Grant me the serenity....

I've heard good things about Audrey Grant, especially from Lisa. She (Ms. Grant) is the author of a number of bridge tutorial books, seems to headline a lot of bridge cruises, and doubtless knows her stuff. Browsing in a used bookstore in Maine yesterday, I flipped through a copy of Audrey Grant's "Better Bridge: Play" and, opening at random on page 228, came to the following sample deal, which I dutifully copied down to share with you.

Contract: 2  
Lead:  Q

North

A Q J

8 2

10 8 7 5 2

8 6 3

South

K

Q J 10 9 7 5

J 4 3

A 9 4

The contract is 2S, and West leads the queen of clubs. Setting aside the question of what sort of hideous bidding must have happened, Ms. Grant says the contract is makeable, but I don't quite see how. Looks like too many losers off the top, and discarding a couple of them on dummy's trump just makes the situation worse. Anyone?

Cheat sheet

I learned bridge from Alexa, who learned from her family. When she took on the responsibility of teaching us, she passed out her family's official bridge reference card ("for beginners as well as rusty, reticent 'fourths'"), which still stands as an authority in my circle, although we do question a couple of points. It's great to have on hand during a game -- even if you've got it all memorized, chances are someone else at the table could use a refresher.

Apparently there's a new edition that obsoletes the one we learned on, but I don't have it. Meanwhile, the nice laminated copies have become very scarce, so here are scans for those who wonder why I never underlead an ace, et cetera:

         

Cool

Oh dear. I just stumbled across Bridgeiscool.com, the American Contract Bridge League's attempt to hook young people on the thrills of bidding, ruffing, and possibly even overruffing. Unfortunately it has that unmistakable look of marketing committees hungrily trying to speak the kids' language, replete with color-filtered photos of white teens striking uproarious poses with cards, gratuitous.dots in the copy, colorful desktop wallpapers, and a hilarious PSA video exhorting kids to "ruff ruff it / squeeze" backed by a bumpin' hip-hop track. (Can you make out the lyrics? Is it "trumpin' low like a six of hearts"?)

With promotional efforts like this, I can't imagine why bridge isn't right up there with skating and inhalants as a prime teen activity. According to the quotes on bridgeiscool.com, even Sting plays!

Another slam attempt

I don't much like to play online, but once in a while, when the bridge urge is strong and I can't find real-life players, it comes in handy. You can always find a game on Yahoo; the problem is, you have no idea who you might be playing with.

When I was dealt the fantastic hand below (I'm South again) on Yahoo Bridge, I didn't know a thing about my partner's system, and I didn't want to risk being passed or winding up in some freaky contract, so I opened with 3NT. But, as I guess can be expected in such situations, my mysterious partner raised, and we landed in 6NT. Take a look:

Contract: 6 NT
Lead:  4

North

Q 10 6

9 6

9 8 5

10 9 7 5 2

West

J 9 8 4 3 2

J 2

7 4

8 6 4

East

A

10 8 7 3

Q J 10 6 3 2

K 3

South

K 7 5

A K Q 5 4

A K

A Q J

West led the 4 of spades to East's ace. I went down at the time, but the small slam is possible. Can you see a way to win all the remaining tricks and make the contract? Assume that East isn't self-sacrificing enough to lead a club on the second round.