BRIDGE News:
We had a great turnout of 6.5 tables in our Monday, May 4 STaC game. Overall winners were Martin Cooper and Jerry Fleming. Jerry Morzinski and Sig Lodwig were 2nd. Neill Goltz and Tom Alexander were 3rd, and Helen Butler and Beth Schaefer were 4th. Cliff and Michelle Rudy tied with Al Pratt and May Courtright for 5th, and Steve Kemic and Jennifer Young were 7th. Jan Barnes and Reffie Fuchs were 8th.
In Wednesday’s STaC game, in Flight A, Neill Goltz and Beth Schaefer were 1st, Earle Marie Hanson and John Ruminer were 2nd, Martin Cooper and Sam Borkowsky were 3rd, Cliff Rudy and Jerry Fleming were 4th, and Alan Wadlinger and Randy Baker were 5th.
This is Board #9 from our May 4 game. North was the dealer, and E/W were vulnerable.
The above is a very difficult hand for E/W to bid. There are 24 HCP in the two hands, but where to play? A diamond partial will make, a game in 4♠ will also make, thanks to the 3-3 spade split. An intriguing contract here is 3NT, which can be made on careful declarer play.
After North and East pass, South should open with 1♣. West should make a takeout double, showing support or tolerance for all the unbid suits. After North passes, East will probably bid 1♦. South may bid 2♣, and West’s call is an unattractive 2♦. What else? East has denied a 4-card major. The auction might bery well end here, but an ambitious East might carry on to 2NT, in which case West will raise to 3NT. The play here is very instructional.
South will likely start with the K♣ lead, which East should duck. The play of the Q♣ next is automatic, and declarer should duck this also. The idea here is to try to cut off communications between the N/S hands. Declarer will win the 3rd club lead, but now must do whatever is possible to keep South from regaining the lead. After winning the A♣, declarer should lead a heart from his/her hand and finesse. North will win the K♥ and probably return a diamond (best). Declarer must win the A♦ and lead another heart. When the Q♥ appears, declarer has 9 tricks if the spades break 3-3, which they do. Lucky hand, but good declarer play!
When this hand was played locally, one pair played in 3NT/E making, 2 pairs played in a diamonds partial making 3, one pair played in 2♥/N making, and two pairs played in 2♣/S down 1.
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.