USA II vs France

Bermuda Bowl - Round 9

Selecting a match to watch is a complex affair and can frequently only be dicided after several hours of discussion involving the consumption of vast amounts of liquid. Every member of the Daily News has different criteria. Despite the obvious conflicts involved we we are generally fortunate in so far as the chosen encounter produces several newsworthy deals. Our nap selection for Round 9 was the Bermuda Bowl contest between France and USA II. For once, the boards were generally unproductive but there was one sensational deal that caused problems and swings in virtually every match. Before we show you that, here are some key deals from our main feature:

Martel Chip, USA

We start with a deal where both declarers failed in 3NT. Our photographer described the contract as 'Tacchi proof' - meaning it was impossible to go down. Alas, our protagonists were not familiar with the theory.

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

Closed Room
West	North	East	South
Stansby	Quantin	Martel	Multon
			Pass
1§	Pass	1ª	Pass
1NT	Pass	3NT	All Pass

North led the three of diamonds and essentially declarer did not manage to divine the spade position, finishing one down, -100.

Open Room
West	North	East	South
Abecassis	Weichsel	Soulet	Sontag
			Pass
1NT	Pass	2§*	Pass
2¨	Pass	2NT	Pass
3NT	All Pass

This time North led the five of spades for the eight (was the six a viable option?) jack and four. Declarer covered the return of the four of hearts with the eight and when North played back the seven of spades the moment of truth had arrived. With little to go on, declarer put in the ten and had no further chance. Later on he tried a low spade, hoping South had started with ªAQJ alone and finished two down, -200 and 3 IMPs for USA II.

As Tacchi said, once the heart finesse is right you have eight tricks and the obvious chance for a ninth is a spade to the king. If only it was that simple!

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

Closed Room
West	North	East	South
Stansby	Quantin	Martel	Multon
1©	Pass	1ª	Pass
2©	Pass	4©	All Pass

North led the queen of diamonds and South put up the ace and switched to the nine of clubs. North ducked and in due course was able to give South a club ruff for one down.

Open Room
West	North	East	South
Abecassis	Weichsel	Soulet	Sontag
1©	Pass	1ª	2¨
2©	2ª	4©	All Pass

Once again the opening lead was the queen of diamonds and South put up the ace. However, he returned the four of diamonds and declarer was now in the box seat. He ruffed and ran the seven of hearts. When that held he wanted to find a safe route to the ten tricks that were rightfully his, the only danger being a defensive ruff of some kind. Abecassis played the king of clubs and when that held he ruffed a spade and advanced the jack of diamonds. He was safe for +620, which he claimed moments later.

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

Closed Room
West	North	East	South
Stansby	Quantin	Martel	Multon
			Pass
1ª	Pass	2NT*	Pass
3§	Pass	3ª	Pass
3NT*	Pass	4§	Pass
4NT	Pass	5¨	Pass
5©	Pass	6ª	All Pass

After the popular 2NT game forcing response West was able to show his club suit and slam interest via a 'serious' 3NT bid. Duck soup to the Americans and an easy +1430.

Open Room
West	North	East	South
Abecassis	Weichsel	Soulet	Sontag
			Pass
1ª	Pass	2©	Pass
2ª	Pass	3¨	Pass
3NT	Pass	4ª	All Pass

When West did not bid 3© it was reasonable to infer that he did not have two hearts. In that case you might expect East to find an alternative to 4ª. Even so, West gave quite a lot of thought to bidding on, but eventually made the pass that cost a lot of IMPs.

The following deal is the one that caused mayhem across the field. What follows is a sample, with several of the results being repeated at a number of tables.

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

As you can see, East/West are cold for a slam in either black suit and North/South have a paying save in diamonds.

Of course, in order to secure a slam bonus you have to bid one, and that was not always the case:

Australia vs Venezuela
Venice Cup

Open Room
West	North	East	South
Tache	Cormack	Hirschhaut	Moir
	Pass	1§	Pass
1ª	Dble	Redble	2©
2ª	Pass	4ª	Pass
Pass	5¨	5ª	All Pass

Probably best not to dwell on that auction too long.

Australia vs Hong Kong
Bermuda Bowl

Open Room
West	North	East	South
Sze	Bilski	Lai	Brown
	1¨	3¨*	5¨
Pass	Pass	Dble	All Pass

Three Diamonds promised a solid suit and was asking West to bid 3NT with a diamond stopper (In Ireland it would promise a diamond stopper and ask West to bid 3NT with a solid suit). The pre-emption caused a problem that east/West could not solve - at least they collected +100.

Poland vs Guadeloupe
Bermuda Bowl

Open Room
West	North	East	South
Bouveresse	Pszczola	Moers	Kwiecen
	Pass	2§*	Pass
2¨*	Dble	3§	5¨
6§	6¨	Dble	All Pass

Spades were never in the picture and this time the penalty was -300.

Norway vs Italy
Bermuda Bowl

Open Room
West	North	East	South
Duboin	Helness	Bocchi	Helgemo
	1¨	Dble	3¨
4ª	5¨	6ª	Pass
Pass	7¨	Dble	All Pass

Just as in our second example, it was easier to find the save where North had opened the bidding. -500 was cheap.

England vs Italy
Venice Cup

Open Room
West	North	East	South
Courtney	Naveh	Brock	Melech
	Pass	2NT	Pass
3©*	Pass	3ª	Pass
3NT	Pass	4§	Pass
4¨	Dble	4©	Pass
4NT	Pass	5§	Pass
6§	All Pass

There is no obvious reason to open the East hand 2NT but it worked well enough when East decided to look for a slam. +1370

Closed Room
West	North	East	South
Lieberman	Dhondy	Birman	Smith
	Pass	2§	Pass
2ª	3¨	6§	6¨
7§	Pass	Pass	7¨
Pass	Pass	7ª	All Pass

West's bid of Seven Clubs is hard to understand, as East's jump to slam surely meant that at one first round control must be missing. However, South took out insurance - after all, West could have been void in diamonds. East must have been of the same opinion - and her partner's pass over Seven Diamonds surely suggested she had first round control of that suit. You can't blame North for failing to lead her ace, but you might question her choice of the ten of hearts. That gave declarer no option but to play low - and then claim a mere 2210.

USA II vs Austria
Venice Cup

Closed Room
West	North	East	South
Breed	Fischer	Quinn	Weigkricht
	Pass	2§*	Pass
2ª	3¨	4NT*	6¨
Pass*	Pass	7NT	Pass
Pass	Dble	All Pass

The convention card of the American pair says they play both DOPI and DEPO over intervention. Unless we are missing something, whichever was in use (we think it is usual to use DEPO at higher levels as in this situation) West appears to be showing an odd number of aces. -1700 was the embarrassing payment.

By the way, USA II beat France 21-9VP.