The Bridge Today Digest Daily is an email subscription service offered by Bridge Today magazine. For $35 per year they will send you an email every Monday through Friday for 50 weeks of the year. That comes to an amazing 14 cents per issue. This hand was a recent offering and was written by Eddie Kantar.
Bring out the abacus, it's counting time again. You either count in this game or you lose. That's all there is to it. And don't let anyone tell you differently.
North's leap to four hearts, a splinter jump, showed a singleton heart with at least four spades and game going high card strength. East upped the ante by bidding five heearts, trying to take away any "Blackwood" ask, and South, figuring that most or all of the opponents' high-card strength was in hearts, decided to take the plunge.
West started with the ace of hearts and when that held, switched to the queen of diamonds. To make this contract, South had to get the clubs right. As there are several ways to play this suit, particularly if one opponent has a singleton honor, the idea is to get a count on the OTHER suits before attacking clubs.
South won the diamond shift with the ace, drew trumps in two rounds, cashed the diamond king and trumped a diamond, East showing out. Suddenly South had the count! He knew that West must have started with at least five hearts and had turned up with five diamonds and two spades, leaving him with at most, one club. 'Please let it be an honor." Thought South. The club king was played from dummy and when West produced the jack South's prayers were answered. He ran the nine of clubs through East to make the slam. It's almost like cheating.
Sign up for the Bridge Today Digest Daily by visiting their website at http://www.bridgetoday.com
District 5 of the American Contract Bridge League sponsored the All American Regional Bridge Tournament from May 24 to 31 in Independence. The following players were successful in their respective events on May 30. Other results where listed in previous columns, more will appear next week.
Morning Swiss Teams (17 teams). Stratum A. 1. Stephen Landen, Rochester Hills, MI, Larry Mori, Clearwater, FL, Rhonda Monro, Beverly Hills, MI, Edward White, Grand Blanc, MI, Dan Gerstman, Buffalo, NY. 2. Mark Leonard, Ypsilanti, MI, Rick Kaye, Bingham Farms, MI, Barry Lippitt and Robert Cappelli, Southfield, MI. Stratum B. 1. John Plunkett and Lynne Ostrow, Morgantown, WV, William Bedard and F. Plunkett, Bolivar, PA. 2/3. Henry Essig, Westlake, Dick Bell, Cleveland, Naresh Shah and William Collis, Lexington, KY, with Dave Anthony, East Liverpool, Susan Mulholland, Greenport, NY, Subramania Krishnamurthi, Naperville, IL, and Gene Owen, Columbus. Stratum C. 1. Anthony, Mulholland, Krishnamurthi, and Owen. 2. John Bernhard and Catherine Thompson, Pittsburgh, PA, Sandra Harris, South Park, PA, and Darlene Mannheimer, Carnegie, PA.
Morning Knockout Teams (9 teams). 1. Patrick Spooner, Brunswick, Mary and James Reeve, North Royalton, Albert Freeman and James Hunter, Cleveland. 2. Lawrence and Carol Wise, Chagrin Falls, Diane Peltz, Shaker Heights, and Terry Goulder, Solon.
Afternoon Side Game Series 1 (36 pairs). Stratum A. 1. Fred Eberlin, Cleveland, and Edia Shai, University Heights. 2. Donna and Charles Coleman, Youngstown. Stratum B. 1. Marilyn Riese and Jacqueline Sharp, Louisville, KY. 2. Kip and Janis Westmeyer, Perrysburg.
Afternoon Non Life Master Pairs (10 pairs). Stratum 1/2. John and Joan Ritz, Delaware, with Louis and Jean Bloomfield, Beachwood. Stratum B. 1. The Bloomfields. 2. Tom and Peg Eppele, Lakewood. Stratum C. 1. The Bloomfields. 2. Mary Jane and Henry Bohl Jr., Pittsburgh, PA.
Evening Side Game Series 2 (23 pairs). Stratum A. 1. Virginia Young, Hudson, and Mina Ronen, Akron. 2. Louis Joseph, Pittsburgh, PA, and Richard Zack, New Kensingtn, PA. Stratum B. 1. Lynn Nosse, Grafton, and Barbara Zink, Olmsted Falls. 2. Doris Mikstay, Canton, and Janice Smith, Barberton.
Flight A Pairs (46 pairs). Stratum A1. 1. Molly O'Neill, Laud-By-The-Sea, FL, and Dennis McGarry, Stuart, FL. 2. George Cotterman, Barnesville, and Kenneth Rexford, Mayfield Heights. Stratum A2. 1. Cotterman and Rexford. 2. Michael Abramson, Akron, and Patricia Young, Erie, PA.
Stratified Pairs (36 pairs). Stratum B. 1. Peter Miller,
Shaker Heights, and Molly Fainer, University Heigts. 2. James
Buford, Lorain, and Winnifred Wright, Cleveland. Stratum C. 1.
Buford and Wright. 2. Virginia Padvorac, Strongsville, and M.
Peterson, Chula Vista. Stratum D. 1. Buford and Wright. 2.
Steven Smith and Ronald Lew, Cleveland.
----
Bernstein is
a free-lance writer in Solon.