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MONDAY September 8, 2014

FLYINGHIGHKites launched at Geneva festival / 3

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LOOKING FORWARD THE WEATHER

Greatest Ferret Show on EarthAn event, the Greatest Ferret Show on Earth, is set from 10 a.m. to

4 p.m. Oct. 11 at the Kane County Fairgrounds, 525 S. Randall Road,

St. Charles. The show is presented by the Greater Chicago Ferret As-

sociation. The event will include vendors, ferret supplies, a costume

contest and more. For information, visit www.gfsoe.weebly.com.

‘RelationShip Happens’ at Playhouse 38GENEVA – Tickets are available for “RelationShip Happens,” a Good

Company Production at Playhouse 38, 524 W. State St., Geneva.

Performances are set for 8 p.m. Sept. 13 and 3 p.m. Sept. 14. General

admission is $15, and senior admission is $12. For information, call

630-232-4542 or visit www.genevaparks.org.

Today

Mostly sunny, slight chance of

showers

Tuesday

Partly sunny, a chance of

showers

High 73Low 55

High 76Low 63

Kane

CountyChronicle/KCChronicle.com

•Monday,Septem

ber8,2014|N

EWS

2 OUT AND ABOUT

Registration underway for Harvest HustleGENEVA – Registration is available for Geneva

Park District’s twilight all-terrain Harvest Hustle 5Kon Sept. 27. The chip-timed race through the fieldsof Peck Farm Park begins at 5:30 p.m., with on-siteregistration and check-in from 4:30 to 5:15 p.m.After the race, there will be a celebration at PeckFarm Park with Chick-fil-A until 7:30 p.m. Peck FarmPark is at 4038 Kaneville Road, Geneva. Registrationis available online at www.signmeup.com/100968.The early registration cost is $34 and closes Sept.15. Late registration and day-of registration cost is$39. All participants will receive a finisher’s medal,T-shirt, complimentary sandwich, and beverage.Additional food and drink will be available for pur-chase. Only early registrants are guaranteed T-shirtand finisher’s medal on race day. Proceeds benefitthe Geneva Park District Scholarship fund, providingrecreational opportunities to community membersin need. For information, call 630-232-4542 or visitwww.genevaparks.org.

Chamber of Commerce Week setST. CHARLES – St. Charles Mayor Ray Rogina has

proclaimed Sept. 8 through 12, as Chamber of Com-merce Week, according to a news release. The St.Charles Chamber of Commerce Chamber has joinedthe Illinois Association of Chamber of CommerceExecutives in celebrating this special recognition ofthe contributions chambers of commerce make toIllinois civic and economic life, the release stated.The St. Charles Chamber of Commerce will kick offChamber of Commerce Week with an open housefrom 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday, Sept. 8. There will befood, raffles and networking. The chamber office isat 216 Riverside Ave., St. Charles. The week of eventswill continue Tuesday, Sept. 9, when the St. CharlesChamber of Commerce Young Professionals Councilwill host an after-hours mixer at Old Towne PubWasco. On Wednesday, Sept. 10, the Arcada Theatrewill offer a behind-the-scenes tour of the theater andThursday, Sept. 11, chamber members are invited toa speed networking event. For information and toregister, visit www.stcharleschamber.com.

‘Almost, Maine’ set at Steel BeamST. CHARLES – The Steel Beam Theatre, 111 W.

Main St., St. Charles, will begin its 14th seasonFriday with the romantic comedy “Almost, Maine.”Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.and Sundays at 3 p.m. through Sunday, Oct. 5.Tickets are $28 for adults, $25 for seniors and $23for students. Group rates are available for partiesof 10 or more. Visit www.SteelBeamTheatre.com orcall 630-587-8521 for tickets. Audience memberson opening night are invited to a complimentaryreception at Riverside Pizza and Pub, which is at thecorner of First Avenue and East Main Street.

