BRIDGE News:

Bob and Laurie Walker were Monday winners in flights A and B. 

John Ruminer and Earle Marie Hanson were tops in Flight A on Wednesday, while Allyn Pratt and Spook Kellum were high in Flight B.

Preemptive hands are among the most interesting when it comes to making bidding decisions. 

The following is a good example.

This is Board #5.  North is the dealer, and N/S are vulnerable.

Many Norths will open with 4♥.  Assuming that happens, East and South will pass, and all eyes are on the West hand!  Some will pass, and get a low score when North makes his/her contract.  If West decides to bid, what to bid?  A takeout double will likely lead to a 5♦ bid by East, and that’s not what West wants to hear.  So the only sensible call is 4♠, which hits the jackpot!  If the auction ends there, E/W will make either four or five spades, depending on whether a diamond is led at trick 1 or 2.  While it’s unlikely to be bid, a 5♥ sacrifice bid works out well!

When this hand was played locally, two pairs played in 4♠/W making 5, one pair played in 5♠/W down 1, a 4th pair played in 4♠/W making 4, and two pairs played in 4♥/N, one making 5 and the other making 4.

Hello, fellow “game enthusiast”.  Are you interested in a game that will test both your mental acuity and your communication skills as you and a partner enter the field of intellectual combat? Then perhaps you’ve seen the historical card game “Bridge“ mentioned in a book or seen it being played in an old black-and-white movie on the Orient Express or by Gloria Swanson in “Sunset Boulevard.”  Bridge is not a game of the past, though, but is still played worldwide and by millions of Americans at least once a week, in venues ranging from competitive in-person tournaments with hundreds of players to casual play at home or on the internet.

Interested in Learning how to, RESUMING or playing Beginner Bridge? Contact Neill Goltz—641.236.1170, neill.goltz2@gmail.com—for further info, schedule, location confirmation, or any other questions!  The Los Alamos Duplicate Bridge Club games are held at the Betty Ehart Senior Activity Center (BESAC) at 12:45 p.m., Wednesdays, and at the White Rock Senior Activity Center (WRSAC) at 12:45 p.m., Mondays. We will continue to meet regularly on Saturday mornings from 10 a.m. to noon at the Mesa Top game store (next to Booomerang) on Central here in Los Alamos.

Here in Los Alamos and White Rock, our local club is ready to bring you on board with nighttime, after work or weekend FREE lessons and playing opportunities with other newcomers, resumers and beginners.