A beautiful defense.
Bridge Column for July 21, 2007, Harvey Bernstein
Special To The Plain Dealer
Both sides vulnerable.  West deals.
                              North
                              S: Q J 3            
                              H: A 8 3       
                              D: K J 9 5 4 3 
                              C: 3       
            West                             East
            S: A K 9                         S: 5 4          
            H: J 10 6 5                      H: K 9 7 2    
            D: A 6                           D: 10 8 2            
            C: Q 10 4 2                      C: 8 7 6 3     
                              South                         
                              S: 10 8 7 6 2 
                              H: Q 4        
                              D: Q 7       
                              C: A K J 9  
          The Bidding:  
                   West   North     East   South                  
                    1C     1D       Pass    1NT 
                   Pass    3NT      Pass    Pass
                   Pass    
          Opening lead: H5
     Sitting in the West seat was Pietro Bernasconi of
Switzerland who passed away in 2001.  The hand was played in
Austria in 1974 and is still considered to be one of the best
defended hands ever!
     Bernasconi led the five of hearts and declarer played the
three from the dummy.  East won the king and returned the suit. 
South won this trick with the queen and counted his tricks.  He
thought that he would be able to score five diamond tricks, two
heart tricks and at least two tricks in the black suits, for a
total of nine.  It appeared right to drive out the ace of
diamonds.  To this end, he led the queen of diamonds.
     Bernasconi played low and then played his ace when the seven
was led.  Her is the position with Bernasconi on lead to trick
five:
                              North
                              S: Q J 3            
                              H: A           
                              D: K J 9 5     
                              C: 3       
            West                             East
            S: A K 9                         S: 5 4          
            H: J 10                          H: 9 7      
            D: Void                          D: 10                
            C: Q 10 4 2                      C: 8 7 6 3     
                              South                         
                              S: 10 8 7 6 2 
                              H: Void       
                              D: Void      
                              C: A K J 9  
     Playing either major suit offered no hope whatsoever. 
Bernasconi led the two of clubs!  South could do nothing better
than win the nine of clubs.  He now he had to find a way to the
dummy with no exit card back to his good clubs.  If he takes his
clubs while he is in the South hand, he winds up squeezing the
dummy.  His only hope was to lead a spade.  
     Bernasconi won the ace and played the jack of hearts. 
Declarer was able to cash his diamonds but when he led a spade,
Bernasconi won the king and cashed the ten of hearts for the
setting trick.    
     District Five of the American Contract Bridge League held
the All-American Regional Bridge Tournament in Independence on
May 22 - 28.  The following players were successful in their
respective events on May 28.  Other results were listed in
previous columns.
     Flight A Swiss Teams (26 teams). Stratum A1. 1. Brian Ellis,
Beachwood, Dale Beers, Boiling Springs, PA, Bruce Keidan,
Pittsburgh, and Ed Bissell, State College, PA. 2. Richard
Mydloski, Taylor, MI, Barry Lippitt, Southfield, MI, William
Harris, Georgetown, KY, and Mark Leonard, Ypsilanti, MI. Stratum
A2. 1. Robert Zimmermann and Gerald Gilligan, Pittsburgh, Paul
and Catherine Caplan, North Versailles, PA. 2. Charles Ladiha,
Streetsboro,  Diane Petrov, Buffalo, NY, John Ricotta, Hamburg,
NY, and Kathy Stanford, Leesburg, FL.
     Flight B/C/D Swiss Teams (43 teams). Stratum B. 1. Daniel
Kenney, Edith and Peter Korda, Columbus, with James Brittan,
Massapequa, NY. 2. James and Carolyn Sullivan, Richfield OH;
William Riley, Akron, and Nancy Brown, Silver Lake. Stratum C. 1.
Tucker Marston, Russ Stambaugh and Michael Stambaugh, Gates
Mills, with J. Lawniczak, Novelty. 2. Alex Booke and Sandy Howe,
Pittsford, NY, with Rana Arora and Max Mohan Arora, Bath,  NY. 
Stratum D. 1. Marston, Stambaugh, Lawniczak, and Stambaugh.  2.
Lawrence and Carol Wise, Chagrin Falls, with William and Carol
Cashbaugh, Onekama, MI.  
_______________________________________________________
Bernstein is a free-lance writer in Solon. 
To reach Harvey Bernstein:
hjb0416@yahoo.com