Houston, we have a problem.

Originally a genuine report of a life-threatening fault. Now used humorously to report any kind of problem.

In 1971 John Swigert, Jr. and James Lovell who, with Fred Haise Jr., made up the crew of the US’s Apollo 13 moon flight used (almost) this phrase to report a major technical problem back to their Houston base.

Swigert: ‘Okay, Houston, we’ve had a problem here.’

Duke: ‘This is Houston. Say again please.’

Lovell: ‘Houston, we’ve had a problem. We’ve had a main B bus undervolt.’

The tagline became famous following its use in the 1995 film Apollo 13, a movie based on what was to be the third lunar-landing mission. It shows the trials and tribulations of the Apollo 13 crew, mission control, and families after a near-fatal accident cripples the space vehicle. A mission that couldn’t get TV airtime because space flights had become routine to the American public suddenly grabbed the national spotlight. This is a tale of averted tragedy, heroism and shows a testament to the creativity of the scientists who ran the early space missions.

In the final of the Silodor Open Pairs there were a couple of deals that were problematical – let’s see if you can solve them.

Dealer: South
North
♠	K J 8 4 2
♥	9 4
♦	A Q 9 7
♣	7 3

West	North	East	South
			1NT
Pass	2♥ *	Pass	3♠
Pass	?

Facing partner’s 15-17 no trump and transfer break I toyed with the idea of bidding Four Diamonds, but I found it difficult to construct a hand where slam would be a decent proposition even if partner held perfect cards, for example:

♠ A Q 7 3 ♥ A 8 4 ♦ K 8 3 ♣ A 6 4

leaves you with no way to avoid two losers. There is also the risk that partner will play you for more than you have, so eventually I bid a peaceful Four Spades. This was the full deal:

		North
		♠	K J 8 4 2
		♥	9 4
		♦	A Q 9 7
		♣	7 3
West				East
♠	10 7 6			♠	Q
♥	K Q 8 7 5			♥	J 10 6 3
♦	3			♦	J 10 2
♣	10 5 4 2			♣	K J 9 8 6
		South
		♠	A 9 5 3
		♥	A 2
		♦	K 8 6 5 4
		♣	A Q

Although I confess it would not have occurred to me to open 1NT, clearly partner would have driven to slam over Four Diamonds.

South
♠	K J 8 4 2
♥	9 4
♦	A Q 9 7
♣	7 3

West	North	East	South
			1NT
Pass	2♥*	Pass	3♠
Pass	?

In 1936 (!) S J (Skid) Simon, published an article in the British Bridge World in which he advocated the bidding up of ‘bad hands’. Having so far shown nothing of any value (there is some case for having bid Four Spades on the previous round) it is now incumbent upon you to do something to inform partner that you actually have a couple of high cards. A bid of Five Diamonds will see partner jump to the laydown slam with this hand:

♠ A Q J 9 ♥ A 4 ♦ A K 6 ♣ A K 9 6

This was the layout:

Dealer: Vul:		North
		♠	A Q J 9
		♥	A 4
		♦	A K 6
		♣	A K 9 6
West				East
♠	3 2			♠	10 5
♥	K J 10 9 5 2			♥	8 7
♦	Q 10 4 2			♦	J 8 3
♣	7			♣	Q J 10 8 5 4
		South
		♠	K 8 7 6 4
		♥	Q 6 3
		♦	9 7 5
		♣	3 2

Okay, I confess I changed your hand to make my point. On the actual deal South bid a fourth and final spade.

lll