Bridge News:

One of our players, Martin Cooper, became an ACBL Life Master playing in our local game. This is a special achievement that requires playing well over a considerable period of time. Our bridge club offers Martin our heartiest congratulations!

Here is a very competitive hand from our January 26 District 17 Sectional Tournament at Clubs Game. This is board #21. North is the dealer, and N/S are vulnerable.

North opens the bidding with 1♥. East has a sound overcall of 1♠. South has a nice heart raise to 2♥, over which West bids 2♠. At this point, both North and East pass and the auction can end there, but at many tables in a duplicate game South will find a raise to 3♥, even though vulnerable. If West then raises to 3♠, which is likely at this point, North will pass and East may well decide his/her hand is good enough to bid game. So it is possible to see a lot of 3♥, 4♥, 3♠ or 4♠ final bids.

When this hand was played locally, one pair played in 3♥ down 1, two pairs played in 4♥ down 2, a 4th pair played in 2♠ making 5, a 5th pair played in 3♠ making 5, and a 6th pair played in 4♠ making 5. Not a surprising set of results!

The Los Alamos Duplicate Bridge Club games are held starting at 12:45 p.m., Wednesdays at the Betty Ehart Senior Activity Center (BESAC) and at the White Rock Senior Activity Center (WRSAC) Mondays at 12:45. Duplicate lessons are given at the BESAC from 10 a.m. until noon, Friday when BESAC is open. Bridge players are welcome to participate. If you need a partner, please e-mail Bobby Haynes at rsh@valornet.com, or Jerry Fleming at peanutcat@aol.com.