Have news to share?To submit news to the Kane County Chronicle,

send a news release to editorial@kcchronicle.com.Be sure to include the time, the date and the place,

as well as contact information.

Festival of the Vine ends weekend on sunny note

Peter Kon-stant, a staffmember atSavWay FineWines &Spirits in Ge-neva, servessangria toJenni Starkof Geneva onSunday atthe Festivalof the Vinedowntown.

Photos by CharlesMenchaca –cmenchaca@shawmedia.com

By CHARLES MENCHACAcmenchaca@shawmedia.com

GENEVA – There are twothings that bring Jenni Starkback every year to the Festival ofthe Vine – the wine and Chianti’sgarlic crab pasta.

On Sunday she enjoyed thepasta, along with tastings of RexGoliath Red Sangria and Moscatowith her boyfriend Dan Paulsenof DeKalb.

“Any open-air festival like thisI love,” Paulsen said.

Stark and Paulsen were amongthe thousands of attendees indowntown Geneva for the annualfestival, which ran from Fridaythrough Sunday. The event fea-tured food, live music, an artsand crafts show, a flower market,trolley and horse-drawn carriagerides and of course, wine pairingsand tastings.

Attendance estimates for thisyear’s festival weren’t availableon Sunday, but the event usuallydraws about 75,000 people, saidJean Gaines, president of the Ge-neva Chamber of Commerce. TheChamber organizes and runs theevent with up to 100 volunteersworking various shifts through-out the weekend.

Friday’s turnout was affectedby rainfall, but Saturday was like-ly a record-setting day in termsof attendance, Gaines said. Thefestival enjoyed sunny skies andwarm temperatures on Saturdayand Sunday.

“Weather is always the factor,”Gaines said Sunday. “If we’ve gotgood weather, we know we’re likegold.”

Gaines said the Flavor Faretent and its adjacent wine tentare always a big hit with festivalattendees. The wine tent had 18different varieties to choose fromand the fare tent offered food from23 local restaurants.

Winfield resident Brian Galli-chio said the eggplant parmesanfrom Josef’s Elegante Meats &Deli, 716 W. State St. in Geneva,was delicious. He, his wife, Judy,and their two children stopped bythe festival Sunday for the firsttime after picking apples at Kui-pers Family Farm in Maple Park.

“Some of the best festivalfood you usually get is in a smalltown,” Brian Gallichio said.

Before the Gallichios hit thefare tent, they walked arounddowntown Geneva to take in theshops and the other parts of thefestival. Several business ownersheld special events and wine tast-

ings outside their storefronts.Galena Cellars Vineyard &

Winery, 477 S. Third St., offereda daily wine tasting and Sundayhad musician Jim Green performlive next to its patio. Phil and KrisPasterak of Campton Townshipsipped on the medium-dry wineAmerican Seyval Blanc duringGreen’s performance.

Kris Pasterak said her familyhad a rehearsal earlier in the dayin Geneva for State Street DanceStudio’s upcoming production of“The Nutcracker” and stayed atthe festival while their 15-year-olddaughter Alexandra continuedto practice. They have attendedthe festival every year since theymoved into the area 12 years ago.

“It’s just such a great envi-ronment,” Kris Pasterak said.“Although we are sad summer iswinding down, it’s a great way tokick off autumn.”

A total of 18 different types of wine were sold by the glass Friday through Sun-day under a wine tent at Festival of the Vine’s Flavor Fare in downtown Geneva.

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•Monday,Septem

ber8,20

143

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Never too young or old for kite-flying joyBy BRENDA SCHORY

bschory@shawmedia.com

GENEVA – Kite pro DaveZavell maneuvered a dual line

stunt kite, tugging a string in

each hand so that it soared

and dipped against a perfectazure sky.

Zavell, owner of ChicagoKite, which hosted the FourthAnnual Kite Festival on Sat-

urday at the Peck Farm Park

Athletic fields, kept his kite

aloft alongside an assortment

of all types: smiley faces, but-

terflies, “Little Mermaids,”spirals, swirls and one-eyedspace aliens, in all colors in avariety shapes, from trianglesto boxes.

