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Life Lessons E/W Vul MPs Dealer: West Gerard 10 6 4 4 3 Q 8 3 2 K Q 8 3 Lead:3 celery A J 7 Q A K 9 5 4 A 7 5 2 evaofny Q 8 2 K J 9 8 10 6 J 9 6 4   peterw K 9 5 3 A 10 7 6 5 2 J 7 10 Result: Made 3 Score: -600 Points: 24.53 West (celery) 1 2NT Pass North (Gerard) Pass Pass Pass East (evaofny) 1 3NT Pass South (peterw) Pass Pass Gee is partnering a student in today's hand, from which we can now all learn, right along with peterw. Today a reasonable auction leads to a terrible contract, which happens surprisingly often. 2NT, with 18 points and a stiff honor in partner's suit, is West's best rebid, and one can hardly blame East for raising to game with seven points and excellent spot cards. Gee, sitting North, gets the defense off to a good start by leading the C3. Declarer inserts the C9, which seems best, and wins South's 10 with the ace. At this point the only faint hope for nine tricks is that both minor suits break. West leads the HQ, which is ducked, and continues with a low diamond to dummy's 10. South wins the DJ and returns his last diamond. Declarer rises with the DK and plays two more rounds of diamonds, the last won by Gee with the queen. South sluffs two small hearts high-low, signaling an even count and declarer discards a heart and then, under pressure, a club from dummy, setting up three club tricks for our hero. Three clubs and two diamonds beat 3NT. Or so the inferior player might reason. Even a garden-variety expert might cash the three clubs and allow his partner to discard to give a picture of his hand. Gee, however, shifts to a spade. South does well by inserting the S9, and declarer wins the SJ. Declarer now cashes his last diamond and exits with a club. It's still not too late to cash the setting tricks in clubs, lead a heart, and beat the contract two. Gee opts instead to win one club trick and lead a heart, endplaying his partner. This is indeed a lesson of sorts: my mother used to call it a "life-lesson." Poor South bared his HA on the club -- yes, he should have sluffed a spade -- and is forced to lead a spade, conceding three spades, two hearts, three diamonds and a club to declarer, for nine tricks. "One of the things that bugs me," Gee says after the hand, "is when some specs make statements like it's cold, it's not cold, etc. They see all the cards. We, at the table, don't." Comments Well, if an expert sees the C9 & C10 drop at trick one and the CJ get stranded doubleton later, he (or she) might work out that after the CK and CQ are cashed, the C8 might miraculously become a trick, and the setting one at that. Experts have a way of 'seeing through the backs of the cards,' a skill that does not depend upon being in spec mode, but rather on being able to count to the stratospheric height of thirteen, or even to imagine specific holdings necessary to make certain plays fruitful. Gee is a possessor of multiple skills, and can see the dummy very well. O_Bones 8.12.02 6:01 PM EST [Hand Archive] © 2002-2003 by Aaron Haspel. All rights reserved.

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