It was a repeat pairs victory for Janice Molson as she and Sylvia Shi ran away with the Hua Yuan tournament pair competition, finishing far ahead of the field. Janice was the fist person to win the pairs in back to back Hua Yuan tournaments, having won 2 years ago with Lynn Deas. Tournament bulletin article.
At the recently completed Hua Yuan Cup Elite Bridge Tournament, the prize fo the best-defended hand went to Irina Levitina & Kerri Sanborn for a thoughtful defense that prevented declarer from making her 4 heart contract. The tournament bulletin, on p. 6, described the hand:
| Board: 7 Vul: both Dealer: South West (Kerri Sanborn) |
North  J 4 T 9 8 7 6 3 2  K T 9  2 |
East (Irina Levitina) |
| K Q 8 7 6 5 Q J 6 K 6 5 3 |
9 5 Q J 4 2 A J T 9 8 7 4 |
|
| South A T 3 2 A K A 8 7 5 4 3 Q |
Bidding
S W N E
1* 1 3 P
4 All Pass
* Strong
NS played precision, after a big club opening, north found herself declarer in 4♥ after Kerri had overcalled 1♠. Irina led her partner’s suit, and ♠A was won in dummy. Declarer drew two rounds of trumps, and kept her chances alive by playing a spade ( at many tables, declarers led a diamond at trick four which guaranteed a loser in each suit and down 1). Kerri won the spade and the defense played two rounds of clubs, declarer ruffed the second. Then declarer led a heart and Irina won with ♥Q.
The defense had three tricks, but with declarer out of spades and clubs, the only possibility for a fourth trick was if Kerri had a diamond winner. However, since
Kerri also held the only spade guard, she was guaranteed to be squeezed when declarer ran trumps if she held Q-J-x of diamonds. Therefore, Irina astutely shifted to a diamond, breaking up the squeeze by forcing declarer to use up an entry to one of the hands.
Of course, some players may be afraid of playing the diamond suit for declarer as it may resolve a guess, and prefer a “safe” club exit. However, if Kerri held only Qxx of diamonds, the contract could never be defeated, since declarer would run the same squeeze to make the contract. Nice defense, and a six imps pickup for USA, as their teammates stopped in a making partscore.
We were saddened to hear that Beth Palmer, who has represented the USBF in numerous World Championship events, 7 of which she won, and served on the USBF Board of Directors since 2016, and as Chair of the Women's International Team Trials Committee as long as the USBF has existed, and before that when it was an ACBL committee, died on Wednesday, October 2nd.
Beth's contributions to bridge, both as a player and an organizer were too many to list. Her sensible approach to issues often defused conflicts and her thoughtful suggestions were almost always adopted. We will miss you so much, Beth.
After winning the 2019 Women's USBC and the right to represent the USBF in the 2019 Venice Cup, with teammates Lynn Baker, Karen McCallum, Kerri Sanborn, partner Sylvia Shi & Irina Levitina, and NPC Sam Dinkin. Beth's health prevented her from playing in the Venice Cup, but she served as coach for her team and cheered them on.
Congnratulations to USA1, Cheri Bjerkan-Howie Weinstein, Christal Henner-Uday Ivatury, Jill Meyers-Allan Graves, Joe Stokes, NPC, who took home the Silver Medal in the newly named Wuhan Cup World Mixed Teams event. Well Done!
Joe Stokes Cheri Bjerkan, Howie Weinstein, Jill Meyers, Allan Graves, Christal Henner, Uday Ivatury. Photo by Francesca Canali