How to Win 2 IMPs the Hard Way

[kenrexford]

I thought this was humorous.

 

♠Jx ♥Kxxx ♦x ♣AJ10xxx

 

Playing Swiss Teams, I was dealer and picked up this mess. For reasons that you really don't want to hear, I decided that green cards were for losers, and I could not reach all the way back for the stop card, so 1♣ was my decision.

 

LHO passed, and partner blasted 4NT, old fashioned Blackwood. Weird, but I kind of liked this development. With no interest in the majors, my club suit seemed to be worth the 8 points I counted for it. I briefly considered blasting 6♣, as no void could conceivably be "useful" in this sequence, but answering old fashioned Blackwood is so rare that I could not pass up the chance. 5♦.

 

Partner now asked for Kings. Of course she did. I mean, who blasts 4NT without interest in a grand opposite a bust? Again, I dutifully answered. 6♦.

 

Now things got funky. Partner sends back 6♥?!?!?! I have no idea what that means. Sure -- in theory there is probably an answer, but this was my wife, and she's a tad new. What was this mystery?

 

I briefly considered 7♥, as 6♥ seemed like a solid suit, except that I'm looking at the King. Could we have something like AQJ10xxxx opposite Kxxx? Bah! I'm passing because I have no idea what this means, but I suppose the 6♥ might make if I am horribly wrong.

 

After a diamond lead, I tabled this hand. Partner had ♠AKx ♥AQ ♦Axxx ♣KQxx. She won the Ace and then cashed the two top hearts. When she then played a club to Dummy's Ace (!!!), I about fell off the chair laughing, as everyone had to follow. The King of hearts then pulled two more hearts, followed by a run of clubs until someone ruffed in eventually, claiming after that.

 

+1430 beats +1370, of course.

[BunnyGo]

Cute hand, but shouldn't it be 1430 beats 1390 (won't declarer always take 13 tricks in clubs?) for +1 IMP, or 1430 loses to 2140, if they bid 7♣ for -12 IMPs?

[quiddity]

:)

So why did she bid 6♥?

[kenrexford]

Cute hand, but shouldn't it be 1430 beats 1390 (won't declarer always take 13 tricks in clubs?) for +1 IMP, or 1430 loses to 2140, if they bid 7♣ for -12 IMPs?

 

I can't help the other declarer.

[kenrexford]

:)

So why did she bid 6♥?

 

OH!!! I forgot the funny part of the story!

 

On the way up, our teammates had a bizarre discussion about asking for Queens after Gerber. My wife was apparently listening in. For some reason, she suddenly was afraid that 6NT would be asking for Queens. So, she decided to bid 6♥ to get me to bid 6NT.

 

Playing along, I then asked why she opted to bid 6♥ for that purpose rather than 6♠. In good form, she reminded me of whay I call the "Law of Leah." This of course was correct. In any given sequence, if Leah whips out some call that makes absolutely no sense, it somehow is the one critical call necessary to get to a very good contract. In this situation, the Law of Leah required her to bid 6♥ rather than 6♠ because I was looking at K-fourth in hearts.

 

This actually makes some theoretical sense, as well. If 6NT were in fact asking for Queen, then she needs to bid 6♥ or 6♠ to get me to bid 6NT. As I might mistake either call as showing a solid suit, she needs to avoid 6♠, as I am likely not looking at any spade honors. I might, however, be looking at the heart King and thus should have figured out that she could not have solid hearts. I just missed the obvious clues because I fell in love with my four-card suit and did not consider the queen-ask problem.