CHAPTER ♣8

Leo’s 4 year old son Luc was slowly getting used to primary school. He had made friends with Lodewijk, and his fear for the unknown had changed into intrepid boldness. Together with Lodewijk he perpetrated one prank after the other, and Leo's wife Loes had already been called to the school director to discuss the matter. Leo was annoyed by this, but was at the same time secretly proud of Luc becaue he had managed to convert his anxiety into boyish recklessness. That appealed to his father, and it inspired him to really have a go at this evening's regional pairs competition...

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

In the first round Leo and Linda faced the permanently fierce looking sheriff and prosecutor. The tiniest transgression at the table would meet uncompromised prosecution by these law enforcement officers, so Leo and Linda steeled themselves to strictly abide by the rules.

Leo arrived in 3NT after a competitive auction. The sheriff put down his cards ostentatiously, cleared his throat, and started a characteristic cross examination.
"What does the double mean?", he enquired fixing Linda with a steely eye.
"Standard Acol, opening values and probably four spades", Linda answered defiantly. She positively hated people asking for the obvious, and she would not let this pass unnoticed.
"And what does 3♦ promise?", continued the sheriff pointedly.
"I expect at least five diamonds, and approximately 6-10 points", Leo said carefully.

"Mmm", grunted the sheriff, averse to vague phrases such as 'I expect' and 'approximately'. He led a determined ♥2, and inspected the dummy with forensic precision.
"I can see only five points. The explanation was faulty."
"I said approximately 6-10 points", snapped Leo irritably, and captured East's ♥K with his ace. He continued confidently with ♣A , but was shocked to see the prosecutor discard ♥4. After a brief pause Leo cashed ♣K and ♣Q, to apply pressure on East. The prosecutor, after some soul searching, threw ♥9 and ♠3, and it was then Leo's turn to go into a huddle.

>>>

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

He only had six top tricks, dummy had only one entry, and even if he could muster two spade tricks the addition would only come to eight...

So he had to make something of dummy's diamonds. The king and queen were probably divided, and he had noted that East had not discarded a diamond on the ♣AKQ. So she probably did not have four diamonds. A doubleton diamond next to the club void was not likely either, so Leo decided to place East with ♦Kxx or ♦Qxx. Fortified by this analysis he led a small diamond towards dummy's ♦J at trick five. The prosecutor narrowed her eyes suspiciously, and realized that declarer would be able to enjoy dummy's diamonds if she took this trick (regardless of the position of ♦Q). So she left the trick to dummy’s ♦J! This daring and sound defence instantly killed dummy’s long diamonds, and Leo realized with quickly growing frustration that there was no more future in that suit.

<<<

But just before he allowed himself to indulge in unjustified fatalism he managed to recuperate from this second setback. He realized that he had just a) secured a seventh trick, and b) secured a second entry to dummy. So with renewed energy he played a spade from dummy. The prosecutor ducked, and Leo won with ♠K. He confidently crossed to dummy's ♦A and played a second spade. A few moments later he was entering a most satisfactory 3NT bid and made on the score sheet...

"Why didn't you take your ♦K and clear the hearts?!", exclaimed the sheriff much too loudly.
"Because declarer then sails home with four diamonds, three clubs and two hearts", said the prosecutor calmly.
"Er... ah yes. Mmm, in that case 3NT cannot be beaten", murmered the sheriff unhappily.
This was what Linda had been waiting for, and she struck without delay: "Oh yes, 3NT can definitely be beaten."
"Nonsense, we don't have to explain again that it does not help East to take the ♦K directly, do we?", scoffed the sheriff.
"No, you made that perfectly clear, thank you", said Linda sweetly. "But it does help West to insert ♦Q immediately! Declarer has no chance after that. A nice evening to you, and good luck..."

>>>

Savouring the sweet revenge on the pedantic sheriff, Leo and Linda joined Dick van de Toren and Rick van de Schans in the next round. The tall young man with the bristly short hair in the South seat grunted a subsonic "hello", and the thick-set North player with his abundant tufts of grey hair smiled a warm "good evening".

W/all	♠ A K Q 2 ♥ A K Q ♦ 7 5 3 ♣ 5 4 2
♠ J 10 9 6 ♥ 10 6 3 ♦ K 9 8 6 ♣ A 7	N W         E S	♠ 7 5   ♥ J 9 7 4   ♦ J 10 4 2   ♣ K 8 3
	♠ 8 4 3 ♥ 8 5 2 ♦ A Q ♣ Q J 10 9 6
West Leo   pass   pass   pass	Noord Rick van de Schans 1 ♣   3 NT	Oost Linda   pass   pass	Zuid Dick van de Toren 1 NT   pass

<<<

Linda picked up another five-pointer and saw the opponents bid a straighforward 3NT. Leo led ♠J, and declarer said "ace" before the dummy had been completely laid out. He continued with ♣2 without pause, and Linda forced herself to think carefully and not be caught in South's feverish rhythm. She allowed herself some time to let the hand sink in, and noticed that the arrogant declarer had already impatiently detached a card from his hand.

