A Bridge Story

Our names are in print, although unfortunately they did not want to take our picture. Maybe after tonight's game . . . Julie is washing her hair just in case. Anyway, I wanted to tell you about one of the boards from this game. Two men sat down at our table, and right away I could tell that East was in charge. He offered his partner advice in a rather condescending tone, although they seemed to be good friends. On the last board that we played with them, East opened the bidding with 1 heart. West said 2NT and East said 4 hearts; Julie and I just passed. With the contract set at 4 hearts, East proceeded to make 6. This is when the discussion got interesting.

"I had 15 points, maybe I should have just bid 4N instead of Jacoby 2N," West said.

"Well, then at least we could have looked for slam," East said. "All I had was a minimum opening hand."

"Or should I have said 4N after you bid 4 hearts?" West continued.

"Oh, definitely," East agreed. I think he might be from Jersey, I said to myself. I was trying to keep quiet and stay out of it.

"Let's look at your hand," Julie said.

Since we had finished the round early, West took out his cards and we all studied them. He had 4 card heart support, two doubletons, and 15 HCPs. East again said that it would have been up to West to take them to slam, and that he probably should have just bid 4N in response to the 1 heart opening.

"What would you have done?" West look inquiringly at me. That's all the encouragement I needed to jump into the conversation.

"Your 2NT bid was fine," I said. "That way you share information and learn more about each other's hands."

As we continued to analyze his hand, East pulled out his cards. "All I have is a bare opening," he said again. "Plus this singleton."

Julie and I sat up straight as if electrocuted. We looked at each other and then at East.

"You should have bid your singleton," I said.

"No, I had to tell my partner my point count." East was adamant. "I wouldn't bid a singleton."

"Well, that's standard for Jacoby 2NT," I continued. He was not convinced, and said he was going to look it up later. But then I explained how the bidding should have gone and how easily they would have gotten to slam, since the fit with his partner would have been obvious. He finally believed me.

"So this was all my fault," East lamented.

"No, it's nobody's fault," said his supportive partner.

"Yes, it really was your fault," Julie stated matter of factly. The three of us looked at her and we all burst into laughter while half of the room turned and shushed us.

This was the only pair so far at the tournament who has asked us for any advice. The pair from Stanford who came in first, as well as the pair from Harvard, didn't seem to need our help.