Learn how to create an entry. Bridge Column for July 28, 2007, Harvey Bernstein Special To The Plain Dealer Both sides vulnerable. South deals. North S: 5 3 2 H: 8 6 4 D: A 8 2 C: 10 7 3 2 West East S: J 10 9 8 S: 7 6 4 H: Q 7 5 2 H: Void D: K 10 6 4 D: Q J 9 7 5 3 C: 8 C: J 9 5 4 South S: A K Q H: A K J 10 9 3 D: Void C: A K Q 6 The Bidding: South West North East 2C Pass 2D Pass 2H Pass 4H Pass 6H Pass Pass Pass Opening lead: JS There are two important lessons to be learned from this hand. The first has to do with the bidding. At North's second turn to bid, he shows a bad hand by jumping to four hearts. This is one of those situations where a jump raise shows a weaker hand than a simple raise. South would very much like to bid a grand slam but he realizes that North may not have much help and settles for the small slam. West leads the jack of spades and declarer takes a moment to evaluate the situation. If clubs and hearts break in any normal fashion, he may very well score an overtrick. But what if one of the defenders holds four clubs to the jack? The club loser could be discarded on the ace of diamonds, but there is no easy entry to the dummy. This is the second important point to this hand. There is a potential entry to the dummy, but only if the declarer realizes it early in the hand. If the queen of hearts can be forced out early, the eight of hearts would become an entry for the ace of diamonds. To this end, declarer wins the ace of spades and leads the jack of hearts. West ducks and East discards a diamond. Declarer continues with the ten of hearts West must win this trick. Declarer wins the black suit return and plays his three of hearts to the eight. The club loser goes away on the ace of diamond. A diamond is trumped in hand and the last trump is drawn. Making the small slam is a very good score. If declarer tries to cash even one high heart early he will be defeated. Take your time and plan your play before you make a mistake. Fran Mulkins of North Ridgeville will direct a new duplicate bridge game for players with less than 1,000 master points. The game will be held on Thursday evenings at the Olmsted Unitarian Universalist Congregation at 5050 Porter Road, North Olmsted. A lesson will be offered at 6:30 p.m. and the game will start at 7:00 p.m. The cost for the lesson and an entry to the game will be $5.00. For other information or partnership arrangements, call (440) 353-6931. Unit 125 of the American Contract Bridge League will host the Silver Bowl Sectional Bridge Tournament starting next Friday at 1:30 p.m. at the Solon Valley Pary Center, 6340 Melbury, Solon. The evening session, consisting of a stratified pairs event and a bracketed knockout team event, will start at 7:00 p.m. and continue on Saturday. A two session open pair event will start at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. The second session will start at 3:30 p.m. Single session flighted events will be held at the same times for Stratum B players (0 to 2,000 master points) and Stratum C (0 to 750) master points). Separate events will also be held for players with less than 300 master points. Lunch will be served between sessions. Team events for players of all levels will start at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday. There will be a separate Swiss Team event with no masterpoint restriction. Players with less than 2,000 masterpoints may elect to play in a Bracketed Swiss Team. A buffet lunch will be served during the game. Additional information and partnership assistance is available by calling 440-248-3983. The Unit 125 web site can be reached at http://www.whistclub.org _______________________________________________________ Bernstein is a free-lance writer in Solon. To reach Harvey Bernstein: hjb0416@yahoo.com