Thanks to Steve Vrooman of Beachwood for this exciting hand from a matchpoint duplicate event. Mort Pierce of Chagrin Falls held the South cards and found himself the declarer in an optimistic grand slam.
With twelve top tricks, the only hope for the thirteenth trick was to find the queen-jack of hearts and the queen-jack of clubs in the same hand. If that was the case, that defender would not be able to keep enough cards in each of those suits to stop declarer from making his contract.
Pierce started out by taking three rounds of spades and then four rounds of diamonds. With the lead in dummy, he called for the fifth diamond and watched as West felt the pressure. Here was the position:
East played the six of hearts. Pierce played the eight of clubs and West, hoping that his partner held the ten of hearts, let go of the three. Pierce called for the king of hearts. This was followed by a club to the king. When the queen of hearts fell under the ace, the ten of hearts became the thirteenth trick.
The odds were certainly against this contract, but the declarer's task is to play each hand as best that he can. If the cards behave, he will have earned his reward.
District Five of the American Contract Bridge League held the All-American Regional Bridge Tournament in Independence on May 22 - 28. The following players were successful in their respective events on May 26. Other results were listed in previous columns, more will appear later.
Two Session Open Pairs (82 pairs). 1. Stratum A. Marc Rabinowitz, Hudson, and Bernard Fudor, Murrysville, PA. Tied for 2/3. Martin Baff, Beachwood, and Stan Dub, Shaker Heights, with Sandra and Richard Fleischman, Beachwood. Stratum B. 1. Nancy Brown, Silver Lake, and William Riley, Akron. 2. Karl Zaman and Joanne Schumacher, Strongsville. Stratum C. 1. Michael Furlan, Euclid, and Joseph Kalk, Beachwood. 2. Charles Wen, Strongsville, and Sam Den, Mentor.
Evening Swiss Teams (12 teams). Stratum A. 1. Lloyd Loux, Westlake, Robert Sulgrove, Spring Valley, Richard Rudolph, Westerville, Jim Bachelder and George St. Pierre, Columbus. 2. Frank Scali, North Ridgeville, James Novak, Solon, Joan Ann Waletzky, Beachwood, John Cahill, Chagrin Falls, and Sylvia Barsotti, Hendersonville, NC. Stratum B. 1. Scali, Novak, Waletzky, Cahill, and Barsotti. 2. Kathleen Sevcik, Olmsted Falls, Rick La Manna, Stow, David and Lucy Poeppelman, Ottawa. Stratum C. 1. Sevcik, La Manna, and the Poeppelman's. 2. Murray and Marilyn Edelman, Beachwood, Roy Larson, Wadsworth, and James Pivarski Jr, Munroe Falls.
Afternoon Side Game (36 pairs). Stratum A. 1. John Arblaster and Mary-Ellen Barlow, Niagara on the Lake, Ontario, Canade. 2. Donald Rop, Chagrin Falls, and Edia Shai, University Heights. Stratum B. 1. Elisabeth Alexander, Chagrin Falls, and Mary Fant, Chesterland. 2. Shirley Lundstrom, Cuyahoga Falls, and Barbara Schidlowski, Kent. Stratum C. 1. Alexander and Fant. 2. Janice Smith and Doris Hess, Beaver Falls, PA.
Evening Side Game (27 pairs) Stratum A. 1. Harold Feldheim, Hamden, CT, and Chris Karabinas, Tucson, AZ. 2. Gail Hastings, Verona, PA,and Louis Joseph, Pittsburgh. Stratum B. 1. Linda and James Stahl, Chagrin Falls. 2. Rosemary Kleis, Solon, and Raelene Kirkbride, Rock Hill, SC. Stratum C. 1. The Stahls. 2. Candice Misenheimer and Nancy Moore, Columbus.
Afternoon 299er Pairs (16pairs). Stratum A. 1. Marian Heiser, Pepper Pike, and Nancy Fingerhut, Cleveland. 2. Jack Blaine and D. Abraham, Windsor, Ontarion, Canada. Stratum B. 1. Blaine and Abraham. 2. David and Lucy Poeppelman, Ottawa. Stratum C. 1. Lisa O'Brien, Waite Hill, and Skip Watts, Cleveland. 2. Larry Combs, Chagrin Falls, and David Ruckman, Gates Mills.
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Bernstein is
a free-lance writer in Solon. To reach Harvey Bernstein: hjb0416@yahoo.com