WEBSITE AT www.pittsburghbridge.org

President: Barbara Bergman

Vice President: Ron Franck

Secretary: Mary Paulone Carns

Treasurer: Jane Marshall

Club Manager: Mary Carns

Editors: Arlene Port 220 N Dithridge #404

Pgh.PA. 152113

Tel: 412-521-3637 aport220@comcast.net

Lou Joseph 6215 5th Ave. #7,

Pgh., PA 15232

Tel: 412-363-8159 louismjoseph@comcast.net

Unit 142 Pittsburgh, PA May 2013

Post mortem

2 1

All the news that’s print to give fits by Lou Joseph

Spring is finally here! And wasn’t the PBA Spring Sectional a great

way to welcome the season? The hospitality was, as always, amazing (a la

Barb and Ken Bergman); the bridge was great, the venue was great, the en-

tertainment was great (I say that in all modesty, but as a charter member of

the Cubic Zirconia Life Master Theatre I can honestly report that our pro-

duction of Who Wants' to be a Life Master? was one of our best!) I suppose

the single, loudest, longest laugh was in response to the famous “biggest

whine in the PBA question” - for those who missed the performance, the

correct answer was “Anyone who plays with Arlene Port.” Of course Ar-

lene couldn’t wait to tell me how sorry everyone felt for her - poor, poor

Arlene. Well let me tell you something. Last Monday I arrived for the cur-

rent PBA lesson series to find scrawled on the easel “Lou Joseph is a bum.”

Even if my spies had not told me Arlene had written it, I would have fig-

ured it out by recognizing the COC font it had been written in (Crabby Old

Cow.) So don’t think that I don’t get my share of aggravation folks. It is

NOT as once sided as a certain person would have you believe!

Anyways, the success and smooth running of the tournament is

only due to all the hard work and effort behind the scenes - the Bergmans

(of course) with the help of Ron Franck, Ernie Retetagos, Jane Marshall,

Darlene Mannheimer, Bill Holt, Brad Craig, everyone who baked and

cooked, and the players who attended. No wonder the PBA Sectionals are

world renowned!

Moving on, May is here. Mark your calendars now for Friday eve-

ning, May 17, the annual PBA Awards Party (see page 2.) Come and cele-

brate your achievements, your partner’s achievements, your friends’

achievements - it’s always a grand night of food, fun and festivities. Also,

start getting your team together for the annual Fossick-Goodman team game

scheduled for Sunday June 2 at the Edgewood County Club (see page 2.) So

much bridge to enjoy - what could be better?

3 4

POSTAGE DUE This month we continue our

new column which we hope all play-

ers will take advantage of. There are

many players who are no longer able

to get about, and would love to hear

from their old friends, even if it’s

just a card to say they remember.

DR. NORMAN WILLIAMS

If you know someone who is

confined and would like to hear from

their old friends, please e-mail

Arlene at aport220@comcast.net or

Lou at louismjoseph@comcast.net

along with the name and address,

and we will be happy to publish the

information. Thanks!

As always we continue to

offer our well wishes to Ginny

Headrick, Edie Weiser, Betty No-

ble, Ada Nye, Doc Williams, Mary

Anne McNeirney, Delores Kelly,

Dee Braddock, Bill and Norma

Spicher, and all who are ailing.

GET WELL POST IN MEMORIAM POST

JUNIOR MASTER

Beverly Richards

CLUB MASTER

Bill King

Richard Simon

Donald Wyke

SECTIONAL MASTER

John Lesjack

REGIONAL MASTER

Ruthie Neafach

Mahendra Patel

BRONZE LIFE MASTER

Ursula Brown

For those of you who remember Chuck and Nancy Deal, we are

sorry to report that Chuck lost his battle with pancreatic cancer last

month.

Also, we mourn the passing of Caroline Croushore, An avid

player in Sewickley, she will be missed by her family and her friends.

UP THE LADDER POST

SUNDAY OPEN SWISS TEAMS

A B C

1 J Prior-D Averbach-A Bonneau-

B McElhaney

2 B Belardi-C Powell-J Sonon-

J Zambroski

3 1 J Bernhard-J Secka-P Shrut-

C Bolen

2 S Harris-C Woodhead-

D Mannheimer-D Turacy Sr

3 D McKinley-S Nolan-K Mulligan-

M Burke

1/2 A Fusco-V Kane-A Cockburn-

L Ostrow

1/2 P Evans-ML Flach-D Gregg-

B Weinstein

3 J Fox-F Siffrinn-L Igiel-B Shah

SUNDAY 299’er SWISS TEAMS

D E F

1 1 R Neafach-J Baseman-J Thelkeld-

S McCall

2 2 K Peters-A Tam-L Schoof-

B Schoof

3 3 D Wyke-C Pattison-M Kasper-

M Crawford

CONGRATULATIONS

TO ALL!!!