Matthew Conrad, 12, flewhis kite so high, he ran out ofstring in his spindle. The sev-enth-grader at Geneva MiddleSchool North was with hissister, Jenna, 10 and mother,Lisa. Though the bright andsunny day also had nice wind,it was not enough to keep Jen-na’s kite aloft. It crash.

“She had a casualty withthe kite,” her mother said. “Itcame apart.”

The Conrads were amongmany families that cameto the event. Some broughttheir own kites, while othersbought those offered for saleor used the free paper kite kitsthe company gave away.

That’s what Kami andAdam Hammond of NorthAurora did while their babydaughter, Leah, 1, watchedthem. The company had pic-nic tables set out with scissors

and crayons so children couldcut and decorate their own.

Because Leah was tooyoung for crayons, AdamHammond wrote his daugh-ter’s name on the kite, cutthe pattern out and attachedthe string while she watched,wide-eyed.

Flying kites was for allages, as sister and brother

Mary Ann Lieberman, 73 ofIndian Head Park and LaddPeknik, 81, of Burr Ridge,bought a kite kit in bright hotneon pink, green, purple andorange.

They sat at a neighboringpicnic table to assemble it.

“She called me and said‘This sounds nice, why not?’” Peknik said, as he watched

the other kites while his sistertried to fly their newly assem-bled kite.

The kite began a prom-ising ascent, then promptlydropped to the ground as thebreeze died down.

“She needs to catch thewind,” Peknik said as his sis-ter gave it another try.

Dalia Cardona of Chicagoand her son Alexander, 6, flewa pterodactyl kite. The flyingdinosaur was never so color-

ful in life as a kite arrayed in

purple, red and yellow.“He had a kite to fly, so I

said, ‘Let’s go,’ “ Cardona said

as Alexander’s pterodactylsoared, dipped, then smackedbeak-first into a light pole be-fore crashing. After a momentof string winding, the ptero-dactyl was quickly airborneagain.

Three generations of a Ge-neva family also flew kitesat the festival: Adam andStephanie Rechkemmer withdaughters Lila, 5, and Cami2; Stephanie’s sister NicoleTucker and four sons Beckett,5, Levi, 4, Cole, 2 and Bode, 6weeks; and grandma LeighPoulos of Elburn.

“We love it,” StephanieRechkemmeer said, keeping

an eye on her girls.

Lila fell backward with a

thump but never let go of the

kite string. She did not cry,and the kite stayed flying.

“If the kite had fallen, therewould have been tears,” hermother said.

Photos by Mary Beth Nolan for Shaw Media

Maribeth van Loon of Batavia and son Willem get a kite aloft at theGeneva Park District Kite Festival Saturday at Peck Farm Park AthleticFields in Geneva.

A pteradactyl kite floats Saturday at the Geneva Park District Kite Fes-tival at Peck Farm Park Athletic Fields in Geneva.

“He had a kite to fly, so I

said, ‘Let’s go.’ ”

Dalia Cardona

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•Monday,Septem

ber8,2014|S

PORTS

4

By JARED BIRCHFIELDeditorial@kcchronicle.com

ST. CHARLES – Whilethe start and finish of a crosscountry meet draws the mostattention of spectators, it isrunners’ strategies on the usu-ally unobserved interior of thecourse that typically decidesthe race.

Decisions by individualrunners on running pace,passing opponents and keep-ing up with teammates havethe most impact on how a teamplaces in the meet.

The St. Charles East girlsand boys teams made the mostof their running tactics at theJeff Leavey Invitational onSaturday at Leroy Oakes For-est Preserve. East’s girls wonthe varsity race with 58 points.The varsity boys took secondplace with a score of 91.

