Harvey Bernstein's Plain Dealer Bridge Column

First Published on April 15, 2006

(E-Mailed on February 18, 2017)


Playing matchpoint duplicate, South had to decide how to bid his three-loser hand. A lot depends on methods, but starting with one club is probably right with a three suited hand. West made a very nice Michael's Cue Bid. This bid shows five cards in each major suit and near opening values.

East could have bid two spades but for some reason decided to make a preemptive call of four spades. South, with nothing else to say, doubled in an attempt to show his partner that he had a good hand. Good defense will defeat four spades two or three tricks, but this will score well below a vulnerable game or slam contract.

North has little defense and shows this by bidding five clubs. This is passed around to West who takes advantage of the vulnerability to bid five spades. If five clubs can make, the score for North-South will be plus six hundred. Beating five spades, doubled, is only plus five hundred. Of course, how many pairs will get to the vulnerable game?

South must decide whether to double or bid further. North must have four or five clubs for his bid, so South elects to bid the small slam. West opens his singleton diamond, won by South. When trumps fall two-two, all thirteen tricks are easy, scoring plus 1390 for a top board. Most of the North-South pairs were defending, scoring 100 or 300. One other pair played in five clubs.

Diane Peltz of Solon traveled to the Central States Regional Bridge Tournament at Lake Geneva, WI on March 8th and joined three players at the partnership desk who needed a fourth for a team in the Bracketed Knock Out Teams. They played in Bracket 2 and came in first earning Peltz more than enough gold points to become a life master.

The Buffalo Regional Bridge Tournament was held at Grand Island, NY, last month. Jan Assini of Aurora and Richard Early of Cuyahoga Falls were on a team that won the Flight A Knock Out Teams on March 9th. Julia Allen of Willoughby was on the team that was first in Stratum A of the Stratified Swiss Teams on March 9th. Sharon Fairchild of Rocky River was a member of the team that won Bracket 1 of the Compact Knock Out Teams on March 10th.
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Bernstein is a free-lance writer in Solon. To reach Harvey Bernstein: hjb0416@yahoo.com