PBA SPRING SECTIONAL

continued from page 5

7 CITIES SECTIONAL- TITUSVILLE, PA 04/05-04/07/13

FRI AFT OPEN PAIRS

A B C

1 J Lamberton-L DiPlacido

2 1 1 K Bock-D Collura

3 2 2 E Morgan-B Smith

3 R Sain-E Sain

3 T Yusavage-J Yusavage

FRI AFT 299’34 PAIRS

A B

1 1 K Glassford-J Pierce

2 M Gibson-M Conarro

2 J Dietz-M Baker

FRI EVE OPEN PAIRS

A B C

1 1 S Shields-A Clay

2/3 S Fairchild-B Bacon

2/3 2 D Shoup-C Ludwig

3 1 W Flick-L Flick

2 G Shorts-E Lawrence

3 K Bock-D Collura

FRI LATE NITE TEAM GAME

1 W Obitz-J Gray-C Powell-B Belardo

2 C Ludwig-R Sain-J Pierce-S Israelson

HANDICAPPED KO TEAM GAME

1 C Beardmore-P Sostarich-T&R Murray

2 B&S Grzegorzewski-J&T Yusavage

SAT AFT OPEN PAIRS (2 Session Event)

A B C

1 M Sylvester-C Smith

2 1 P Young-G Shorts

3 D Kirsch-S Irish

2 R Jaskiewicz-R O’Brien

3 R Sain-K Glassford

1 K Bock-D Collura

2 D & K Kresh

3 R Ambrose-S Israelson

SUNDAY SWISS TEAMS

A B C

1 M P & G Carns-H&B Ellis

2 1 V De Jong-D Bloom-C Smith-

K Horan

3 B Bacon-S Fairchild-P Young-

S Irish

2 J Gray-W Obitz-KJ Hellman-

A Jacobelli

1 C Custer-B Segal-G Marcus-

S Rabovsky

2 K Bock-C&L Mott-D Collura

3/4 R Heasley-R Greco-R Ambrose-

S Israelson

3/4 P Sostarich-H Dunn-C Beardmore-

K Ekker

Please note - your eyes are not going

bad. Arlene directed that the font be

reduced for all the Sectional results

this month because her name does not

appear.

