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The new friends had done creditably in their recent tournament. They had scored below 50% but had had a few unlucky boards. For a first tournament outing it had gone quite well. Meeting for afternoon tea in Gordon’s bachelor flat they were looking at hand from the morning session (where Frieda was East and Gordon was West).

	♠J8 ♥QJT53 ♦652 ♣KT5
♠AQ62 ♥K ♦AQ7 ♣J8764		♠953 ♥A862 ♦KJ84 ♣92
	♠KT74 ♥974 ♦T93 ♣AQ3

They recalled the rather strange bidding:

West	North	East	South
			Pass
1♣	Pass	1♦	1♠
2♦	Pass	Pass	Pass

Frieda knew that she had played the hand spectacularly well and was eager to relive the triumph. “South led the ♥9 and, already I knew heaps about his hand” she said proudly.

“What do you mean?” asked Gordon.
“Well”, she went on, “Surely that is a doubleton heart since with a singleton North would have had 7 hearts and would have bid. Also, South had overcalled so must have exactly 5 spades since with 6 he would have opened a weak two.”

Gordon certainly agreed with her reasoning so tactfully did not point out that South was a madman who had overcalled on a 4 card suit and made a rather non-standard lead. Encouragingly, he said “And what happened then, Frieda?”.

Frieda remembered very clearly. “I won the heart in dummy, led a small club won by South who played a trump that I won in my own hand. Then I played my remaining club which was won by North. North played their singleton spade which I won with the ♠Q in dummy and I played a third round of clubs, ruffing it with both opponents following. Now I started to count. South began with 5 spades, two hearts, and (I now knew) exactly 3 clubs; so they must have had 3 diamonds to begin with. But that meant that trumps were dividing 3-3. So I could draw trumps, ending in dummy and cash my two established clubs and the Ace of spades. I made 10 tricks for a top board.”

Gordon’s own finest hour had come about through Frieda’s overoptimistic bidding so he was relieved when she herself recalled the hand. “You played that 6NT in the afternoon beautifully, Gordon”, she said fondly (at least, Gordon interpreted her tone as a fond one and felt a frisson of excitement). This time, Gordon was South and the full hand was

	♠AQ75 ♥— ♦8 ♣AKJT9874
♠K9643 ♥T93 ♦J97 ♣Q2		♠82 ♥AQ8752 ♦AQT5 ♣6
	♠JT ♥KJ64 ♦K6432 ♣53

West had been the dealer and the bidding had been

West	North	East	South
Pass	2♣	Pass	2NT
Pass	3♣	Pass	3NT
Pass	6NT	Double	Pass
Pass	Pass

Frieda would have been the first to concede that her 6NT was an overbid but she was disappointed that she was not being allowed to play in her magnificent 8 card suit. East’s final double was made with some confidence. Here is how the play proceeded. West led their fourth smallest spade which Gordon ran around to his ♠J. He then played the ♠T, West covered with the ♠K, and dummy’s ♠A won the trick. Now Gordon played 8 rounds of clubs on one of which West made the slight error of discarding a spade.

This was the position with 3 tricks to go:

	♠Q7 ♥— ♦8 ♣—
♠96 ♥— ♦J ♣—		♠— ♥A ♦AQ ♣—
	♠— ♥K ♦K6 ♣—

On the ♠Q East discarded ♦Q and South ♦6. Gordon now played dummy’s last spade. Poor East had lost track of the discards so didn’t know which Ace to keep. He discarded the ♦A and West had to give the last trick to Gordon’s ♦K.

Memories of their good boards had quite dispelled those of their disasters. They decided to enter the forthcoming A point tournament and to meet regularly from now on to practise their bidding. The suggestion to meet for bidding practice was made by Gordon who was beginning to find many things in Frieda besides her bridge that attracted him. He had been widowed for several years and Frieda’s bubbly chatter quite dispelled his loneliness. But he was shy to declare his feelings fearing that Frieda would think him foolish. He would have been surprised to know the real state of Frieda’s heart. She was very taken by his courteous old-world charm but her upbringing made it hard for her to give obvious encouragement.

We shall leave our heroes there, hoping that they may find a way past their mutual reticence.

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Frieda and Gordon were sitting together on Frieda’s comfortable sofa. They had just enjoyed the results of Frieda’s excellent cooking, Gordon had insisted on washing up, and they were sharing a rather good brandy.

Frieda was wondering hopefully if Gordon would possibly edge a little closer when he uttered, in rather dramatic tone “Frieda, I want to ask you something”.

Frieda’s immediate thought was quickly rejected; she and Gordon had only known each other for a few weeks and, well, they were of mature age and certainly not hasty. “Please ask, then, Gordon” she answered, hoping that her voice was steady.

“Frieda, would you,…, would you be my …. He paused in confusion while Frieda waited expectantly. “Frieda, would you be my partner in the tournament, next month?”. He finally got the words out.

Frieda felt a small sense of anticlimax and asked artlessly “But why do you want to play with little old me, Gordon?”.

Gordon went a rather fetching shade of pink. “I particularly admired your defence in last Wednesday’s game” he said. This is the hand that Gordon was referring to (with Frieda in South’s seat, East-West vulnerable, and West the dealer). West opened 1NT (12-14 HCP) and Gordon sitting North doubled.

	♠KQ9 ♥AQJT974 ♦2 ♣A6
♠J65 ♥K8 ♦AJT4 ♣KT95		♠432 ♥653 ♦Q93 ♣8732
	♠AT87 ♥2 ♦K8765 ♣QJ4

East passed (no doubt with trepidation) and Frieda passed too (after all she knew Gordon’s double was for penalty). West, with a stoic sigh, also passed and Gordon led ♠K. Frieda signalled with the ♠T, Gordon continued with ♠Q and the defence took the first four tricks in spades. Frieda was now on lead and hesitantly advanced the ♣Q. Declarer covered with the ♣K, Gordon won the ♣A and returned a club to Frieda’s ♣J.

The excitement was proving too much for Frieda who, having a senior moment, thought they were defending a diamond contract. Hoping for a heart ruff, she led her singleton ♥2. To her surprise, Gordon now took the remainder of the tricks with his long hearts. Down 7 in a doubled contract was of course a top board.

Recalling the hand over their brandy was, naturally, very pleasant but Frieda did feel a twinge of guilt. She admitted to her mental aberration over her heart return hoping that she would not lose Gordon’s good opinion.

Impressed by her transparent honesty Gordon smiled broadly. “Frieda, I’ve had more than my fair share of cows flying by during bridge” he chuckled. “You kindly did not remark on my lapse last week when holding T 8 3 in clubs and declarer played a small club towards dummy’s club holding of Q 9 6 3. I had the ‘sagacity’ to realise that it would be useful to give count. They had just agreed to play reverse count so Gordon prepared to play ♣8 expecting declarer to play ♣Q. And he carried out his sagacious plan even though declarer played ♣9!

This confession very much reassured Frieda who was aware that Gordon’s experience exceeded hers. She smiled warmly at him and squeezed his hand. “I think we shall make a good partnership, Gordon”. And the ambiguity hung in the air.

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