Bridge in the Tri-Cities: The June Unit Championship

Opening Lead: Three of spades

Winners of the June Unit Championship were John Van Keuren and Shakir Zaman. Shakir is known as “Mr. Three Notrump” because of his penchant to bid 3NT at almost any time and without much reason to do so. That is why it was so strange to see him stop short with nineteen points and a 5-card suit.

The Bidding: I talked to everyone at the table and no one remembered the actual bidding. I can only assume that Shakir (East) had an ace hidden and did not realize what a power house he had. His 1NT bid was probably 2NT at the other tables.

The Play: With the spade lead, Shakir took nine tricks before the defense found their club suit. Most defenders took five tricks.

The Irony: Mr. Three Notrump got a next to top board for only bidding 1NT. My sympathy goes to N/S.

The Result: We cannot say that John and Shakir won with luck, even though luck is an important part of the game. If they had a bottom on this board, they still would have been the winners.

Bridge Futures: The Richland Duplicate Bridge Club (RDBC) has a game at the Richland Community Center at 5:30 p.m. on Mondays. RDBC also plays on the first, third, and fifth Friday at 12:30 p.m. at the Old Country Buffet, 6821 W. Canal Dr., Kennewick, WA. Call Tom Edwards at 946-1824 for details.

This story was originally published June 18, 2017 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Bridge in the Tri-Cities: The June Unit Championship."