Hand evaluation can be difficult. Bridge Column for March 11, 2006, by Harvey Bernstein Special To The Plain Dealer East-West vulnerable. South deals. NORTH S: K 5 H: A K Q 10 9 D: A Q J 7 6 5 C: Void WEST EAST S: A J 8 6 S: 10 9 2 H: J 8 3 H: 6 4 2 D: 8 4 D: 10 3 2 C: K J 9 3 C: A Q 8 2 SOUTH S: Q 7 4 3 H: 7 5 D: K 9 C: 10 7 6 5 4 The Bidding: South West North East Pass Pass 2C Pass 2D Pass 2H Pass 2S Pass 3D Pass 3H Pass 4D Pass 5D Pass 6D Pass Pass Pass This hand came up during a team event and North's initial evaluation of his hand had a lot to do with the outcome of the match. At one table, North decided to open one diamond and when the next three players passed, that became the final contract. He made twelve tricks and could only hope that the opponent sitting North when the board was replayed would make the same decision. The other North counted 19 high card points and a void. He also realized that he was holding a potential "two loser" hand. To count your losers in this evaluation method, look at each suit and determine which of the top three cards you are missing, not to exceed the number of cards in that suit. For example, the North hand has two spades and one of them is the king, therefore, count one loser. There are no losers in the heart suit and one in the diamond suit. There are no clubs so there are no losers there. North decided to open two clubs, his only "game forcing" bid. Even thought it is awkward to bid a two suiter this way, he was not going to get passed out below game. South's two diamonds was a waiting bid. Two hearts was natural. South now made a key call, he bid two spades. By agreement, this pair was playing that the cheapest minor suit bid at responder's second opportunity would be a really bad hand. Two spades then, while not promising a lot, should show some spades and a few points. The rest of the auction was pretty easy and because of the bidding sequence, South became the declarer and North's hand hit the table as the dummy. Twelve tricks were claimed quickly and the score was +920. The combined score, after subtracting the -170 from the other table, was +750, or 12 International Match Points (IMPs). I could show you many nineteen point hands that I would not open two clubs with, but this North hand is much too powerful for a one level opening. Unit 125 of the American Contract Bridge League will host the Ohio Master's Sectional Bridge Tournament starting next Friday at the Solon Valley Party Center, 6340 Melbury, Solon. Single session stratified events for players at all levels will be held at 1:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Stratum A will be restricted to players with more than 1,500 master points. The master point range for Stratum B will be 750 to 1,499, and for Stratum C, 0 to 749. A two session Open Pair event will start at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. The second session will start at 3:30 p.m. This event will be stratified. Stratum A1 will be for players with 2,000 master points or more and Stratum A2 will be for players with less than 2,000 master points. Single session events will be held at the same times for Flight B (less than 1,500 master points) and Flight C (less than 500 master points). Separate events will also be held on Friday and Saturday for players with less than 300 master points. Team events for players of all levels will start at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday. The Unit 125 web site can be found at: http://www.whistclub.org _______________________________________________________ Bernstein is a free-lance writer in Solon. To reach Harvey Bernstein: hjb0416@yahoo.com