There were so many interesting deals in the Labor Day (2008) regional in Atlanta, that I need to split them into two articles.

This month, I'll focus on the lighter, more amusing deals. Next month, we get serious.

First, I faced this unusual situation:

5 3
--
A K Q J 9 8 7 6 2
7 4

Just holding such a hand is entertaining enough, but I got to see my partner deal and open the bidding with 2! Surely, you are wondering what the meaning of 2 is. We play Precision, so a 2 opening shows 11?15 HCP and a 3?suiter short in diamonds (a typical hand would be 4=4=1=4 shape). What should I do?

We had a few scientific bids available (I could find out his exact distribution and if he was minimum or maximum). But, I had no way to learn everything I needed to know (opposite, say ace?king in one black suit and the ace in another black suit, we'd belong in 6). Maybe that contract would be on a finesse. Maybe it would have no play if all his values were in hearts (opposite my void). One big edge I had was the blind opening lead the opponents would have to make. Furthermore, with my RHO on lead, he could easily help partner by leading into one of his tenaces. So, I took the high road and jumped all the way to 6. This drew some amused looks (partner joked that maybe it was Exclusion Blackwood). Everyone passed and this was the full deal:

Vul: Both Dlr: South	5 3 -- A K Q J 9 8 7 6 2 7 4
K 9 8 7 J 4 3 2 4 A 9 6 5		10 6 2 A K 10 9 5 10 3 Q 10 3
	A Q J 4 Q 8 7 6 5 K J 8 2

Six diamonds (by South) is at worst on the spade finesse. With the K wrong, we required some good fortune. We received it. West, with a murderous opening lead problem, tried the A to look at dummy. His partner discouraged. West now switched (in desperation) to spades and my partner claimed 12 tricks. After the A lead, declarer can always get home by guessing to play East for the Q (as opposed to taking a spade finesse). Declarer could also combine his chances by trying to ruff out the Q and falling back on a spade finesse (this line would also succeed.) Notice that 6 by North wouldn't have much chance as East wouldn't be so charitable on opening lead as West was. For 1370 we won 12 IMPs. Our counterparts played in 3NT with the North?South cards and made 11 tricks for 660.

In one of the knockout matches, I held:

A Q J 10 4
6 3 2
7 2
9 6 5

I saw 2NT on my left, 3NT on my right. I passed (it is important to do so in tempo, so as not to give away that you have anything special). Partner was on lead, and I expected the usual low from queen?fourth, costing a trick. But, lo and behold, partner surprised (blessed) me with a spade lead! I couldn't wait to see the dummy:

Vul: East-West Dlr: South	9 7 6 Q 9 8 7 K 10 8 Q 10 4
		A Q J 10 4 6 3 2 7 2 9 6 5

The 5 was a beautiful sight to see. We lead second?highest from low cards. What is your plan?

Apparently, partner has chosen a spade from three small (you know he doesn't have king?fourth, because not only would that give declarer a small singleton, but the Rule of 11—or just plain counting, shows he can't have king—low—low—low in spades). If you win the A and continue, declarer will be able to hold up if he has Kxx. Just in case partner has led from a doubleton, I inserted the 10 at trick one. Since we play Smith Echo (you'll see it in action in a moment), I knew I could tell partner I liked spades. Declarer won the K and played a diamond to the king. I played the 7. On the next diamond I played the 2. Playing hi?lo in the first suit declarer attacks means, "Partner—I love the suit you led at trick one." This is the "Smith Echo" signal. I knew David would be watching—and as soon as he got in, he'd continue spades.

I'm still waiting for him to get in. This was the full deal:

Vul: East-West Dlr: West	9 7 6 Q 9 8 7 K 10 8 Q 10 4
8 5 3 2 10 4 6 5 4 A J 8 7		A Q J 10 4 6 3 2 7 2 9 6 5
	K A K J 5 A Q J 9 3 K 3 2

Horrors! Declarer had a singleton K. Is his 2NT opening legal? Sure. In fact, 2NT isn't a bad description of that South hand. The alternatives of 1 or 2 aren't great (although I think I'd have opened 1). Declarer cashed the first 10 tricks for 430. This is wasn't a disaster for us since the opponents can make 5. But still, I was a bit red?faced. Worse yet, I had to hear trash talk all week from my partner. "I led your suit—and we had the first five tricks and you …."

My last deal for this month is a bit more serious:

Vul: None Dlr: South	9 8 5 Q 8 6 5 4 Q J K 5 4
A Q 10 7 6 4 2 -- 9 8 7 5 3 2		J K J 10 3 2 4 2 9 8 7 6 3
	K 3 A 9 7 A K 10 6 A Q J 10

My partner, David Berkowitz, opened the South hand with a strong club. West preempted to 3. I doubled (to show values) and David had too much to bid only 3NT. He chose 4NT, natural and invitational. I had a dead minimum, so I passed. There we were in 4NT with only 9 top tricks.

A spade lead would have provided the 10^th, but then there would have been no story. West smartly led a diamond. Now, there was work to do.

David could always make the hand if West had the K (a heart trick could be developed without letting East in for a spade through). First, though, it couldn't hurt to run some tricks in the minors.

In fact, David discovered that West had 5 diamonds—so there wasn't much chance the heart suit would work. David cashed 8 tricks in the minors to leave:

Vul: None Dlr: South	9 8 5 Q 8 -- --
A Q 10 7 -- 8 --		J K J 10 -- 9
	K 3 A 9 7 -- --

Now, David was in his hand and exited with a low spade! His only chance for a 10^th trick was to hope the layout was exactly as shown in the diagram. Sure, West could have foiled the plan by playing the Q, but she didn't realize what was happening. She innocently played the 10. East had to win the J and eventually lead from the K to give David a well?earned 430. The other table reached a slam which had no chance, so our team won 11 imps.

(To be continued…)