5 6

PBA SPRING SECTIONAL 04/12-04/13/2013

FRI AFT OPEN PAIRS

A B C

1 P Caplan-C Caplan

2 F Prus-F Schenker

3 1 M Kramer-C Berkman

2 L Igiel-P Geinzer

3 K Eichler-A Jacobelli

1 R Mariani-A Mariani

2 C Kresh-D Kresh

3 E Zweig-N Zweig

FRI AFT 299’er PAIRS

D E F

1 S Kausler-M Frizzi

2 1 R Neafach-J Baseman

3 2 C Lesjack-J Lesjack

3 A Cullen-B Weinstein

1 S Eisner-H Jernigan

2 D Wyke-C Pattison

3 M Kirsch-J Buscher

FRI EVE OPEN PAIRS

A B C

1 1 R Zimmermann-P Howell

2 B Bergman-K Bergman

3 2 A Jacobelli-K Eicher

3 S Nolan-J Gray

1 M Goldman-P Berkowitz

2 C Harff-G Farrish

3 S Wozniak-E Collins

FRI EVE 299’er PAIRS

D E

1 1 R Neafach-K Shipkovitz

2 2 M Slusky-C Lambie-Hanson

3 N Chess-K Dolegowski

3 A Cullen-B Weinstein

FRI EVE SINGLE SESSION SWISS

A B C

1 1 R Krauland, R Poppleton,

V Vertes, M Zinamon

2 2 J Prior, P Geinzer, D Averbach,

L Igiel

3 W Oberfield, J Haffner, A Ulke,

B Fudor

3 R Heasley, D Mehok, J Smith,

D Hess

1 W Seran, C Shanahan, B Brennan,

K Brennan

SAT MORN OPEN PAIRS

A B C

1 H Nelson-W Lindgren

2 J Haffner-H Haffner

3 1 A Leaver-M Pettit

2 D Donald-B Grzegorzewski

3/4 K Eichler-A Jacobelli

3/4 C Wang-J Gray

2 J Bracket-P Bachman

3 C Harff-G Farrish

SAT MORN 299’er PAIRS

D E F

1 1 T Barker-D Hoover

2 2 J Lesjack-C Lesjack

3 3 J Baseman-K Shipkovitz

1 J Emanuel-J Fridy

2 K Sokalski-M Frizzi

3 D Wyke-C Pattison

SAT COMPACT K-O BRACKET I

1 C Powell, B Belardi, A Williams, J Sonon

2 B&K Bergman, E&M Retetagos

SAT COMPACT KO BRACKET II

1 D Collura, K Bock, D Pittman, J Schulteis

2 C Custer, G Marcus, B Segal, S Rabovsky

SAT AFT OPEN PAIRS

A B C

1 1 1 A Mariani-R Mariani

2 2 C Wang-J Gray

3 3 D Donald-B Grzegorzewski

2 A Leaver-M Pettit

3 S Wozniak-E Collins

SAT AFT SINGLE SESSION SWISS

A B C

1 M Paulone-Carns, W Holt, R Quinlan

C Hoechstetter

2 1 J Prior, R Sheldon, J Bernhard,

L Hanna

3 S Rohr, S Schwarzwaelder,

G Hastings, L Joseph

2 R Krauland, R Poppleton, V Vertes,

M Zinamon

3 D Averbach, R Logan, A Bonneau,

B McElhaney

1/2 D Hoover, M Frizzi, T Barker,

K Sokalski

1/2 W Seran, C Shanahan, B&K Brennan

Continued on page 3

7 8

BRAND NEW POST!!! - ASK ERNIE As mentioned last month, The Post Mortem is intended to be for ALL players,

novices and experts alike. In the interest of hearing from less experienced and

advancing players, the PBA has instituted a NEW column - call it advice for the

bridgelorn, call it what you want. We are calling it ASK ERNIE. Ernie

Retetagos has agreed to accept bidding and play questions of your choice,

which he will review and answer in later issues of the Post Mortem. You may

send them to him directly eret@verizon.net, to either of the PM editors (e-mail

addresses on the masthead.) or click on the “Ask Ernie” link on the PBA web-

page.

There must be a million questions that people have, and that Ernie we

be willing to help you with. Here’s an example of a good question:

Ernie, how should the following hand be bid to get to (whatever you should

have gotten to; citing both hands for reference.)

Here’s an example of a bad question: Ernie, how come you didn't win

the Compact Knockout at the Spring Sectional?

An article by PJ Prabhu on page 8reflects the in-depth analysis you will

get from Ernie when you submit a problem.

PBA 3 MONTHS AT A GLANCE

MAY

3 Unit Championship

10 Unit Championship SWISS TEAM

17 Unit Local Charity Championship and AWARDS NIGHT/PARTY

24 NO GAME - Cleveland Regional

31 Open Pairs

JUNE

2 Fossick-Goodman Sunday Swiss Team at Edgewood Country Club

7 NAOP Qualifier

13 STAC Pairs Thursday Game

14 STAC Pairs and PBA Board Meeting

21 Open Pairs

28 Unit Championship SWISS TEAM

JULY

5 Open Pairs

12 NAOP Qualifier

19 Summer Sectional at Masonic Center

26 Unit Championship SWISS TEAM

The answer is yes. You should

lead the ST at trick 2. If East follows

small, play small from hand. If the ST

wins the trick and all follow, play the SA,

ruff a club to get to your hand, and pull

the last trump. If the Heart suit breaks 3-2

or 4-1, you will make an overtrick. If you

lose the second trick to West’s SQ, he

cannot cash the DA since SA is in dummy

to ruff the D. Nor can West lead anything

else to defeat you. Once you gain the

lead, you’ll ruff a Diamond with the SA,

return to hand with a C ruff, and pull the

remaining trumps and run the H suit. In

all, you will make five Spade tricks, two

ruffs in dummy, four Heart tricks and the

CA for a total of 12 tricks. If West returns

a Spade at Trick 3, you will not be able to

ruff a second Diamond and will need the

Heart suit to break no worse than 4-1 (you

could try for a D-H squeeze against West,

but the likelihood of such a squeeze is

very small). This play succeeds against

any 2-2 or 3-1 break in the Spade suit. If

Spades break 4-0, you will most likely go

down on good defense. Here is the full

deal:

AT9

AKQ874

—-

AJ53

Q73 5

5 T932

AKJ65 984

T862 KQ974

KJ8642

J6

QT732

—

Declarer play problem by PJ Prabhu

IMPs, N-S Vulnerable

AT9

AKQ874

-

AJ53

KJ8642

J6

QT732

-

Bidding

East South West North

Pass 2S Pass 4NT

Pass 5D* Dble 6S

Pass Pass Pass

(* One key card)

Opening lead: DK

You ruff with S9 and East follows with D4.

