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
|