“I knew if we ran our racewe would be competitive forone of the top three spots,”East girls coach Mike Aren-berg said. “I think some girlsran some very smart races.Anna Arrick ran a really greatrace. When she came by meearly in the race, she was wayback, but she moved up andmoved up.

“Anastatsia [Honea] alsoran a great race. She ran byme at a mile and a half and Ithought ‘Oh, she’s in trouble,’but after that she picked upspots in the last mile, and thatimpressed me.”

Keeping the teams’ runnerstogether was the key for theSaints’ boys, coach Chris Bo-sworth said.

“We are going to functionthis year on the split,” he said.“We had a 30-second split be-tween [runners] one and six. If

we can continue that through-out the season … we will be ingood shape at the end of theseason.”

Bosworth also was im-pressed with East runner WillMuckian.

“He was the guy who got ussecond,” Bosworth said aboutthe senior. “He was far backat two miles and he probablypassed 17, 20 people that lastmile.”

Batavia (90), Barrington(96), Geneva (99) and York (123)rounded out the top five teamsin the girls contest. St. CharlesNorth came in seventh place(164) in the 12-team field.

Downers Grove North wonthe boys competition with ascore of 53. Completing the topfive teams were Jacobs (124),Batavia (127) and WaubonsieValley (163).

Marmion and St. Charles

North tied for eighth placewith 192 points. Geneva fin-ished 11th (244) among the 14squads that competed.

Brady Bobbitt of Marmionused his strategy to take sec-ond place in the boys race. Hecompleted the 3-mile course in15:11.2.

“I was conservative andcomfortable in the first mileand then I tried to pick off run-ners one by one,” Bobbitt said.“I finally got to second placeand there was no one left topick off and it was kind of hardrunning alone after that.”

St. Charles North freshmanAudrey Ernst took second inthe girls race with a time of17:15.5. Early in the race, Ernstwas able to keep with Jacobs’Lauren VanVlierbergen, whowon the race for the secondyear in a row.

VanVlierbergen, a senior,

also tied for third in last year’sIHSA Class 3A state final.

“I was just trying to holdon as long as I could,” Ernstsaid. “She definitely picked upthe pace at the end. I tried tostay with her as long as I couldbut I fell back after the secondmile.”

VanVlierbergen completedthe course in 17:06.5.

East senior Torree Scullpassed Batavia freshmanEmma Stephens just in frontof the finish line to take thirdwith a time of 17:42.7. Ste-phens’ time was 17:43.4.

Ryan Clevenger, a Down-ers Grove North senior, camein first in the boys race witha time of 14:51.9. Peter John-srud (15:17.3) of Oswego, AlecDanner (15:20.8) from DownersGrove North and Batavia’sRyan Wieties (15:29.6) roundedout the top five boy finishers.

St. Charles East boys, girls excel at Leavey InviteJEFF LEAVEY INVITATIONAL

Jeff Krage for Shaw Media

St. Charles East’s Torree Scull races Saturday at the Jeff Leavey Invitational at Leroy Oakes Forest Preserve in St. Charles. The Saints won the girls team title.

SPORTS|Kane

County

Chronicle

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•Monday,Septem

ber8,20

14PREP ROUNDUP 5

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Dramatic finish gives Eastboys soccer tourney title

KANE COUNTY CHRONICLE

WINNETKA – The St.Charles East boys soccerteam won the New Trier In-vitational in remarkablefashion Saturday, tying thematch with a minute to goand scoring 30 seconds intothe golden goal, extra sessionfor a 2-1 win over Lyons.

Evan DiLeonardi scoredon a header at the end ofregulation before TaylorOrtiz mustered the tourna-ment-clinching goal. Chris-tian Memije registered theassists on both goals.

East remains unbeaten onthe season at 6-0.

Saints coach Paul Jenni-son said it was East’s “poor-est performance of the sea-son” until the late outburst.Still, it was an impressivetournament run against a for-midable field at New Trier.