Plan the play.

Answer

It appears that the Heart suit will

yield the tricks needed to make the contract.

The main problem involves the trump suit.

From the bidding and the opening lead, it

appears that West started with length in the

Diamond suit along with the A and K.

Hence, it appears that East is more likely to

be long in the other suits. Therefore, it is

reasonable to finesse against East for the

trump Q.

Under normal circumstances, it

would be proper to Start with the SA and

follow with the ST and finesse by playing

low or SJ. This protects against loosing a

trick to a stiff SQ with West. However, if

the finesse looses, West will cash the DA,

defeating the contract. Hence, is there a

better plan?

10 9 10 9 10 9 9

Jane Marshall 4 hearts. If partner says

4 spades, I pass. If partner says 4NT or

5 clubs, I bid 5 diamonds. The dia-

monds are so much better than the

spades that I do not want to bid 3 spades

and hear partner raise me on a double-

ton spade.

Robert Zimmermann: 4H. It's always

nice when you have a bid that describes

your hand.

Bill Holt : Dbl. I am going to double,

and plan on pulling clubs to dia-

monds. Equal level conversion applies

here (doubling, then converting a club

bid to diamonds ONLY - showing dia-

monds and the other major) so partner

will know I have two places to play. 4d

might be our last making contract, and

with 9 working highs I don’t think I am

high-card strong enough to Q-bid this

hand. And who knows, 3HX might be

our spot.

.PJ Prabhu 4H. The sixth Diamond

makes up for the minimum in high

cards. As little as AJx of Spades and

two Diamonds with partner gives us a

good chance for game. Vulnerable at

IMPs, it is the clear choice. It is less

clear at match points; but, for lack of a

good alternative, I’d bit 4H at MPs as

well.

Gail Carns: 4H I hope it works

JimBachelder: PASS! If LHO passes, partner, with values, should take action with a double. I would certainly "Michaels" over 1H with this hand but 4H over 3H is a little rich for me. What do you think of your prospects if partner holds: JX, JXX, XX, QTXXXX and you hear 5C?

Ernie Retetegos: 4 Hearts. I think this

is pretty clear cut. If partner has

as little as K x x x or A J x of spades

and out, we have a play for 4

spades. If I don't bid 4 hearts, West

might. This is the kind of hand where

each side could take a lot of tricks.

Marvin Rulin: Double. The preempt

did its job, any bid I make could be

right or wrong. Although 4 hearts de-

scribes my distribution my spade suit is

quite weak and my heart K is worth-

less. If partner has xxx in spades and

bids 4 spades we'll be in trouble. If he

bids 5 clubs we'll be in 5 Diamonds

which also may be set too many vul-

nerable. Pass is too wimpy so I'll dou-

ble and bid 4 Diamonds if partner bids

4 Clubs. Double also lets partner leave

it in if he has a couple of heart tricks

and values in clubs. Maybe we can get

lucky and find partner with 4 spades

and an honor.

Herb Sachs. I bid four diamonds; the

problem starts now! if LHO bids 4h

and partner passes I have a real prob-

lem because I have bid my best suit; I

will probably pass. If LHO passes and

partner bids 4h I have an easy 4spade

call; four level bids are always made

under pressure I hope we do not suc-

cumb to the pressure and work out

what to do; searching for a vulnerable

spot at the four level may end in a huge

number; I stick with my four diamond

bid and hope for the best.

Richard Katz: 4diamonds and over

4hearts I bid 4 spades. It is a rule that

one must go for a number when one is

6/5 and vul.

