Open Teams R16-3,4 - USA v Poland

Doubleheader

by Mark Horton

A day-night doubleheader is one in which the first game is played in the early afternoon and the other is played at night; in this scenario, spectators have to pay twice to gain admittance to both games.

In times of financial strife many of us can turn to sport for relief. That is certainly the case here in Beijing. This last weekend has featured an England soccer international at Wembley Stadium, an FI Grand Prix in Shanghai and the championship series Baseball games in America.

Baseball terminology contains several words and phrases that are familiar to bridge players, (plus an awful lot that aren’t) so I present this article in the style of a Game Day baseball report. (See how many baseball related terms you can spot – I’ll list them at the end.)

With 28 deals to go – played as back-to-back sets of 14 (and spectators didn’t have to pay at all) USA had to come from behind.

Board 2. Dealer East. N/S Vul.
	♠ A J ♥ 10 6 2 ♦ Q 6 4 ♣ K Q J 5 2
♠ Q 10 7 4 ♥ A Q 8 3 ♦ 9 5 ♣ 8 7 6		♠ K 9 6 3 ♥ J 9 7 4 ♦ 8 7 ♣ 9 4 3
	♠ 8 5 2 ♥ K 5 ♦ A K J 10 3 2 ♣ A 10

Open Room

You can hardly charge anyone with an error, but there were twelve tricks on top, +690.

Closed Room

Over the strong club Two Clubs presumably showed the majors, but the convention card offers no explanation, and East’s pass looks odd in that context.

Board 6. Dealer East. E/W Vul.
	♠ Q J 10 6 ♥ 10 5 2 ♦ A 8 2 ♣ 7 4 2
♠ 5 ♥ K Q 7 6 4 ♦ J 9 5 ♣ K Q J 5		♠ A 9 7 2 ♥ 3 ♦ K 10 7 4 ♣ A 10 9 3
	♠ K 8 4 3 ♥ A J 9 8 ♦ Q 6 3 ♣ 8 6

Open Room

3NT was simply too high. North led the queen of spades and declarer held up the ace until the third round, came to hand with a club and ran the nine of diamonds. South took the queen and the defenders cashed out for two down, -200.

Closed Room

Board 7. Dealer South. All Vul.
	♠ K 10 3 2 ♥ A 6 2 ♦ A J 7 6 5 ♣ 9
♠ 9 5 ♥ 7 ♦ 10 8 4 3 2 ♣ J 8 6 5 2		♠ Q J 8 7 4 ♥ J 8 4 ♦ K ♣ K 10 4 3
	♠ A 6 ♥ K Q 10 9 5 3 ♦ Q 9 ♣ A Q 7

Open Room

West led the five of clubs to the king and ace and declarer drew trumps and ran the queen of diamonds, claiming when it lost to the king, +1430.

Closed Room

Board 21. Dealer North. N/S Vul.
	♠ 10 6 4 ♥ 8 7 5 ♦ J 9 8 ♣ 10 6 5 3
♠ A Q 7 5 3 ♥ K 2 ♦ Q 6 5 ♣ J 8 7		♠ J 8 ♥ J 10 9 ♦ A 10 4 3 ♣ A K Q 4
	♠ K 9 2 ♥ A Q 6 4 3 ♦ K 7 2 ♣ 9 2

Open Room

South led the four of hearts and declarer won with dummy’s king, crossed to hand with a club and played a spade to the queen. When that held he cashed three more club tricks, South discarding a spade and a diamond, played a spade to the king and ace and exited with a heart. South won and in desperation tried a low heart. Declarer won in hand and cashed the ace of diamonds for +400.

Closed Room

Board 22. Dealer East. E/W Vul.
	♠ K 10 5 2 ♥ A ♦ A Q J 9 6 ♣ 10 6 5
♠ A Q J ♥ J 10 9 7 5 3 ♦ 7 5 4 ♣ 2		♠ 8 4 ♥ Q 8 6 ♦ 8 3 ♣ A Q J 9 7 3
	♠ 9 7 6 3 ♥ K 4 2 ♦ K 10 2 ♣ K 8 4

Open Room

East made an attempt to force the play, but it backfired, as North/South reached a game they might otherwise have avoided. West decided to lead off with his club, and East took the ace and switched to the six of hearts. Declarer won with dummy’s ace, came to hand with a diamond and played a spade. The king of spades was his ninth trick, +400.

Closed Room

Board 26. Dealer East. All Vul.
	♠ A K 4 3 ♥ Q 10 8 ♦ A J 2 ♣ A 10 7
♠ Q J 8 7 6 ♥ A 9 4 ♦ K 10 ♣ K J 6		♠ 5 ♥ 6 5 3 2 ♦ 9 6 5 4 3 ♣ 8 4 3
	♠ 10 9 2 ♥ K J 7 ♦ Q 8 7 ♣ Q 9 5 2

Open Room

No trumps is a decent spot, especially for North/South, who can make ten tricks at that denomination. West’s opening bid caused North/South to miss the perfect game and the defence was far from perfect.

North started with three rounds of spades, and declarer won, cashed his spades and exited with a heart. He won the heart return and exited once more in that suit. North cashed the ace of diamonds and played another diamond so declarer was two down, -200.

Closed Room

North led the king of spades and switched to the ten of hearts. When that held he continued with the queen of hearts and declarer won and ruffed a spade in order to play a club to the king and ace. North exited with a heart and South won and switched to the seven of diamonds. When the king lost to the ace the defenders were in complete control and the contract was five down, -1400. That was worth 15 IMPs to the USA, but they were running out of deals.

When they missed a thin (a bit more than a finesse) grand slam on the very next deal the game was effectively over – it was Poland who advanced to the last eight.

Glossary

Error
a fielder misplaying a ball in a manner that allows a batter or baserunner to reach one or more additional bases.

Quality start
When a starter pitches at least 6 complete innings and allows 3 or fewer earned runs.

In the hole
The spaces between the first baseman and second baseman and between the shortstop and the third baseman, one of the usual places where a ground ball must go for a hit.

Caught stealing
In baseball, a stolen base (or "steal") occurs when a baserunner successfully advances to the next base while the pitcher is delivering the ball to home plate. In baseball statistics, stolen bases are denoted by SB. If the catcher thwarts the stolen base by throwing the runner out, the event is recorded as caught stealing (CS).

Scoring position
A runner on 2nd or 3rd base is in scoring position, as he is presumed to have a good chance to score on a base hit to the outfield.

Hidden ball trick
A very rare feat in which a fielder has the ball and hides it from a runner, trying to trick him into believing that some other fielder has it or that it has gotten away from them.

Force play
When a runner must advance to another base (after a hit) or retouch (after a fly out), a tag on the baserunner is not required. A fielder can merely touch the base with the ball in hand to force out a baserunner.

Lead off
The first batter listed on a team's line-up card.

Squeeze play
A tactic used to attempt to score a runner from third on a bunt. There are two types of squeeze plays: suicide squeeze and safety squeeze. In a suicide squeeze, the runner takes off towards home plate as soon as the pitcher begins his throw toward home plate. In a safety squeeze, the runner waits until the batter makes contact with the ball before committing himself to try to reach home.

Perfect game
A special, very rare no-hitter where each batter is retired consecutively, allowing no baserunners via walks, errors, or any other means.

Grand slam
Home run hit with the bases loaded.