The fireworks show

	Eric Rodwell, USA

Take a wild set of boards, mix in two aggressive teams and add a kind of sibling rivalry, bake at high temperature and you will have the kind of entertaining VuGraph match that was produced by the fifth-round Bermuda Bowl match between USA I and USA II.

USA I are the two-time Bermuda Bowl champion Nick Nickell squad – Nickell, Richard Freeman, Jeff Meckstroth, Eric Rodwell, Bob Hamman and Paul Soloway (Bobby Wolff, now on USA II, was Hamman’s partner in the team’s first win in 1995).

USA II, on a roll since the fall of last year, are Wolff, Dan Morse, Adam Wildavsky, Doug Doub, Steve Landen and Pratap Rajadhyaksha.

The action started on the first board.

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

 

West	North	East	South
Rodwell	Wolff	Meckstroth	Morse
	3¨	Pass	5¨
Dble	Pass	5©	All Pass

Jeff Meckstroth, USA

Wolff's offbeat preempt in diamonds did not slow down Meckstroth and Rodwell.

Against 5©, Morse led the §J, taken in dummy with the ace. Meckstroth played the ¨10, angling for a ruff in dummy, and Wolff went up with the king. That gave Wolff the opportunity to give Morse a club ruff, but it wouldn't have been enough to defeat the contract. As it happened, Wolff returned the §Q, which Morse did not ruff. It wasn't long before Meckstroth was claiming for plus 480.

In the closed room, Landen and Rajadhyaksha didn't handle the interference as well. 

West	North	East	South
Landen	Soloway	Pratap	Hamman
	Pass	2©	Pass
2NT	3¨	3ª	5¨
Dble	All Pass

There was no hope of defeating this contract, and Soloway duly chalked up plus 550 for a 14-IMP gain right off the bat.

USA II struck back on the second board.

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

West	North	East	South
Rodwell	Wolff	Meckstroth	Morse
		3§	3ª
Pass	4ª	All Pass

Meckstroth’s 3§ opener was described as a “sound” preempt. Careful defense was necessary for East-West to prevail. Rodwell led the §9 to the jack and ace, and Meckstroth switched to a low diamond. Morse put up the king, losing to the ace, and Rodwell switched accurately to the ©K. That was it for Morse, who lost four tricks for one down. There was more action at the other table.

West	North	East	South
Landen	Soloway	Pratap	Hamman
		1§	1ª
3©	3©	4©	4ª
5©	Pass	Pass	5ª
Dble	All Pass

Landen started with the ©K and USA II soon had four tricks in for plus 500. That was 9 IMPs to USA II.

On the next deal, Wolff played well to land a partscore that put his team into the lead.

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

West	North	East	South
Landen	Soloway	Pratap	Hamman
			Pass
Pass	2§	Pass	2©
Pass	3§	All Pass

Landen and Pratap took all their tricks against this unlucky contract, and Soloway was three down for minus 150. Wolff did much better in the open room, thanks to a defensive slip.

West	North	East	South
Rodwell	Wolff	Meckstroth	Morse
	1§	Pass	1©
Pass	1ª	Pass	1NT
Pass	2§	All Pass

Meckstroth led the ¨J to the queen, king and ace, and Wolff shot the ¨3 right back. Meckstroth won the ¨10 and was at the crossroads. He needed to play spades, but after some thought he exited with a low heart. Wolff went up with dummy’s ©A, dropping his singleton king, cashed the ©Q for a spade pitch, then played two more rounds of diamonds, discarding spades. Meckstroth ruffed the fourth diamond, but it was with a natural trump trick. Wolff lost three trump tricks, a diamond and a spade. Plus 90 gave USA II a 6-IMP gain and the lead by 1 IMP.

Dan Morse, USA

The lead was erased on the next deal when Landen in the closed room went down in a vulnerable 4ª that was made in the open room. The IMPs were flying all over the place, and USA I had a 26-15 lead after four boards.

More IMPs went to USA I on board 5 when Landen and Pratap missed a useful 4ª save against a vulnerable 4©, giving up plus 620 at one table versus 300 at the other table. Another 8 IMPs to the Nickell squad.

USA II got 11 of it back on board 7 as Hamman and Soloway let a vulnerable 4ª through for minus 620 while Wolff and Morse were minus 100 in 5© down one.

Players are often heard to say they would rather be lucky than good. Meckstroth and Rodwell are obviously good. On the following deal they were very lucky.

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

Landen and Pratap had a reasonable auction to a good spot.

West	North	East	South
Landen	Soloway	Pratap	Hamman
1NT	Pass	2§	Pass
2¨	Pass	3¨	Pass
3ª	Pass	4©	Pass
5¨	Pass	5ª	Pass
6¨	All Pass

With the whole spade suit coming in, 13 tricks were trivial.

