The bidding was straight-forward and declarer was very pleased when he saw the dummy and the opening lead. The six of diamonds went to the three, queen and ace. Trumps were drawn in three rounds ending in dummy. Declarer called for the four of diamonds. East played the two, declarer played the king and West discarded the seven of spades.
From trick one declarer knew that he would have to lose a club trick. Now, it appeared that in spite of the seemingly advantageous opening lead, a diamond would have to be lost as well.
If he stops to think about it, all declarer has to do to make his slam is to find West with the jack of clubs. And the odds are in his favor. West has shown up with a singleton heart and a singleton diamond, leaving him with eleven black cards.
Here is the plan: Lead the queen of clubs and let it ride. If West covers, duck in dummy. If West plays low, play low from dummy. In other words, try to lose this trick. If it wins there is no club loser and the slam makes. As the cards lie, West plays the king and is allowed to hold the trick.
West will probably lead a spade at this point. Declarer should Win the spade in the South hand with the ace and lead the four of clubs. When West plays low, insert the ten from dummy. This allows you to play the the ace of clubs and discard the seven of diamonds.
Once declarer knows that the diamond situation is bad, he should be willing to risk going down an extra trick if that risk could allow him to make his contract.
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. Other results appeared last week.
July 19.
Wayne Heritage of North Olmsted and Robert Dykes of Lakewood were members of the team that finished second in bracket six of the compact knock out teams. Moskowitz and Goulder were members of a team that finished second in bracket eight of the same event.
Hao Ge of Cleveland was a member of the team that finished second in bracket two of the knock out teams. Harriet Kitay of Solon, Ronna Rosenthal of Chagrin Falls, Diane Wasserman of University Heights, and Charlotte Friedman of Lyndhurst finished second in bracket four of the same event.
Dee Kursh of Shaker Heights and Judi Rosenthal of Pepper Pike were sixth in the one session 49er pairs.
Josh Levy and Jan Miyake of Oberlin were members of the team that finished in a tie for third in the late night knock out teams.
July 20.
Dee Kursh of Shaker Heights and Judi Rosenthal of Pepper Pike were fifth in the one session morning 99er pairs.
Victor Vertes of Cleveland, Marlene Zinamon of Beachwood, and Molly Fainer of University Heights were members of the team that finished in a tie for third in the late night knock out teams.
July 21.
Ken and Laurie Kranyak of Bay Village and Don and Kathy Sulgrove of Twinsburg finished third in the national mixed board- a-match teams.
Alex McCrea of Shaker Heights was a member of the team that finished third in bracket five of the knock out teams.
Nicholas Ogan of Moreland Hills and Chantal Whitney of Shaker Heights finished second in Stratum C of the two session senior pairs.
Victor Vertes of Cleveland and Marlene Zinamon of Beachwood were members of the team that finished second in the late night knock out teams.
July 22.
Hope Ellis of Beachwood and Rosalyn Sukenik of Cleveland were third in Stratum B of the two session open pairs.
Joan Ann Waletzky of Beachwood and her partner finished fifth in Stratum B in the afternoon side game. Waletzky was also a member of the team that finished first in Stratum C in the evening Swiss Teams.
July 23.
Ken Kranyak of Bay Village was a member of the team that finished in a tie for 17th in the Spingold master knock out teams.
Joan Ann Waletzky of Beachwood was a member of the team that
finished fifth in Stratum B in the stratified Swiss Teams.
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Bernstein is
a free-lance writer in Solon.
To reach Harvey Bernstein:
hjb0416@yahoo.com