Interesting, thought Linda. How can he know what to play while I have ♣K? Apparently he does not hold something like ♣AQ or ♣AJ, because his play would then depend on what I did. His clubs must be sound however (also from the bidding), otherwise he would not have attacked the suit in the first place. It looks therefore as if he has a good sequence without ♣A!
Salvation for the defence would therefore have to come from the diamond suit. South had to have good values there, since he had very little elsewhere. So a diamond attack had to come from her side of the table! Consequently, after contemplating for almost a minute, she rose with her ♣K. As expected, this held the trick, and she quickly shot ♦J through. South, whose blood pressure had risen steeply during Linda's lengthy analysis, gave her a withering look and tried ♦Q. Leo won with ♦K however and continued with a diamond to South's ♦A. Declarer had nothing better than playing on clubs and was subsequently forced to concede 1 down, losing two clubs and three diamonds.

Leo eyed Linda admiringly, who modestly cast down her eyes. She promised herself once more never to follow the opponent's rhythm or be lured into automatisms such as "second hand low". It was much more lucrative to simply use your brain and keep an eye on your opponents.

>>>

South had exposed his club holding by pulling a card prematurely, and if she had not stepped up with ♣K immediately South would have landed a comfortable 3NT +1...

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>>>

Halfway through the strenuous evening Leo and Linda took on the priest and the vicar. The amiable catholic clergyman had not forgotten that his partner had delivered a sermon during the previous competition evening, and he intended to return that favour with a few edifying words for the vicar.

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

<<<

Linda thumbed through her two-pointer with a sigh, and observed that her average point count for the evening had sunk to a record low. They had scored pretty well so far however, and with a glassy smile she summoned her concentration. As expected opponents reached game in quick time, and Leo started with ♠K. Linda signalled her count with ♠2, and Leo competently switched to a small trump. The vicar won with ♥A and saw that she would have a probably twelve tricks with a 3-3 trump break. What if trumps broke 4-2 however? She could afford the loss of one trump and two spades, but after West's intelligent trump switch there was the danger of losing three spades.
The vicar therefore led a spade at trick three, hoping that East-West would not return another trump. But Leo won and played a second round of trumps. The vicar took ♥K and also cashed ♥Q. West discarded a spade, and she now needed one of two things to get rid of her last spade: A 3-3 club break, or at least three diamonds with East. She tested her first option, by cashing ♣K and ♣A and ruffing a club. West discarded another spade however, and the vicar then went for her last chance by cashing all her diamonds. But Linda, as could be predicted by now, ruffed the third round of diamonds and cashed a spade trick for 1 down.

The priest stoically entered a well-deserved bottom, and serenely said to his partner:
"Those who want to have everything will end up with nothing, and those who give away something will have plenty. If you duck the first round of trumps you will subsequently lose just one more spade trick. 4♥ made would have been a shared top, now we have a shared bottom..."

>>>

The evening drew to a close, and Leo and Linda were exhausted. They had to play one more round however, against Black and Jack. The seasoned professional gamblers greeted the weary Leo and Linda energetically, and quickly sorted their cards. Black looked breathtaking as always, with her light blond hair, bright blue eyes, flaming red lips and pitch black mascara. She sported a tight red jeans with a black top and a large red rose in her hair.

W/NS	♠ Q J 4 ♥ Q J ♦ K Q J 8 2 ♣ 5 3 2
♠ 10 7 2 ♥ K 10 9 8 2 ♦ A 10 5 3 ♣ 7	N W         E S	♠ 9 8 5 3   ♥ 7 5   ♦ 9 7 6 4   ♣ 9 8 6
	♠ A K 6 ♥ A 6 4 3 ♦ - ♣ A K Q J 10 4
West Leo 2 ♥ *   pass	Noord Black 3 ♦   pass	Oost Linda pass   pass	Zuid Jack 6 ♣
* Muiderberg convention: Five hearts and four of a minor

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Leo opened with a Muiderberg 2♥ and Black overcalled with 3♦. Linda was meanwhile staring at her Yarborough in disbelief, and passed gloomily. Jack subsequently did not beat around the bush, and bid the contract that he wanted to play anyway.

Leo led ♠2 against 6♣, won by Jack with the ace. Declarer drew two rounds of trumps, hoping for a 2-2 break. He could then have conceded a trick to ♥K in comfort, and subsequently have ruffed a heart in dummy. Leo however discarded a heart on the second round of trumps, and Jack took stock. What to do, he thought. A heart ruff in dummy would be overruffed by East, so he had to make something of dummy's diamonds. That seemed impossible with just one quick entry to the dummy, but he suddenly spotted a 100% solution!
He cashed a third round of trumps, crossed to dummy's ♠Q and firmly said "king of diamonds". When Linda followed with a small diamond Jack dropped ♠K on the table in careless fashion and flamboyantly showed his cards to Leo.

"You can take your ♦A if you want, but every return will then give me access to the dummy and allow me to spirit away my losing hearts. If you don't take ♦A I will play ♠J throwing a heart, and subsequently lose just one trick to your ♥K."
Leo studied Jack's cards for a moment and nodded resignedly.
"Nicely done", he murmered with ill-disguised admiration. "A true 100% play, even if East unexpectedly turns op with ♦A. I hope someone else will make a slam as well, but I fear the worst."

>>>

This board proved indeed to be bad for Leo and Linda, but they still finished with a commendable 58%.
"Curious", sighed Linda. "I have never had so few points in one evening, but this is nevertheless our highest score in the regional pairs competition so far. Should I be happy now or not...?"


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