Past eMailed Columns

Column Date Date Emailed
March 26, 2004October 22, 2019
March 18, 2001October 19, 2019
September 11, 1994October 15, 2019
March 3, 1996October 12, 2019
April 26, 1998October 8, 2019
December 9, 2005October 5, 2019
October 21, 2005October 1, 2019
April 2, 2004September 28, 2019
October 11, 1992September 24, 2019
June 3, 2005September 21, 2019
November 15, 2002September 17, 2019
September 17, 1995September 14, 2019
June 23, 1996September 10, 2019
July 8, 2006September 7, 2019
May 5, 1996September 3, 2019
March 28, 2003August 31, 2019
June 17, 2006August 27, 2019
January 22, 1995August 24, 2019
October 17, 2003August 20, 2019
December 19, 1993August 17, 2019
September 15, 1996August 13, 2019
November 5, 2004August 10, 2019
September 6, 2002August 6, 2019
December 27, 2002August 3, 2019
July 23, 2004July 30, 2019
August 6, 2000July 27, 2019
May 12, 2007July 23, 2019
November 25, 2006July 20, 2019
January 1, 1995July 16, 2019
November 27, 2008July 13, 2019
June 24, 2006July 9, 2019
June 7, 2010July 6, 2019
June 7, 2010July 6, 2019
April 14, 1996July 2, 2019
November 18, 2006June 29, 2019
May 27, 2005June 25, 2019
December 22, 2007June 22, 2019
September 16, 2006June 18, 2019
February 9, 1997June 15, 2019
December 25, 1994June 11, 2019
February 13, 2000June 8, 2019
December 16, 2005June 4, 2019
November 5, 1995June 1, 2019
January 3, 1999May 28, 2019
September 2, 2006May 25, 2019
May 28, 2004May 21, 2019
December 3, 2000May 18, 2019
February 13, 2004May 14, 2019
June 5, 1994May 11, 2019
November 15, 1992May 7, 2019
October 22, 2004May 4, 2019
August 30, 1992April 30, 2019
August 26, 2005April 27, 2019
September 30, 2006April 23, 2019
April 12, 2002April 20, 2019
June 30, 2010April 16, 2019
June 30, 2010April 16, 2019
February 7, 2003April 13, 2019
January 27, 2007April 9, 2019
April 17, 1994April 6, 2019
June 9, 1996April 2, 2019
January 17, 2003March 30, 2019
March 4, 2006March 26, 2019
May 6, 2005March 23, 2019
April 22, 2001March 19, 2019
August 12, 2005March 16, 2019
April 10, 1994March 12, 2019
September 24, 2000March 9, 2019
November 29, 1992March 5, 2019
June 18, 2004March 2, 2019
May 7, 2004February 26, 2019
March 17, 1996February 23, 2019
August 6, 1995February 19, 2019
May 2, 2015February 16, 2019
April 30, 2004February 12, 2019
December 12, 2003February 9, 2019
March 26, 1995February 5, 2019
September 2, 2005February 2, 2019
December 8, 1996January 29, 2019
June 3, 2001January 26, 2019
June 26, 2010January 22, 2019
June 26, 2010January 22, 2019
February 18, 2010January 19, 2019
February 18, 2010January 19, 2019
May 19, 1996January 15, 2019
March 14, 1999January 12, 2019
March 17, 2007January 8, 2019
April 13, 2010January 5, 2019
April 13, 2010January 5, 2019
August 20, 2004January 1, 2019
February 25, 2001December 29, 2018
December 16, 2006December 25, 2018
May 26, 1996December 22, 2018
June 27, 2010December 18, 2018
June 27, 2010December 18, 2018
July 22, 2001December 15, 2018
May 16, 2003December 11, 2018
October 7, 2008December 8, 2018
November 12, 2000December 4, 2018
October 31, 2003December 1, 2018
May 12, 1996November 27, 2018
April 2, 1995November 24, 2018
December 1, 2013November 20, 2018
October 10, 2009November 17, 2018
July 5, 2002November 13, 2018
February 28, 2003November 10, 2018
September 10, 2004November 6, 2018
May 10, 2002November 3, 2018
April 21, 2007October 30, 2018
December 23, 2005October 27, 2018
May 9, 2003October 23, 2018
October 11, 1998October 20, 2018
May 6, 2001October 16, 2018
February 1, 1998October 13, 2018
March 25, 2006October 9, 2018
October 2, 1994October 6, 2018
March 11, 2001October 2, 2018
August 16, 2002September 29, 2018
December 26, 2003September 25, 2018
November 7, 2003September 22, 2018
April 8, 2001September 18, 2018
August 25, 1996September 15, 2018
April 25, 1999September 11, 2018
September 8, 1996September 8, 2018
February 4, 2005September 4, 2018
May 31, 2002September 1, 2018
December 27, 1992August 28, 2018
November 8, 1998August 25, 2018
October 27, 1996August 21, 2018
