Bridge Winners
- Event: Regional
- Scoring: Matchpoints
- Board: 1
- Vulnerability: None
- Dealer: RHO
- Partner: Lunatic
The good news is that, by reputation, two of the three others at the table are “solid citizens”. The bad news is that the “full-mooner” at the table is your partner and that you have 26 more boards with him after this one. (I point this out in order to reproduce the conditions at the table accurately–not to serve as a clue to the proper course of action here.) Outnumbered, you have acquiesced to playing with this maniac because you, an inveterate backgammon player, are wedded to the theory that 3-to-1 constitutes acceptable odds.
game-forcing auction:
Yes, 4NT was Key Card Blackwood. You ask LHO what the 6
reply meant and *both* opponents shrug. No sense asking about 7.
reply meant and *both* opponents shrug. No sense asking about 7.to prevent partner from bidding 8
.
So whaddaya lead?
At the table the 
A was led and covered by declarer’s whole hand. “Ruffing and drawing trumps, starting with the Ace,” he claims before leaning over and peeking at your partner’s hand.
Declarer slaps your partner on the back, chuckles and raves: “Nice club bid!”
over the 2bid. Declarer points out that he wouldn’t have gone to 7if that had been the case. You try to blot out all of this. As the thought of 26 more boards with this lunatic filters into your brain the room starts spinning and fades into black…
- Event: Regional
- Scoring: Matchpoints
- Board: 2
- Vulnerability: Them
- Dealer: You
- Partner: Lunatic
was NOT 2-over-1 game-forcing, so you might expect hands such as the following from partner:
Only the last hand type (where responder’s 2reply is “real” and not merely preparatory to an invitational raise) gives you a great chance for game.
So, had this auction come up at your table, what would you have bid?
Well, at every other table your hand passed 3. But you didn’t have the benefit of the above auction at yours. No. Opposite your 1opening partner gets a crazed gleam in his eye and bids 2NT, bouncing in his seat as he does so. You alert, hoping that no one would ask.
“Yes?” RHO intones. “What does 2NT mean?”
Before the session from hell started, your ersatz erstwhile partner smiled at your suggestion that you play a Jacoby 2NT reply here. Instead, the two of you would be playing something called…what was it again?…oh, right…”GIRLS”. You rack your brain, trying to cipher out what that silly acronym stood for. GIRLS. GIRLS. Oh, yeah: “Game-try In Responder’s Long Suit”.
“Uh, my partner has a long suit headed by 2 of the top 3 honours in support of my spades,” you bluff authoritatively, hoping RHO won’t ask.
“Which long suit?”
“Umm,” you stammer, “I don’t know.”
Seeing everyone’s dissatisfaction with this answer, you quickly add: “Yet! I don’t know what long suit he has yet.”
RHO sports the same indulgent grin that partner showed when you suggested playing Jacoby 2NT. You ignore this and focus on trying to figure out what suit partner has. You remember him blithering something about “maxi-flex” (i.e. when in doubt, bid the cheapest step). You trot out a 3 bid. Hallelujah! Partner alerts! At his turn, he bids 3. 3? Hmm, 3would’ve probably shown Diamonds; 3, Hearts. So 3 must show Clubs!
You count ten black tricks and proceed to 4. Sure enough, partner tables the Type C hand:
And you chalk up +450. Top board. Back in the hunt!
- Event: Regional
- Scoring: Matchpoints
- Board: 3
- Vulnerability: Both
- Dealer: North
- Partner: Lunatic
With both sides vulnerable, the auction proceeds:
North opened a weak 1NT. You are playing “bid what you’ve got” against it. Your 2NT call showed the minors.
What should partner lead?
Without so much as a nanosecond’s thought, your partner bangs down the 3. The complete hand was:
Two quick club tricks and a club ruff gets your side off to a great start. Partner exits with a diamond and collects a heart trick later. 4 -1. Average-plus. Ever gracious, you compliment your partner on his lead. So far, so good. But then you make the mistake of asking him how he managed to find it.
Partner stares back quizzically.
“It was obvious,” he states flatly. “LOTUS”.
“LOTUS?” you counter, despite your better judgement.
“Yes,” he continues indulgently. “If you held:
“…you would probably overcall 2 rather than the Unusual 2NT, wouldn’t you?”
“Well, yes, I probably would, but–”
“Exactly,” the wildman continues. “So if either of your 2 suits is much stronger than the other it is more likely to be the LOWER ranked suit whenever you make a 2-suited overcall. Right?”
“So LOTUS stands for…” you wonder aloud.
“Lower Of Two Usually Stronger.”
Seeing you reach for a pencil, partner tells you that you don’t have to write “LOTUS” on your convention card. You weren’t going to. Rather, you were trying to pass a message to the opponents:
“As soon as we leave the table, yell ‘FIRE!'”
(To be continued…)
