N/NS	♠ K Q 6 3 ♥ 7 2 ♦ K 9 4 ♣ 9 7 4 3
♠ 8 7 4 ♥ 9 8 3 ♦ 8 6 5 ♣ J 10 6 2	N W         E S	♠ A J 10 9 5   ♥ J 5   ♦ A J 7 2   ♣ Q 8
	♠ 2 ♥ A K Q 10 6 4 ♦ Q 10 3 ♣ A K 5
West Black -   pass   pass	North Hildebrand pass   1 NT   pass	East Jack 1 ♠   pass   pass	South Hildegard double   4 ♥

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Hildegard reached 4♥ via an identical auction, and the first five tricks went the same: A spade lead to East's ♠A, a club to South's ♣A and three rounds of trumps. At trick six however Hildegard confidently ran ♦10 to East!
Jack watched these proceedings suspiciously, but realized that he had no option but to take ♦J. He continued with a club to Hildegard's ♣K, and declarer then played ♦Q overtaking with dummy's ♦K! Jack won with ♦A but had no clubs left and could not prevent declarer from reaching dummy with ♦9 and discarding her losing club on ♠Q.

"Nice play", murmured Hildebrand from behind his enormous moustache. "A trifle lucky that East had only two clubs. 3NT is a better spot."
Black and Jack exchanged a quick glance and then eyed their opponents discretely. They would obviously have to watch this amiable elderly couple...

>>>

A few moments later this board hit the table:

E/-	♠ 5 4 2 ♥ Q 7 2 ♦ Q 9 5 ♣ A K Q 10
♠ 8 ♥ 10 9 ♦ J 10 4 ♣ J 8 7 5 4 3 2	N W         E S	♠ A 9 7   ♥ A J 8 6 3   ♦ K 8 3   ♣ 9 6
	♠ K Q J 10 6 3 ♥ K 5 4 ♦ A 7 6 2 ♣ -
West Black -   pass   pass	North Hildebrand -   2 ♥   pass	East Jack 1 ♥   pass   pass	South Hildegard 1 ♠   4 ♠

Hildegard once more bid confidently to game. Black led ♥10, which ran to declarer's ♥K. Hildegard assessed the hand with mixed feelings and continued with ♠K. Jack took his ♠A and returned a spade. Declarer won, pulled a third round of trumps and went into a huddle.

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Hildegard realized that she would have to reach dummy's clubs, and although East was marked with ♥A and ♦K dummy's ♦9 offered some possibilities. If ♦J and ♦10 were divided or if West was asleep holding ♦J10 she could endplay East in diamonds.
So she led ♦2 from her hand. Black paused for a moment but then confidently played ♦10. Hildegard had to cover with dummy's ♦Q and Jack won with ♦K. He returned a diamond, which Hildegard ducked hoping that Jack held ♦J. This was not be however, Black seized her ♦J with alacrity and fired a heart through dummy for 2 down.

"Such a waste of my beautiful clubs", mumbled Hildebrand unhappily.
"I couldn't reach them", protested Hildegard defiantly.
"Good play, that ♦10", complimented Jack gaily.
"Couldn't cost", grinned Black smugly. She wanted to say more but then decided to keep quiet.

>>>

At the other table events had taken a different turn:

E/-	♠ 5 4 2 ♥ Q 7 2 ♦ Q 9 5 ♣ A K Q 10
♠ 8 ♥ 10 9 ♦ J 10 4 ♣ J 8 7 5 4 3 2	N W         E S	♠ A 9 7   ♥ A J 8 6 3   ♦ K 8 3   ♣ 9 6
	♠ K Q J 10 6 3 ♥ K 5 4 ♦ A 7 6 2 ♣ -
West Hadewijn -   pass   pass	North Linda -   2 ♥   pass	East Hadewych 1 ♥   pass   pass	South Leo 1 ♠   4 ♠

Leo, forced by both Loes and Linda to switch to double espressos, also arrived in 4♠. Hadewijn led ♥10 to Leo's ♥K. Leo played ♠K to Hadewych's ♠A, and won the spade return with ♠Q. He was about to pull East's last trump with ♠J, but suddenly paused.

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E/-	♠ 5 ♥ Q 7 ♦ Q 9 5 ♣ A K Q 10
♠ - ♥ 9 ♦ J 10 4 ♣ J 8 7 5 4 3	N W         E S	♠ 7   ♥ A J 6 3   ♦ K 8 3   ♣ 9 6
	♠ J 10 6 3 ♥ 5 4 ♦ A 7 6 2 ♣ -

The nagging from the ladies had irritated him, but he had to admit that the strong espresso had cleared the clouds from his head. He concentrated for a moment and then surprised everyone by playing ♠3 from his hand!!
Hadewych took her ♠7 with an incredulous expression and paused frantically. Leo meanwhile waited tensely, and when Hadewych finally spun ♦3 onto the green baize he smoothly contributed ♦2. Hadewijn produced a powerless ♦10, Leo won with dummy's ♦Q and claimed his contract with a triumphant grin.

"I throw three losers on dummy's ♣AKQ. You only get the ♥A."
Hadewijn nodded briefly and softly said: "Remarkably played, young man."
"Brilliantly played you mean", laughed Linda and Loes unanimously."Another double espresso for you, Leo...?"

>>>

The matched progressed steadily and the two teams proved to be close. Linda sensed that the score was more or less level when on the very last board she picked up a promising collection.

