A grand slam at the nationals.
Bridge Column for January 23, 2000, By HARVEY BERNSTEIN
Both Sides vulnerable.  South deals.
                              NORTH
                              S: K Q J            
                              H: A 10 8 4 3 2
                              D: A J         
                              C: K 4     
            WEST                             EAST
            S: 7 6 5 4                       S: 10 9 8   
            H: 9 7 6                         H: K Q J      
            D: 7 6                           D: 10 9 8            
            C: Q J 10 9                      C: 8 7 6 5    
                              SOUTH                         
                              S: A 3 2 
                              H: 5      
                              D: K Q 5 4 3 2 
                              C: A 3 2    
          The Bidding://
                  SOUTH    WEST    NORTH    EAST                  
                    1D     Pass      1H     Pass
                    2D     Pass      2S     Pass
                    2NT    Pass      3D     Pass
                    4C     Pass      4D     Pass
                    4S     Pass      5NT    Pass
                    7D     Pass     Pass    Pass
     This hand was played at the Fall North American Bridge
Championships last November in Boston, MA.  Ken Kranyak of Bay
Village held the South cards.  His 16 year old son, John, also of
Bay Village, sat North.
     The auction was very straight-forward, and excellent.  One
diamond was a normal opening bid and one heart was a normal
response.  Two diamonds showed a six card diamond suit with less
than 16 points.  Two spades was a new suit by an unpassed hand
and absolutely forcing.  Two no trump implied a club control and
denied any real heart support.  Three diamonds set the trump
suit.  Four clubs was a cue bid showing the ace of clubs.  Four
diamonds showed that ace.  Four spades was also a cue bid.  Five
no trump was the "Grand Slam Force" which asks partner to bid
seven of the agree suit if he holds two of the top three honors
in that suit.  South held the king and queen and so bid the grand
slam in diamonds.
     The key to this auction was John Kranyak's willingness to
acknowledge the value of his doubleton ace-jack of diamonds and
support diamonds as the trump suit.  This is what the term
"partnership" is all about.        
     The play was delicate.  A trump was led, but with hearts
breaking 3-3 and diamonds breaking 3-2, the defense was helpless. 
The hand was one of those played in the Open Board-A-Match teams. 
In this type of competition, each hand played is scored as a win,
tie, or loss.  You can win a board by ten points or a thousand
points and the result is the same, one win.  In this case, the
replay at the other table had North-South playing three no trump,
making six, thus losing the board.
     The Kranyak's team finished 27th in this event.  They also
were members of the team that finished sixth in the North
American Open Teams and as a pair finished 32nd in the Blue
Ribbon Pairs.  These events are among the top events contested at
the Fall Nationals.  Hundreds of players enter and the field is
cut after each day of play.  The competition going into the
finals is comprised of the best players in the world.  Finishing
among them in the overall standings is an incredible achievement,
and doing it three times at the same tournament is even more
impressive.  Congratulations to Ken and John.  The Cleveland
bridge community is very proud of you both.
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