The All-American Regional Bridge Tournament was held in Independence from May 24 to 30. This hand was played in the first event, the Stratified Charity Pairs. I held the West cards and my partner, Jack Knudson of Solon, sat East.
South opened the bidding with one spade and I doubled for take out. The North-South pair were playing a system commonly referred to as "two over one". Had I passed, North would be required by the system to bid one no trump. After a take-out double, North should pass these cards but for reasons known only to him, he bid one no trump. West passed and South bid two diamonds. This would be an appropriate response in their system if there had been no interference.
I didn't know where this was going but I knew my partner couldn't have much, so I decided to wait to see what happened. As it turned out, I never got another chance to bid and two diamonds became the final contract.
I started the defense with the king of hearts. West played the five and I switched to the nine of clubs. When the smoke cleared, the contract was set three tricks for a score of +150.
After the scores were all in, Knudson and I reviewed the results. We had scored 61% for third overall in a 38 pair field. This board was the only clear top on our score card. The point is very simple: Take advantage of the opponents errors and try not to allow them to wiggle "off the hook".
Congratulations to the following players who were successful in their respective events on May 24. Additional results will appear next week.
Stratified Charity Pairs (38 pairs). Strata A & B. 1. Alan Steggles, Ravenna, and Virginia Bissig, Bear Lake, MI. 2. Jan Miyake and Josh Levy, Oberlin. Stratum C. 1. Victor Shaia, Westlake, and Anthony Asher, Moreland Hills. 2. Vivian Shanafelt, Medina, and Edith Dus-Garden, Fairview Park.
Bracketed Knock Out Teams. Bracket 1 (12 teams). 1.Phillip
Becker, Beachwood, Niel Waletzky, Shaker Heights, Kit Woolsey,
Kensington, CA, and Dan Gertsman, Buffalo, NY. 2. Lloyd Loux,
Westlake, Jim Bachelder, Columbus, Phil Leon, Grosse Pointe, MI,
Richard Rudolph, Westerville, Robert Sulgrove, Spring Valley, and
Colin Revill, Ancaster, Ontario, Canada. Bracket 2 (15 teams).
1. Clarence Kofron, Kunkletown, PA, Stephen Palsuzczak, Erie, PA,
William Todd and Jo Ann Jackson, Elmvale, Ontario, Canada. 2.
Carol Ann Kuhlke, North Canton, Brad Helman, Marilyn Hurin, and
Carol Walton, Canton. Bracket 3 (16 teams). 1. Doris Kirsch,
East Springfield, PA, James Wise, Cambridge Springs, PA, Judith
Lyons, Erie, PA, and Marc Sylvester, Edinboro, PA. 2. Joy Stones,
Stow, Kyra Hayn, Cuyahoga Falls, Jack Hickey and Daniel
Flanagan, Canton.
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Bernstein is
a free-lance writer in Solon.
To reach Harvey Bernstein:
hjb19@adelphia.net