“We’ve definitely learnedwe can play with some ofthe best teams around,” Jen-nison said. “Certainly a bigcheck mark on that list, andwe also learned these guysare very cohesive as a group.

“We’ve also learned wehave a lot to improve on. Yes,we can put the ball away butwe definitely can’t play sub-par like we did today. … It’snot something that’s going toget us much success if we areserious about being aroundat the end of the year.”

Batavia 4, Oswego 0: AtOswego, Batavia (3-0) dom-inated the non-conference

match behind goals by NickKonopacki, Luke Laurich,Ian Larson and Davis DiB-iase.

GIRLS VOLLEYBALLConant Invitational: St.

Francis topped St. CharlesEast in the championshipmatch of the Conant Invita-tional, 25-20, 12-25, 25-22.

Emily Schildmeyer andMeagan Smith had nine killseach for East (8-1) in the titlematch while Smith also hadnine kills, Mikaela Mosquerahad eight kills and MeganSchildmeyer had 19 assistsin East’s semifinal victoryagainst Glenbard East, 25-13,16-25, 25-14.

Centennial Charger Invite:Kaneland finished 3-2 in thetournament, losing to Cham-paign Central and beatingMahomet in silver bracketplay. The Knights’ Ellie Dunnlanded on the all-tournamentteam.

FOOTBALLAurora Central Catholic 29,

Lisle 14: At Lisle, ACC im-proved to 2-0 in winning therescheduled game at Bene-dictine University. BrandonBabler had two receivingtouchdowns and two rush-ing touchdowns, including a49-yard reception from MattRahn on the Chargers’ firstoffensive play.

Brendon Ruehl notchedhis second interception of theseason for ACC, which led athalftime, 22-0.

MIDWEST LEAGUE WEST DIVISION FINALS: COUGARS 4, CEDAR RAPIDS 2

Cougars sweep Kernels, advance toMidwest League Championship Series

By JAY SCHWABjschwab@shawmedia.com

GENEVA – The Cougarshave found so many differentways to win this season that,by now, it’s hard to find shockvalue in their methods.

Sunday’s 4-2 win againstCedar Rapids, clinching a two-game sweep in the MidwestLeague Western Division fi-nals, might have done the trick.

Light-hitting shortstopCarlos Penalver, who enteredplay Sunday with one homerun in 478 at-bats, uncorked ago-ahead, two-run home run inthe bottom of the seventh thatgave the Cougars a 3-2 lead.Penalver’s batting averagehad drooped to .211 through awoeful second half of the sea-son offensively, although hisglovework has remained im-pressive.

In a season in which justabout everything has swungthe Cougars’ way late in ball-games, add a memorable longball from their No. 8 hitter tothe glorious list.

“No kidding,” managerMark Johnson said from a fes-tive Cougars clubhouse. “Whata huge hit, man. He’s struggledin his own mind. For him to getthat hit, and even the first hitof the game [in the fifth inning]… it’s just fitting because he’sbeen our everyday shortstopfor the whole season, and it’sjust well-deserved. He’s playedhis butt off all year.”

The Cougars, having sweptWisconsin and Cedar Rapidsin the first two rounds of the

Midwest League playoffs, areheaded for their first berth inthe Midwest League Champi-onship Series since 2006, whenthey fell to West Michigan. Thebest-of-5 series against LakeCounty – the Cleveland Indi-ans’ Midwest League affiliate– will open with games in Ge-neva on Wednesday and Thurs-day before shifting to Eastlake,Ohio, for the conclusion of theseries, beginning with Game 3on Saturday.

Cougars second basemanChesny Young led off the bot-tom of the seventh with a walkagainst Kernels reliever JaredWilson. Penalver showed bunton the first pitch of the at-batbut pulled back to take a ball,then drilled his two-run shot toleft field on a hit-and-run.

“I haven’t been offensivelywhat I would like to,” Penalversaid through a translator. “Butof course now it’s playoff time,and I’m really glad to be able tocontribute and to be able to putsomething into it and help theteam win.”

