I picked up the South hand at a local duplicate game and decided to open two no trump. Partner raised this to game and West led the nine of hearts. East won this trick with the king, cashed the ace and continued with a third heart to my jack in dummy.
A spade to the ace brought the ten from West. I cashed the ace and king of diamonds as East showed out, pitching a club. A third diamond went to the queen in dummy. East discarded another club. The jack of diamonds cleared that suit and East threw the four of spades.
I was pretty sure that West had five hearts and four diamonds. The question was, did he have two spades and two clubs, or one spade and three clubs? From East's discards, I was pretty sure that he started with five clubs. Had he started with only four he would not have thrown two of them away. But that was all I had to go on. Oh well, in for a penny, in for a pound. I led a small spade towards my hand. East played the seven and I played the king. West contributed the queen and I was able to cash the jack and five of spades for my nine tricks.
I was pretty proud of myself for dropping the doubleton queen of spades. When the game was over I noticed that making three no trump was only worth a little more than average. I started to think about it and later realized why this was so. Some players in the South seat might open this hand with a one diamond bid. North should respond one no trump, which South will raise to three no trump. East will more than likely lead the jack of clubs. Without an initial heart lead, declarer can play the spades however he wants and should always score nine or ten tricks.
Which opening bid is correct? I think it depends on your partnership agreements much more than the results on this hand. This is just one of those situations that fall under the heading of good or bad luck. Hopefully, by the end of the game you will have had as enough lucky moments to offset the other kind.
Unit 125 of the American Contract Bridge League hosted the Ohio Master's Sectional Bridge Tournament in Solon on March 4 - 6. Congratulations to the following players who were successful in their events on March 5. Other results were listed last week and more will appear next week.
Two Session Flight A Pairs (27 pairs). Stratum A1. 1. Don and Kathleen Sulgrove, Twinsburg. 2. Brian Ellis and Sandra Fleischman, Beachwood. Stratum A2. 1. Sophie Novak, Solon, and Toby Sternheimer, Aurora. 2. Gary Montain, Westlake, and Donna Largent, Cleveland.
Morning Flight B Pairs (32 pairs). 1. Rusty Ellison, Aurora, and Patti Perlmuter, Beachwood. 2. Nancy Evans and Shirley Lundstrom, Cuyahoga Falls.
Afternoon Flight B Pairs (28 pairs). 1. Ruth Romito, Twinsburg, and Harriet Kitay, Solon. 2. Richard Trogdon, Sterling, and Robert Wood, Wadsworth.
Morning Flight C Pairs (18 pairs). 1. Michele Allen, Waite Hill, and Elizabeth Bogner, Eastlake. 2. Peta Moskowitz, Cleveland, and Barbara Kusner, Orange Village.
Afternoon Flight C. Pairs (20 pairs). 1. Charles and Jane Coleman, Pittsburgh, PA. 2. Lawrence and Carol Wise, Chagrin Falls.
Starting March 22, the Tuesday and Thursday afternoon
meetings of the Beachwood Duplicate Bridge Club that are held at
Fairmount Temple, 23737 Fairmount Blvd, Beachwood, will offer a
separate game (attendance permitting) for players who have less
than 300 master points. Game time is 12:15 a.m. Call (216) 591-
9566 for full information.
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Bernstein is
a free-lance writer in Solon.
To reach Harvey Bernstein:
hjb19@adelphia.net