USA 1 vs Israel

3rd Segment

Israel went into the third session 89 IMPs adrift with USA 1 leading 106-27, but they soon picked-up 10 IMPs, when their Closed Room pair scored an unmakeable game:

Mission Impossible

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

Open Room
West	North	East	South
Hurd	Roll	Wooldridge	Schneider
1ª	Pass	2©	Pass
2ª	Pass	2NT	Pass
3NT	All Pass

South listened carefully to the auction and finally led the ª9, as it was likely that East might even have had a singleton spade on this auction. North put up the queen and East won with the ace to cash three rounds of clubs and two top diamonds. When he then tried a small heart from hand, South won, cashed all his diamond and played another spade for North to cash out - Israel +150.

In the Closed Room Israel played in 3NT by West and got a spade lead, the king, as well:

Closed Room
West	North	East	South
Liran	Kranyak	Warshawsky	Mignocchi
		1¨	Pass
1ª	Pass	2©	Pass
2NT	Pass	3NT	All Pass

Declarer took the spade lead with dummy's ace and ducked a small diamond to South's ten, who then cashed the ªJ and switched to a club. When North erred and inserted the jack, all declarer had to do, was put up the king and sail home with five clubs, two diamonds and two major aces - Israel +400 and 11 badly needed IMPs.

A pathetic lead

Only a few boards later, Israel had the chance to score again, when their North/South pair turned in an excellent result:

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

Open Room
West	North	East	South
Hurd	Roll	Wooldridge	Schneider
	1§	2NT	3©
5¨	5ª	Pass	6ª
Pass	Pass	Dble	All Pass

Well done by South, who went on to 6ª realising that partner would not have bid 5ª without a heart control.
East started with the ©K and must have been disappointed, when a few seconds later North showed him his cards to claim twelve tricks - Israel +1660.

But once again, the possible Israeli gain proved to be only a "might-have-been":

Closed Room
West	North	East	South
Liran	Kranyak	Warshawsky	Mignocchi
	3NT	4©	6§
6©	Pass	Pass	7§
Dble	All Pass

North's absurd opening bid put his side on the road to destruction and all seemed well for Israel, when North/South not only missed their spade fit, but also got too high...if only West had led a heart. When for some strange reason, he selected a diamond instead, the rest was silence. Declarer scored his grand slam doubled - USA +2330 and 12 IMPs to regain the lead in this segment.

One more for the road

As the previous board had turned out so well, South tried his luck on the very next board again:

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

Closed Room
West	North	East	South
Liran	Kranyak	Warshawsky	Mignocchi
		Pass	1§
1ª	Pass	2§	2ª
Pass	4¨	Pass	4ª
Pass	5¨	Pass	6¨
All Pass

An amazing 6¨-bid by South proved to be successful when declarer turned up with a heart void, to ruff East's ©A-lead - USA +920.

At the other table South - unfortunately for his team - was "less inspired":

Open Room
West	North	East	South
Hurd	Roll	Wooldridge	Schneider
		Pass	1§
1ª	Pass	2§	Dble
2ª	Pass	Pass	Dble
Pass	4¨	Pass	5¨
All Pass

West tried the effect of a ©J-lead, but declarer simply ruffed, drew one round of trumps and claimed for one overtrick - Israel +420, but another 11 IMPs away.

Artistic Impression

In bridge, unlike figure skating, there are no points for artistic impression

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

Let's compare the auctions in both rooms:

Closed Room
West	North	East	South
Liran	Kranyak	Warshawsky	Mignocchi
2ª	3©	Pass	4©
All Pass

Open Room
West	North	East	South
Hurd	Roll	Wooldridge	Schneider
2ª	Dble	Pass	2NT1
Pass	3©2	Pass	3ª3
Dble	3NT4	Pass	4©5

1 Lebensohl, showing a weak hand
2 Too strong to bid the Lebensohl 3§
3 Cue bid, spade control and a maximum for the 2NT bid
4 Serious NT
5 Nothing more to show

Who would you have given the better marks to, have you made up your mind? Well, even if you didn't, it's only the points for technical merit that count, so when both declarers scored ten tricks, the bottom line was an IMP-less push.

USA 1 kept up their strong performance to win the third set 38-24 to increase their overall lead to 144-40.