INTERNET POST

you are south, north/south vul. you, hold:

S Q 8 6 5 3

H K

D A K 9 8 5 2

C 4

THE BIDDING IS:

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST

----- ----- ----- 3 HEARTS

? *a bid of 4hearts shows spades and a

minor. HOW EXPERTS VOTED

Michael Becker 3S

David Berkowitz P

Larry Cohen 4H

Richard Colker 4H

Billy Eisenberg 4H

Russ Ekeblad P

Robert Friend P

Carl Hudecek 3S

Eddie Kantar 4H

Sami Kahela 4D

Danny Kleinman P

Eric Kokish P

Michael Lawrence P

Robert Lipsitz 3S

Patrick Long 4H

Jeff Mexkstroth 4H

Marshal Miles 3S

Erik Paulsen 4D

Barry Rigal 4H

Arthur Robinson P

Andrew Robson 3S

Beverly Rosenberg 4D

Al Roth 4D

Jeff Rubens 3S

Ira Rubin P

Joey Silver P

Anders Wirgren 4D Robert Wolff 4D

Kit Woolsey 4H

Zia 4D

INTERNET POST RESULTS:

BID Nat. Pgh Award

4H 8 6 100

PASS 9 2 90 4D 7 3 70

3S 6 1 70

DBL 0 2 20 3NT 0 O 10

Asim Ulke: I bid 3S. I don't think I

have the hand to take it to the 4 level by

bidding 4H. 4D bid risks loosing the

spade suit and is a level higher. If part-

ner has a spade fit and a couple of tricks

will raise 3S to game.

Steve Nolan 4H. I don't think any call

is guaranteed to work; this is more de-

scriptive than the alternatives.

Stan Ruskin Pass We could have a

slam or we could be going for a large

minus if I bid. My answer could be dif-

ferent if we are playing match points or

IMPs although I think I would Pass at

either (the only other option would be to

bid at match points – probably 4H since

you conveniently gave me that option).

If we have a game or more, my partner

will bid something and we can go from

there. The higher level that I am forced

to enter the auction, the better my hand

generally is – particularly Vul vs. non

Vul. I know that it is hard to believe, but

pass is also a bid!!!!!

Arlene Port: 4H The worst thing about

my bid is that I have the survey which

shows the best bid to make. Unfortu-

nately, I am a very slow learner and to

be honest, I would bid 4 hearts. I would

probably justify this bid by making be-

lieve that I had a good spade suit. I

could always back this up by saying I

had the QC in with my spades.

No problem. Hey! I did pick the #1 an-

swer after all.

Paul Caplan 4D not strong enough to

double and correct clubs to dia-

monds. bidding 4 hearts risks getting to

high. you have some values and a fair

suit over partners 4 heart cue bid you

can try 4 spades.

11

FIRST AT THE POST

70% GAMES Richard Zack & Barbara Weinstein Longvue CC Thur 72.92%

Joanne Zambroski & Jim Quigley Glenshaw Wed 71.92%

Marge Tamres & Gail Carns Temple Sinai Tue 70.83%

3 IN A ROW C Hoechstetter Suburban DBC Bob Quinlan Suburban DBC

Harold Haffner JCC Judy Haffner JCC

2 IN A ROW Jean Prior Jcc SH Tues Eve Allen Cohn Rodef 199er’s

Lois Cohen Rodef 199ers

BAD NEWS - GOOD NEWS POST

BAD NEWS: I never thought that I would ever lower myself to the

level of that person (LJ) who has been torturing me in print lo these many

years. Alas, I must admit that I have, indeed, recently reached that place

of shame. To be specific, last week I wrote “LOU JOSEPH IS A BUM”

on his teaching notepad for all his students to see. Woe is me!! How

will I ever get over the pain of writing that semi-terrible message?

GOOD NEWS:

It took me no time at all to recover.

It made me feel so good

Best of all, the sentence was well constructed and the word “bum”

was spelled correctly.

(lou, erasing this the first time didn’t work. I remembered it verbatim.))

MA

Y 2

01

3

Su

n

Mo

n

Tu

e

Wed

T

hu

F

ri S

at

1

2

3

PB

A U

nit

Ch

am

p

4

5

6

7

8

9

10 P

BA

Un

it Ch

am

p

Sw

iss Team

11

12

13

14

15

16

17 P

BA

AN

NU

AL

AW

AR

DS

PA

RT

Y

18

19

20

21

22

23

24 P

BA

Cancelle

d

Cle

vela

nd

Regio

nal

25

26

27 R

odef

cance

lled

28

29

30

31

PB

A O

pen

Pairs

Effective immediately, there is a new PBA hotline number: Call 412-219-CLUB (2582). Many Thanks to Maryanne McNeirney, who

maintained the old number for 25 years!