This hand does not present a problem for declarer. He is, however, playing duplicate bridge and with ten sure tricks, he would like to be able to play this hand for one or two overtricks.
West leads the six of spades. Declarer wins the king and cashes the ace and queen of hearts with both defenders following suit. The queen of spades comes next and West discards the three of diamonds. East says "No spades, partner?" West looks at the table again and takes the seven of spades out of his hand. The three of diamonds is now a penalty card.
Declarer was planning on playing a third heart at this point but the time has come to change the plan. If declarer plays the two of diamonds, West will have to play the three. He has no choice. If West holds the ace of diamonds, that card will have to be held and North's king will win the trick. When the king does win, Declarer cashes the ace of spades, discarding the queen of diamonds.
With the lead still in dummy, the ten of clubs is passed to Wests king. The ace of diamonds is led and declarer trumps. A heart to the king extracts the last outstanding trump. A club to the jack wins and the ace of clubs clears the suit.
Taking advantage of the penalty card results in two overtricks and a top score on the hand. Don't feel badly if you are able to take advantage of this type of situation. The rules have been established to ensure fair competition. Be flexible enough to recognize an opportunity when it occurs.
The Summer North American Bridge Championships were held in Chicago, IL from July 14 to July 24. Congratulations to all of the local area players who were successful in their respective events. Additional results will appear next week.
July 14.
Jan Assini and Peter Grover of Aurora were members of a team that finished fifth in the Evening Flight A Swiss Teams.
July 15.
Brian Ellis of Beachwood was a member of the team that finished third in the Evening Flight A Board-A-Match Teams.
John Bacon of Lakewood was a member of the team that finished second in the Flight B Grand National Teams.
Jan Assini and Peter Grover of Aurora were on the team that finished in a tie for third in the Flight A Grand National Teams.
July 16.
Kenneth Kranyak and his partner finished in 52nd place in the six session Life Master Pairs.
Paul Facinelli of Avon Lake, Bernie Greenspan of Beachwood, and Kathy Sulgrove of Twinsburg were members of the team that finished third in the one session Board-A-Match Teams.
Josh Levy and Jan Miyake of Oberlin were members of the team that finished in a tie for third in bracket nine of the bracketed knock out teams. Pamela Jones of Shaker Heights and Barbara Cunliffe of Cleveland were members of the team that tied for third in bracket twelve of the same event.
James Breckel of Medina and Robert Dykes of Lakewood were second in Stratum A of the afternoon side game. Rose Marie Cassmer of Macedonia and her partner were fifth in Stratum C of the same event.
Dorothy Piovano of Medina and Marge Sobey of Middleburg Heights were fourth in Stratum C of the evening side game.
July 18.
Josh Levy and Jan Miyake of Oberlin were members of the team that finished second in bracket three of the morning knock out teams. Peta Moskowitz of Cleveland and Terry Goulder of Solon were members of the team that finished second in bracket five of the same event.
Dorothy Piovano of Medina and Marge Sobey of Middleburg Heights were members of the team that finished in a tie for third in bracket seven of the bracketed knock out teams.
Levy and Miyake were members of the team that finished fifth in Stratum B in the evening Swiss Teams.
Lois Butler of Chagrin Falls and Dee Weisberg of Cleveland
were members of the team that finished second in the midnight
knock out teams.
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Bernstein is
a free-lance writer in Solon.
To reach Harvey Bernstein:
hjb0416@yahoo.com