A charming turn of events in novel

Royal Gazette Staff

Created: Nov 21, 2009 10:00 AM

Not a lot happening at the Club after the recent round of Tournaments …this last week was a STAC ( Sectional Tournament at Club) week, so there will have been many points on offer. I'll bring you news next week of any exceptional results that place any of the local pairs in the district-wide overall standings.

This week's hand comes from one of the IBPA 'Books of the Year 2008 ' … the book is ' North of the Master Solvers Club' by Frank Vine of Canada. If you've never read Vine before, this is fairly typical of him. He has a biting, sometimes brutal, wit and for him there are no taboos either in terms of his subjects or of the topic.

On this hand he has a dig at one of the game's all time greats, the late Edgar Kaplan, many time National Champion, Bermuda Bowl finalist, vu-graph commentator extraordinaire and, perhaps his greatest contribution, Editor of Bridge World from 1967-1997. Edgar was a regular visitor to the Regional and was a distinctive figure with an ever-present pipe ('meerschaum') dangling from his mouth. The hand arose at a time when smoking was allowed at the table …seems like decades ago!

Vine was clearly not happy at some of the views expressed by Edgar in Bridge World on sportsmanship and ethics , and records this in 'The Coldbottom Chronicles', Coldbottom being Vine's partner.

Board 3. E/W Vul. Dealer South.

ªAK654

&Copy;6

¨AK

§AKQJ10

ª932 ªQ

&Copy;J1087 &Copy;Q952

¨7543 ¨9862

§43 §7652

ªJ1087

&Copy;AK43

¨QJ10

§98

Here is Vine's description of what happened when they met Kaplan and Norman Kay at the table – I have played against Kaplan and Kay as a pair, and whilst they were both great people they were tough competitors once the hands were dealt!

"And so we arrived at the Nationals. What a thrill to meet the storied giants of the game, whom none of us had ever seen. I made sure to point out those I recognised to Coldbottom to ensure he would be suitably apprehensive.

"Our first important encounter came on the third round. Our opponents were certainly somebodies, for the table was engulfed by kibitzers. One smoked a meerschaum and the other was called Norman. It was all affability until the second board.

The bidding was unexceptional. South (meerschaum) opened a weak no trump and North (Norman) put him in seven. I led the jack of hearts. The declarer let this come to his hand, puffed three times on his pipe, and pushed out the jack of spades. Whoa, I said to myself, I've got a problem.

I could play the deuce and give count. I could ignore count and play a deceptive three, or I could pop the nine and try to muddle the communications. I took out one card, put it back, pulled out another, put it back, and so on for about four minutes. Finally, I played the three. The pipesmoker studied this, studied me, and finally finessed.

The director was polite but inquisitive. Why had I hesitated? I advised him it was not hesitation, it was thought. Thinking and huddling, I explained, though very different, often appear similar to an opponent. Luckily, I was able to cite chapter and verse, namely the June Bridge World, page 26, where an identical situation had been carefully reviewed. I quoted the author. "If we had been hesitating over which card to play (whether to falsecard, whether to give count), we would say nothing. If declarer then misguessed, misreading our problem, we would be charmed."

As I left the table, I thought it appropriate to comfort my opponents. "When you decided to finesse", I said, "I was charmed. Really charmed."

I can't wait to get this book !

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A charming turn of events in novel