BRIDGE News:
Winners of last week’s games were Ann Marie Graves (twice), Mary Courtright and Jerry Morzinski. Graves and Morzinski had a fantastic 76.19% game. On Oct. 10, we bid a fond farewell to LARSO Executive Director Jacci Gruninger, who has taken a new position in Santa Fe.
Today’s hand is very distributional and again emphasizes the fact that you don’t always need 26 points to bid game, or 33 points to bid slam.
This is board #7. South is the dealer and both sides are vulnerable.
After South passes, I like West opening 1♠. The hand has a good 5-card major and a singleton. By opening, you’ve taken away some bidding room from North, which is not a bad thing. North will probably bid 2♣, as a takeout double is out of the question without support or tolerance for diamonds. East’s call is 2♦, and South will probably raise to 3♣.
At this point, the auction will likely go 3♦ by West, 5♣ by North and 5♦ by East. That will likely end the auction, unless North decides to double for penalty, which he/she will regret. When this hand was played locally, 1 pair played in 4♠/W doubled, making 6. one pair played in 5♦/E, making 6, a 3rd pair played in 4♦/E making 6, and the 4th pair played in 5♣/N making. As you can see, both 5♣ and 6♦ diamonds will make, but the slam is hard to reach with the opponents’ interference.
The Los Alamos Duplicate Bridge Club games are held at the Betty Ehart Senior Activity Center (BESAC) Wednesdays starting at 12:45 p.m., and at the White Rock Senior Activity Center (WRSAC) Mondays at 12:45 p.m.
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!
Check out the Los Alamos Duplicate Bridge Club’s new website to learn what it’s all about, contact the club to get involved, join the fun, and much more.