Saturday was the 16th(!) Dan Hirschman Youngest Life Master Party and KO Event which commemorates the time that Dan (or Danny, as we all knew him back then) became the ACBL’s youngest ever life master as a 10-year-old back in 1995. Marty Hirschman and Marcy Abramson were, as always, gracious hosts to more than 80 bridge players in their home for a great party. One of Marty’s duties as host every year is to organize the KO event for the evening. This edition featured 21 teams, all stuffed to the max with the great food available.
Unfortunately, my team was upset in the first round on the following three hands:
1) You hold: ♠xx ♥Ax ♦AK10xxx ♣xxx in fourth chair
| Opp | Partner | Opp | You |
| P | 1♣ | 3♠ | ? |
2) You hold: ♠Kxx ♥Kxx ♦Axx ♣AJxx
| Partner | Opp | You | Opp |
| 1♣ | 1♦ | 2♦ | P |
| 3♣ | P | ? |
3) You hold: ♠J9 ♥10xx ♦QJ10xxxx ♣x
| Opp | Partner | Opp | You |
| 2♠ | X | P | 2N* |
| P | 3N | P | ? |
*=lebensohl
Fortunately for us, this KO event includes a consolation round. We managed to recoup and emerge victorious from the consolation bracket to win the coveted consolation trophy:
Thanks to Marty and Marcy for a great party!
Apropos of Mark 
I bid diamonds…
1) 4
2) 3
3) 5
I also bid diamonds on all 3 of them.
1. 4
2.3
3.5
What actually happened?
1. At my table, second hand actually passed holding: — 9xxxx Qx AKQxxx. So, I got to open 3S, and when the next hand overcalled 4D, it was passed out. So, you can imagine that we were expecting a nice gain for -190. Unfortunately at the other table, in the auction presented, our teammate took some amount of time and passed. The the 1C opener felt ethically constrained to pass because of the hesitation, and to make matters worse, 3S made on the nose.
2. My partner also bid 3D. I bid 4C and ended up playing 5C. The opening lead was a small spade:
Kxx
Kxx
Axx
AJxx
J10x
AJ
Jxx
KQxxx
You duck in dummy and RHO wins the A and returns another spade, covered by the Q and K. Plan the play.
3. I passed 3N. Dummy was AQx KQJx Ax Axxx. I could only scrape up 8 tricks. At the other table, the stopped in 4D for another 6 IMP loss.