I had the great pleasure of acting as a monitor for Adam Kaplan as he and his partner Cameron Shunta qualified for the World Junior Championships to be held in Istanbul, Turkey in mid-August.

The duties of a monitor included assuring that Adam didn’t use any sort of crib notes, didn’t make any “psyche” bids, and abided by all the laws of duplicate bridge. The qualifying included two rounds on Saturday and one on Sunday. The starting 20 teams were reduced to 12 after Saturday’s play and on Sunday, six more teams were eliminated. Here are three hands that Adam and Cam played for cold tops.

As Declarer 

This hand illustrates just how good Adam has become as a declarer. In fourth seat, red versus white, Adam held: S-Kx, H-Q, D-AQxxxxx, C-AKx. LHO opened 1 Spade, and after Cam passed, RHO bid 2 Spades. Adam bid 3 Diamonds and LHO, sensing that Adam held a big hand, jumped to 4 Spades. After two passes, Adam doubled, but Cam figured out what was going on, so he bid 5 Diamonds with the following hand: S-Ax, H-xxxx, D-J10x, C-J10xx.

Adam won the spade lead in dummy with the ace, hiding his king, and led a low heart toward his queen. LHO won and continued spades, Adam winning with the king. Adam sat for a while and then plunked down the DA and the stiff king fell from LHO. A diamond to dummy’s jack set up a heart ruff and a diamond to dummy’s ten set up another heart ruff. Adam drew the outstanding trump and cashed the club honors. When the doubleton queen fell, Adam had 12 tricks for a cold top.

In Analysis 

Here’s a hand that shows how far Adam has come in analyzing the shape and strength of his opponents even when they don’t bid. In first seat, Adam held: S-KQxx, H-AKQx, D-Jxx, C-J10xx. He opened a Precision Club and eventually wound up at 6 Clubs looking at the following dummy: S-J, H-x, D-AQxx, C-AQxxxxx. LHO led the SA and then switched to a heart. Adam won in hand and finessed the DQ. Adam cashed the SK, pitching a diamond, and ruffed a diamond.

Now came the moment of truth. Adam lead the CJ and LHO played the six. Adam notified the opponents he was “thinking.” Then he sat back and went into a deep trance. Finally, he played the CA and the stiff king popped up on his right, the slam rolling in. I asked him why he hadn’t finessed. “LHO has the SA and the DK. If he had the CK he would have made some sort of a bid over my Precision opener - opponents always do.” How can you argue with that logic.

On Defense 

This hand illustrates how partners work together to defeat what appears to be a cold contract to earn another top. Adam held: S-xx, H-Kxxx, D-Qx, C-xxxxx, and Cam held: S-KJx, H-Qxx, D-Jxxx, C-AKx. Cam’s LHO opened 1 Diamond and his partner bid 1 Spade. Sensing that Adam was broke, Cam wisely passed, and the opponents were soon in an ambitious 4 Spade contract.

Cam led the CA, Adam encouraging (upside-down). Cam’s CK was ruffed and the QS successfully finessed. Declarer cashed the SA and gave up a spade to Cam’s king. Cam then tapped declarer with another club who led to dummy’s HA. Declarer then returned a heart and Adam smoothly played low. Declarer’s ten lost to Cam’s queen and Adam’s HK took the setting trick.

If they go, I wish Adam and Cam great success in Turkey. They showed they can hold their own against some of the top players in the country. 

Sincerely, Jim Somma