DENMARK vs USA 2

The audience of yesterday morning's VuGraph match saw na entertaining and exciting match with a couple of bulletin-made hands. Let's start with "the keen analyst's favourite":

Board 1. Dealer North. None Vul.   ª K © A Q 10 4 ¨ A J 10 3 2 § Q 8 2 ª 10 4 2 © 9 8 7 ¨ K Q 7 5 § 7 4 3 ª A Q J 7 © K 2 ¨ 4 § A K 10 9 6 5   ª 9 8 6 5 3 © J 6 5 3 ¨ 9 8 6 § J

The spectators were quick to spot that East/West have an "obvious" 3NT game. Just take the second round of hearts, lay down §A, then lay down ªA, cross to dummys ª10, finesse in clubs and you will be fine! Well, thank you analyzers but in the real world both tables missed this opportunity.
However, Denmark in the Closed Room came quite close:

West	North	East	South
Schaltz	Wolford	Marquardsen	Lubesnik
	1¨	Dbl.	Pass
1©	Pass	2§	Pass
Pass	2¨	2ª	Pass
2NT	All Pass

West scored ten tricks - Denmark +180.

In the Open Room the aggressive Danish Viking Precision style led to a completely different auction:

West	North	East	South
Greenberg	Askgaard	Bathurst	Bjarnasson
	1§	Dbl.	1¨
Pass	2¨	3§	3¨
All Pass

Ari Greenberg, USA

West led a club to East's king, who switched to ªAQ ruffed in dummy. Now declarer continued with a club ruff and an unsuccessful heart finesse. East returned another heart to North's 10 and declarer ruffed another club in his hand. Then he played a diamond to the queen and ace and finally went one down losing two more trump tricks - USA 2 +50, but still the first 4 IMPs for Denmark. Both North/South pairs did extremely well on board no. 3 reaching a thin no-trump game:

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

Closed Room
West	North	East	South
Schaltz	Wolford	Marquardsen	Lubesnik
			Pass
Pass	1¨	Pass	3§
Pass	3NT

South's 3§ showed an invitational raise with diamonds and although North had not much to spare, he did not feel like playing 3¨, so he bid game. East led ª2, which did not really worry declarer who even managed to score ten tricks - USA 2 +430.
Could Denmark get to game as well and would they make it? The first problem was easily solved, when South decided he had an opening bid:

Open Room
West	North	East	South
Greenberg	Askgaard	Bathurst	Bjarnasson
			1¨
Pass	1©	Pass	1NT
Pass	3NT	All Pass

Andreas Marquardsen, Denmark

The task proved to be much harder here, as South had become the declarer and receive the ©5 lead. Playing with the odds he ordered the 3 from dummy just to lose the first trick to East's ©9. (True enough, but a player who leads a suit bid by the opponents usually has a good holding, so the 10 was a real alternative. Editor) Back came a small club and declarer finessed the queen to turn to his diamond suit. Though declarer started with a small diamond to the king, East ducked his ace twice, which could have been essential on other occasions. This time it didn't matter. Had he established his club suit now, South might have tried for a losing option of some sort of end play later on. But East returned a heart to the jack and ace, which probably was an indication for South that East did not hold the ªA. He cashed ©K, played a club to the ace, and continued with two more diamonds. In the end he simply played a spade to the king and had nine tricks in the bag - Denmark +400 and 1 IMP to USA 2.

On board no.7 the Danish style paid again, this time winning a partscore battle:

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

The Closed Room saw a very lively auction with a "high-jumper" in the East seat:

West	North	East	South
Schaltz	Wolford	Marquardsen	Lubesnik
			Pass
Pass	Pass	1§	1¨
1ª	2©	3ª	All Pass

When North led ©K West was able to come to ten tricks discarding a club loser on a good heart later in the play - Denmark +170.
At the other table another 10-point opening bid silenced East/West completely:

West	North	East	South
Greenberg	Askgaard	Bathurst	Bjarnasson
			1©
Pass	2©	All Pass

South dropped his king under East's ace after the diamond lead. East now cashed ªJ and tried a second spade ruffed by declarer, who now played a club to the king and ace. South took the diamond switch with the queen played ©AK and got back to diamonds to score exactly eight tricks - Denmark +110 and 7 IMPs respectively.

