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Schleppo’s partner Speedo (North) might have upgraded his hand to open 2NT, but he settled for 1♣. Notice that when East overcalled 1♦, Schleppo bid 1♠ rather than make a negative double. Some play that a negative double of 1♦ shows exactly 4-4 in the majors, but even if you don’t insist on that, it is very hard to describe your 5-5 hand if you double first and partner is without a 4-card major.
Speedo next showed his strength by bidding 2♦, although 2NT was again an option. The 2♦ call was a general Q-bid. It did not promise spade support; instead it confirmed that opener had a very strong hand and asked partner to further describe his hand. In fact, if responder has diamonds stopped, he will often bid NT next.
Schleppo did not have NT interest, despite his stopper, so his next call was 2♥. This confirmed that Schleppo had 5 spades and at least 4 hearts, so Speedo jumped to 3♠ to show his fine spade support. Schleppo huddled for a while, then carried on to 4♠.
The opening lead was West’s ♦4, and Schleppo got to huddle some more. He decided to play low and East won his King. East was tempted to cash his stiff ♥A, but it was obvious from dummy’s holdings that West had very few points and that declarer’s points were mostly in hearts. He elected to return a diamond to the board’s Ace, imagining that if his partner had the ♦Q and the ♠10xx, perhaps he could promote a trump trick when he won his ♥A and played a third diamond.
Schleppo paused for a bit and decided to test trumps. He cashed the Ace and King, noticing that spades were not only 3-2 but that East’s ♠J had appeared. That was excellent news.
During his next reverie, Schleppo reminded himself of two items in the June ‘24 ACBL Bulletin accusing players of not utilizing their brains sufficiently. One was a letter to the editor noting: “Yes, bridge can be played and enjoyed solely on automatic pilot. But higher levels of the game encourage… an exercise that we rarely employ, namely, turning a switch on in our brain to ultra-active.” Harsh words perhaps, but Schleppo was hoping he was up to the challenge.
It was time for Schleppo’s brain to separate itself from the rest of the field. He did not jump for joy and draw the last trump, despite knowing that even if he lost 2 heart tricks his contract was safe. Instead he took his time to ponder the following (while our director was now standing over him):
- It is obvious from the 1♦ overcall that my RHO holds the ♥A. If his hearts are AJx, I must lead hearts from dummy twice to take 4 heart tricks and gain an overtrick. That means I should play a heart immediately, and if I win it in my hand, then I can return to dummy with a 3rd trump to play another heart.
- What if hearts are 4-1? If West has the stiff heart, I cannot prevent the opponents from making 2 heart tricks or the ♥A plus a ruff. But what if West has 4 hearts and almost certainly the outstanding trump? The key was the ♠J dropping, since I now have the potential to ruff on board with the ♠Q before drawing the final trump with my 10.
That’s a lot to think about in a short time, so Schleppo’s thinking was hardly short, but it was extremely rewarding. He did not draw the last trump. He led a heart and up popped the Ace! Perhaps that meant his RHO’s Ace was stiff. Schleppo was excited. If that were the case, he knew the only way to hold him to 10 tricks was for East to return a spade, but of course he didn’t have one.
Next came a diamond to Schleppo’s Queen (too bad East), followed by the ♥K. If both opponents played hearts, he would draw the last trump and spread his hand. When East showed out, however, the rest was easy. He cashed the ♥Q and then played by a low one, ruffing out West’s ♥J with the ♠Q. He played a low club back to his hand, ruffing, pulled the last trump with his now high 10, claimed 11 tricks and smiled to himself. He knew Groucho would have been proud of his line of play… maybe even Easley Blackwood too.
Postmortem: After the game, Schleppo was quite surprised that no one else had made an overtrick in 4♠. He knew I had played the board, so he came over to discuss the deal.
I had a very simple excuse for making only 10 tricks. Playing the role of Schmucko Marx, I had mis-sorted my hand and thought I held only 4 spades. Thus, I wound up in a 4♥ contract, and after a diamond lead and the bad heart split, I couldn’t avoid 2 heart losers plus the ♦K. I had mentioned to my partner that if the other declarers were “on their toes” they would make an overtrick in 4♠. I never thought we would get close to an average, but we did.
Schleppo’s advice: Too many bridge players are “draw trump happy.” You should consider other options before you “get the kids off the street.” Testing a side suit before drawing all of dummy’s trumps is a technique that can often gain a trick when the opponent with the “extra” side suit card also holds the long trump. What was interesting in this deal was that if the ♠J had not dropped doubleton (that is, if West held Jxx) making 11 tricks would not have been possible.
Way to go, Schleppo!
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