Reversal of fortune

Members of USA II in the Bermuda Bowl felt, with some justification, that their opponents on Monday (USA I) had more than their share of luck, particularly regarding a couple of slams.

In an interesting match against Egypt on Wednesday, USA II pretty much got back to even with Lady Luck as they took the measure of their opponents. If USA II could have skipped board 31, it would have been a rout, as Bobby Wolff and Dan Morse had an exceptional set.

The first four boards were more or less routine as USA II held a 3-0 lead. On the fifth board, they were the lucky ones for a change.

Board 21. Dealer North. N/S Vul.
	ª 6 5 © Q 7 6 3 ¨ K 10 6 5 § 6 5
ª 10 8 7 3 2 © J ¨ 9 §J 9 7 4 3 2		ª K Q 9 4 © 9 8 4 2 ¨ 7 § A K Q 8
	ª A J © A K 10 5 ¨ A Q J 8 3 2 § 10

West	North	East	South
Naguib	Wolff	A. Sadek	Morse
	Pass	1§	Dble
2NT	Pass	3§	3¨
3ª	4§	Pass	4©
All Pass

Tarek Sadek, Egypt

Morse must have regretted missing the odds-on slam, breathing a sigh of relief when the nasty trump split materialized. Only two rounds of clubs at the beginning would allow the slam to make – South gets the ruff, plays the other three hearts from his hand, enters dummy with a diamond and pulls the last trump, shedding the ªJ. That would be 12 tricks (and poor defense, obviously). Morse recorded plus 650.

Tarek Sadek and Waleed El Ahmady (apologies for the misspelling of his name in the Wednesday edition) did better in the auction, but the result was not satisfactory to Egyptian partisans.

West	North	East	South
Landen	T. Sadek	Pratap	El Ahmady
	Pass	1§	Dble
4§	Pass	Pass	Dble
Pass	4©	5§	Pass
Pass	5¨	Pass	6©
All Pass

Tarek’s 5¨ bid improved the South hand so much that he blew straight into the good slam. The 4-1 trump split doomed the contract, however. Pratap Rajadhyaksha started with the §K and switched accurately to the ªK. El Ahmady won the ªA and cashed the ©A and ©K, getting the bad news in trumps. He could have cashed out for down one, but there was one small chance to make 12 tricks. If East held both outstanding diamonds, South could enter dummy with a diamond, ruff a club, cash his last heart and return to dummy to pull East’s fourth heart, discarding the ªJ. It was not to be, however, and El Ahmady finished two down for minus 200 and a 13-IMP swing to USA II.

The next three boards were flat as Egypt gained an overtrick IMP to make the score 16-1.

Luck smiled on the Americans again on board 25, but Pratap had to overcome a challenging defense from Tarek to earn the swing.

Board 25. Dealer North. E/W Vul.
	ª J 7 © Q 7 6 ¨ K 8 5 § A Q J 9 2
ª A 10 3 © A J 10 ¨ 10 7 § K 10 6 5 3		ª K Q 8 6 4 2 © K ¨ A Q J 4 3 § 4
	ª 9 5 © 9 8 5 4 3 2 ¨ 9 6 2 § 8 4

West	North	East	South
Naguib	Wolff	A. Sadek	Morse
	1§	1ª	Pass
2§	Pass	3¨	Pass
4ª	All Pass

Sherif Naguib and Ashraf Sadek didn’t even sniff at the slam, and in fact made only 11 tricks for plus 650.

Pratap and Landen did much better with the East-West cards.

West	North	East	South
Landen	T. Sadek	Pratap	El Ahmady
	1§	1ª	Pass
2§	Dble	2¨	Pass
4ª	Pass	4NT	Pass
5©	Pass	6ª	All Pass

When Landen jumped to 4ª over the 2¨ game try, Pratap knew his partner had a bit extra, so he checked for aces and bid the good slam.

El Ahmady led the §8 to the 3, queen and 7. Tarek smoothly returned the §2, giving Pratap pause. Was South’s §8 a singleton? At that point, VuGraph commentators were predicting that declarer would go down, ruffing with an honor in hand and then playing a spade to dummy’s 10 at some point.

Pratap did think about his play for some time, but he eventually ruffed with the ªK, cashed the queen and played a spade to the ace in dummy. He then finessed against the ¨K with confidence, scoring up his small slam when the finesse worked as expected.

Wolff and Morse were having a great set in the closed room, with one great result after another. The following board was one of their successes.

Board 28. Dealer West. N/S Vul.
	ª K Q 6 © 9 4 ¨ J 5 § A K J 10 8 6
ª J 9 2 © K Q 8 2 ¨ 10 8 7 4 § 9 4		ª 5 4 3 © J 7 5 ¨ A Q 6 3 2 § 5 3
	ª A 10 8 7 © A 10 6 3 ¨ K 9 § Q 7 2

West	North	East	South
Naguib	Wolff	A. Sadek	Morse
Pass	1§	1¨	Dble
3¨	4§	Pass	4¨
Pass	5§	Pass	6§
All Pass

The opening lead was the ¨A, and with the spades breaking favorably, Wolff had 12 tricks and plus 1370. Would the Egyptians be able to duplicate that result?

West	North	East	South
Landen	T. Sadek	Pratap	El Ahmady
Pass	1§	1¨	Dble
2¨	3§	Pass	3¨
Pass	3ª	Pass	6§
All Pass

That was a well-earned push for Egypt.

Despite that good result, they were still trailing by 30 IMPs going into board 31, the last one played on VuGraph. Number 32 had been played earlier to allow the closed room to catch up. It was a 6-IMP gain for USAII – Wolff and Morse defeated 1NT two tricks for plus 200 while Pratap and Landen had earned plus 50 when El Ahmady and Tarek overbid to 3NT.

The final deal was very bad for USA II.

Board 31. Dealer South. N/S Vul.
	ª A Q 9 3 © 10 7 ¨ 9 8 7 3 § 8 5 2
ª K J 10 6 5 2 © A Q 3 2 ¨ 10 6 § 6		ª 4 © K 6 4 ¨ A K Q J 5 4 2 § Q 9
	ª 8 7 © J 9 8 5 ¨ --- § A K J 10 7 4 3

West	North	East	South
Naguib	Wolff	A. Sadek	Morse
			3§
3ª	Pass	5¨	All Pass

There was no stopping this contract. Ashraf needed only a club ruff in dummy to come to 11 tricks for plus 400. Those who were left in the VuGraph room were shocked at what happened in the replay.

West	North	East	South
Landen	T. Sadek	Pratap	El Ahmady
			1§
1ª	Pass	3NT	Pass
Pass	Dble	Pass (!)	Pass
Pass

VuGraph commentators were certain Pratap would run from the double. Whether the diamond game would be bid wasn’t part of the conversation. Considering that East didn’t really have a club stopper, it was a very surprising decision for him to sit for the double. He said later that the double, indicating spade values, increased the chances that he would find something useful in clubs in the dummy.

Dummy’s club holding would certainly have been useful in a diamond contract, but not in 3NT. El Ahmady started with the ª8 to the king and ace, and Tarek shifted to the §8. The defenders took the first nine tricks for plus 1100, earning 17 IMPs for their side and turning a rout into a relatively close match.

The final score was 36-23 for USA II