A TALE OF TWO SIXES
by Aleksander Wagner
How often do you get 15 crazy unbalanced hands out of 24 ? How often 12 deals out of 24 are either slams or borderline slams ?
And how often does this happen after you had not touched cards for a year or so, have not a clue whether your instincts are as sharp as they used to be, you are definitely not as self-assured, and you are playing with three quite accomplished players who know that you haven't played for a long, long time and assume that you are a lesser player ? Well, at least two out of the three definitely assumed something along this line. They did, they were completely wrong, and there was one hell to pay.
There were many deals worth writing about that night, but the following two stuck in my memory more than the others, maybe because we played them close to the end and maybe because they came one after the other.
Deal no. 1:
I really loved this one: A1086542,-,A75,A63. My partner dealt and passed, I opened 1S showing at least 5 spades, my partner's 2C meant at least 5 clubs and some 9-11 points definitely without three spades, I said 2S taking a calculated risk of missing quite a far-fetched club game, but my dear partner raised me in spades. It was a music in my ear!!! If my partner had something like Kx in spades, Kxxxx in clubs and something in diamonds, 6C already looked promising. And if the clubs were even better, more like KQxxx, or there was the diamond King instead, 6C was very, very good. So I bid 4C, my partner bid 4S showing an ugly hand with "wasted" red points. I could well imagine something like this: Qx,Kx,QJx,QJxxx. So 4S it stayed.
W N E S
------------------------------
p p 1S p
2C p 2S p
3S p 4S all pass
When I saw the dummy I was literally shocked:
 K J
 10 8 5 2
 Q 4
 K Q J 9 8 |
|
A 10 8 6 5 4 2
-
A 7 5
A 6 3 |
With such 12 (twelve) high card points my partner could have even opened the bidding, but if not, with ten most beautiful points in the world in our suits plus one Queen of unknown value, which was the best possible hand after the pass, there was one single bid my partner was not allowed to say, namely 4S. Assuming of course that my 4C bid was at least barely sane.
Did my partner fall asleep, or maybe thought I was completely out of it and anything I said was incidental at best and untrustworthy at worst? I can only wonder.
Deal no. 2:
The very next hand. What would you bid with AK,AJ1084,KJ98764,- ? Wouldn't you just love this hand after this bidding sequence? Would you even consider not trying for the slam?
E S W N
------------------------------
1D p 1H p
?
I did consider it, but only for a brief moment. We played 5H, down one.
Was my forward drive a simple and normal reaction to the previous hand? Or was I justified, based on dry probabilities?
Would you have found a simple way of playing 4H, assuming you are not a clinical case of an underbidder? You tell me.
8 6 2
Q 9 8 5
5 2
A 9 6 5 |
|
A K
A J 10 6 4
K J 9 8 7 6 4
- |
