Declarer called for a small diamond when West played the ace. East played the queen and South followed with the two. West switched to the ace of spades and there was no way to stop declarer from making ten tricks for a great score of +710.
West asked his partner, "What should I have done?" East replied, "Did you understand the play of the queen of diamonds?" "I thought you wanted me to lead the higher non-trump suit."
East told his partner that playing the queen in this type of situation is an accepted standard play asking partner to underlead at trick two so that the defense can come from the other side of the table. So East is promising that he has the jack or will be able to trump the continuation. Had East gained the lead at trick two, he would have returned a club. If declarer tries to let this ride to the dummy, West will win the king and play a second club. Declarer will lose two diamonds, a club and two hearts. If declarer rises with the ace of clubs, he will save one trick but will still be defeated.
This does not come up very often and the partnership has to be on the same page and have a great deal of trust in each other, but leading a small diamond at trick two would have made a difference of at least 900 points. Discuss this with your partner so you will recognize the situation when it comes up.
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 29. Other results appeared in previous columns.
Morning Swiss Teams (14 teams). Stratum A. 1. Mickey Vastine, Bay Village, James Reeve, North Royalton, Ronald Kral, Reston, VA, and Jay Costello, East Amherst, NY. 2. Richard Mydloski, Taylor, MI, Mark Leonard, Ypsilanti, MI, Edward White, Grand Blanc, MI, Phil Leon, Grosse Pointe, MI, and Dwight Bender, London, Ontario, Canada. Stratum B. 1. Kathy Stanford, Leesburg, FL, Dian Petrov, Buffalo, NY, Anita and Carl Gutschick, Arnold, MD. 2. Barbara Kotton, Beachwood, Chantal Whitney, Shaker Heights, Jean Joseph, Cleveland, and Kermit Wolford, Aurora.
Overall Afternoon Side Pairs Standings (18 pairs). 1. Rosalyn Sukenik, Cleveland. 2. Judith Sturman, Cleveland.
Overall Evening Side Pairs Standings (94 pairs). 1/2. Louis Joseph, Pittsburgh, and Gail Hastings, Verona, PA.
Flight A Swiss Teams (26 teams). Stratum A1. 1. Kenneth and Laurie Kranyak, Bay Village, with Don and Kathleen Sulgrove, Twinsburg. 2. Richard Mydloski, Taylor, MI, Mark Leonard, Ypsilanti, MI, Barry Lippitt, Southfield, MI, Robert Cappelli, Bloomfield, MI. Stratum A2. 1. Constance Hoechstetter, Coraopolis, PA, Robert Quinlan, Pittsburgh, Janine Bibb and Peter Petruzzellis, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 2. George Cotterman, Barnesville, Dan Roseberry, Dover, Fred Schenker and Frances Prus, Pittsburgh.
Bracketed Swiss Teams. Bracket 1 (8 teams). 1. Hope Ellis,
Beachwood, Diane Wasserman, University Heights, Terry Goldberg
and Rosalyn Sukenik, Cleveland. 2. William Lea Jr, Reynoldsburg,
Chet Mody, Greenville, PA, Steven and Barbara Grzegorzewski,
Meadville, PA. Bracket 2 (8 teams). 1. Henry Essig, Westlake,
Donald Barrick, Cleveland, Lia Staaf, Rocky River, and Donald
Southam, Brecksville. 2/3. Nestor Burkhart, Shaker Heights,
Jeannette Jenson, Independence, Mariellen White, Solon, and Patti
Pinkerton, Aurora, with Bill Ryan, Portage, David Albrecht, Ron
Woofter, and Bonnie Ross, Bowling Green. Bracket 3 (8 teams).
1. Kay Varga, North Olmsted, Barbara Zink, Olmsted Falls, Thomas
Ball, Lakewood, and M. Peterson, Chula Vista, CA. 2. Dian Petrov,
Buffalo, NY, Kathy Stanford, Leesburg, FL, Carl and Anita
Gutschick, Arnold, MD. Bracket 4 (8 teams). 1. Deborah Osborne,
Canton, P. Cox, New Philadelphia, Margot Dean and Muriel Maloney,
Dover. 2. Dilip and Smita Maniar, Richard Sweet, Mentor, and
Charlene Collins, Clewiston, FL. Bracket 5 (7 teams). 1. Thomas
and Janet Rice, Cleveland, with Linda and James Stahl, Chagrin
Falls. 2. Randall Rubinstein, New Haven, CT, Brian Beck, New
York, NY, Phillip Hydovitz, Pittsburgh, and Suzette Dutch,
Cincinnati.
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Bernstein is
a free-lance writer in Solon.
To reach Harvey Bernstein:
hjb0416@yahoo.com