The odd couple

In my club there are players from 9 years old till over 90, men and women, religious and non religious, politically right and left, rich and poor, professors and judges but also players who didn't finish high school. All playing in perfect harmony. And where else will you find so many different types of people sitting at the same table, spending 3 hours together?

For example these two players who have been partners for at least 10 years: Esther is 60 and she is a fashion designer. She looks no more than 40 years old (after a few plastic surgeries in several areas...). She is very attractive, she has a lovely figure, and she dresses very colorful (you will never see her wearing the same clothes twice). She is very energetic and she is involved in most of the big social events in the city.

Her partner, Joseph, is an accountant. He is 50, but looks 70. He is single, overweight, and always wears the same overly short t-shirt.

While Joseph is quiet and has no sense of humor whatsoever, Esther is chatty and lively enough for both of them.

"Are you really 60?", she got asked once.
"Only parts of me...", she winked, alluding to the (few) parts of her body that weren't touched yet by the doctors.

When asked about her long lasting partnership with Joseph, who is so different from her, she would say: "With him it's a 'catholic wedding'. I'm a lot more faithful to him than I was to my 3 ex-husbands. By the way, he is the only man I have ever met who only showed interest in my brains, and not other parts of my body..."

And here is a an example of wonderful co-operation on defense, emphasizing their partnership chemistry:

Dealer West - All vulnerable:


Joseph, sitting West, lead the ♠A and Esther followed with the ♠Q.

That card helped him understand that she also holds the ♠J and so he continued with a low Spade at trick 2. Esther won the ♠J and continued with a 3rd Spade to Joseph's ♠K.

He paused for few seconds to count points: Declarer's 2♥ bid suggested 9-11 points, dummy had 14 and he had 12. That leaves 2-4 points for his partner, of which he already saw the ♠QJ.

Therefore the ♣A must be with declarer (also, if Esther had the ♣A, she would likely play it after winning the ♠J and before continuing with the 3rd Spade) along with the ♥K and the ♦Q.

That means that the only chance left to set is to try to promote a trump trick. Consequently, Joseph continued with his 4th Spade which Esther ruffed (without a blink) with the ♥10. Declarer over ruffed with his ♥K but Joseph's ♥J got promoted now, no matter how declarer plays the Hearts.
They were the only ones to set that "10 tricks off the top" 4♥ contract.

"Since you're such a great fashion designer, perhaps you could design a normal shirt for your partner to wear?", hissed a frustrated declarer.

"That would be a challenge! He'd need to lose a few kilos just to enter a regular XXL. However, I have no plans to redesign anything about him. Our tacit mutual understanding is that we communicate with each other purely through cards".