Win The Bermuda Bowl With Me
Bridge Column for September 16, 2001, By HARVEY BERNSTEIN
East-West vulnerable.  North deals.
                              NORTH
                              S: A J 9 5          
                              H: J 5         
                              D: 9 7 3       
                              C: A Q 10 2 
            WEST                             EAST
            S: Q 10 8 6 4                    S: 7 2          
            H: 8 7                           H: Q 6 4 3 2  
            D: A 8 6 2                       D: K Q 4             
            C: 9 5                           C: K J 4       
                              SOUTH                         
                              S: K 3
                              H: A K 10 9   
                              D: J 10 5    
                              C: 8 7 6 3  
          The Bidding:
                  NORTH    EAST    SOUTH    WEST                  
                   1D (1)   1H      3NT     Pass
                   Pass    Pass     
     (1) 10-15 points, no five card major, at least two diamonds.

     Jeff Meckstroth of Tampa, FL is easily one of the top ten
players in the world today.  His world championships are too
numerous to be listed in this column.  After 30 years of top
level play, Meckstroth has written his first book in
collaboration with Marc Smith of Toronto.  'Win The Bermuda Bowl
With Me' is an 'over the shoulder' look at world class
competition.  The style is easy to understand but the best part
is the insight into the way that Meckstroth's mind works.  I will
let him describe the play on this hand.
     West leads the six of spades and the dummy is not very
inspiring.  Assuming that the queen of hearts is onside, we can
count seven tricks - four hearts, two spades, and one club. It
looks like West has led a long suit, so the jack of spades is
probably worth a trick too.  A successful club finesse would give
us nine tricks but East will surely hold the king of clubs to
justify his overcall on such a poor heart suit.  As soon as the
defenders gain the lead it will be obvious to switch to diamonds,
enabling them to cash four tricks in that suit.
     We play the nine of spades at trick one and it holds. 
That's the first hurdle overcome.  Desparate times call for
desparate measures, and it seems that the best way to divert the
defenders' attention away from the diamond suit is for us to
attack it.  We lead a low diamond from dummy.  East follows with
a low card, we play the jack and West produces the six.  Now we
can count nine tricks.
     Meckstroth continues by explaining that same contract was
declared against his teammates after a similar auction.  West led
a heart and South tried the club finesse at trick two.  It was
easy for East to win and switch to the king of diamonds to set
the contract.
     'Win The Bermuda Bowl With Me' was published by Master Point
Press, Toronto, Canada.  It is distributed in the USA by
Barricade Books, 185 Bridge Plaza North, Suite 308a, Fort Lee, NJ
07024, and is available for $17.95 wherever bridge books are
sold.
_______________________________________________________
Bernstein is a free-lance writer in Solon.