North wanted to make an opening bid of two no trump but felt that his singleton ace of spades made that the wrong bid. This may be the one type of hand where it is not wrong, but that is not the issue. One club was the opening bid. South has the least that the law allows for his one spade bid, but he feels that he has done the right thing.
The opener has a different problem now. A jump to two no trump is not forcing. He assumes that South has five or six points as a minimum, and so does not want to stop short of game. Accordingly, he jumps to three no trump.
If South passes, North will make this contract, and depending on the opening lead, some number of overtricks. South felt that his hand would play better in a suit contract. Right or wrong, his four heart bid made his partner very happy and he went directly to the heart slam.
West led the king of spades. Declarer won the ace, played a diamond to the king, a heart to the ace, and the ace of diamonds. On this trick declarer discarded the nine of clubs. The ace of clubs was next, followed by a low club, trumped. A heart to the king provided the entry to trump another club.
Declarer led his last heart to the queen, drawing the last trump and providing the entry to cash two good club tricks. The defense was able to capture one diamond trick at the end. Bidding and making six hearts was a top score on this hand.
District 5 of the American Contract Bridge League sponsored the Rock and Roll Regional Bridge Tournament from January 14 to 18 in Independence. The following players were successful in their respective events on January 17. Other results appeared in previous columns, more will be listed in future columns.
Morning Swiss Teams (15 teams). Stratum A. 1. Michael Cassel II, Roseville, MN, Jim Bachelder, Columbus, Lloyd Loux, Westlake, and Phil Leon, Grosse Pointe, MI. 2. Robert Park, Gibsonia, PA, William Holt, Sewickley, PA, Robert Quinlan and Nirmala Somani, Pittsburgh, PA. Stratum B. 1.Park, Holt, Quinlan, and Somani. 2. Jack Rice, Kingston, Nickie Leckrone, Lancaster, Karma Zoss and Raymond De Colibus, Circleville. Stratum C. 1. Dennis Wott, Fremont, Thomas Bode, Toledo, Frederick and Adele Gottlieb, Gahanna.
Morning Bracketed Knock Out Teams - Bracket 1 (9 teams). 1. George Cotterman, Barnesville, Barry Boyd, Wheeling, WV, Dan Roseberry, Dover, andJim Overcasher, East Canton. 2. Phillip Becker, Beachwood, Kenneth Kranyak, Bay Village, Mary Chilcote, Cleveland, Kumar Bhatia, Pepper Pike, and Tobi Sokolow, Austin, TX.
Morning Bracketed Knock Out Teams - Bracket 2 (10 teams). 1. Donald and Katy Moyer, Silver Lake, Jack and Dale Durbin, Stow. 2. Cheryl and Andrew Halpern, Chagrin Falls, Harriet Kitay, Solon, Terry Goldberg and Rosalyn Sukenik, Cleveland.
Flight A Pairs (46 pairs). Stratum A1. 1. Robert Zwack, Allison Park, PA, and Gail Carns, Export, PA. 2. Paul Facinelli, Avon Lake, and Bernie Greenspan, Beachwood. Stratum A2. 1. Facinelli and Greenspan. 2. Jack Shapiro, Beachwood, and Stan Dub, Shaker Heights.
Flight B/C/D Pairs (64 pairs). Stratum B. 1. Brenda Merkich, Kinsman, and Mary Townhill, Lexington, SC. 2. Ellyn Schneier and Elaine Malin, Akron. Stratum C. 1. Schneier and Malin. 2. Jan Miyake and Josh Levy, Oberlin. Stratum D. 1. Schneier and Malin. 2. Chuck Eastin, Cleveland, and Susan Conrad, Madison.
Afternoon Contniuous Pairs (38 pairs). Stratum A. 1. Robert Dykes, Lakewood, and James Breckel, Medina. 2. Deborah and William Kirby, Bowling Green. Stratum B. 1. Dykes and Breckel. 2. Marvin and Maxine Schinagle, Beachwood. Stratum C. 1. Richard and Arleen Kalo, Avon Lake. 2. Doug Henderson, Cleveland, and Lea Staaf, Rocky River.
Evening Contniuous Pairs (33 pairs). Stratum A. 1. Robert Sulgrove, Spring Valley, and Richard Rudolph, Westerville. 2. Roy Baldwin, Dublin, and George St. Pierre, Columbus. Stratum B. 1. Hope Arian, Beachwood, and Dee Weisberg, Cleveland. 2. Wayne and Marilyn O'Connor, Dayton. Stratum C. 1. The O'Connors. 2. Edwin Glickman and Jing Han, Snowmass, CO.
Afternoon Non Life Master Pairs (33 pairs). Stratum A. 1.
Dr. Neeraj and Anand Julka, Moreland Hills. 2. James Pivarski
Jr., Munroe Falls, and James Coleman, Cuyahoga Falls. Stratum B.
1. The Julkas. 2. Constance Bogan and Rosemany Strung,
Strongsville. Stratum C. 1. The Julkas. 2. Jean and Louis
Bloomfield, Beachwood.
Midnight Knock Out Teams (6 Teams). 1. Robert Park,
Gibsonia, PA, William Holt, Sewickley, PA, Robert Quinlan and
Nirmala Somani, Pittsburgh, PA. 2. Jennifer Lin, Kevin Shiue,
Charlie Garrod, and Roman Mitz, Pittsburgh, PA.
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Bernstein is
a free-lance writer in Solon.