BRIDGE News:

In the May 11 Unit Championship game, Earle Marie Hanson and John Ruminer were 1st in Flight A, Jack Stafurik and Sam Borkowsky were 2nd, Jennifer Young and Steve Kemic tied with Bev Cooper and Jerry Fleming for 4th.  Alan Waddinger and Randy Baker were 1st in Flight B.

In the May 13 Grass Roots Fund game, Sig Lodwig and Jerry Morzinski were 1st in Flight A, Jennifer Young and Steve Kemic were 2nd and Ann-Marie Graves and Mary Courtright were 3rd. In Flight B, Allyn Pratt and Spook Kellum were 1st, and Alan Wadlinger and Randy Baker were 2nd.

The following is a very difficult hand for E/W to bid after N/S get the auction started. In all likelihood, N/S will win the auction without opposition from E/W, even though the HCP are fairly evenly distributed.

This is Board #3 from our May 13 game. South was the dealer, and E/W were vulnerable.

Most Souths these days will open with 1♣.  Opening all 12 HCP hands has become increasingly popular.  After West passes, North should respond 1♥.  This effectively shuts East out of the bidding for now.  South’s expected rebid is 1♠, after which North will rebid 2♥, likely ending the auction.

East’s safest lead after this auction is probably to lead a small club. West should not play the King unless South plays the Queen. Why not? Playing the King will certainly create an extra trick for declarer, while the lead of a small club from partner probably implies an honor card. After winning the A♣, declarer’s lead of the trump AQ reveals a trump loser. A spade led toward the KJ in dummy will capture the A♠. As the outstanding spades lay, declarer will lose no other spade tricks. E/W can now win two diamond tricks, but the only other trick they’ll win is the J♥, making 3.

Interestingly, E/W can make either 3♣ or 3♦, but it is very unlikely that many of these pairs will even get into the auction! When this hand was played locally, one pair played in 4♠/S making, 1 pair played in 3♠/S down 1, a 3rd pair played in 2♠/S making, and a 4th pair played in 2♥/N making 3.

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.