Like Penalver, Cougarsstarting pitcher Paul Black-burn is among a handful ofCougars who have been aboardthroughout a transaction-thickseason. Blackburn turned inarguably his sharpest outingof the season Sunday, althoughthe right-hander had to settlefor five innings of work as heflirts with his season inningslimit established by the Cubs.

Blackburn, a first-roundcompensation pick of the Cubsin 2012, featured a dynamiccurveball in allowing only one

hit and fanning seven in fiveshutout innings.

“He’s had a good one latelybut it’s either hit or miss, eitherkind of up in the zone or in thedirt,” Johnson said. “Tonight,he just had that feel. He couldthrow it where he wanted to,and same thing with his fast-ball and his changeup. Whenyou’ve got all three working,those outings can happen.”

Blackburn said he and histeammates aren’t taking thischampionship push for grant-ed.

“You never know if you’reever going to get there again,no matter what level you’re at,”Blackburn said.

Both starting pitchers dom-inated the first five innings infront of 1,239 fans at Fifth ThirdBank Ballpark. Cougars firstbaseman Jacob Rogers startedthe scoring with an oppositefield, solo home run to left inthe bottom of the sixth thatbarely eluded the outstretchedglove of Cedar Rapids left field-er Max Murphy.

The Kernels took a short-lived lead in the top of the sev-enth on a two-run homer fromChad Christensen off Cougarsreliever Tyler Ihrig.

After Penalver restored theCougars’ lead in the seventh,Young notched an RBI singlein the bottom of the eighth toprovide the margin of victory.

Cougars closer FranciscoCarrillo struck out both battershe faced to end the game afterfanning the side in the ninthSaturday at Cedar Rapids inthe series opener.

GENEVA VOLLEYBALL INVITATIONAL

Geneva reclaims ownership of home tournamentBy JAY SCHWAB

jschwab@shawmedia.com

GENEVA – The Genevagirls volleyball program hada score to settle with JolietCatholic, and the JV Vikingswere happy to help.

Geneva’s JV and varsityteams both were part of Sat-urday’s eight-team GenevaInvitational field, and sur-prisingly enough, both teamsdefeated Joliet Catholic,

which entered play as eight-time defending tournamentchampions.

The varsity Vikings thendefeated Burlington Centralfor the second time of the dayin the tournament champion-ship match, 25-23, 25-12, aftertopping Joliet Catholic in thesemifinals.

Geneva (9-0) would havehad some explaining to do ifit lost to the Angels after theVikings’ junior varsity squad

topped Joliet Catholic in apool-play match.

“I was like, ‘You knowwhat means? We’re winningthis today,’ ” Geneva coachAnnie Seitelman said. “Theywere like ‘Yeah!’ and got allexcited. But some of these kidshave been in the program fouryears, they’ve been a part ofit, working this tournament,playing in this tournament.They know that Joliet Cath-olic’s kind of had their run.”

KaneCountyChronicle/KCChronicle.com

•Monday,September8,2014

6

Big Nate

Crankshaft

Stone Soup

Dilbert

Garfield

Frank & Earnest

Soup to Nutz

The Born Loser

Rose Is Rose

Arlo & Janis

COMICS

COMICSANDADVICE|Kane

County

Chronicle

/KCChronicle.com

•Monday,Septem

ber8,20

14

Moving child’s grave

sparks buried angerDear Abby: Twen-

ty-three years ago myhusband and I lost ourfirstborn son. As myhusband was active dutymilitary, we could haveburied him anywhere inthe United States. At thetime, we were in a placewhere my sister swore tome she would always live,and she would always bethere to take care of him. Iknew with my husband’scareer we had many moremoves ahead of us, andit helped to ease the lossknowing that he would betaken care of.

Well, that lasted all ofthree years. My husbandand I are now at a pointwhere we have settleddown and we know wherewe should have buried ourprecious angel, instead oftrusting my sister.

