Egyptian One-Two

Egypt have a strong squad in the Open series and must have a good chance to at least reach the knockout stages. In Round 6 they achieved an important 24-6 VP victory over Denmark. These two deals had a major part to play in that success.

Board 7. Dealer South. All Vul.
	ª 10 9 7 3 2 © A 3 ¨ 10 5 4 § J 10 9
ª A Q J 8 4 © 10 9 ¨ A 7 § K 8 5 3		ª K 6 © K Q 8 6 4 ¨ J 9 6 § Q 7 2
	ª 5 © J 7 5 2 ¨ K Q 8 3 2 § A 6 4

West	North	East	South
	Heshmat		Nadeem
			Pass
1ª	Pass	2©	Pass
2NT	Pass	3§(i)	Pass
3NT(ii)	All Pass
(i) Enquiry
(ii) Minimum, not three hearts

Against 3NT, Mohamed Heshmat led the jack of clubs, which ran to declarer’s king. Declarer played a heart to the king then, needing to retain the ªK as a later entry to the hearts, tried the effect of ducking a club, with the possibility that the ace might be doubleton with South. That was all the opportunity that Heshmat required. He won the club and switched to the ten of diamonds, for the jack, queen and ace. When declarer now tried a second heart, Heshmat won the ace and played a second round of diamonds. Tarek Nadeem had four diamond winners plus the ace of clubs and that was down three for +300 to Egypt.

In the other room, 3NT was made with an overtrick so Egypt picked up 14 IMPs.

Board 14. Dealer East. None Vul.
	ª 9 8 © K Q 5 4 3 2 ¨ K § 10 7 6 4
ª A Q J 10 7 4 2 © A 10 ¨ 6 5 3 § 8		ª K 5 3 © 8 ¨ Q J 10 9 7 2 § A Q 9
	ª 6 © J 9 7 6 ¨ A 8 4 § K J 5 3 2

West	North	East	South
	El Ahmady		Sadek
		1¨	Pass
1ª	2©	2ª	4§(i)
4NT	5©	5ª(ii)	Pass
6ª	All Pass
(i) Hearts and clubs
(ii) Two key cards, no ªQ

Under pressure in the auction, Waleed El Ahmady and Tarek Sadek reached what appears to be a hopeless slam. North led the king of hearts and El Ahmady played quickly, ©A, ªA then ªJ to dummy’s king, followed by the ¨2 off the table. South was taken in by this and convinced himself that his partner held the ªQ and that declarer might have the bare king of diamonds. I am not convinced that this analysis stands up to inspection, as it seems to leave West with a whole string of small clubs and nothing resembling a 4NT bid followed by a raise to slam, but that hardly matters. The bottom line was that El Ahmady had created an illusion in his opponent’s mind and South fell for it. He went up with the ace of diamonds and there was an almighty crash as the bare king appeared from North – contract made!

That was +980 for Egypt and another 14 IMP swing as 6ª was also bid at the other table, where it failed by a trick.

Let this be a warning to you to beware this Egyptian team.

One for Ripley’s

Forrest Gump’s well-known box of chocolates analogy certainly has application to bridge – from one event to the next, you never know what you’re going to get.

Take this deal, with several bizarre features, from the eighth round of the Senior Bowl in which Canada opposed Japan.

First there was South, holding a robust eight-card suit – and never making a peep (an excellent decision, as it turned out). Then there was Robinson’s experience playing a 1-0 fit at the five level. At least the one was the ace.

Here is the deal and the auction (Robinson was East):

Board 23. Dealer South. All Vul.
	ª A 7 5 © Q J 9 6 3 ¨ 5 § 10 4 3 2
ª K J 4 3 2 © A 8 4 ¨ A K J 7 3 § -		ª Q 8 6 © 10 7 5 ¨ Q 10 9 8 6 4 § A
	ª 10 9 © K 2 ¨ 2 § K Q J 9 8 7 6 5

West	North	East	South
			Pass
1ª	Pass	1NT	Pass
3¨	Pass	5§	Pass
Pass (!)	Pass

Robinson’s 1NT was a one-round force, and his 5§ was meant to be a splinter – shortness in clubs and great diamond support. Imagine his surprise and chagrin when his partner, guessing that Robinson had a boatload of clubs, decided let him play there.

Robinson managed four tricks for minus 700 – and it could have been a lot worse if not for a great opening lead by teammate John Carruthers at the other table.

Carruthers considered the South hand worth an opening, so he started with 4§, doubled by West. North extended the preempt by bidding 5§, and when East freely bid 5¨, West raised him to six.

Carruthers found the killing lead of a heart – the 2, in fact, which cost a trick and 1 IMP, but it was the only lead to defeat the slam. Obviously, looking at all the cards, the ©K defeats the slam two tricks (the suit was blocked after the low heart lead), but had he not found the killing lead, the team would have lost 19 IMPs for minus 700 at one table and minus 1370 at the other. The good lead held the loss to 12, and gave Robinson a story he call tell for a long time – including his bad luck with that brutal 8-4 trump split.