Strawberry Killing Fields

Hi all

Last Saturday we went on a fruit picking tour through Brentwood. I felt like a 4 year old again ravaging through my grandma’s strawberry garden. About 30 years ago my parents took the same pic, nothing ever really changes.

Here’s a tiny deal from a team’s game in Oakland. It was a remarkable event, not only for us winning it, but in addition to the boatload of unpigmented masterpoints I already have, I now have collected enough pigmented points too to call myself a Life Master. Wow! Spotlights on me!

Ugh.

Back to reality.

I was sitting South and this is what I heard and saw:

West

North

East

South

 

 

1

pass

pass

Double

1

pass

2

a.p.

 

 

Geoff led the 2 (odd leads) and while declarer takes stock, I try to piece together both other hands. So Geoff has a five card suit, and probably four as well. And I’m pretty sure that for his double he has at most a singleton , he would overcall instead. That must be the stiff Ace or West would have responded to his partner’s opening. So that leaves declarer with a 1-4-2-6 distribution, and yes, that matches to the auction too.

Declarer asks for dummy’s Jack and I win with the King. A to Geoff’s Ace and another for dummy. Now declarer rattles of three top pitching two himself. A low is requested from dummy…

I thought I had figured it all out when I rose with the Ace of , gave Geoff a ruff and tried to uppercut anything by ruffing the with the Ten. But it didn’t. Declarer simply overruffed with the Jack and lost another trick to Geoff’s high trump, 2 making.

In gun terms this is what happened, I drew the gun from holster and aimed ( switch to Geoff), pulled the trigger (rising with trump Ace), and then put my bullet in the chamber (ruffing with the Ten).

In retrospect it’s all so easy. First let Geoff win with one of his top trumps instead of going up myself (loading the bullet), then get the desired ruff with trump Ace (pulling the trigger). Now a through and Geoff’s little trump gets a promotion (bang!). The top trump is then the setting trick (the bad guy is dead now).

It’s a funny little deal, 2 in an eight card fit with trumps splitting doesn’t make, but it takes pretty wicked defence to hold 2 (only seven trumps together with a nasty split) to eight tricks.