Evening star., 1944-10-22
Bridge
By Frank B. Lord

DV 1IuWH ID. LOTU
The Washington Bridge League is
its annual tournament
today, in two sessions, afternoon
and evening, at the Shoreham Hotel.
The events are the open-pair games,
the most important contests of the
meet; the match for The Evening
Star Trophy and the consolation
game for those who are eliminated
in the first round of the open pairs.
Throughout the past week, while
the tourney was in session and dur
ing the preparations for it, much
was displayed in The Eve
ming Star competition, which is
known as the Metropolitan event
Only those who have not won it
before and those who have less than
10 master points are eligible to par
ticipate. This opens it to a large
field of players. The Federal Bridge
League players have been frequently
in capturing it, and an
appeal has been made to them to
keep 1t in the membership of that
where it now remains,
having been won last year by Mrs.
Linderman and Mrs. w. H.
Gorton. Various bridge groups also
playing in the event will be eligible
to win the plaque, which will go to
the group three of whose pairs make
the highest average score, This Is
also held at present by the Federal
League.
The tournament now In progress
will be the last big bridge event of
the current year in Washington. The
next will be one of the Virginia re-
gional Journeys, transferred to
and will probably be
held early in January. The annual
winter tournament of the American
Contract Bridge Association will
occur the first week in December
at Atlantic City.
In the Federal Bridge League on
evening, the mixed party
team were the heaviest scorers,
20 out of "a boards in sec
ton D, which promoted them to
section B. The Army foursome in
section B won II out of "a boards
and advanced to section A. The
Stays took 18 out of "a boards and
moved from section c to section B.
The ranking of most of the teams
in the first section remained rela-
lively unchanged, with the Govern
ment foursome still leading by
margin.
The MI Aces team of the Federal
League has been reorganized and
Is now constituted as follows. Miss
A. Bledsoe, Mrs. Brumf1eld, M. Cooke
and K. Rivet.
Charles E. Hood, ITO Fourteenth
street NV, writes:
IN a recent game of contract
the following hand was held with
North and South vulnerable. East
was dealer and South held:
Spades, 7: hearts, none; dia-
monds. A-K-Q-J-10-x-x-x-x; clubs,
k-8. East passed. What was the
correct bid for South?
Il sat South and finally decided
Ito prevent East-West getting to-
gether in either major suit) to bid
five diamonds. West immediately
doubled. Both North and East
passed and l redoubled.
North held the ace-queen of
clubs, as it turned out, and West,
with the spade king and the ace
king of hearts, led the heart king
which enabled me to make seven
odd.
The holding has been submitted
to a number of good players and
has produced an amazing diversity
OF opinion as to South's proper
opening bid. And so we ask your
judgment"
South must make a -empt bid
on this hand. He has practically
no defense against a game bid in
a major suit. At five diamonds
doubled he will lose only one trick
even If his partners hand is an
absolute blank, and he will suffer
the loss Of 200 points against a
game in spades or hearts by East
and West if they are allowed to
get into the bidding. East's orig
Inal pass shows less than two and
one-half honor tricks. Consequently
The STRENGTH ont Side of Jio de
is divided between West and North
and South is justified in believing
that his partner has at least one
trick.
Vests double indicates that a
heart will be led and South is
therefore warranted in redoubling,
FOR he can always make the bid
If his partner holds as good as the
queen OF clubs. Then South would
lose only one spade and one club
at the most
II there was error on the part
of South it was in not bidding six
diamonds at the start after East
passed and, as the result showed
he would have made a grand slam
Being vulnerable a set of two tricks
would have cost him 500 points,
whereas trick game by East
and West in either major suit would
have been loss of 42O to North
and South. Not vulnerable, South
could have gambled the 500 points
Tor slam against a possible loss