None Vul
IMPs
Dealer: West
Lead: 
3
Maestro J A K Q J 9 Q 5 3 2 9 8 7 |
||
| sasscat Q 3 8 7 A K J 7 A 10 6 4 2 |
![[W - E]](http://gee.aaronhaspel.com/files/2012/10/t.gif) |
danb K 10 9 8 6 5 3 2 10 9 6 4 3 |
| sensj A 7 5 4 2 10 6 4 8 K Q J 5 |
| West 1 Pass Pass |
North 1 4 |
East 1 Pass |
South 2 Pass |
Occasionally one’s partner will make bidding errors. That’s part of the game. But it’s important to put them behind you and keep your mind on the play, as Gee demonstrates for us in today’s hand.
The bidding all looks reasonable to my inexpert eye — East’s 1S reply over the overcall is perhaps a bit thin — but Gee does not agree, as we will see shortly. Nonetheless he refuses to let this affect his play. East leads his stiff club, and West returns the C2 for a ruff. A diamond back to the ace leads to another club ruff, for down 1, ordinarily, as East exits with a trump. Gee wins in hand, ruffs a diamond, and then makes the key play of ruffing a club winner to return to hand, leaving himself nothing to discard the last diamond on, and down 2.
After the hand Gee and his partner have a friendly colloquy about the bidding, which stimulates some discussion in spec:
Gee: Why not support double?
Bachelor #1: Support doubles by the advancer! A new treatment!
sensj: Support double is only if you are responder…here you show a 5-card suit
Gee: ???
Gee: no
Gee: I overcalled and 1 spade was after you…double by you shows 3 in support
Bachelor #1: everybody making notes?
Gee: geez, guys…read more books…i dunno
Bachelor #2: wow!
Bachelor #3: what is this “read”?
Bachelor #3: we are WRITING
Gee: then specs make nasty comments about me for my partner’s bad bidding
Bachelor #3: yes, it’s all partner’s fault
Bachelor #2: hahahahaha
Bachelor #3: i will have to call my pd from today and let her know it was all her fault
Bachelor #2: wait a moment, how did he go down?
Bachelor #3: unreal
Gee: sensj…I am sorry…nothing to do with you, but with my previous partners… I am upset at what happened earlier and by hearing specs’ comments…specs who also think they know but actually don’t know much for some of them
Gee: I should stop after this hand and relax for a while
And so shall we.
A progressive step-by-step method of saying “I’m sorry I messed up the play.” Results not guaranteed.
1. Blame it on partner’s bad bidding.
2. Insult partner and tell him to read more books.
3. Blame it on other partners, from yesterday.
4. Blame it on comments made by the specs.
Still no results? The play never improved in the eyes of those who saw it?? Unbelievable!
5. Blame it on the fact you are upset at what happened earlier in the day.
6. Blame the specs again but this time also say that the specs are stupid and know nothing.
7. When steps 1-6 are not effective, leave and go relax. Maybe it will blow over soon.
8. The ultimate step of this method can only be used if there is no record of the play: It didn’t happen that way, they are all wrong.