The reward of the anti-hog

Gordon was feeling a little embarrassed. He had just declared five hands in a row and he sensed that Frieda was itching to be other than a dummy. So, on the last hand of the night, when he picked up

♠QJT4 ♥KQJT65 ♦J8 ♣3

and imagined himself playing in a heart contract his own heart fell somewhat. He perked up a little when he heard Frieda open the bidding with 1♦. Nevertheless, it required a conscious effort to pass Frieda’s final bid after the auction.

West	North	East	South
	1♦	1NT	2♥
Pass	3♣	Pass	3♥
Pass	3NT	Pass	Pass
Pass

Frieda was sitting North and received the ♠3 lead. Here was her predicament:

	♠A86 ♥3 ♦A9432 ♣KQT2
	♠QJT4 ♥KQJT65 ♦J8 ♣3

Hoping to tempt West into playing ♠K, Frieda played the ♠Q from dummy. West however did not oblige and played ♠2. But Frieda had carefully analysed the entries to dummy’s heart suit; she resisted the temptation to win the trick cheaply and put up the Ace of spades. Now she could establish the heart suit and even though the defence held up the Ace of hearts she could force an entry into dummy via spades. The whole hand was

	♠A86 ♥3 ♦A9432 ♣KQT2
♠972 ♥874 ♦T65 ♣7654		♠K53 ♥A92 ♦KQ7 ♣AJ98
	♠QJT4 ♥KQJT65 ♦J8 ♣3

4♥ would have failed and Gordon was in seventh heaven. Not only had they ended with a top board but he felt sure that his unselfish bidding would earn him some personal reward. And so it proved. “I do hope you’ll come to dinner on Christmas Day, Gordon; we’ll play Sardines”. With an arch smile she added “Just the two of us”.

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