A really awkward deal was waiting just around the corner:

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

Both tables got to 4© to be played by East, with both Souths leading ¨K. An easy line to set this game now, is to overtake with ¨A and give partner a ruff.
In the Closed Room declarer went one down though North played a small diamond in trick one. When the same happened in the Open Room the audience had the chance to see if there was a way to bring home the game now.
South switched to a small trump - by far the best defence - to dummy's king. Declarer ordered another heart, so South was in again to insist on a third round of trumps. East won, cashed ªA, finessed the jack and discarded a diamond loser on ªK, but still had to lose two club tricks for no swing.

The following board made the North/South pair work overtime due to their relay system:

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

In the Closed Room USA 2 got to 6© on a fairly natural auction:

West	North	East	South
Schaltz	Wolford	Marquardsen	Lubesnik
	Pass	Pass	2§
Pass	2¨	Pass	2©
Pass	2ª	Pass	3¨
Pass	3ª	Pass	4©
Pass	5§	Pass	5¨
Pass	5ª	Pass	6¨
Pass	6©	All Pass

When Denmark once again opened a hand that was passed in the other room, it was more than likely that Denmark would get to the grand, that is on diamonds 3-3 only but offers several squeeze possibilities as well:

West	North	East	South
Greenberg	Askgaard	Bathurst	Bjarnasson
	1ª	Pass	1NT
Pass	2¨	Pass	2©
Pass	2ª	Pass	2NT
Pass	3§	Pass	3¨
Pass	3NT	Pass	4§
Pass	4©	Pass	4NT
Pass	5§	Pass	5¨
Pass	6§	Pass	7¨
All Pass

After 1ª South's 1NT bid showed a gameforcing hand and asks for distribution. From now on all bids by South were relays and North described his hand: 2¨ showed five spades and a four- or five-card minor, 2ª showed exactly five spades and four clubs, 3© (here comes a small mistake) promised a 5-2-2-4 hand, 3NT were two black or two red aces, 4© showed no king, 5§ meant one outside queen and 6§ showed ©Q precisely. Especially with the wrong distribution in mind, South saw an excellent grand slam now and went for it.
West led §Q to dummys ace. Declarer now ruffed a club high, played a heart to the queen and ruffed another club high. Then he cashed four more rounds of hearts to get a squeeze going in case the diamonds were not 3-3. He then cashed his top diamonds and claimed - Denmark +1510 and 11 IMPs.

At halftime Denmark led 25-2, but soon USA 2 had chance to get back some IMPs:

Board 12. Dealer West. N/S Vul.   ª 10 5 2 © Q 10 8 ¨ 9 8 5 § K Q 6 2 ª J 9 8 4 © 6 ¨ J 10 3 2 § A 10 9 4 ª - © A K J 5 4 ¨ A K Q 4 § J 8 5 3   ª A K Q 7 6 3 © 9 7 3 2 ¨ 7 6 § 7

In the Closed Room Denmark reached a sensible small slam in clubs, but was unlucky to find a rather horrible trump split.

West	North	East	South
Schaltz	Wolford	Marquardsen	Lubesnik
Pass	Pass	1©	1ª
1NT	Pass	2ª	Pass
2NT	Pass	3ª	Pass
4§	Pass	4¨	Pass
4NT	Pass	6§	All Pass

Unable to cope with both honours offside West finally went down two - USA 2 +100. Could the Americans in the Open Room avoid the slam?

West	North	East	South
Greenberg	Askgaard	Bathurst	Bjarnasson
Pass	Pass	1§	2ª
Dbl.	Pass	3ª	Pass
3NT	Pass	4©	All Pass

All of a sudden the bidding was over and East was left to play two levels lower than his opponents - unfortunately in a shaky 5-1 fit.
The battle started with declarer ruffing ªA and taking a losing finesse in clubs. North's best move would have been to return another spade but he went for a diamond instead. Which declarer let run to dummys jack. Then he finessed successfully in heart and cashed ©AK and ¨AK, the latter being ruffed by South with ©9, which led to the following ending:

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

South still didn't give up and tried to put declarer to the test by underleading his spade honours, but Kevin Bathurst was up to the task and ordered the jack realizing that he could never win if North held one of the spade honours. Well played - USA 2 +420 and 11 IMPs back.

At the end of this match Denmark won 43-15, or 21-9 in VPs respectively to remain in contention for one of the four qualifying spots.