As it is still (somewhat) the Christmas Season and we have no columns to pore over, I am posting an oldie of mine from Christmas 2007!
A gray-haired friend of mine reported it to me today, prefacing it with the statement that he’d been playing since high school and had never seen its like. Not even under a Christmas tree! It even took place during the 2007 Holiday Party game at his club in North Carolina.
S-AKJ
H-KQ
D-AKQJ
C-AKQJ
The game was matchpoints and it was three Passes to him before he had counted his points, checking them twice, of course.
He opened 2 Clubs and his partner responded 2 Diamonds, which they play as denying an ace or a king. The question he posed to me was what should he have done next. How could he avoid getting coal on his score sheet?
I suggested bidding 2 Spades! Partner will almost certainly raise. After all, there are 10 Spades out there among the three other hands and nothing else to show. Once Spades are raised, Blackwood can be used to get to the trump queen ask.
Pard had the Spade Queen and enough of them to raise.
Merry Christmas!
Iain ClimieJanuary 6th, 2026 at 10:39 pm
Hi Jim2,
While we’re at it, I played a 21 board pairs session on Jan 1st. Pard held a 8050 hand one one board and I had a 7006 one on another board. Mixed results!
Iain
Peter KramerJanuary 7th, 2026 at 4:19 pm
I was a daily reader of Bridge Clues by Mike Lawrence, and I still mourn its passing. I turned to Aces on Bridge as a substitute. I fear that it has suffered the same fate. If so—too, too bad.
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Sally says the IT team are on it!
As it is still (somewhat) the Christmas Season and we have no columns to pore over, I am posting an oldie of mine from Christmas 2007!
A gray-haired friend of mine reported it to me today, prefacing it with the statement that he’d been playing since high school and had never seen its like. Not even under a Christmas tree! It even took place during the 2007 Holiday Party game at his club in North Carolina.
S-AKJ
H-KQ
D-AKQJ
C-AKQJ
The game was matchpoints and it was three Passes to him before he had counted his points, checking them twice, of course.
He opened 2 Clubs and his partner responded 2 Diamonds, which they play as denying an ace or a king. The question he posed to me was what should he have done next. How could he avoid getting coal on his score sheet?
I suggested bidding 2 Spades! Partner will almost certainly raise. After all, there are 10 Spades out there among the three other hands and nothing else to show. Once Spades are raised, Blackwood can be used to get to the trump queen ask.
Pard had the Spade Queen and enough of them to raise.
Merry Christmas!
Hi Jim2,
While we’re at it, I played a 21 board pairs session on Jan 1st. Pard held a 8050 hand one one board and I had a 7006 one on another board. Mixed results!
Iain
I was a daily reader of Bridge Clues by Mike Lawrence, and I still mourn its passing. I turned to Aces on Bridge as a substitute. I fear that it has suffered the same fate. If so—too, too bad.