USA v China - Losing streak

The USA team in the Open series entered play in round 13 in first place by a slim margin over China, their opponents in that round. When the 20 boards had been played, China had regained first place with an impressive victory over the Americans, who went on to lose the next two matches as well.

China wasted little time jumping out in front, although the swing was one play away from going the other way.

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

West	North	East	South
Sun	Levin	Xin	Weinstein
			1¨
Pass	2§	Pass	2NT
Pass	3©	Pass	3NT
All Pass

Shaolin Sun started with the ©J to the king and ace, and the defenders had their first chance to scuttle the contract with a switch to diamonds, but Xin Li continued with the ©9. The was ducked, giving Xin another chance, but he persisted in hearts and Steve Weinstein was soon claiming his contract.

The auction took a much difference turn at the other table, where Roy Welland and Bjorn Fallenius opposed Haojun Shi and Zejun Zhuang.

West	North	East	South
Welland	Shi	Fallenius	Zhuang
			1¨
Pass	1©	1ª	Pass
Pass	Dble	Pass	2©
Pass	2NT	Pass	3NT
Dble	All Pass

Fallenius took a long time after his partner’s double to decide on his opening lead. Had he chosen dummy’s first bid suit, the outcome would have been much different, but he finally chose a low spade. Shi won the ªQ in hand, entered dummy with a club and played a heart to the king. This was the last chance for Fallenius to find the killing diamond switch, but he didn’t know about the five-card club suit in the North hand, so he ducked the heart. That was enough for Shi, who led a spade from hand, claiming his contract after Fallenius went in with the ªA. Shi took five clubs, two spades, a heart and a diamond for plus 550.

China earned a larger swing on the next board when Welland and Fallenius bid to a very optimistic 6ª that failed while their Chinese counterparts stopped in a sensible game.

The following deal turned out to be a push, but it could have been a swing for USA had only one card been different.

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

West	North	East	South
Welland	Shi	Fallenius	Zhuang
	Pass	2¨	Dble
2ª	All Pass

With spades splitting 3-3, Fallenius was able to land the part score for plus 110, which looked like a potential pickup considering how many high-card points North/South were looking at.

Unfortunately, the duplication in diamonds was a liability for the contract chosen by Levin and Weinstein.

West	North	East	South
Sun	Levin	Xin	Weinstein
	Pass	2¨	2NT
Pass	3NT	All Pass

Sun started with his singleton spade to the queen and ace. Weinstein won and played a heart from hand to dummy’s queen. Now came a low club to the 10, jack and queen. It was not difficult for Sun to find the killing diamond switch. Had either the North or South hand contained one extra diamond, the combined AKQ in the suit would have been good for more than two tricks. As it was, the diamond switch was sufficient to kill the contract and USA had to settle for a push instead of an 11-IMP gain.

More IMPs were in store for China on another deal which could have been a swing for USA on the following deal.

Board 11. Dealer South. None Vul.
	ª A Q 8 2 © A K 7 6 4 ¨ A Q J § 9
ª 6 © Q 9 8 3 ¨ K 6 2 § A K 10 5 2		ª 10 7 5 3 © J 5 2 ¨ 5 4 § Q 6 4 3
	ª K J 9 4 © 10 ¨ 10 9 8 7 3 § J 8 7

In the closed room, Shi and Zhuang settled into a comfortable 4ª, just making for plus 420. Weinstein and Levin were more ambitious.

West	North	East	South
Sun	Levin	Xin	Weinstein
			Pass
1§	Dble	Pass	1ª
Pass	4§	Pass	4©
Pass	4NT	Pass	5§
Pass	6ª	All Pass

West can always defeat the contract by leading a club honor and continuing the suit – the 4-1 trump split dooms the slam. It is equally effective to lead a high club and continue with a diamond, taking a vital late entry out of dummy.

Sun, however, started with his low trump, giving Weinstein a chance. He won the ª9 in hand and could have succeeded on this line of play: heart to ace, heart ruff, diamond to jack, heart ruff, ªK, diamond to queen, pull trumps and claim, losing only the low club.

Weinstein, however, won the ª9 in hand and took a diamond finesse at trick two. Now it was impossible to ruff the hearts good and get back to dummy to cash them after pulling trumps. Weinstein played a heart to the ace and ruffed a heart, then played to dummy’s ¨Q. The ¨A was ruffed and a club returned – one down and 10 IMPs to China, now leading 35-4.

Board 15 was especially painful for the Americans.

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

West	North	East	South
Welland	Shi	Fallenius	Zhuang
			Pass
1©	1ª	2§	2ª
3¨	All Pass

Fallenius’s first bid showed a diamond suit, and he sensibly passed when Welland accepted the transfer. After the lead of the §K, Welland lost two diamonds, a club and a spade for plus 110. The auction was not as good in the open room, but the result was tough for the Americans to take.

West	North	East	South
Sun	Levin	Xin	Weinstein
			Pass
1©	1ª	Dble	2ª
3§	Pass	3¨	Pass
5¨	All Pass

There is no legitimate play for this silly contract, but unfortunately for USA Weinstein chose the ¨10 for his opening lead. Levin ducked this to the jack. Declarer entered dummy with a heart and played a second diamond. Not unreasonably, Levin played the ¨A, and he could only grimace when Weinstein’s queen appeared. From there, declarer lost only the ªA, scoring plus 400 for another 7 IMPs to China.

The final score would have been much worse if not for the next-to-last deal.

Board 19. Dealer South. E/W Vul.
	ª K J 9 5 4 3 © A K Q 9 ¨ - § A 7 2
ª 7 2 © 10 6 5 3 ¨ Q 10 6 § Q 8 6 5		ª Q 10 © J 8 7 2 ¨ A 9 7 4 2 § J 9
	ª A 8 6 © 4 ¨ K J 8 5 3 § K 10 4 3

West	North	East	South
Sun	Levin	Xin	Weinstein
			1¨
Pass	1ª	Pass	2ª
Pass	3©	Pass	3ª
Pass	4§	Pass	4ª
Pass	6ª	All Pass

Levin made several tries to elicit a cuebid from Weinstein, simply leaping to slam when Weinstein refused all invitations. Xin started with the ©7 and Sun inexplicably played low, allowing Levin to win the ©9 in hand. He played a low trump from hand, and when the 10 poppped up he simply played a second spade to the king, claiming 13 tricks when the queen fell. Even if West had held three spades to the queen, Levin’s contract was secure since he could play hearts, discarding clubs, and engineer a club ruff in dummy.

West	North	East	South
Welland	Shi	Fallenius	Zhuang
			1¨
Pass	1ª	Pass	2ª
Pass	5¨	Pass	5ª
Pass	6§	Pass	7ª
All Pass

Shi’s 5¨ was Exclusion Key Card Blackwood, and 6§ was a grand slam try, accepted by Zhuang.

Fallenius led the ©8, and Welland correctly played the 10. Now Shi had two ruffs to take in dummy, but he was due to succeed because of the 4-4 heart split and the favourable lie of the trumps.

Declarer won the ©A, then played a club to the king and another to the ace. Two high hearts from hand were good for two club pitches from dummy, and when North played his third club, East ruffed in with the 10. Declarer overruffed with the ace, playing a spade from dummy to the 9 and queen. One down was a 14-IMP gain for USA but the result was a 46-23 defeat.