Reading Eagle – 28 Ago 2006 by Steve Becker
Today’s deal occurred in a regional pair championship in Los Angeles many, many… years ago. The hand was played at many tables, of course, but our story concerns itself solely with the table where Mrs. Kelsey Petterson held the South cards.
A K Q 10 3 2 
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A K J 8 5 4 2
When she first looked at her extraordinary hand. Mrs. Petterson wondered whether it would be better to open the bidding with two spades (strong) or two clubs when it was her turn to bid. A good case can be made for either of these calls and even the best players would differ as to the correct opening.
However the problem became altogether academic when Mrs. Petterson heard the player on her right open the bidding with seven diamonds !!!
Undaunted by this totally unexpected development, Mrs. Petterson bid seven spades. East doubled and after three passes, West led the J.
The dummy appeared:
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A K Q 10 3 2 A K J 8 5 4 2 |
There was nothing much to the play. Declarer ruffed the heart and drew four rounds of trumps, the Jack falling on the second round.
When she then cashed the A and K the missing queen also fell on the second round, so the upshot was that she made seven spades doubled for a score of 2.470 points. East-West were understandably nonplussed by this dreadful result. They realized they would get a very bad score on the deal, especially since East had elected to double the grand slam, giving North-South an optimum result that was unlikely to be duplicated at the other tables.
As the East-West pair were disconsolately putting their cards back into the duplicate board, Mrs. Petterson turn to her right-hand opponent and asked:
– May I please see what a seven diamond opening hand looks like?
– I opened the bidding with a 1. East sadly replied
The 4 hands were:
East Dealer; Both Sides vulnerable
| 7 K 8 6 3 2 J 7 5 4 2 9 3 |
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| 9 8 6 4 J 10 7 5 9 8 6 10 7 |
J 5 A Q 9 4 A K Q 10 3 Q 6 |
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A K Q 10 3 2 A K J 8 5 4 2 |
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