October 30, 1994August 18, 2018
June 4, 1995August 14, 2018
August 5, 2001August 11, 2018
January 16, 2000August 7, 2018
January 19, 2008July 31, 2018
January 30, 2000July 28, 2018
August 13, 1995July 24, 2018
March 24, 1996July 21, 2018
July 14, 1996July 17, 2018
January 16, 2004July 14, 2018
February 6, 2004July 10, 2018
November 29, 2002July 7, 2018
December 30, 2005July 3, 2018
March 24, 2009June 30, 2018
January 10, 1999June 26, 2018
June 4, 2004June 23, 2018
April 25, 2003June 19, 2018
December 6, 2002June 16, 2018
June 24, 2001June 12, 2018
February 21, 2003June 9, 2018
March 14, 2003June 5, 2018
October 22, 2000June 2, 2018
August 8, 2008May 29, 2018
January 8, 1995May 19, 2018
July 7, 1996May 15, 2018
April 22, 2010May 12, 2018
April 22, 2010May 12, 2018
April 21, 2010May 12, 2018
April 21, 2010May 12, 2018
February 28, 1999May 5, 2018
August 10, 2015May 1, 2018
March 17, 2010May 1, 2018
March 17, 2010May 1, 2018
February 22, 1998April 24, 2018
March 22, 2002April 21, 2018
March 19, 1995April 17, 2018
December 27, 1998April 14, 2018
October 6, 1996April 10, 2018
February 25, 2005April 7, 2018
April 14, 2007April 3, 2018
December 13, 1992March 27, 2018
July 21, 2010March 24, 2018
July 21, 2010March 24, 2018
April 29, 2009March 20, 2018
June 9, 2007March 20, 2018
July 3, 1994March 13, 2018
April 28, 1996March 13, 2018
April 7, 1996March 6, 2018
December 5, 1993March 3, 2018
January 17, 1999February 27, 2018
February 14, 2003February 24, 2018
April 20, 1997February 20, 2018
December 29, 1996February 17, 2018
November 28, 2003February 13, 2018
May 24, 2002February 10, 2018
April 29, 2005February 6, 2018
July 19, 2002February 3, 2018
July 10, 1994January 27, 2018
April 15, 2001January 23, 2018
September 25, 1994January 20, 2018
October 8, 2000January 16, 2018
October 21, 2001January 9, 2018
September 18, 1994January 2, 2018
February 20, 2000December 30, 2017
June 25, 2004December 30, 2017
December 30, 2001December 26, 2017
January 28, 2005September 26, 2017
February 24, 2007September 23, 2017
June 11, 1995September 19, 2017
February 4, 2006September 16, 2017
February 4, 2001September 12, 2017
March 30, 2010September 9, 2017
January 23, 2004September 5, 2017
January 28, 2001September 2, 2017
August 19, 2001August 29, 2017
December 2, 2001August 26, 2017
September 27, 2002August 22, 2017
December 28, 1997August 22, 2017
January 2, 2004August 19, 2017
July 8, 2005August 15, 2017
September 9, 2006August 12, 2017
July 7, 2007August 8, 2017
October 7, 2001August 5, 2017
October 17, 1993August 1, 2017
February 27, 2004July 29, 2017
January 13, 2007July 25, 2017
March 15, 2002July 22, 2017
February 18, 2006July 18, 2017
June 18, 1995July 15, 2017
February 7, 1999July 11, 2017
November 1, 1992July 8, 2017
March 29, 2010July 4, 2017
February 22, 2002July 1, 2017
February 27, 1994June 27, 2017
December 5, 2003June 24, 2017
April 29, 2001June 20, 2017
February 11, 2001June 17, 2017
June 17, 2001June 13, 2017
August 28, 1994June 10, 2017
May 4, 2015June 6, 2017
October 8, 2004May 30, 2017
July 30, 2000May 27, 2017
October 28, 2008May 23, 2017
June 14, 2002May 20, 2017
March 5, 2004May 16, 2017
July 30, 2004May 13, 2017
March 7, 1999May 9, 2017
September 6, 1998May 6, 2017
June 11, 2004May 2, 2017
October 5, 1997April 29, 2017
April 26, 2009April 29, 2017
September 1, 2007April 25, 2017
January 6, 2007April 22, 2017
March 12, 2000April 18, 2017
August 2, 2002April 15, 2017
May 14, 2000April 11, 2017
December 10, 1995April 8, 2017
March 9, 1997April 8, 2017
January 12, 1997April 8, 2017
July 17, 1994April 4, 2017
April 22, 2005April 1, 2017
July 29, 2006March 28, 2017
March 29, 2010March 25, 2017
May 30, 2003March 21, 2017
July 15, 2006March 18, 2017
December 10, 2004March 14, 2017
February 11, 2005March 11, 2017
September 8, 2007March 7, 2017
October 7, 2005March 4, 2017
July 2, 2000February 28, 2017
October 29, 2004February 25, 2017
October 4, 1998February 21, 2017
April 15, 2006February 18, 2017
March 18, 2005February 14, 2017
September 3, 1995February 11, 2017
