egypt   v   indonesia    -    BB Round 7

A Hard Fight

by Brent Manley

Egypt and Indonesia, two teams struggling to gain ground in the qualifying stages of the Bermuda Bowl, met in round seven on Tuesday. What started out as a rather pedestrian set of deals finished with a flurry of IMPs.

The first significant swing of the match occurred on board 5.

Board 5. Dealer North. N/S Vul.
	♠ Q 10 5 3 ♥ A Q 10 ♦ J 10 ♣ A 10 7 5
♠ A 7 ♥ 6 4 3 2 ♦ K 6 ♣ Q J 8 6 4		♠ 8 4 ♥ 9 5 ♦ A Q 9 8 7 4 3 2 ♣ 9
	♠ K J 9 6 2 ♥ K J 8 7 ♦ 5 ♣ K 3 2

West	North	East	South
Sadek	Tobing	El Ahmady	Asbi
	1NT	4♦	Dble
5♦	Pass	Pass	Dble
All Pass

1NT by Robert Tobing was of the weak variety. Waleed El Ahmady took advantage of the favourable vulnerability to bid the maximum with his eight-card suit. Tarek Sadek was happy to give his partner a boost to further the preempt after Taufik Asbi’s value-showing double. Asbi was not tempted to bid on because his partner’s hand was limited, so he settled for the plus score. The defenders took four tricks for plus 300.

West	North	East	South
Bojoh	Nadim	George	Heshmat
	1♣	4♦	Dble
5♦	Dble	Pass	5♠
All Pass

The situation was not as clear to Tarek Nadim and Mohamed Heshmat of Egypt in basically the same auction. Obviously, Heshmat was disinclined to settle for a relatively small penalty, so he chanced a bid, instead of passing his partner’s double. Off two top tricks, Heshmat needed some considerable luck in clubs. It was not forthcoming, so minus 100 was the result. That was 9 IMPs to Indonesia.

Board 7. Dealer South. All Vul.
	♠ 10 3 ♥ 9 6 5 ♦ 9 8 7 5 ♣ A K 5 4
♠ A K 8 7 ♥ K 7 ♦ A 10 ♣ Q J 10 7 2		♠ 9 6 5 ♥ A J 8 4 2 ♦ Q J 3 2 ♣ 9
	♠ Q J 4 2 ♥ Q 10 3 ♦ K 6 4 ♣ 8 6 3

West	North	East	South
Sadek	Tobing	El Ahmady	Asbi
			Pass
1♣	Pass	1♥	Pass
1♠	Pass	1NT	Pass
2NT	All Pass

El Ahmady’s pass of his partner’s game invitation seems very conservative. Asbi led a low diamond, and dummy’s 10 held. A club went to the 9 in declarer’s hand. That was followed by a diamond to the ace and the ♣Q to North’s king. North got out with the ♠10 to dummy’s ace. Another club lead put North in again, and he exited with a spade. Declarer ducked the ♠J, claiming nine tricks after South cashed the ♦K. That was plus 150 – not a happy score for Egypt, especially considering what happened at the other table.

West	North	East	South
Bojoh	Nadim	George	Heshmat
			Pass
1♣	Pass	1♥	Pass
1♠	Pass	1NT	Pass
3NT	All Pass

Jemmy Bojoh did not leave the decision to partner – he simply blew into game and trusted that Julius George could scramble home with nine tricks.

Heshmat led his fourth-best spade, and the 10 held when declarer played low from dummy. The ♦9 went to dummy’s 10. When George called for a low club from dummy, Nadim played the ♣K and got out with the ♥6, which went to the 10 and king. The ♣Q was won by North’s ace, and on the continuation of a heart, declarer rose with the ace and played the ♠9 from hand. South split his honors to prevent the overtrick, but the game was made and Indonesia had extended their lead to 22-3.

The following deal did not help the Egyptian cause.

Board 9. Dealer North. E/W Vul.
	♠ 7 4 ♥ A Q 10 9 7 5 3 ♦ Q J 10 ♣ 8
♠ Q 10 6 ♥ K 6 4 ♦ 8 6 ♣ J 10 6 4 3		♠ A J 9 8 5 2 ♥ J 8 ♦ K 2 ♣ A K 2
	♠ K 3 ♥ 2 ♦ A 9 7 5 4 3

West	North	East	South
Sadek	Tobing	El Ahmady	Asbi
	4♥	Dble	All Pass

El Ahmady started with the ♣A, switching to the ♠A and another spade. Tobin, in dummy with the ♠K, made the percentage play in hearts – low to the queen – and when the suit proved to be 3-2 and the diamond finesse on, he was able to claim 10 tricks for plus 590.

