OK, Guv. It’s a fair cop. I admit it. I’ve been feeling a squidgen smug of late. I’ve been playing rather well — even though I say so myself. My team has been successful. We have prospered. I smiled sympathetically when others told me their tales of woe, thinking, ‘That used to be me.’ I felt confident.
And then I went to Manchester for the second weekend of the Premier League.And I played on vugraph. And I took NO tricks. And I made a right freaking IDIOT of myself. And I HATE this game!
Cover up the E/W hands and do better than me on this one:
My 1NT showed 15–17 and West’s overcall promised a major, usually a six card suit.
West led the ♥Q, which I won. I had an easy eight tricks and there didn’t seem to be any harm in cashing the Diamonds to see what happened. On the third Diamond West thought for a bit and eventually threw a Spade, and on the fourth round he discarded a Heart.
Both the bidding and the play suggested that West had started with K x of Clubs, and if that were the case I could perform an elimination and throw him in. I cashed Ace and King of Spades, West following with the nine and ten, and excitedly exited with a Heart.
I really am the Queen of endplays, I thought modestly, while West cashed his four Heart tricks. But the Queen was about to become dethroned. After the Hearts he produced the ♠7 for the setting trick, and funnily enough it didn’t get any better when I saw that the ♣K had been onside the whole time.
No more Mrs Smug Guy!
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