The opening lead was the queen of clubs. Declarer could count ten top tricks and a small club could be trumped in the dummy for number eleven. So far as he could see, the contract could be made if only one of two finesses worked. When the king of diamonds and the queen of hearts both proved to be off side, the contract was down one trick.
North said "Bad luck, the slam was 75% , you have to be there." In fact, the slam was 100% with proper play. After winning the first club trick, declarer should draw trumps in two rounds, cash a second high club, cross to the closed hand with a spade, and trump his last club in the dummy. This is the end position:
Declarer leads a small heart and covers whatever card East plays. As the cards lie, this play creates a third heart trick immediately if East plays low. If East plays the ten or queen, declarer wins and returns the nine of hearts to East, establishing two heart tricks in dummy.
If West were to win the ten of hearts, any return would allow declarer to score his twelfth trick. This play is a "partial elimination" and occurs much more often than you would suspect. When your contract appears to depend on a finesse, look more carefully before deciding how you are going to proceed.
Unit 125 of the American Contract Bridge League hosted the Silver Bowl Sectional Bridge Tournament from August 13-15 in Solon. Congratulations to the following players who were successful in their respective events on August 14th. Other results were listed last week, more will appear next week.
Two Session Flight A Pairs (39 pairs). Stratum A1. 1. Don and Kathleen Sulgrove, Twinsburg. 2. Bernard Olmstead, Warren, and Lynn Rafferty, Columbiana. Stratum A2. 1. Dan Roseberry, Dover, and Jim Overcasher, East Canton. 2. Helen Radigan, Mentor, and Susan Conrad, Madison.
Morning Flight B Pairs (38 pairs). 1. Catherine and Kermit Wolford, Aurora. 2. Diane Wasserman, University Heights, and Hope Ellis, Beachwood.
Afternoon Flight B Pairs (32 pairs). 1. Peter Miller, Shaker Heights, and Molly Fainer, University Heights. 2. Donald and Helen Brock, Cuyahoga Falls.
Morning Flight C Pairs (26 pairs). 1. Ronald Bakeman and Charles Wen, Strongsville. 2. Angela Strainic, Mentor, and Lesley Green, Lakewood.
Afternoon Flight C Pairs (16 pairs). 1. Joseph Vrh, Strongsville, and John Veldhuizen, Bay Village. 2. Doug Henderson, Cleveland, and Tom McGuire, Guysville.
Morning 299er Pairs (20 pairs). Stratum A. 1. Joan Kearns, Stow, and Joseph Landry, Vineland. 2. Pamela Jones, Shaker Heights, and Jean Sulzberger, Aurora. Stratum B. 1. Murray and Marilyn Edelman, Beachwood. 2. Linda Kendall, Pepper Pike, and Sandy Babbush, Cleveland. Stratum C. 1. Albert and Elizabeth Koontz, Sagamore Hills. 2. Thomas Wancheck, Akron, and Glenn Brown, Chagrin Falls.
Afternoon 299er Pairs (17 pairs). Stratum A & B. 1. Kathy
Kovacs, Westlake, and Elayne Rupert, Parma. 2. Ildiko Baxter,
Cleveland Heights, and Marilyn Doman, Chagrin Falls. Stratum C.
1. Baxter and Doman. 2. Vi Mills and Jean Perko, Solon.
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Bernstein is
a free-lance writer in Solon.