Old is Gold

I recently had the privilege of playing the Holkar IMPs pairs in Indore with my father, Dr Krishnakumar Vahalia, who had turned ninety-three just ten days earlier.

At this age, my father displayed remarkable stamina, playing all four days of the event and performing very well throughout. (If, at that age, we can play bridge at half the skill and stamina displayed by Dr. Vahalia, it would be something to be thrilled about - Eds)

On the deal alongside, Dr Vahalia’s creative side was on display during the auction. Non-vul against vul, he picked up this hand. After a Pass on his left, he was pleasantly surprised to hear a Precision 1♦ from his partner (me).

With opponents silent throughout, he rebid 2♣, natural and game forcing. Partner bid 2N, showing a balanced 12-14 with likely stoppers in both majors. While that made partner likely to hold the ♠K, this was far from certain.

So Dr Vahalia made an imaginative bid of 3S, which technically showed four Spades and five or more Clubs. Partner raised to 4S, which is what he was hoping to hear. He now bid 4N, Roman Key-Card ask, and got the encouraging response of 5♥, showing two key cards (♠K and ♦A).

Still unsure of thirteen tricks, he continued with 5N, showing grand slam interest and asking for Kings. Now I too made a creative bid of 6♣. While this technically showed the Club King, I suspected my father had that card and would read this as help in Clubs, which would likely mean the Queen. My father read my bid accurately, and figured seven had to be an excellent contract. He bid seven no trump, which was not only unstoppable, but also the highest scoring.

The full hands and auction were as follows:

Out of 44 tables, only three pairs bid a grand slam, of which only two were in 7NT.

We hope you enjoyed reading about this hand. Do let us know in the comments section below!

Disclaimer : All opinions are entirely those of the author and are no reflection of the views of the BridgeFromHome Team.