Bridge Tales is intended for players to present memorable bridge tales to be shared with other players and also to address general interest questions that our players have submitted. If you have a tale to tell or question to ask, please share it by an email to our webmaster at par@ken-parker.com.
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Married Couples Do Not Necessarily Make The Best Partners
submitted by Ben Reischer
4/04/2020
One of my memorable stories happened at the Crystal City bridge club in Arlington, VA. For several weeks an excellent player had been trying to teach his wife how to play duplicate. Each week he would get less patient and nastier to his wife as the game progressed.
The finale occurred one week. He kept getting louder and redder and was admonished several times by the Director. He finally lost it and screamed out at the top of his lungs -- "You Play Bridge Just Like You Screw". The club broke out in hysterics, the wife was mortified and stormed out, and that was the last time we saw her.
Another noteworthy event occured at a major bridge tournament in Stuttgart, Germany. I was sitting North and the North South French couple behind me were getting louder and started shouting steadily at each other as the game progressed . The director came by twice and politely told them to calm down. At the second time he warned them they would be penalized if he had to come back.
They started fighting again and this time the wife (North) threw a board at dear hubby, missing him. It came flying by my head (missing me) and knocked down a water glass at the next table. They literally started physically fighting and it took three directors to separate them and throw them out. When things settled down, a director took the microphone, apologized for the disruption, and calmy said that we should continue playing, adding that it was not considered proper bridge etiquette to throw objects at your partner.
♠ ♥ ♦ ♣
Very Memorable Flannery Hand
submitted by Ken Parker
4/02/2020
Flannery is a convention some players like for its preemptive and descriptive value. When a partnership agrees to play Flannery, their 2♦ opening bid shows a hand with 5 hearts, 4 spades, and 11-15 HCP (high card points). A further benefit of playing Flannery is that when partner opens 1♥, partner's 1♠ response promises 5 or more spades.
At a Chicago regional tournament in the early 1970s, I was playing in an Open Pairs event with a partner named Margo Brockett. Opponents come to our table who we immediately recognize. One is the famed, world champion Jim Jacoby and the other is John Wachter, a pro from Milwaukee. On the first hand, with both sides vulnerable, Margo opens a Flannery 2♦ . Wachter doubles for a minor suit take-out, and I bid 2♥ holding ♠x, ♥xxxx, ♦xxx, ♣Axxxx.
Jacoby doubles my 2♥ bid to show he holds good cards. Margo now jumps to 4♥ which is doubled by Wachter. Three passes follow.
Jacoby leads the K♣ and Margo lays down this dummy (declarer's hand shown below dummy):
♠ xxxx
♥ AKxxxxx
♦ x
♣ x
♠ x
♥ xxxx
♦ xxx
♣ Axxxx
I win the opening lead with A♣ . With just the Q♥ and J♥ missing, both fall as I lead to the A♥ at trick 2. At this point, I claim all but 2 of the remaining tricks (conceding a diamond trick and a spade trick). We score +990 for 4♥ doubled making 5, with only 11 HCP in our combined our hands. The opponents held 29 HCP.
As soon as Jacoby concedes the outcome, he turns to Margo and says, “Nice bid, young lady.” Jim Jacoby was always known as a class act. Instead of being resentful after being swindled by Margo, he compliments her on her double swindle (opening 2♥ and then bidding 4♥).
Margo made this strange 2♦ bid because she had expected an otherwise poor result against Jim Jacoby. Instead, we earn a top board and a tale we can tell for the next 50 years!
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