May 31, 1997

Bridge | Alan Truscott

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North (D) K Q J 7 3 A J 8 3 A 10 5 4   West 10 9 8 6 4 2 Q 10 7 2 K 9 A     East 5 K 9 6 5 8 7 6 4 2 J 10 6   South A 4 Q J 3 K Q 9 8 7 5 3 2 Both sides were vulnerable. The bidding: North East South West 1  Pass 2  Pass 2  Pass 3  Pass 3 N.T. Pass 5  Pass Pass Pass West led the diamond nine.

The Old Guard of New York bridge players has faded away, and a group of young upstarts has taken over. Roy Welland, Christal Henner-Welland, Elizabeth Reich and Brad Moss of Manhattan, Lapt Chan of Forest Hills, Queens, and Jon Heller of Brooklyn, whose average age is 33, battled to victory Monday in the final of the Reisinger Knockout Team Championship. In the 68-year history of the event, they are apparently the youngest winners.

 Playing at Honors Club, 115 East 57th Street, they took the lead at the start and held on to win by 16 imps against William Ehlers of West Orange, N.J., Michael Kopera of Brooklyn, Richard DeMartino of Riverside, Conn., John Stiefel of Wethersfield, Conn., and John Rengstorff and Jeff Aker of Manhattan. In an earlier semifinal match, the Welland team had eliminated the top-seeded squad.

 The winners lost points on the diagramed deal when Welland landed in the sensible contract of five clubs. This seems certain to succeed, looking at all four hands, but Aker, sure from the bidding that the diamond ace was about to appear in the dummy, made the diabolical lead of the diamond nine. This suggested shortness in the suit.

 Welland could not afford to finesse, which might result in the loss of a diamond trick and two club tricks, perhaps through a diamond ruff. He made the normal play of taking the diamond ace, cashing the spade ace, crossing to the heart ace, and playing the spade king. He was planning to discard both his remaining diamonds, and was not pleased when East ruffed with the club ten. He overruffed with the queen and had plenty to think about. Should he lead the club king or the nine?

 Leading the king will succeed if West began with a singleton jack, which would mean that East has ruffed with the ten from ace-ten-four but he might not have done so. Leading a lower card will succeed if West began with the singleton ace, in which case East has chosen to ruff with the ten rather than the jack.

 In other situations that seem to offer a chance, it is likely that West will score a ruff in diamonds: West probably began with a singleton or small doubleton in that suit. That is true if East began with ace-ten doubleton or jack-ten doubleton. These two situations do not balance out: ace-ten is more likely because East had a choice with jack-ten.

 Welland played the club king and went down, losing 12 imps since in the replay North-South made three no-trump. His play was slightly wrong, although it takes much analysis to prove it. But Aker's brilliant lead gave him a nasty problem.