There's no doubt that some amount of good luck is necessary to turn an
average session into a great one. Here's a hand where a lot of
luck was needed.
Scoring: IMPs (Teams)
Hand #28
Dlr
S
Vul
N/S
74
865
Q3
A108765
Q52
Q107432
964
9
A1063
A9
K10872
K2
KJ98
KJ
AJ5
QJ43
West
North
East
South
1NT
Pass
3*
Pass
3NT
All Pass
*Invitational (!)
BIDDING: Our team was
behind when this hand arrived at our table. Sitting South, I
opened a routine 1NT and accepted my partner's invitation to
game. When dummy hit I was shocked and wondered how just far
behind my partner thought we were.
PLAY: West led a low
heart to East's ace and I won the continuation with the king. A
lot of cards had to be right for this contract to make so I took a deep
breath and led the queen of clubs. East won the king and just
when I expected to see another heart, a low spade landed on the
table. My first stroke of luck; apparently the hearts were
divided 6-2. Since I would always go down if the spade ace was on
my left, I rose with the king and won the trick. That was my
second piece of good luck. I ran the clubs and eventually led a
diamond to my jack which won and I had nine tricks.
Our opponents stopped in a club partial so this was a 10 IMP
gain. It was a fun hand but I'm afraid it will only serve to
encourage my partner.
*