West	North	East	South
Bojoh	Nadim	George	Heshmat
	3♦	3♠	Pass
4♠	All Pass

Nadim’s 3♦ was a transfer preempt, showing a long heart suit. That did nothing to improve Bojoh’s hand, making his raise to game rashly optimistic. Luckily for George, the Egyptian defense was rather soft, allowing declarer to escape for one down.

Heshmat led his singleton heart, taken by Nadim with the queen. Had he switched to the ♦Q at trick two, the defenders would have come to six tricks for plus 300 (two hearts, two diamonds and one trick each in the black suits). At trick two, however, Nadim played his singleton club. George rose with the ♣A and played the ♠A and a second spade. In with the ♠K, Heshmat had nothing but minors left, so he got out with a low club. George put up the jack, but when Nadim showed out, declarer played the ♣K and exited with a club. There was nothing Heshmat could after winning the ♣Q but cash the ♦A for a very unsatisfying – and 10-IMP-losing – plus 100.

Egypt finally broke through near the end of the match. Trailing 37-4, they came up with a surprising 9-IMP gain on board 13.

Board 13. Dealer North. All Vul.
	♠ J 7 ♥ A Q 9 6 5 4 2 ♦ 7 ♣ J 9 5
♠ Q 10 5 4 3 ♥ ♦ A Q 9 ♣ K 10 8 4 3		♠ A 8 6 2 ♥ K 7 ♦ K 10 8 5 3 ♣ A 2
	♠ K 9 ♥ J 10 8 3 ♦ J 6 4 2

West	North	East	South
Sadek	Tobing	El Ahmady	Asbi
	3♥	Pass	4♥
All Pass

Amazingly, on a deal where 12 tricks in spades are available to East-West, they ended up defending 4♥.

El Ahmady started with a low diamond to West’s ace. The spade return was taken by East, who exited with a second spade. Tobing played the ♥J, rising with the ace when Sadek showed out. Declarer exited with a heart to East, ruffing the return of the ♦10. He still had two clubs to lose for minus 200.

Considering the missed vulnerable slam, this looked like a very bad result for Egypt.

East-West at the other table came to the rescue, however.

West	North	East	South
Bojoh	Nadim	George	Heshmat
	2♥	3♦	3♥
4♥	5♥	Dble	Pass
6♦	All Pass

Heshmat started with the ♥J. Declarer had at least one spade loser no matter how the suit lay, so he had to ruff the opening lead. He cashed the ♦A, played a spade to the ace, ruffed the ♥K with dummy’s ♦Q, then played a club to his ace. The ♦K revealed that there would be no miracle in the trump suit, so he played a spade to South’s king. Declarer was soon entering minus 200 on the scorecard.

That was a surprising 9 IMPs to Egypt. Had East-West found the correct strain for slam, it would have been a 15-IMP loss.

Another wild deal brought more IMPs to the Egyptians.

Board 14. Dealer East. None Vul.
	♠ J 4 ♥ Q J 10 8 4 2 ♦ A 4 3 ♣ A 2
♠ A 8 6 5 ♥ ♦ J 10 5 2 ♣ J 10 9 6 3		♠ Q 9 7 3 2 ♥ K ♦ K Q 9 8 7 6 ♣ K
	♠ K 10 ♥ A 9 7 6 5 3 ♦ ♣ Q 8 7 5 4

West	North	East	South
Sadek	Tobing	El Ahmady	Asbi
		1♠	2♠
4♠	5♥	All Pass

Sadek and El Ahmady did well not to contest the auction further, although there is a profitable save at the six level for East-West. El Ahmady started with the ♦K. Declarer discarded the ♠10 from dummy, winning the ace in hand, then pulled the lone trump before playing a club to the ace, no doubt planning to lead up to dummy’s queen. When the ♣K fell, declarer claimed 12 tricks.

West	North	East	South
Bojoh	Nadim	George	Heshmat
		1♦	3♣
3♦	4♥	4♠	5♥
5♠	6♥	Pass	Pass
Dble	All Pass

The opening lead was the same, declarer discarding the ♠10 from dummy and winning in hand. After pulling the outstanding trump, declarer played the ♠K from dummy. West won and switched to a low club, trying to give the impression he held the king. Declarer was not taken in however. Assuming no absurd defensive errot, there was only one chance to make the contract – a singleton ♣K with East. North played the ♣A and was happily surprised to see the king appear, and he was soon claiming plus 1210 for a 12-IMP gain.

The score was now 39-25. On the final deal of the match, Egypt picked up another 7 IMPs when the Indonesians went minus 200 in 2♠ at one table and minus 100 in 3♣ at the other.

The final score was 39-32 for Indonesia.