June 25, 2000February 7, 2017
November 12, 2004February 4, 2017
January 11, 2002January 31, 2017
October 4, 2002January 28, 2017
July 9, 2000January 24, 2017
December 14, 1997January 24, 2017
May 28, 2000January 21, 2017
December 20, 1992January 17, 2017
October 10, 1993January 14, 2017
September 20, 1998January 10, 2017
December 7, 1997January 10, 2017
September 19, 2003January 7, 2017
April 4, 1999January 3, 2017
October 13, 2007December 31, 2016
May 20, 2001December 27, 2016
November 11, 2006December 24, 2016
February 2, 2008December 20, 2016
July 23, 1995December 17, 2016
April 1, 2006December 13, 2016
May 20, 2005December 10, 2016
May 7, 2000December 6, 2016
January 31, 2009December 3, 2016
September 5, 2003November 29, 2016
February 18, 2001November 26, 2016
October 31, 1993November 22, 2016
October 15, 1995November 19, 2016
July 2, 2004November 15, 2016
August 4, 2007November 12, 2016
May 21, 1995November 8, 2016
August 19, 2005November 5, 2016
August 5, 2005November 1, 2016
February 17, 2007October 29, 2016
May 22, 2012October 25, 2016
September 30, 2005October 22, 2016
December 6, 1998October 18, 2016
March 19, 2008October 15, 2016
March 3, 2007October 11, 2016
February 1, 2015October 8, 2016
April 3, 1994October 4, 2016
June 17, 2005October 1, 2016
August 27, 1995September 27, 2016
January 28, 2010September 24, 2016
October 14, 2005September 20, 2016
May 13, 2001September 17, 2016
May 5, 2015September 13, 2016
January 26, 2010September 10, 2016
October 25, 2002September 6, 2016
September 2, 2001September 3, 2016
February 3, 2015August 30, 2016
April 27, 1997August 23, 2016
April 26, 2002August 23, 2016
January 19, 1997August 23, 2016
October 29, 1995August 20, 2016
June 12, 1994August 16, 2016
July 9, 2008August 13, 2016
February 12, 1995August 9, 2016
October 15, 2004August 6, 2016
September 12, 2003August 2, 2016
July 29, 2005July 30, 2016
October 24, 1993July 26, 2016
October 10, 2003July 23, 2016
September 16, 2005July 19, 2016
December 13, 2002July 16, 2016
April 18, 2003July 12, 2016
January 2, 2000July 9, 2016
June 28, 2002July 5, 2016
October 25, 1998July 2, 2016
September 27, 1998July 2, 2016
May 13, 2006June 29, 2016
July 2, 2010June 28, 2016
February 19, 1995June 28, 2016
November 25, 2001June 25, 2016
February 9, 2010June 21, 2016
April 29, 2006June 18, 2016
September 9, 2001June 14, 2016
June 4, 2000June 11, 2016
November 18, 2001June 11, 2016
January 30, 2004June 7, 2016
March 28, 1999June 7, 2016
May 20, 2006May 21, 2016
August 19, 2006May 21, 2016
August 20, 2000May 17, 2016
March 12, 1995May 14, 2016
February 11, 2006May 10, 2016
August 30, 1998May 7, 2016
September 11, 2010May 3, 2016
March 8, 2002April 30, 2016
August 27, 2000April 26, 2016
May 16, 2008April 23, 2016
December 21, 1997April 19, 2016
December 2, 2005April 19, 2016
April 18, 1999April 19, 2016
February 15, 1998April 19, 2016
July 29, 2001April 19, 2016
April 13, 1997April 19, 2016
April 1, 2014April 16, 2016
November 4, 2001April 12, 2016
September 13, 2002April 9, 2016
March 19, 2000April 2, 2016
March 1, 1998March 29, 2016
March 24, 2007March 26, 2016
December 6, 1992March 22, 2016
September 16, 2001March 19, 2016
October 14, 2006March 15, 2016
March 21, 2003March 12, 2016
April 9, 2004March 8, 2016
November 5, 2000March 5, 2016
July 22, 2005March 1, 2016
July 14, 2007February 27, 2016
October 18, 1992February 23, 2016
July 9, 1995February 20, 2016
May 3, 2015February 16, 2016
September 11, 2010February 13, 2016
September 10, 1995February 9, 2016
January 24, 1999February 6, 2016
August 6, 2004February 2, 2016
May 7, 1995January 30, 2016
December 17, 2004January 26, 2016
July 16, 2000January 23, 2016
May 6, 2006January 19, 2016
November 1, 2002January 16, 2016
December 1, 2007January 9, 2016
September 3, 2000January 5, 2016
June 25, 1995January 2, 2016
May 19, 2007December 29, 2015
October 28, 2006December 28, 2015
November 17, 2007December 27, 2015
May 26, 2014December 26, 2015
April 30, 2000December 25, 2015
October 9, 1994December 24, 2015
November 27, 1994December 31, 1969