| 37th World Team Championships | Page 3 | Bulletin 7 - Saturday 29 October 2005 |
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Italy v Egypt (Bermuda Bowl) Clash of the Titans When the leaders of the round-robin face the second-place team, it promises – in theory, at least – to be an interesting match. The Round 13 clash between Italy, No. 1 in the standings, and No. 2 Egypt did not disappoint. Egypt scored a swing on the first deal.
Lorenzo Lauria started with a low heart. Alfredo Versace won with the ace and switched to a low diamond, which could easily have been the right play – but not on this layout. The diamond switch eliminated the loser in that suit, and Walid El Ahmady emerged with 10 tricks for Plus 420.
Adel El Kordi made short work of the contract by starting with the ♦10. Fulvio Fantoni could not avoid losing one trick in each suit for Minus 50. That was 10 IMPs to Egypt. Italy got it back, and then some, on the third deal.
Versace’s 2♥ bid promised a four-card suit or a maximum 1NT opener with no major suit. El Ahmady’s lead of the ♥8 was an unfortunate choice for the defense, in effect creating an extra trick in that suit for declarer that he could not get on his own. Tarek Sadek played the two and Versace won with the nine. On the play of the ♦3 from the West hand at trick two, El Ahmady let go of the ♥3, and Versace had no difficulty from there. He lost only one club, one diamond and one heart for Plus 630.
Fantoni started with the ♥6, which made a huge difference for the defense. When Hany Dagher played low from dummy, Claudio Nunes inserted the jack, limiting declarer to just one heart trick. The contract fell apart when Dagher played the ♦K from hand. Declarer soldiered on despite North’s discard, playing a diamond to dummy’s eight and South’s jack. Declarer ducked the club return to North’s queen, and he ducked again when North continued with the ♥10. A third round of hearts went to South’s ace. When another club came back, Dagher ducked again – if the club honors were split he could still make the contract. North won the ♣K, however, and cashed two hearts. That was three down, Minus 300 and 14 IMPs to Italy. Egypt pulled to within one on the next deal and regained the lead on Board 5 thanks to spectacular play by Sadek.
Dagher led a low heart. When Nunes ducked the ♥Q and ♥K, he was doomed. El Kourdy cleared the suit with a third round of hearts, and when Dagher came in with the ♣K, he had two hearts to cash for one down. Sadek did much better.
Versace also started with the ♥5 to the jack, queen and four. When Lauria continued with the ♥K, Sadek considered his play for some time before correctly winning the ace. He then played the ♣A and a club to Versace’s king, and when Versace continued with the ♠7, it was clear that Lauria had the ♥10 or nine – Versace obviously did not hold both. Accordingly, Sadek won the spade continuation with the ace, cashed the ♣Q, played a club to the ten and led the ♥3 from hand. What could the Italians do? If Versace went up with the ♥10, Sadek’s ♥8 would be the ninth trick. So he had to duck. Now when Lauria won the ♥9, he had the option of leading into a tenace in diamonds or spades. Either way, Sadek had nine tricks for Plus 600 and a 12-IMP gain. Sadek couldn’t hear it, but the vugraph audience burst into applause on the play of the ♥3. Egypt’s lead lasted for a few more boards, but was gone after No. 7.
The auction was the same at both tables.
In the Open Room, Sadek started with the ♣9, which went to Lauria’s king. He played the ♠K from hand, and when North followed with the ten, Lauria continued with the nine, letting it ride (North’s discard of the ♥3 made subsequent play much easier). Lauria picked up with ♠Q at trick three and played the ♥J from dummy, covered with the king and ace. A heart went to the jack and queen, and when El Ahmady exited with the ♥8, Lauria had the good ♥6 to use for a diamond discard from dummy. That was 11 tricks for Plus 650. In the Closed Room, Nunes started with the ♥2 (low from doubletons), to the seven, queen and ace. El Kourdy played a spade to dummy’s ace, putting up the king on the second round when North discarded. Now a heart went to dummy’s jack and North’s king. South ruffed the third heart with the master trump and exited adiamond. El Kourdy played the ♦K after some thought and was one down for a 13-IMP loss.
Versace rejected the club finesse to take 10 tricks for Plus 620. North/South did a lot more bidding at the other table.
Fantoni and Nunes, with so many high-card points, judged well to save, earning a 3-IMP swing when Nunes finished Minus 500. Egypt pulled even on Board 12 when the two East/West pairs took vastly different views of their cards.
El Ahmady could have settled the issue by starting fourth best from his longest and strongest suit, but his opening lead was a low heart. Versace won with his ten and ran five club tricks, but the defenders discarded accurately to hold declarer to eight tricks. That was Minus 50.
The contract made on the nose for Plus 90 and 4 IMPs to Egypt. Another swing went to Egypt when Dagher made aninspired play in the trump suit on this deal.
Sadek started with the ♣A, continuing with the king. Lauria ruffed and played a low diamond to the jack and North’s ace. He won the spade return with the ace and played the ♥10 from hand, running it when Sadek played low. That was the third trick for the defense with the ♥A still to come. Egypt was Plus 50.
Fantoni’s 1♥ bid showed four or more spades. The ♣10 went to South’s queen, and Nunes made the sneaky play of a low spade from the doubleton queen. Dagher played the nine, covered by the jack and ace, and he continued with the ♥10. Nunes played low and, after considerable thought, Dagher went up with his king, collecting the singleton queen and earning a 10-IMP swing for his team, now in the lead 40-30. Italy got 6 IMPs back when Fantoni and Nunes bid 3NT on Board 16 while Sadek and El Ahmady got no further than 1NT. Another swing went to Egypt on the penultimate board of the match when El Ahmady was relieved of a guess in the trump suit.
Versace won with the ♠J, cashed the king and exited with his ♥3. El Ahmady might have worked out the correct way to play trumps on his own, but he was able to claim when Lauria took the ♥A and continued the suit.
Fantoni started with the ♦K, continuing with the queenbefore switching to a heart. Dagher, in dummy for the only time, took his best shot by playing a club at trick four. He made the normal play of the king, finishing two down when that lost to Fantoni’s ace. Still, it was a 6-IMP gain for Egypt. Italy gained 5 IMPs on the final board when El Kourdy went four down in 3♦ in the Closed Room while Versace managed two down in 3♠ on the same cards. Egypt had won the battle of the round-robin leaders 54-41 (18-12), but not nearly enough for them to take over first. |
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