BRIDGE News:
Jenny Sprinkle played for the first time in one of our games on Nov. 3. Julie Goltz played for the first time here on November 5. John Courtright played for the the first time in a long while, also on November 5. Steve Kemic and Jennifer Young were 1st overall in the Monday game.
In flight B both days, the winners were Alan Wadlinger and Randy Baker. In the open game on Wednesday, there was a 3-way tie with Helen Butler-Joyce Goltz, Martin Cooper-Sam Borkowsky, and Jerry Morzinski-Beth Schaefer.
This was an amazing game in that 5 slam hands were possible!
This is one of them, Board 14. South is the dealer, and neither side was vulnerable.
It is very hard to bid a slam on this hand, but if you as E/W do, and your declarer play is up to it, you can make it! South is the dealer and probably opens with a weak 2♠ bid. West has an easy 3♣ overcall, and North will probably pass. Many Easts will then bid 3NT, and that will end the auction, with E/W taking 9-10 tricks. However, those Easts concerned about the spade suit may very well bid 4♣. If that happens, it is quite possible that E/W could end up in a club slam, as duplicate players know that game in a minor suit is inferior to game in 3NT. Given this line of thought, after East’s 4♣ bid, West may very well bid 4NT asking for Aces in partner’s hand (the Blackwood convention). When East shows two Aces, a 6♣ slam is a reasonable proposition.
Against 6♣, North’s most reasonable lead is the ♠4. Declarer has two losers. Is there a way to eliminate one of them? The only chance is if the diamonds break evenly, so declarer should win the spade lead, lead a diamond to the Ace and ruff a diamond, play two rounds of trumps ending in dummy, ruff a 3rd diamond, lead a heart to the Ace, ruff a 4th diamond, and now the 5th diamond is good! Lead another trump to dummy, play your 5th diamond, discarding a heart, and the only loser left in dummy’s hand is a spade! Take a deck of cards, set up the suits as above, and check it out!
When this hand was played locally, one pair played in 5H/N doubled down 4 for -800; another pair played in 3NT/W making 5, and a 3rd pair played in 5♣/W making 6.
The Los Alamos Duplicate Bridge Club games are held at the Betty Ehart Senior Activity Center (BESAC) starting at 12:45 p.m., Wednesdays, and at 12:45 p.m., Mondays, at the White Rock Senior Activity Center (WRSAC). Check out the Los Alamos Duplicate Bridge Club’s new website at www.ladbc.net to learn what it’s all about, contact the club to get involved, join the fun, and much more.
Perhaps you’ve seen the old card game “Bridge“ mentioned in a book or seen it being played on the Orient Express in an old Agatha Christie black-and-white movie. Maybe you’ve even tried to play it in the remote past with Mom and Dad (or even more likely Grandma and Grandpa) around the kitchen table. Well, it hasn’t quite gone the way of the typewriter or film cameras, yet – and, in fact, it has a substantial Free-on-the-Internet presence. LEARN TO PLAY BRIDGE!
That being said, it is a game that needs new and younger Face-to-Face players and, here in Los Alamos the local club is ready to bring you on board with nighttime, after work or weekend, FREE lessons, and playing opportunities. We have four locations available – the game store in White Rock, the Mesa game store on Central here in Los Alamos, the Los Alamos Public Library, or Smith’s Market!
What we need from interested folks is some indication of interest and what day of the week and location would be most convenient. Please reach out to Neill Goltz at 641.236.1170 (neill.goltz2@gmail.com) or Bobby Haynes at 505.753.3249 (rsh@valornet.com) with your questions and preferred time and location!