Local pair wins bronze medal.
Bridge Column for September 27, 2002, Harvey Bernstein
East-West vulnerable.  West deals.
                              North
                              S: 10 8 6           
                              H: 2           
                              D: Q 10 7 6 5  
                              C: A K Q 10
            West                             East
            S: Void                          S: A J 5 4      
            H: A K J 10 5                    H: Q 7 6 4    
            D: K J 8 4                       D: 9 3               
            C: J 9 7 2                       C: 8 5 4       
                              South                         
                              S: K Q 9 7 3 2
                              H: 9 8 3      
                              D: A 2       
                              C: 6 3      
          The Bidding:  
                   West   North     East   South                  
                    1H     Pass      3H     3S  
                    4H     4S      Double   Pass
                   Pass    Rdbl     Pass    Pass
                   Pass
     Thanks to Peter Grover of Aurora for this hand from the
Plate Trans-National Mixed Pair competition at the World
Championships in Montreal on August 19.  Grover held the North
cards.  His partner was Jan Assini of Aurora.  
     374 pairs entered this event and played three qualifying
sessions.  At that point, the field was split into a final and a
consolation event.  This hand is from the first of three sessions
of the consolation event in which 192 pairs were entered.   
     The auction was unremarkable except for the fact that Grover
was very confident that Assini could make four spades and he
backed his conviction with a redouble.  The opening lead was the
ace of hearts, which held.  The king of hearts followed and was
trumped in the dummy.  Assini led the ten of spades and East won
the ace and continued with the nine of diamonds.  Assini rose
with the ace of diamonds and led a club to dummy so that she
could take the marked spade finesse.
     Declarer now ran trump, squeezing West in the minor suits. 
Here is the end position with one spade left to play in the South
hand:
                              North
                              S: Void             
                              H: Void        
                              D: Q   
                              C: K Q 10
            West                             East
            S: Void                          S: Void  
            H: Void                          H: Q 7     
            D: K                             D: 9                 
            C: J 9 7                         C: 8        
                              South                         
                              S: 3  
                              H: 9          
                              D: 2       
                              C: 6 
     When Assini led the three of spades, West had a real
problem.  If he elects to discard the king of diamonds, the ten
of clubs will be pitched from the dummy.  If West keeps the king
of diamonds and discards the seven of clubs, dummy will pitch the
queen of diamonds and keep three clubs.  In either case, Declarer
makes four spades, doubled, with an overtrick for a top on this
board.
     Assini and Grover placed third overall in the consolation
event, with a score of 57.94%, winning the bronze medal for the
USA.  Don and Kathy Sulgrove of Twinsburg were sixth in the same
event with a 57.33% score.  The pair that placed first overall
had a 61.86% game, so it was a very close finish.
______________________________________________________
Bernstein is a free-lance writer in Solon.