West	North	East	South
Rodwell	Wolff	Meckstroth	Morse
1NT	Pass	2ª	Pass
2NT	Pass	3ª	Pass
4¨	Pass	4©	Pass
5¨	Pass	7¨	All Pass

Wolff led a tricky ªJ, but Rodwell had no real option for avoiding a spade loser than to win the ace in hand, pull trumps and lead another spade. Wolff’s ªQ was a welcome sight to Rodwell, who recorded plus 1440 for an 11-IMP gain.

USA I earned another slam swing on board 12.

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

West	North	East	South
Rodwell	Wolff	Meckstroth	Morse
	1©	Pass	1ª
Pass	2¨	Pass	3ª
Pass	3NT	Pass	4ª
Pass	5ª	All Pass

Morse wisely declined Wolff’s invitation to slam in spades. Indeed, the trump suit was the problem as Morse had two losers in the spade suit. The North-South hands are good for slam in three other strains, however – hearts, diamonds and notrump. It was a missed opportunity for USA I. At the other table, Hamman had no difficulty deciding on the proper level once Soloway opening the bidding with a strong 1§.

West	North	East	South
Landen	Soloway	Pratap	Hamman
	1§	Pass	1ª
Pass	2©	Pass	2ª
Pass	2NT	Pass	3ª
Pass	3NT	Pass	6©
All Pass

All suits cooperated nicely, so achieving plus 1430 was no problem for Soloway. That was another 13 IMPs to USA I.

On the next board, Morse made a poor decision in a competitive auction, leading to a 5-IMP loss instead of a 9-IMP gain.

Board 13. Dealer North. All Vul.
	ª 4 © 8 5 3 2 ¨ K 10 § K Q J 10 9 2
ª J 9 8 7 6 © J 9 ¨ Q 9 6 3 2 § 4		ª A K Q 5 3 2 © A 10 ¨ 5 4 § A 8 6
	ª 10 © K Q 7 6 4 ¨ A J 8 7 § 7 5 3

In the closed room, Hamman and Soloway were never in the auction. Pratap opened 1ª and Landen blew into the spade game. North-South had only three tricks and East-West had plus 620.

In the open room, the Rodwell-Meckstroth Precision 1§ let Morse and Wolff find their heart fit.

West	North	East	South
Rodwell	Wolff	Meckstroth	Morse
	Pass	1§	1©
Pass	4©	4ª	Pass
Pass	5§	Dble	5©
Pass	Pass	Dble	All Pass

The defense was very accurate. Rodwell led his singleton club to Meckstroth’s ace. The §6 (upside-down suit preference) was returned for a ruff. A spade put the lead back in Meckstroth’s hand and he gave his partner a second club ruff with the trump ace still to come for plus 800. Morse might have avoided the big minus by passing. If Wolff had chosen to pass, which seems likely, 5§ doubled would be down only one for minus 200. The difference would have been a 9-IMP gain for USA II.

Although down, USA II kept fighting, earning 12 IMPs on this deal near the end.

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

West	North	East	South
Landen	Soloway	Pratap	Hamman
		1NT	Pass
2§	Pass	2¨	Pass
3©	Pass	4©	All Pass

Stephen Landen, USA

Soloway got off to the aggressive lead of a low diamond, ducked by Landen to his queen. Taking the right view in trumps, he immediately played a low heart to dummy’s 10, which held. He then played a spade to the jack, a heart to the jack and ace and a spade to the ace. Soloway ruffed, cashed the ©K and exited with the ¨K. Landen won the ace, played a spade to the king, then finished off the hearts, catching North-South in a double squeeze and taking the last three tricks with the A Q 9 of clubs. That was plus 450.

West	North	East	South
Rodwell	Wolff	Meckstroth	Morse
		1NT	Pass
2¨	Pass	2©	Pass
3©	Pass	4©	All Pass

Morse started with the §5 to the king and ace, and Meckstroth cashed the ©A, followed by a low heart from hand.. Wolff took the ©Q with the king and switched to the ª3, which went to the 6 and jack in dummy. A third round of trumps put Wolff in again, and he played the ¨7. It’s clear that if Meckstroth ducks, he will get home with his contract. It also seems clear that Meckstroth didn’t believe Wolff would lead away from the king in that situation. Meckstroth rose with the ¨A and played the §6 from hand. Morse had signaled count in clubs earlier with the §7, and how he followed with the 5 on Meckstroth’s 6. Meckstroth could have made the contract, discarding one diamond on the §6 and another on the §Q then ruffing a diamond to dummy to pull the last trump. He would have ended with three hearts, three spades, three clubs and one diamond for 10 tricks.

Instead, Meckstroth ruffed the §6 in dummy and pulled the last trump, but when he exited with a diamond, expecting to endplay South, Wolff put in the ¨J and cashed out the suit. That was three down and 12 IMPs to USA II.
No more IMPs changed hands, and the final score of 63-41 reflected the swinging tone of the match.