|
'Alors, mon cher Barry', says Philémon to Barry, 'I am very pleased, you 'ave learned to play le bridge so vell from Granddad. Ve 'ave 'ad some lessons from maman in Paris, but I do not think ve can play as vell as you two.'
Finally the two cousins of Barry and Harry have arrived. After a long delay the plane from Paris had landed, so the relatives could welcome each other warmly.
Granddad's elder daughter, Gaston and Philémon's mother, returned to her home soil after having lived in France for fifteen years.
For some days already Barry and Harry had been excited about their cousins' forthcoming arrival, especially after they had heard the duo recently had learned to play bridge.
'It's going to be great, Granddad, the four of us can play as a team and you'll be our trainer', Barry had been saying enthusiastically.
'Now, now, boys, they haven't been playing for very long yet, so perhaps they must have some more practice first', Granddad tries to damp Barry's enthusiasm somewhat.
'Doesn't matter', Barry says, 'we'll teach them all we know and then we'll have a world class team.'
And so Gaston and Philémon, still jetlagged, found themselves being dragged into Granddad's study for a brisk game of bridge.
'Mais boys, ve 'ave to learn a lot still, you understand?'
Gaston feels a bit overwhelmed by his cousins' zeal and fears he cannot fulfil their sky-high expectations.
At the first deal Philémon, South, has to declare 4♠. N/—
| ♠ | 10 9 3 2 | | | | ♥ | 7 6 | | ♦ | K 6 5 3 | | ♣ | K 7 6 | | ♠ | A 5 4 |  | ♠ | 6 | | ♥ | Q J 8 3 | ♥ | 10 5 2 | | ♦ | J 9 8 4 | ♦ | A Q 10 2 | | ♣ | 4 2 | ♣ | Q J 10 9 8 | | | ♠ | K Q J 8 7 | | | ♥ | A K 9 4 | | ♦ | 7 | | ♣ | A 5 3 |
| West | North | East | South |
|---|
| Harry | Gaston | Barry | Philémon | | — | pass
| pass | 1♠ | | pass | 2♠ | pass | 4♠ | | pass | pass | pass | |
Harry leads the ♥Q, Philémon winning with the ♥K.
'D'abord draw ze trumps, yes', Philémon mumbles, remembering his mother's lessons, so he continues with a small spade. Dummy's ♠10 wins and a second trump goes to Harry's ♠A. For want of anything better Harry exits with his third trump.
'Bien, c'est fait ça', Philémon thinks, 'ze trumps are out. Vhat's next?'
He realises his hand contains a diamond, a club and two heart losers. Since dummy has only one trump left, he can ruff only one heart. If the ♦A is with West however, he can set up the ♦K for a discard (or, if West does not go up with the ♦A, declarer will not lose a diamond).
So in good spirits Philémon plays the ♦7 to the ♦K but a moment later he is disappointed to see Barry winning with the ♦A. Down one is unavoidable now.
'Zat vas somevhat unlucky, yes? Ief ze ♦A is favourably placed, I make ten tricks, yes?' Philémon sighs.
'True, but surely you should've…', Barry begins.
Harry quickly interrupts his impulsive brother.
'You didn't play bad at all, Philémon, you combined quite a few chances. Still, you did overlook one. If you at once ruff two hearts in dummy, before drawing trumps, you make ten tricks at least, come what may.'
Philémon considers for a while.
'Ah, yes, I see. So drawing ze trumps first ies not always OK, yes? Sometimes other things must be done first, yes? I understand. Mon Dieu, bridge ies more complicated than I thought.'
'Well, brother', Gaston says, 'since ve 'ave such clever cousins, ve vill learn very quickly, I think.'
Harry silently smiles.
Barry is not silent. 'Did you hear that, Granddad?' he cries. |