Outpointing Zia

This deal was reported in Bulletin 3, where Zia and Judy Radin scored very well with +200. However, it was not the best score on the board.

Mixed Pairs qualifying session 2

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

West	North	East	South
	Bramley		Wadas
	Pass	2§	2ª
3©	3ª	Pass	4ª
All Pass

Hoping to get a diamond ruff, West led a cunning queen of hearts. According to plan East put up the ace and switched to the king of diamonds. However, South, Judy Wadas, was not going to squander her ace and played low. East played the queen of diamonds and for the second time declarer ducked. The defence had taken the first three tricks, but now declarer was in complete control as she could not be prevented from ruffing two diamonds in dummy.

The winning defence is perhaps difficult to see, but East must resist the temptation to play the ace of diamonds, and switch to a black suit.

Backing Your Judgement

US star, Drew Casen thought that he had a complete count of the hand on this deal from the Power Rosenblum and was willing to back his judgement, only to find that the defenders had both falsecarded and his picture of the deal was not quite correct.

	ª K 10 8 7 © 10 7 3 ¨ A 9 8 3 § 9 4
ª 6 3 © J ¨ 10 7 6 5 4 § Q J 10 5 3		ª A J 4 2 © K 8 6 4 2 ¨ J 2 § 8 6
	ª Q 9 5 © A Q 9 5 ¨ K Q § A K 7 2

Casen opened 2Nt on the South cards and was soon in 3NT after a Stayman auction. England's Phil King led the queen of clubs and Andrew (Tosh) McIntosh followed with the eight, discouraging. Casen ducked but won King's continuation of the ten of clubs. Casen ran the ª9 and Tosh won the jack. He switched to the six of hearts, allegedly playing fourth best leads but second from bad suits. That ran to the bare jack and King switched to his fourth-best diamond for the jack and king. Casen cashed the ¨Q then played the ªQ to dummy's king.

Had Tosh ducked this trick, declarer would have next cashed the ace of diamonds and gained a complete count on the hand so he won and returned the eight of hearts. King had followed upwards in spades, showing an even number, but had also followed with the six on the second round of diamonds, concealing the four. With the clubs almost certainly being five-two, it appeared that West was 2-2-4-5 and the leads of the ©6 followed by ©8 suggested that East had weak hearts. Casen backed his reading of the hand by rising with the ace of hearts and was a little disappointed to see West show out. There was no recovery from here and the contract had to fail by a trick.

Chemla Shines

Leading their group Chemla's team made a further step towards qualification when the French captain brought home his contract on the very first board of the match against
Stakgold-USA

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

West	North	East	South
Pass	Pass	Pass	1ª
Pass	2ª	Pass	4ª
All Pass

The lead was the ©8, second and fourth, to the ace and the §Q took the next trick. Then a small spade went to the jack, queen and king. The ©10 was taken in hand and Chemla now played two high trumps, followed by a heart to the jack. A simple soul would play for the ¨A to be on side. But think as Chemla did: East is known to hold ten cards in the minors and the §K, yet he passed originally and passed again over 2ª .It was odds on he did not have the ¨A. Declarer took his only chance: he cashed the §A, ©K and threw in West who had to play a diamond.
Isn't bridge easy if you use your brain and collect the information in time.

The best chance

Alejandro Bianchedi, representing Argentina in the Power Rosenblum Knockout, knows good play when he sees it, so he was happy to report on what he observed as dummy on the following deal from an early round. His partner is Tito Muzzio.

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

West	North	East	South
	Muzzio		Bianchedi
		3§	Pass
Pass	Dble	Pass	3ª
Pass	4§	Pass	4©
Pass	4NT	Pass	5§
Pass	6ª	Dble	All Pass

West's lead of a low club defies logic, given his partner's Lightner double. Whether he would have found the killing lead of a diamond is debatable. More likely he would have led a heart, leading to the same result he obtained.
In dummy after the club opening lead, Muzzio pondered his chances. He knew the lead East was looking for - a diamond - so he knew where the king was. He reasoned that if he played a heart to his ace to take the spade finesse - he couldn't take the diamond finesse while East still had trumps -- he would almost certainly find himself awkwardly placed. He could play two rounds of spades but then would have no way to return to hand for the diamond finesse, and if he played a third round of spades, the defenders could make him ruff in dummy, assuring a diamond loser.

After working all this out, Muzzio figured that if either defender had a doubleton ªJ, the contract could be made by playing the ªA then the queen. He was rewarded for his analysis when the ªJ appeared on the second round of the suit, and he was soon chalking up plus 1660 for his doubled slam.

Bianchedi also found this deal of interest.

	ª K 5 3 © K 6 ¨ A J 5 4 § 9 8 5 2
ª 10 7 6 2 © Q 8 7 ¨ Q 9 6 3 § 6 3		ª J © A 10 5 3 2 ¨ 10 8 2 § A Q J 10
	ª A Q 9 8 4 © J 9 4 ¨ K 7 § K 7 4

West	North	East	South
	Muzzio		Bianchedi
			1ª
Pass	1NT	2©	Pass
Pass	3ª	Pass	4ª
All Pass

West started with a low heart to partner's ace. The §Q came back, and Bianchedi rose with the king. He then played a heart to the king, a spade to the ace, ¨K, a diamond to the ace, a diamond ruff, heart ruff, ªK and another diamond ruff. That was nine tricks and he still had the ªQ for 10 tricks and plus 620.

At the other table, North played in 3NT. The §Q was led and declarer put up the king, played the ªA, then ran the ª9 and later took the diamond finesse for nine tricks. Bianchedi was impressed with declarer's card reading, but he also wondered how declarer would have felt had East's ªJ been from an original holding of J-10-x.