Thanks to Wayne Ward of Newbury for this hand from a duplicate game that he played in as a part of the Mentoring program sponsored by the Cleveland Whist Club. He was acting as a mentor for Chantel Whitney of Shaker Heights and his efforts are paying off.
Whitney held the South cards and got to a pretty good looking heart game. West started things off with the king of spades. East followed with the seven. The ace of spades was next and East played the five, intending to show an even number of spades. West thought that East had only two spades and continued with a third spade. When East played a spade to this trick, Whitney alertly discarded the ace of diamonds.
Three rounds of diamonds provided discards for the three clubs in the South hand and when the queen of hearts came down doubleton, the contract was made with an overtrick.
When partner leads a high card in an off-suit, as was the case here, it is appropriate to play a higher spot card followed by a lower spot card when you have two cards in that suit. If you have four cards, you should play your lowest card in the suit so as not to encourage partner. Partner may still go wrong, but it won't be because he expects you to trump the third spade.
On a hand like this, the overtrick will make all the difference and could result in a top score on the board. Taking advantage of defensive errors is one of the keys to improving your game.
District 5 of the American Contract Bridge League sponsored the Rock and Roll Regional Bridge Tournament from January 12 to 16 in Independence. The following players were successful in their respective events on January 16. Other results appeared in previous columns.
Afternoon Side Game Series (163 players overall). 1. Edia Shai, University Heights. 2. Harold Fast, Chagrin Falls. 3. Jack Knudson, Solon.
Evening Side Game Series (162 players overall). 1. Vernon De Jong, Sharon, PA. Tie for 2/3. Katy and Donald Moyer, Silver Lake.
Bracketed Swiss Teams. Bracket 1 (8 teams). 1. Pratap
Rajadhyaksha, Powell, Stephen Landen, Rochester Hills, MI, Dan
Gerstman, Buffalo, NY, Rick Kaye, Bingham Farms, MI, Cristina
Tita, Detroit, MI. 2. Don and Kathleen Sulgrove, Twinsburg,
Martin Baff, Beachwood, and Roger Tiktin, Lakewood. Bracket 2 (8
teams) 1. Paul Facinelli, Avon Lake, Bernard Heyman, Shaker
Heights, Michael Ryan, Buffalo, NY, Robert Feasley, Eden, NY. 2.
Robert Park, Gibsonia, PA, William Holt, Sewickley, PA, Robert
Quinlan, Pittsburgh, PA, Constance Hoechstetter, Coraopolis, PA.
Bracket 3 (8 teams). 1. Jay Costello and Donna Steffan, East
Amherst, NY, Brian Meyer, Buffalo, NY, and Brian Universal,
Derby, NY. 2. Robert Zimmermann and Peter Howell, Pittsburgh,
PA, Catherine and Paul Caplan, North Versailles, PA. Bracket 4
(8 teams). 1. Diane Wasserman, University Heights, Charlotte
Friedman, Beachwood, Harriet Adelstein, Chagrin Falls, and Eva
Lefton, Cleveland. 2. Richard Trogdon, Sterling, Robert Wood,
Wadsworth, Henry Essig, Westlake, David Paul, Wooster. Bracket 5
(8 teams). 1. Dolores Bloom, Sylvia McCauley, Mary Anne Sukonik,
and Irene Lenno, Warren. 2. Chris Kleis, Lyndhurst, Richard Van
Bergen, Solon, Neil Di Geronimo, Broadview Heights, and Joseph
Harbert, Willoughby. Bracket 6 (8 teams). Tied for 1/2. Doris
Mikstay, Douglas and Barbara Bishop, Canton, and Janice Smith,
Barberton, with James Novak and Arnold Rathje, Solon, Duane
Seelinger, Mentor On the Lake, and Chet Jain, Willoughby.
Bracket 7 (8 teams). 1. Dorothy Piovano, Medina, Gene McKimm,
Cleveland, Helen Lloyd, Copley, and Retha Lakins, Akron. 2.
Lynda Hirsch, Cleveland, Thomas Watts III, Shaker Heights, Medhat
Fawzy, Belleville, Ontario, Canada and Michael Finnegan, Picton,
Ontario, Canada. Bracket 8 (8 teams). 1. Jayne Fleming and
Michael Stahr, Akron, Suman Agarwal, Hilliard, and Kanti Chavada,
Columbus. 2. Doug Henderson, Cleveland, Edith Dus-Garden,
Stuart, FL, Vivian Shanafelt, Medina, and Lia Staaf, Rocky River.
Bracket 9 (11 teams). 1. Marvin and Judith Shapiro, Akron, and
Richard and Susan Roberts, Cuyahoga Falls. 2. William and Mary
Roberts, North Ridgeville, and Richard and Arleen Kalo, Avon
Lake.
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Bernstein is
a free-lance writer in Solon.
To reach Harvey Bernstein:
hjb19@adelphia.net