September 1
I have two days and three club stops in New Mexico. The first stop is in Santa Fe at the Leonard Helman Bridge Center. Clearly the best dressed player west of the Mississippi is Leonard Helman, known affectionately as ‘The Rabbi’. He was a major force in raising money to build the bridge center here in Santa Fe and therefore the building carries his name. I had the pleasure of playing with ‘The Rabbi’ and we had a very nice game. He a gracious man and it was certainly a highlight of the trip to play with him. Leonard is known for playing contracts in 3NT, so on the last deal I gave him his chance. I picked up S-Jx H-AKxxxxx D-xxx C-x. I passed. LHO opened 1 spade, Leonard bid 1NT, pass, so I bid 3NT. Oops, opening lead is the club nine, but the Rabbi had me covered with S-AKxx H-Qx D-xxx C-AQxx. When the dust settled the Rabbi had taken all 13 tricks for a top.
Craig, Leonard Helman and Jerry Fleming
ACBL President Craig Robinson
100 Clubs in 100 Days 