If you were holding the South hand you probably would not want to hear your partner open the bidding with one club. I have a rule for responding in this situation: When I have only one or two cards in the minor suit that my partner has opened, I will stretch to great lengths to make a bid. Partner may have opened a three card suit and unless I have a few of his suit, I would like to give him a chance to bid again. Often, the opponents will bail me out. After all, the points have to be somewhere.
After the one spade bid, two diamonds is a "reverse" showing a strong hand with a real club suit. Two spades does nothing more than show at least five spades. Three clubs is not forcing and shows a six card club suit. South should pass. At the table that I was watching, South did not want to put his hand on the table as the dummy, and he attempted to buy the contract by bidding three spades. No such luck. North felt, rightfully so, that if his partner could bid spades three times, his doubleton would justify bidding the spade game.
Here is another tip. If you are on lead against a contract reached in this fashion, lead a trump. The last thing that you want to see is declarer trumping losers in the dummy. Here, West had a problem. He felt that leading away from his spade holding would give up too much. He was wrong.
The four of clubs was placed on the table. Declarer won the ace and cashed the king, discarding a heart. A heart to the ace allowed him the trump a heart with the spade four. Next came the ace and king of diamonds. From the cards that fell he decided that West started with three or four clubs, so he called for a small club from dummy.
East had a chance to be a hero. If he trumps with the king of spades his partner will be able to score all three of his spades for down one. Unwilling to take a chance, he trumped with the five of spades. Declarer overtrumped and led his last heart, trumping with the jack of spades.
Declarer had won the first eight tricks and had five spades left in his hand. He called for another club from the dummy. Once again, all East has to do is trump with the king of spades, but this time he discarded a diamond and declarer trumped for his ninth trick. A small spade went to the nine and king but the defense could only score two more tricks. Plus 620 was a top score as a potential disaster became a triumph.
The All-American Regional Bridge Tournament was held in Independence from May 24 to 30. Congratulations to the following players who were successful in their respective events on May 27. Other results appeared previously and more will be listed in future columns.
Two session stratified Swiss teams (39 teams). Stratum A. 1. Jan Assini, Aurora, Bernard Fudor, Murrysville, PA, Warren Oberfield and Ernie Retetagos, Pittsburgh. Tied for 2/3. Martin Baff, Beachwood, Roger Titkin, Lakewood, Don and Kathleen Sulgrove, Twinsburg, with Christine Urbanek, Tonawanda, NY, Jay Costello, East Amherst, NY, Joan Rose and Margaret Klamp, Buffalo, NY. Stratum B. 1. James Breckel, Medina, Robert Dykes, Lakewood, Wayne Heritage, North Olmsted, Roger Sokol, Minooka, IL, and Bruce Sokol, Saint Joseph, MI. 2. Dora Rump and Susan Bussan, Cuyahoga Falls, Allen Beroza and John Kirsits, East Amherst, NY. Stratum C. 1. Rump, Bussan, Beroza, and Kirsits. 2. Elizabeth Drake, Powell, John Reger, Sirley Orth, and Merrilee Miller, Columbus.
Afternoon side game (26 pairs). Stratum A. 1. March Shenker and Marjorie Kollister, Painesville. 2. Edia Shai, University Heights, and Jack Knudson, Solon. Stratum B. 1. Shenker and Kollister. 2. Boots Frey and George Manos, Canton. Stratum C. 1. Glenn Brown, Chagrin Falls, and Thomas Wanchek, Akron. 2. Barbara Kusner, Orange Village, and Judy Solganik, Shaker Heights.
Evening side game (31 pairs). Statum A. 1. Judi Sonon, Pittsburgh, and Cecilia Powell, Monroeville, PA. 2. Barbara Belardi, Pittsburgh, and Sarah Soster, Murrysville, PA. Stratum B. 1. George and Helen Van Amburg, Dewitt, MI. 2. Joseph Radvansky, Marblehead, and Dotty Warrick, Port Clinton. Stratum C. 1. The Van Amburgs. 2. Dolores Staycer, Bedford, and Rouann Garling, Independence.
Afternoon non life master pairs (23 pairs). 1. Joan Wittenberg, Pepper Pike, and Lynda Gillanov, Boca Raton, FL. 2. Laura Ross, Solon, and Fleur Howard, Gates Mills.
Evening non life master pairs (12 pairs). 1. Sue Pisanelli,
Parma, and Ildiko Baxter, Cleveland Heights. 2. Nancy Schreck,
Solon, and Joanne Stoddard, Sagamore Hills.
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Bernstein is
a free-lance writer in Solon.
To reach Harvey Bernstein:
hjb19@adelphia.net