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FlpittMIM j-y *-Jf Jt' ?╜ Attempting a Hopeless Slam J nriagei In a Las Vegas Tournament | By ALAN TBUSCOTT ranifiriHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii ?√ßEW YORK players won nearly all of the prize money in the rubber bridge tournament that ended Thurs- day night at the Sands Hotel, in Las Vegas,, Nev. ~rne wTrlh&K "werb Tobias Stone of New York and Ivan Erdos of Los Angeles,' who shared a total of $13,360 in prize money. They won the final by 950 points against Mr. and Mrs. Howard Schen- ken of New York, whose win- nings totaled $5,680. The original entry was 52 pairs, of whom 32 qualified for the final knockout stages, The consolation tournament* together with a prize of $1,500, was won by a New York partnership, the expert Morrie Elis of Oceanside, L. I., and Milton Kline of New York City, who is the managing director of Tamiment-in-the- Poconos. A Hopeless Choice Before the 32d and last deal of the final match Stone and Erdos led by 900 points. In this artificial situation the Schenkens had no choice but to attempt a hopeless slam. Stone ended the proceedings by showing the declarer two natural trump tricks and claiming down one. The fact that the contract was head- ing for a heavier defeat was irrelevant. Fate dealt the Schenkens a heavy blow on the 22d deal of the final, which is shown in the diagram. They reached the reasonable contract of four spades, and Stone, sit- ting West, had to make a crucial lead. After the routine lead of the club queen the contract would have been made with- out difficulty. Stone picked out the heart ten, in spite of the fact that a ruff figured to remove the guard for his trump king. He hoped to ob- tain a ruff and still make a trick with the spade king, for WEST NORTH A J10 9 v AKQT <C> A 4 A 10862 EAST ?√? K4 * io O 108 76 2 * QJ9 74 A 0 J986432 0-9 5 * A 5 SOUTH (D) A Q 8 7 6 3 2 5 o KQJ4 * K3 Either side was. vulnerable* The bidding: Pass South West North East 1 A Pass 2 V Pass 2 A Pass 4 A Pass West led the heart ten. South was likely to hold the spade ace. Schenken won the first ' trick in dummy, and would have made his contract if he had led trumps. But he would then have needed to find the club ace on his right, which was a straight 50 per cent chance. ; A Ruff Decides It Playing a second high heart from dummy was vir- tually certain to make^ the contract unless West could ruff. The original chance of a singleton with West was about one in a/hundred, al- though this chance was ad- mittedly increased by the opening lead. So South led a high heart from dummy at the second trick and discarded a club, going down to defeat when West ruffed and led the club queen. If this contract had been made, the Schenkens would have faced a modest deficit before the, last deal. They would not have found it neces- sary to bid a slam, and would probably have, won the event together with an additional $7,680. I Life of the Seashore^.