Honors Bridge Club will be the host of two charitable events on Sept. 25: a two-session Calcutta event ($250 per pair plus the auction) and a two-session regular duplicate ($150 per pair), playing identical deals, starting at noon and 4:45 p.m., all proceeds going to the Fresh Air Fund. Free food will be served before each session at the club, at 115 East 57th Street in Manhattan. Details are available at (212) 230-1230.
NORTH(D) Q 10 3 K 6 5 4 A Q 8 Q 4 2 |
||
| WEST 8 7 4 2 A 9 8 J 10 3 8 5 3 |
 |
EAST K 6 5 J 10 K 9 7 2 A J 10 9 |
| SOUTH A J 9 Q 7 3 2 6 5 4 K 7 6 |
East and West were vulnerable. The bidding:
| North | East | South | West |
| 1 | Pass | 1 | Pass |
| 2 | Pass | Pass | Pass |
West led the diamond jack.
In the diagramed deal West and East were Gail Greenberg, the owner of Honors, and Jeff Hand.
Defending against two hearts, Greenberg led the diamond jack. Declarer started accurately, rising with dummy's ace and calling for the spade queen, which was covered by the king and ace. South played a trump to dummy's king, cashed his two other spade tricks, ending on the board, and led a club to his king. Declarer had taken the first six tricks and if he had exited with a trump now, he could have collected two more for his contract. But he erred, playing a diamond to dummy's eight. East won with his nine and cashed the diamond king to give this end position:
|
NORTH(D) - 6 5 4 - Q 4 |
||
| WEST 8 A 9 - 8 5 |
|
EAST - J 7 A J 10 |
| SOUTH - Q 7 3 - 7 6 |
East led the heart jack, South playing low. How should West have defended?
Note that if West plays low, East is endplayed. If he plays clubs, dummy's queen scores a trick. And if he leads his diamond, it concedes a ruff-and-sluff.
Reading the position perfectly, Greenberg overtook her partner's heart jack with her ace, temporarily losing a trump trick, and returned a club. East took two tricks in the suit, then continued with his remaining club, which re-established West's heart nine via a trump promotion. If South ruffed low, West would overruff; if South ruffed high, West would discard.
Defeating two hearts gave Greenberg and Hand a near-top en route to victory in one of the club's regular duplicates.
A memorial service for Alan Truscott, the bridge columnist of The New York Times for 41 years, who died on Sept. 4, will be held at 6 p.m. on Sept. 24 at Honors Bridge Club. Memorial contributions may be made to the Fresh Air Fund, 633 Third Avenue, 14th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10017.
