March 20, 2005
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The American Spring Nationals

Last night the Schwartz team (Richard Schwartz, East Elmhurst NY; Michael Becker - Larry Cohen, Boca Raton FL; David Berkowitz, Old Tappan NJ; Andrea Buratti, Genova Italy; Massimo Lanzarotti, Voghera Italy) defeated the Onstott team (John Onstott, New Orleans LA; Jim Robison - Drew Casen, Las Vegas NV; Chris Compton, Dallas TX; Samuel Cohen, Lisle IL; Jim Krekorian, New York NY) in the final of the Vanderbilt KO Teams. Congratulations to all, especially to Larry Cohen whose feature article for Bridge Today eMagazine will appear in the April issue, entitled "Winning Without the Hat." click here to subscribe

Vanderbilt Teams North dealer All vul	North Krekorian   7 6 4   7 5 4   A 10 2   Q J 8 4
West Schwartz 10 8 3 6 3 K Q 6 5 10 6 5 2	East Becker A 2 K J 9 8 2 J 8 7 3 A 9
	South Casen   K Q J 9 5   A Q 10   9 4   K 7 3

West — pass pass all pass	North pass 2 3	East 1 pass pass	South 1 3 3NT
Opening lead: 6

The Schwartz team, the original 4-seed, defeated the Onstott team, the original 23-seed, by a score of 169 tp 125. Schwartz, an expert handicapper at the races, took an early lead and never looked back as he and his team trotted past the finishing line. Here is one of the key plays that helped his team to victory. Schwartz was West, partnered by Becker. The hand was first reported in the Bridge Today Daily Column. click here to subscribe

After North-South stretched to a vulnerable 3NT contract, Schwartz led his partner's bid suit: hearts. Casen (South) called low from dummy and Becker played low to make sure he knew where the queen of hearts was. If he plays the king and it loses to the ace (this is what happened at the other table), he can't know for certain that his partner doesn't hold Q-10-6 of hearts. But when he played the 2, and South won the 10, he knew that South must hold A-Q-10.

After a club was led to the jack and ace, Becker figured his only hope was to find partner with the king and queen of diamonds, even though it seemed like a long-shot. Usually a player is not happy to lead away from a jack into an A-10 combination (considered a "frozen suit"), but here it seemed like the only chance. Besides, Schwartz the handicapper would surely understand if it went wrong. Becker shifted to a low diamond, and when Schwartz showed up with the magic K-Q of diamonds, the contract was defeated. Declarer had to attack spades, and Becker won the ace and cashed out the diamond suit for down one.

At the other table in the match, the player in the East chair continued hearts instead of making the killing diamond shift. So the Schwartz team gained 12 imps.

To subscribe to Bridge Today eMagazine and the Daily Email Column at one low price, buy a Bridge Today Club Membership: click here