After South opens two no trump, West makes a disruptive bid of three clubs. North's four club bid is known as "Cue Bid Stayman" asking South if he has a four card major suit. Four diamonds simply says no. Six no trump is a stretch, but North can justify his bid because of his five card heart suit.
West leads the queen of clubs and declarer must first count his tricks. He is sure of getting two spades, four hearts, one diamond, and two clubs for a total of nine. Hearts may provide a tenth trick, depending on how the ourstanding hearts divide and how they are played. That still leaves him two tricks short.
If the queen of spades falls doubleton, the jack of spades could be a trick, and finally, if East holds the king of diamonds two finesses will bring home two more tricks. The big problem is that there are just not enough entries to the dummy to do everything.
Once declarer decides that the diamond finess must be taken, it is correct to win the first trick in the North hand with the ace of clubs and lead a small diamond. East plays low and the jack wins with West discarding a small club.
The ace and king of spades come next but the queen does not fall. The queen of hearts wins the next trick and the jack of hearts is overtaken by the ace in dummy. When the king of heart is cashed with each opponent following suit, the last two hearts in the dummy become good tricks for declarer. His careful play has allowed him to win two spades, five hearts, three diamonds, and two clubs, for a total of twelve.
The hand was played nine times. Six pairs reached six no trump, but only two made the slam. Two pairs played in three no trump, both making five. One pair defended three clubs doubled and beat that contract three tricks for what turned out to be a good matchpoint score of +800.
District Five of the American Contract Bridge League held the All-American Regional Bridge Tournament in Independence on May 23 - 29. The following players were successful in their respective events on May 28. Other results appeared in previous columns, more well be listed in future columns.
Two Session Flight A Pairs (52 pairs). Stratum A1. 1. Phillip Becker, Beachwood, and Niel Waletzky, Shaker Heights. 2. Lynne Schaeffer, West Bloomfield, MI, and Martin Hirschman, Southfield, MI. Stratum A2. 1. Gary Montain, Westlake, and Donna Largent, Cleveland. 2. Tom and Gladys Martin, Hudson.
Two Session Stratified B/C/D Pairs (42 pairs). Stratum B. 1. Rebekah Clocker, Wadsworth, and Susan Bedall, Fairlawn. 2. H. Nelson, Zelienople, PA, and Alexander Bealles, Butler, PA. Stratum C. 1. Alan and Lynne Colker, Pittsburgh. 2. James Gray and Wayne Obitz, Indiana, PA. Stratum D. 1. The COlkers. 2. Elayne Rupert, Parma, and Robert Leibold, Brunswick.
Bracketed Knock Out Teams. Bracket A (12 teams). 1. Richard Mydloski, Taylo,r MI, Mark Leonard, Ypsilanti, MI, Robert Cappelli, Bloomfield, MI, Barry Lippitt, Southfield, MI. 2. Dale Beers, Boiling Springs, PA, Bruce Keidan, Pittsburgh, Harry Stratton and Kenneth Eichenbaum, Columbus. Bracket B (9 teams) 1. Michael Ryan, Buffalo, NY, Eugene Harvey, Lackawanna, NY, Judy Graf, Clarence, NY, Joanne Kelley, Fredonia, NY, John Ricotta, Hamburg, NY, and Brian Meyer, Cheektowaga, NY. 2. Joseph Radvansky, Marblehead, Dotty Warrick, Port Clinton, Thomas Stahl, Vermilion, and Richard Brown, Lakeside. Bracket C (13 teams) 1. Anita and Carl Gutschick, Arnold, MD, Dian Petrov, Buffalo, NY, and Kathy Stanford, Leesburg, FL. 2. James Pivarski Jr, Munroe Falls, Retha Lakins, Massillon, Susan Bussan, Cuyahoga Falls, James Coleman, Cuyahoga Falls.=
One Session Charity Pairs (34 pairs) Strata A & B. 1. Susan Stark, Cleveland, and Bernard Heyman, Shaker Heights. 2. Eva Lefton, Cleveland, and Harriet Adelstein, Chagrin Falls. Stratum C. 1. Marilyn Cagin, Cleveland, and Phyllis Levin, Moreland Hills. 2. Susan Hill, Rochester, NY, and Michele Griffin, Penfield, NY.
Afternoon Side Pairs (30 pairs). Stratum A. 1. Larry and Carolyn Long, Canton. 2. Barbara Bacon, Rocky River, and Roger Smith, Sacramento, CA. Stratum B. 1. Bacon and Smith. 2. Susan Stark, Cleveland, and Bernard Heyman, Shaker Heights. Stratum C. 1. Ildiko Baxter, Cleveland Heights, and Gunhild Alius, Shaker Heights. 2. Evelyn Charna and Paula Madvid, Orange Village.
Evening Side Pairs (22 pairs). 1. Jan Assini, Aurora, and
Sandra Fleischman, Beachwood. 2. Lloyd Loux, Westlake, and Jim
Bachelder, Columbus. Stratum B. 1. Arthur Beach and Nancy Moore,
Columbus. 2. Virginia Young, Hudson, and Chantal Whitney, Shaker
Heights. Stratum C. 1. Beach and Moore. 2. Linda and James
Stahl, Chagrin Falls.
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Bernstein is
a free-lance writer in Solon.
To reach Harvey Bernstein:
hjb0416@yahoo.com