| Barry & Harry (17) Take your time... |
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Barry, Harry and Granddad are waiting at the airport for their cousins Gaston and Philémon to arrive from Paris. Harry is complaining about Barry's habit of starting dummy play like lightning, now and then resulting in needless defeat. I was rather young and could handle the whole world. I needed no one to tell me anything. At the time I hadn't been playing for very long, but I regarded myself as a talented bridge player and tended – like Barry sometimes – to show that by playing fast and casually.' Granddad gives Harry a quick wink.
'The defence begins with the ♥Q.' 'Small', the twins say in unison. 'The ♥J is next.' 'Small', is the comment, again in unison. 'Next the ♥10 to the ♥K and East's ♥A.' 'I ruff', Barry says. 'So did I', Granddad says, 'after which I started considering how to continue. I counted my losers and realised I was going to lose the ♣A and one diamond trick. True, I could ruff the fourth diamond in dummy but I couldn't avoid losing the third one. In principle I could pitch it on dummy's clubs but that suit was blocked. I made a thorough search for an entry to dummy, but there wasn't any…' '…anymore', Harry finishes Granddad's sentence. 'You see it now, don't you, Barry', Harry enthusiastically continues, 'if you would just take your time to construct a plan, you wouldn't commit this kind of blunders anymore.' Suddenly his face gets as red as a tomato, as he realises he is insulting Granddad. He looks at Granddad. 'Sorry Granddad, that's not what I meant.' 'That's alright, son, I get your point. Harry is right, Barry, it really was stupid. I started playing far too quickly. When I finally realised what this deal was about, I had already made the mistake. Thoughtlessly I had ruffed the third trick with the ♠9, squandering my only chance of reaching dummy. Of course I should have ruffed with a higher spade.'
'Next I could have forced out the ♣A. Only after unblocking the clubs, meaning after two club tricks had been played, would I have drawn trumps, ending in dummy with the ♠10. Next I could have pitched both diamond losers on the ♣J and the ♣10.' Harry eyes Barry. 'So?' 'I saw right from the start that I had to ruff with a high spade', Barry says, producing the fitting expression to show that he believes in what he says. |
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