A minor suit slam produces good result. Bridge Column for July 9, 2004, Harvey Bernstein Special To The Plain Dealer Neither side vulnerable. South deals. North S: A 6 4 3 H: Void D: A J 10 9 7 C: K 10 5 2 West East S: K Q 9 7 S: J 10 5 H: J 8 5 3 H: Q 10 9 7 2 D: 4 3 D: 6 5 C: J 9 6 C: Q 7 3 South S: 8 2 H: A K 6 4 D: K Q 8 2 C: A 8 4 The Bidding: South West North East 1NT Pass 2C Pass 2H Pass 3D Pass 3H Pass 3S Pass 4C Pass 4NT Pass 5C Pass 6D Pass Pass Pass Thanks to John Majors of New York City (formerly of South Euclid) for this hand from the World-Wide Simultaneous Pairs held at multiple locations on Friday evening, June 4. Majors and his wife, Vickie, play standard methods and got to an ice cold minor suit slam. John, sitting South, opened one no trump and his partner bid the Stayman convention, asking if he had a major suit of four cards or more. South's response showed a heart suit of at least four cards. Three diamonds was a "slam try" in diamonds. By agreement, a direct jump to three diamonds, after one no trump, would be invitational. They also had a "run-out" sequence that would allow them to just play three diamonds when that was the right thing to do. Three hearts, three spades, and four clubs, were cue bids showing aces or first round control. Four no trump was Key Card Blackwood. Five clubs indicated zero or three "key cards". This was all the information necessary to get to the laydown slam. Scoring in this particular game is set against a field of 100 pairs that actually played this hand in international competition. Your score is compared to a table and the awards come from that comparison. Plus 920 was worth 91% of the possible matchpoints for this hand. Scores like this allowed the Majors to place third in their section at the Honors Bridge Club in New York City. Incredibly, there total score was also good enough to be ninth in their direction world-wide. District 5 of the American Contract Bridge League sponsored the All American Regional Bridge Tournament from May 24 to 31 in Independence. The following players were successful in their respective events on May 28. Other results where listed in previous columns, more will appear next week. Evening Swiss Teams (19 teams). Stratum A. 1. Robert Sulgrove, Spring Valley, Richard Rudolph, Westerville, George St. Pierre, Columbus, and Roy Baldwin, Dublin. 2. Larry Mori, Clearwater, FL, Kenneth Eichenbaum, Columbus, Rick Kaye, Bingham Farms, MI, Stephen Landen, Rochester Hills, MI, and Rhonda Monro, Beverly Hills, MI. Stratum B. 1. Lynn Nosse, Grafton, Thomas Ball, Lakewood, Barbara Zink, Olmsted Falls, and Judy Ryland, Rocky River. 2. Joan Shapiro, Janet Wolper, Arlene and Arnold Roberts, Pittsburgh, PA. Stratum C. 1. Nosse, Ball, Zink, and Ryland. 2. Murray and Marilyn Edelman, Rober and Joanne Lane, Beachwood. Bridge Prize Tour Open Individual (44 players). 1. Joseph Hart, Cleveland. 2/3. Laurie Kranyak, Bay Village with Frank Treiber, III, Toledo. Bridge Prize Tour Secondary Individual (32 players). 1. Philip Macfarlane, Parma. 2. Kalina Braun, Cortland. Bracketed Handicapped Knockout Teams. Bracket 1 (9 teams). 1. Martin Baff, Beachwood, Keith Sechler, Middleburgh Heights, Don and Kathleen Sulgrove, Twinsburg. 2. Richard Early, Cuyahoga Falls, Marc Rabinowitz, Hudson, John Toy, Buffalo, NY, Larry Long, Benton, TN. Bracket 2 (11 teams). 1. Bruce Sokol, Saint Joseph, MI, Wayne Heritage, North Olmsted, Rogol, Sokol, Minooka, IL, Robert Dykes, Lakewood, and James Breckel, Medina. 2. Nathaniel Reid and Barbara Boswell, Cincinnati, Mary Skavaril and Lenore Smart, Columbus. Bracket 3 (16 teams). 1. Bob and Joshua Bailey, Burton, Martin and Robin Mayer, Westlake. 2. Barbara Provenzano and Hane Verno, Houston, PA, Roene Severyn, Canonsburg, PA, and Sylvia Shaw, Meadow Lands, PA. Bracket 4 (16 teams). 1. Jean Prior, Bethel Park, PA, Janine LeBlond, Upper Saint Claire, PA, Susan Konig, Pittsburgh, PA, and Ardeth Tichenor, Carnegie, PA. 2. Stanley and Molly Jaffe, Naples, FL, Edward Leonhard, Linesville, PA, and M. Anekite, Saegertown, PA. _______________________________________________________ Bernstein is a free-lance writer in Solon.