august1.indd

English 55 A Potential Heart Attack Brian Zietman This hand should not have been given to the Seniors in the preliminary round played in the Regionals (IMP scoring). It may well have caused a heart attack to one of our more delicate senior citizens. It was the fi rst hand that I played. I picked up my usual 5 points balanced and waited until the opponents got to their inevitable game or slam. Here was my hand: North ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ 9854 AJ8 T65 754 Things did not work out as I expected. My partner opened 4 ♥ and after a Pass (maybe double would have been better), I Passed as well. Things were looking good because my AJx in Hearts guaranteed that we would get eight tricks, and just an additional ace plus a well-placed King would bring us up to making our contract. My LHO (East) was having nothing of this and bid 4 ♠ (with a 4 card suit, as I learned later!). Now my partner gave me a big surprise with 5 ♣ . Wow! A 5-card club suit to go with her 8-card heart suit. I began to wonder if she was maybe a little short in spades and diamonds.  Undeterred, my RHO bid 6 ♠ ! Hey everyone, what is going on here? I have 5 points, an Ace, and a fl at hand. I now went into a trance. The opponents seem to have an easy 6 ♠ and we have no defense at all. I bid 7 ♥ . The problem I faced was, am I pushing them to 7 ♠ ? LHO doubled and my partner Passed. It was the turn of my RHO to go in a trance. She eventually pulled the double and bid 7 ♠ . All Pass! We were lucky that the hearts split 1-1 and not 2-0. Partner led a heart to my ace and the contract went down one.  This was the full hand: Board 7, Dealer South, Vul All ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ 9854 AJ8 T65 754 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ K7632 2 AQ872 A2 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ AQJT Q KJ943 QJ8 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ - KT976543 - KT963