We want to have himexhumed, cremated andplaced in a veterans cem-etery, but my question isthis: Do I have the right toask my sister to pay partof the costs as she “broke”her promise to help carefor my son? – HeartbrokenMother

Dear Heartbroken: Pleaseaccept my sympathy for theloss of your son. While it’sclear that there are manyhurt feelings about whathappened after his originalinterment, I think it’s timeto forgive your sister.

It’s a fact of life thatsometimes unforeseen cir-cumstances prevent peoplewith the best of intentionsfrom keeping promisesthey make. Forgive herif you can, but don’t askher for money. She mayowe you an apology, butshe does not owe you anymoney.

Dear Abby: I’m veryclose to my family. Wevisit each other’s homesoften. But for the past yearor so, something has begunto bother me. It’s cellphonechargers.

Whether people comefor a week or just fordinner, out come the

chargers! The kids allstart plugging in theircellphones and tablets,and the adults follow suitwith their cellphones andlaptops.

I started asking aroundand it’s not just happeningto me. A lot of my friendshave the same gripe.Lamps, toasters, pencilsharpeners – you nameit – their cords are left dan-gling long after the guestshave departed. After thelast weekend, I installeda power strip in the TVroom and will direct thetraffic there in the future.

Would you please letpeople know how rude thisis? Also mention that thehost is not responsible foran electronic item pluggedin on a kitchen counter, oranywhere for that matter.Example: “Aunt Sarah,who got my iPad wet?” (Itwas fine, but it had beenplugged in on the most-used surface in the kitch-en.) – Unplugged In Salem,New York

Dear Unplugged: Whilethe power strip youinstalled is the practicalsolution, the problem isthat the people you havedescribed are thoughtless.Polite guests leave theirhost’s home in the samecondition it was in whenthe guests arrived. In thisinstance, it means beingconsiderate enough toplug in any appliancesthat the guests unplugged,so the host doesn’t haveto wonder why the darnedthing isn’t working aftereveryone has departed.

And as for electronicitems foolishly left on awet counter, if there wasany damage, the faultwould not be yours. Yourniece/nephew was lucky.

• Write Dear Abby atwww.dearabby.com.

JeannePhillips

DEAR ABBY

7Beetle Bailey

Blondie

The Argyle Sweater Real Life Adventures

Pearls Before Swine

KaneCountyChronicle/KCChronicle.com

•Monday,September8,2014

8

CROSSWORD SUDOKU BRIDGE by Phillip Alder

CELEBRITY CIPHER

PUZZLES

In “The Importance of BeingEarnest,” Oscar Wilde wrote:“Thirty-five is a very attractiveage. London society is full of wom-en of the very highest birth whohave, of their own free choice,remained 35 for years.”

In bridge, you have a freechoice of which card to play, withthe restriction that you must fol-low suit. In this deal, declarer hastwo choices for trying to collectnine tricks. West leads the heartqueen against three no-trump andEast signals encouragingly withhis seven. What should declarerdo?

North’s two-diamond rebidwas a reverse, which promised amaximum opening bid: a good 17to 20 high-card points. His three-heart continuation, a variation offourth-suit forcing, asked Southto bid three no-trump with a heartstopper.

South has seven top tricks: twospades, one heart, one diamondand three clubs. There are twochances for the extra winners:The clubs might break 3-2 or thediamond finesse could work.Ideally, declarer would cashdummy’s top clubs. Then, if theydo not split favorably, he wouldtake the diamond finesse. Howev-er, with the heart ace dislodged,South has no hand entry left.

What are the probabilities? Afinesse is 50-50 and a 3-2 divisionis 67.8 percent, the much betterchoice.

However, before broaching theclubs, South, after winning thefirst or second trick with his heartace, should lead the diamondqueen. Maybe West will coverwhen he has the king – or take along time ducking. Always givethe opponents a chance to helpyou.

With two choices,analyze both

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