S/all	♠ 7 6 5 3 ♥ K 7 ♦ A Q J 8 4 2 ♣ 6
♠ A J 9 8 ♥ J 10 9 6 2 ♦ 10 7 3 ♣ 10	N W         E S	♠ 10 2   ♥ 8 5 4 3   ♦ K 9 6   ♣ Q J 9 4
	♠ K Q 4 ♥ A Q ♦ 5 ♣ A K 8 7 5 3 2
West Hadewych -   pass   pass	North Leo -   1 ♦   pass	East Hadewijn -   pass   pass	South Linda 1 ♣   3 NT

She opened a plain 1♣. When Leo responded 1♦ she rebid a direct 3NT, showing a strong unbalanced hand. Leo passed and Hadewych led ♥J. Leo displayed his dummy with a broad smile, but Linda assessed it without much enthusiasm.

<<<

The duplication in hearts was unfortunate, and the contract was far from laydown despite the abundant point count. Linda considered her options with some concern. If the clubs broke 3-2 it would be easy, but what if clubs were 4-1? Could she then do something with dummy's diamonds...?

Suddenly Linda brightened. She said "Thank you Leo, ♥7 please" and won in her hand with ♥A! She continued with ♣A and ♣K, throwing a spade from dummy. If both opponents would follow suit she would play a third round of clubs and discard ♥K from dummy! If East-West would subsequently play hearts she would have nine tricks immediately, and if they played something else she would easily develop a spade trick and end up with ten tricks.

Unfortunately for Linda, Hadewych threw a spade on the second round of clubs, and it was already time for plan B. She continued with ♦5 and called for dummy's ♦J. This would succeed if diamonds broke 3-3 or if West had ♦Kx. Hadewijn won with ♦K and fired back a heart to dummy's ♥K. Linda cashed ♦A and ♦J, and when both opponents followed suit all the way she heaved a sigh of relief and claimed nine tricks.

At the other table Hildebrand had also ended in 3NT. He had taken the heart lead with ♥Q, and had subsequently gone 3 down!
"13-7, thanks to that last board", announced Leo with a neutral expression. "Nice dummy play, Linda. That was a tough battle..."

>>>

The players moved to the lavishly decorated bar, where they had the opportunity to play a few rubbers. Leo and Linda looked at each other, ignored the frowns from Loes and Lex, nodded almost invisibly to each other and joined an elderly and obviously very wealthy couple. They both sported the newest Italian fashion, and she wore a variety of diamond jewellery.

The expensive looking opponents smiled amiably to Leo and Linda, and casually inquired "Is 100 euro stake all right for you?"
Our Groningers swallowed hard but then agreed bravely! They had never in their lives played for such exotic stakes, and Linda dealt the cards with a tense expression. On the first hand she immediately went 2 down doubled, and wondered irritably how the bearded man on her left had found the diamond switch from an unsupported king to score the second undertrick. The next few minutes her head was filled with the thought of 300 euro loss, but a moment later Leo managed to make a thin 3NT. He shuffled the cards ferociously and dealt the next hand.

Linda forced herself to calm down and concentrated to keep a sharp eye on their amiable but cunning opponents. She sorted her cards and was overjoyed to see Leo open 1♣. Clementine overcalled a preemptive 3♦ and Linda launched straight into the predestined contract of 4♠. If she would make this they would be 600 euro richer, and the less information the opponents would get the better.

<<<

N/NS	♠ 5 4 2 ♥ K Q 10 3 ♦ K 10 6 ♣ A 8 3
♠ 8 3 ♥ A 9 6 5 2 ♦ - ♣ K Q 10 9 6 5	N W         E S	♠ 10 7   ♥ 8 4   ♦ A Q J 9 7 4 3   ♣ 7 2
	♠ A K Q J 9 6 ♥ J 7 ♦ 8 5 2 ♣ J 4
West Clemens -   pass	North Leo 1 ♣   pass	East Clementine 3 ♦   pass	South Linda 4 ♠

Clemens led ♣K, and Linda with some difficulty banned the thought of 600 euro profit from her brain. She studied the dummy with mixed feelings and took the first trick with ♣A. Clementine contributed a slightly hesitant ♣7. Linda drew trumps in two rounds and continued with ♥J. Clemens defended accurately by withholding his ♥A, and Clementine again played a hesitant ♥8.
Linda proceeded with ♥7, anxiously wondering how she could reach the dummy. Clemens, knowing from the way his partner had played her cards that she had not started with a singleton in hearts or clubs, now took his ♥A and cashed ♣Q. He then led ♣10.

>>>

N/NS	♠ 5 ♥ K Q ♦ K 10 6 ♣ 8
♠ - ♥ 9 6 5 ♦ - ♣ 10 9 6 5	N W         E S	♠ -   ♥ -   ♦ A Q J 9 7 4 3   ♣ -
	♠ Q J 9 6 ♥ - ♦ 8 5 2 ♣ -

Linda shot an angry glance to her right and to her left. Another perfect defence from the man with the beard, and certainly one with an unpleasant odour. The emotion shifted her brain in top gear and made her determination to teach the opponents a sharp lesson irresistible. West obviously did not have any diamonds, and instead of ruffing ♣10 she discarded ♦2!

Clemens watched this card in amazement, and retreated into a huddle. Linda let him suffer for a while and then faced her cards in superior fashion.
"Since you don't have any diamonds, you will have to play a heart or a club. Either way I will have access to dummy and be able to get rid of all my diamond losers. 4♠ bid and made brings the rubber to 600 euro."
"Mmm", grumbled Clemens irritably, and reluctantly peeled off six 100 euro notes. Clementine did likewise and innocently asked "Another rubber?"

<<<

"No, thank you", said Linda raking in the money and feeling her tension subside. "Enough for tonight!"

Leo and Linda quickly moved to the bar and Leo gave Linda a big kiss.
"Can I offer you the best and most expensive cocktail of the house...?!"


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