Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – 30 Mar 1985
She was nondescript, almost mousey looking. But when she talked about bridge a light came into the eyes of the Five of Hearts that made her almost beautiful. For the most part, her life had been uneventful. But there was that day almost 40 years ago when for a brief moment she was admired by the bridge world.
“I can remember it as if it were today,” she sighed wistfully. “I was being held by a handsome young lad who did not look upon me only as something to be discarded at the first opportunity. It was his first national championship final, and he was savoring every moment and every card of it.
Both Vulnerable South Dealer
“Although we ended up in a contract that was distinctly second best, it was not his fault. True, he had taken a conservative position in the auction, but his partner’s bullish leap to four clubs took the auction beyond the safe haven of three no trump.
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“My part in the proceedings was soon over. West led the top of his heart sequence, and I later learned that the spectators, to a man, expected the young lad to lose a spade trick and two diamonds. It seemed as if declarer summed up the hand at a glance. Almost without thinking, he played low from dummy to the first trick, and then he contributed me from hand.
“I can still remember the gasp that rose in the throats of the audience. They thought they had just witnessed an enormous blunder. But from the safety of the table’s edge to which I had been consigned I could appreciate the depth of the play.
“West continued with a heart. Declarer won his king and drew trumps in two rounds, ending on the table. Then he cashed the ace of hearts, discarding a spade from his hand. The king-ace of spades and a spade ruff set up a long spade when the suit divided evenly.
Now declarer ‘could cross to the board with a trump and discard a diamond loser on the good spade. As the crowd roared its approval, declarer conceded a diamond and claimed his contract.”
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