Let Gee Be Gee

N/S Vul
IMPs
Dealer: South
Lead: K

	fer-lema K Q 7 6 5 A K Q 9 8 3 — A 8
macondo J 9 4 6 4 A K Q 10 5 7 5 4		wildcats 8 J 10 7 5 2 9 8 4 3 2 10 9
	Maestro A 10 3 2 — J 7 6 K Q J 6 3 2

West 1 Pass Pass Pass

North 2 6 7

East 5 Pass Pass

South 1 6 6 Pass

 

Chronicles readers are surely familiar by now with the difficult question of WWGD (What Would Gee Do?). Today we investigate two related and equally abstruse matters, HWGP (How Would Gee Play?) and WWGSATH (What Would Gee Say After The Hand?).

Here the auction is interesting. North’s 2D bid normally shows, in 2/1, a limit club raise or better, but North has few other forcing bids at his disposal. Gee makes a fine 6C bid over East’s 5D sac, reasoning that his partner is likely void in diamonds and any spade values give them a decent play for slam.

North makes another excellent bid of 6D, describing his major suit moose and diamond void perfectly. Gee thinks it over and bids 6S, and North, uncertain whether this is a cue or a suit, signs off in the club grand, against which West leads the DK.

Now we pause and ask, How Would Gee Play? Trump break, spades are 3-1: is there any conceivable way to go down?

Of course there is. Gee ruffs the opening diamond low in dummy, cashes the CA, both defenders following, and plays top hearts. One round of hearts, discarding a diamond; two rounds of hearts, discarding a diamond; three rounds of hearts, ruffing with the trump 6, overruffed with the 7, down one.

What Would Gee Say After The Hand? “I can be really stupid sometimes,” says Gee. (I would like to report that no spec made the obvious rejoinder. Sadly, I am unable to do so.) “I was afraid of getting a spade ruffed,” he continues.

Let’s try something tougher:

E/W Vul
IMPs
Dealer: North
Lead: 4

	ynh Q 10 8 6 4 J 6 2 K J 9 6 4
Maestro A K 5 2 K 10 7 J 2 A K 10 5		wilcoxjj 7 A 8 5 A Q 7 5 4 3 Q 7 2
	mas J 9 3 Q 9 4 3 10 9 8 6 8 3

West 1 4NT 6NT

North Pass Pass Pass Pass

East 1 2 5 Pass

South Pass Pass Pass Pass

 

Gee and partner reach an excellent 6NT contract after a normal auction. Of course the hand is cold. It makes on any 3-2 diamond break, and declarer can protect against a stiff king (though no other 4-1 break), by playing the diamond ace first. On the actual layout the ace drops the stiff king, mas gets his diamond winner and then no mas for the defense.

The question is, how is it possible to go down not one, not two, but three tricks after a low club lead? Gee makes the first key play by winning trick 1 with the king instead of the 10, although in fairness this would ordinarily not matter because E/W need five diamond tricks to make anyway. He promptly forgoes the safety play by leading the DJ, discovering the bad news when North discards a spade on the second round of diamonds.

Now sure, he can still go down 1 by conceding two diamond tricks. Let’s let Gee be Gee instead. First he ducks a heart into North’s jack: one trick for the defense. North returns a club, on which Gee makes a second Magoo play by winning the queen in dummy, and leading a third round of clubs, inserting the ten when South shows out: two tricks for the defense. North shifts to hearts, as good as anything else. Gee wins the heart king, cashes the club ace and his remaining major suit winners, and concedes a diamond and a spade at the end for the defense’s third and fourth tricks.

What Would Gee Say After The Hand? “The distribution,” he would say, “was very unfriendly that time.”