Grandslam #3

THE GRANDSLAM
SRC BRIDGE SECTION NEWSLETTER

NOV/DEC 2000 ISSUE #003

Message from the Convenor
We are near the end of our fiscal year and I believe that we should be able to complete our committed projects. We have participated in our first tournament (see below) and have purchased new bridge casings for our use. The old casings were donated to us and we plan to donate them to others.

Both Bridge courses are nearing completion and we should be seeing some new “graduates” at our Monday sessions soon. I am especially pleased with the Intermediate Course in spite of being called a slave driver. I believe that the massive amount of bidding homework, latest bidding convention, play techniques ant set hands is absolutely necessary to be able to compete successfully outside.

We are finalising the purchase of books and have finally located a suitable cabinet for our use.

December is going to be a busy month due to our Inaugural Tournament on the 23rd. This is free for members and there will be lunch, prizes and surprises. Don’t miss it!

2. Deepavali Tournament

We entered 3 Pairs for the Singapore Contract Bridge Association’s Deepavali Open Tournament on October 26 at the Intellectual Games Centre at the Bishan CC. We were represented by Dorothy Wong/Adelene Sheperdson, Chris Wong/ Carlton Parker and Shamim/Zain Moledina.
The nervousness and tension was quite apparent and to be expected as 5 out of the 6 players had never participated at such a high level before. After a quick “lesson” on how to use the “bidding boxes”, we plunged into the tournament -- facing 40 of Singapore’s very strong and experienced players. After a grueling 24 Boards, Shamim and Zain managed a credible 6th Position, gaining a small amount of Master Points in the process.

Everyone agreed that the tournament was not only very exciting and fun, it was also an eye-opener on how much there is still to learn and improve on.

SRC Monday Bridge Results – 18th Sept to 6th Nov 2000
DATE PAIRS FIRST SECOND THIRD
18 Sep 6 Eng Choo/Veronica Lily/Helen Angela/Jane

25 Sep 8 Jason/Veronica Adelene/Zain Dorothy/Shamim

2 Oct 5 Dorothy/Adelene Isabel/Lee Chin Chris/Carl

9 Oct 7 Shamim/Zain Eng Choo/Veronica Isabel/Lee Chin

16 Oct 8 Rahim/Zain Stella/Mrs. Wong Angela/Jane

23 Oct 5 Jansie/Maggie Dorothy/Adelene Shamim/Zain

30 Oct 6 Rahim/Veronica Dorothy Adelene Shamim/Zain

6 Nov 7 Shamim Zain Angela/Jane Dorothy/Adeline


4. Bridge Hand – Change of Plan

This hand occurred on Board 5 on 6th Nov.


NORTH

S : A J 7 2

H : A J 8 6 4 3 CONTRACT : 6S

D : A 5 DECLARER : SOUTH

C : A OPENING LEAD : 4C

After some aggressive bidding, N-S landed

SOUTH in a slam. This looked like a cross-ruff

S : K 9 6 3 hand with a singleton in both Dummy

H : 10 and Declarer. Counting winners, 8 in

D : K 4 Trumps, 1 in H, 2 in D and 1 in C making

C : Q J 8 7 3 2 12 altogether as long as nobody over ruffs.

Chances were not too good but seemed



like the only possible chance. After winning the CA, AH was cashed and a small Heart was ruffed. But when a small Club was ruffed, the CK fell making all the Clubs good. This called for a change of plan. Now it was better to play for a 2-3 split in trumps and draw trumps. The plan was to cash the SA and SK and run the clubs to force the defender to trump with the SQ. Fortunately, the SQ dropped on the SK and this meant another change of plan. The SJ pulled out the S10 and all the winners were cashed – making an overtrick!

Editor :Zain Moledina

15 Nov 2000