USA v Norway

Entering their match with USA in round 11 of the Open series, Norway was in need of a strong showing as time was running out for the team to get to the top four in their group. The Norwegians were up to the task, taking a 51-29 win from the Americans.The first significant swing of the match went to Norway after five relatively quiet deals

Board 6. Dealer East. E/W Vul.
	ª 10 7 6 5 © 9 8 2 ¨ Q 10 8 4 § J 2
ª Q J 9 8 3 © 10 7 3 ¨ 5 § 7 6 4 3		ª K 4 2 © J ¨ A J 6 2 § A K Q 10 5
	ª A © A K Q 6 5 4 ¨ K 9 7 3 § 9 8

West	North	East	South
Rosenberg	Saelensminde	Zia	Brogeland
		1§	1©
Pass	Pass	Dble	Pass
1ª	2©	Dble	3¨
3ª	4©	All Pass

Michael Rosenberg led his singleton diamond, and the defenders quickly took the first five tricks: ¨A, diamond ruff, club to the 10, diamond ruff, club to the queen, diamond ruff. That was plus 100, but not nearly good enough.

West	North	East	South
Furunes	Welland	Helness	Fallenius
		1§	1©
1ª	2©	Dble	3¨
Pass	3©	Dble	4©
4ª	All Pass

Jon-Egil Furunes was aggressive in bidding with the West hand the first time, and the more he heard of the auction the better he liked his hand, so he bid the cold vulnerable game, taking 11 tricks for plus 650 and 11 IMPs to Norway.

USA got 11 IMPs back two deals laters.

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

West	North	East	South
Rosenberg	Saelensminde	Zia	Brogeland
1©	2ª	Dble	Pass
4¨	Pass	5¨	All Pass

Erik Saelensminde started with the ªK, ducked by Rosenberg. North had a chance to scuttle the contract with a switch to a trump or a low club, but he naturally continued with a spade to declarer’s ace. Rosenberg then ruffed a spade high in dummy and played a heart from dummy. Boye Brogeland rose with the ©A and exited with a trump. Rosenberg correctly inserted the ¨9 from hand, cashed the ©K, ruffed a heart, ruffed a club, ruffed a heart and returned to hand with a club ruff to cash his two good diamonds and ©J. for plus 400. it didn’t go that well at the other table.

West	North	East	South
Furunes	Welland	Helness	Fallenius
1©	3ª	Dble	Pass
4¨	Pass	5¨	All Pass

Roy Welland also started with the ªK. On the bidding, Furunes did not seriously consider ducking, so he won the ace and returned a spade at trick two. Welland won and switched accurately to a low club (a heart would have been effective also). Furunes ruffed the club, ruffed a spade high and played a heart from dummy as Rosenberg had, but the club ruff earlier had destroyed his timing. When Bjorn Fallenius rose with the ©A and returned a diamond, Furunes could win in hand, but he needed to ruff two hearts and a spade in dummy, and in the only way to get back to his hand enough times was to ruff clubs. When diamonds proved to be 3-1, the contract was doomed and Furunes ended up minus 50.

Norway broke back on top on the following board when USA went minus at both tables.

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

West	North	East	South
Rosenberg	Saelensminde	Zia	Brogeland
		1§	Pass
2ª	Dble	5§	Pass
Pass	Dble	All Pass

Rosenberg’s 2ª was described as a mixed raise of clubs, and when Saelendsminde doubled for takeout, Zia applied preemptive pressure. Against 5§ doubled, Brogeland did well not to lead his diamond sequence, giving Zia a chance to discard a losing heart. Brogeland started instead with a low spade, and the defenders quickly had four tricks for plus 500.

West	North	East	South
Furunes	Welland	Helness	Fallenius
		Pass	Pass
Pass	1¨	2§	Dble
3§	4©	4ª	5¨
All Pass

Had Welland been able to see all the cards, he could have made the diamond game, but he eventually took a losing heart finesse for minus 100 and 12 IMPs to Norway.

USA was up by 1 IMP when Norway surged into the lead for good with a 17-IMP swing.

Board 15. Dealer South. N/S Vul.
	ª Q 5 4 © A 10 9 3 ¨ A Q 2 § A Q 2
ª J 10 8 3 © 5 4 ¨ K J 8 § J 9 7 3		ª K 7 6 2 © 8 7 ¨ 10 9 6 5 3 § 10 6
	ª A 9 © K Q J 6 2 ¨ 7 4 § K 8 5 4

In the open room, Salensminde and Brogeland bid to 6© with the North/South cards and duly scored up plus 1430 when the diamond finesse proved successful.

At the other table, Welland and Fallenius found their way to 6NT, which can be made as the cards lie.

Unfortunately for USA, it is a complex deal and Welland failed to take 12 tricks after East started with the ¨10.

The ª9 in dummy plays a key role, as you will see. On the lead of the ¨10, declarer can win the queen and run five rounds of hearts. West can never release a club, nor can he come down to a singleton spade, so after the run of the hearts, this is the end position:

	ª Q 5 © - ¨ A 2 § A Q 2
ª J 10 © - ¨ K § J 9 7 3		ª K 7 © - ¨ 10 9 6 § 10 6
	ª A 9 © - ¨ 7 § K 8 5 4

Declarer now runs three rounds of clubs, forcing East to release a diamond, then cashes the ¨A and exits with a diamond, leaving East on lead in a two-card ending to lead away from the ªK. That put Norway in the lead for good.

The final swing occurred on board 16 when a Multi 2¨ blew Zia and Rosenberg out of the water in the bidding, resulting in 11 more IMPs to the Norwegians.

Board 16. Dealer West. E/W Vul.
	ª Q 10 9 8 2 © K 7 3 2 ¨ K 10 § 8 3
ª K J 7 © 9 ¨ Q 9 8 7 4 3 § Q J 6		ª A © A 8 5 4 ¨ A 6 5 § A 10 9 7 2
	ª 6 5 4 3 © Q J 10 6 ¨ J 2 § K 5 4

West	North	East	South
Furunes	Welland	Helness	Fallenius
Pass	Pass	1§	Pass
1¨	Pass	1©	Pass
1NT	Pass	3NT	All Pass

This contract was not challenging after the lead of the ª10. Furunes went after diamonds right away, and when the suit proved to lie favourably and North did not find the heart switch when in with the ¨K, declarer finished with 11 tricks for plus 660.

The Norwegians made life difficult for Zia and Rosenberg at the other table.

West	North	East	South
Rosenberg	Saelensminde	Zia	Brogeland
Pass	2¨	Dble	3©
Dble	All Pass

Brogeland knew his side had a great fit in one of the majors, so he left little room for his opponents to find the right spot. Zia’s pass of his partner’s responsive double did not work out very well as there were only five tricks for the defense for plus 100, an 11-IMP loss.