china global times   v   usa 1    -    vc sf session 1

by Brent Manley

China Global Times and USA 1 started play virtually tied in their semi-final Venice Cup match. The Chinese did, however, have a carryover lead of 3 IMPs based on their round-robin results.

China won 2 IMPs on the first board, but the lead didn’t last long.

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

West	North	East	South
Stansby	Sun	Rosenberg	Wang
		4♣	Pass
5♣	All Pass

Debbie Rosenberg opened what most players would with an eight-card suit, and JoAnna Stansby, with her club honor and aces, did not have to think long before putting her partner into game. Hongli Wang led the ♥Q, but with the black suits splitting nicely there were 13 easy tricks.

West	North	East	South
Zhang	Levitina	Gu	Narasimhan
		3♣	All Pass

Ling Gu’s conservative approach did not pay off. Plus 190 resulted in a 6-IMP swing to USA 1.

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

West	North	East	South
Stansby	Sun	Rosenberg	Wang
1♥	Pass	1♠	Pass
2♥	Pass	4♣*	Pass
4♠	Pass	5NT	Pass
5♠	Pass	7♥	All Pass

Stansby described her partner’s 4♣ bid as a slam try in hearts. 4♠ was just what Rosenberg wanted to hear, so she simply checked for key cards and bid the grand slam after finding out her partner held at least the top three hearts.

That put the spotlight on Ming Sun, who could have defeated the contract by leading her singleton spade. With the break in hearts, declarer needs an entry to hand after cashing a high heart and leading to dummy’s ♥10. After a spade lead, however, there is no entry to the West hand and the contract must fail.

Sun, however, led a trump, and it was quickly over. Stansby won the opening lead in hand, played a heart to dummy’s 10, and returned to hand with the ♠K, claiming at that point for plus 2210. If the Chinese pair in the closed room stopped in a small slam, that was going to be a 13-IMP swing. It was even more than that.

West	North	East	South
Zhang	Levitina	Gu	Narasimhan
1♥	Pass	1♠	Pass
2NT	Pass	3♣	Pass
3♦	Pass	3♥	Pass
4♥	All Pass

Ya-Lan Zhang’s opening was limited by her failure to open with a strong 1♣. Her 2NT showed six hearts and three spades. Against four hearts, Irina Levitina led her singleton spade, limiting declarer to 12 tricks. It was a 17-IMP swing to USA 1.

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

West	North	East	South
Stansby	Sun	Rosenberg	Wang
	3♦	Dble	Pass
3♠	All Pass

Perhaps not noticing the vulnerability, Sun boldly started the bidding at the three level on a less-than-robust suit. Rosenberg did not push for game despite her fine hand. Sun led a low club, taken by Wang with the ace. Wang played the ♦K to the jack and ace. The ♠A was followed by another spade, ducked by South. Stansby won with the ♠Q, noted the 4-1 split, then played a club to the king. She followed with a diamond ruff, two clubs, pitching hearts from dummy, then led a heart to dummy’s ace and played dummy’s last diamond. Declarer had to make her ♠J whatever South did. That was plus 140.

West	North	East	South
Zhang	Levitina	Gu	Narasimhan
	Pass	1♣*	Pass
1♦*	Pass	1NT	Pass
2♣	Pass	2♥	Pass
4♥	All Pass

Gu’s 1♣ opening and rebid of 1NT showed 17-19 high-card points, so Zhang was always going to at least try for game. Hansa Narasimhan led a low trump to the king and ace. Gu cashed the ♦A and ruffed a diamond, returned to hand with the ♥Q, and ruffed her last diamond. She took the losing spade finesse, but there were only two other tricks to lose from there – the high trump and the ♣A. Plus 420 was worth 7 IMPs to China.

Another small swing went to China on the next deal.

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

West	North	East	South
Stansby	Sun	Rosenberg	Wang
		1♦	Pass
2♣	2♥	Pass	Pass
3♦	Pass	3♠	Pass
4♣	Pass	4♦	Pass
4♥	Pass	4♠	Pass
5♦	All Pass

That’s a lot of bidding with the East-West cards. A trump lead would have been devastating for declarer, but Wang – strangely reluctant to raise her partner’s overcall – started with a low heart. Sun falsecarded with the ♥K, continuing with the ♥A. Rosenberg refused to ruff, pitching a spade from dummy, and Sun switched to a trump after long thought. Rosenberg won in dummy, cashed the ♣A and ruffed a club, then ruffed a heart, probably expecting the ♥Q to drop based on the play to that point. When the heart honor did not appear and clubs did not break, Rosenberg resorted to the spade finesse. When that lost, she was one down – still better than most declarers who played in that contract in the three events.

West	North	East	South
Zhang	Levitina	Gu	Narasimhan
		1♦*	Pass
2♣	2♥	Pass	3♥
All Pass

Because Gu’s 1♦ could have been based on a doubleton, the nine-card fit was not uncovered and Levitina was left to play in 3♥. Gu led the ♦K, overtaken by Zhang to play the ♥10. Levitina won with the ♥A and played the ♣Q, aiming to get some tricks going in that suit. Gu ruffed the club, however, and played another diamond. Levitina ruffed in dummy and played the ♣K, ducked by Zhang. Gu ruffed again and exited with the ♥J. When Levitina played a spade, Gu won the ace and cashed a diamond for one down and 4 IMPs to China.

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

West	North	East	South
Stansby	Sun	Rosenberg	Wang
1♣	1♠	2♠	Pass
2NT	Pass	3NT	All Pass

Sun started with a low spade, taken by Stansby with the queen. She gave her next play some thought before putting the ♣5 on the table, playing dummy’s queen when Sun contributed the 4. Declarer was on her way at that point. Stansby cashed dummy’s two heart honors, then played a second round of clubs. Sun won and got out with the ♦9, but Stansby went up with dummy’s ace and played a third round of clubs. Sun won and shot a diamond through, but Stansby had her nine tricks for an outstanding plus 400. (Sun had to lead a red card at trick one to defeat the contract.)

West	North	East	South
Zhang	Levitina	Gu	Narasimhan
1♦	1♠	Dble	Pass
1NT	All Pass

It’s curious that Gu did not consider the East hand worth even a raise to 2NT. As the play went, it was just as well.

Levitina started with a heart, taken in dummy with the king. Declarer cashed the ♥J and called for a low club from dummy. Narasimhan won with the ♣J and pushed a spade through declarer’s hand. The ♠Q went to Levitina’s king, and the ♦9 went to the queen and king. Another spade was taken by declarer’s ace. A club went to North’s king and a spade cleared the suit. Declarer could do no more than cash her hearts for seven tricks, plus 90 and a 7-IMP loss.

USA 1 was ahead 38-14 when China made another gain.

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

West	North	East	South
Stansby	Sun	Rosenberg	Wang
	1♥	Pass	1NT
Pass	2♣	Pass	2♥
Pass	2NT	Pass	3♣
All Pass

Rosenberg led the ♥A and gave Stansby a ruff. A diamond was returned to Sun’s king, and she claimed when the ♣A fetched the queen from West. That was plus 130.

West	North	East	South
Zhang	Levitina	Gu	Narasimhan
	1♥	Pass	1NT
Pass	2♣	Pass	2♥
Pass	2NT	Pass	3NT
All Pass

USA 1 was in a position to earn a swing, but the contract got away from Narasimhan. Zhang led a diamond, which went to the king and queen. Another singleton honor showed up with Narasimhan played a heart from dummy to her queen. The ♣J was covered by the queen and ace, and declarer returned to hand with the ♣10 to play the ♦A and ♦10, establishing the 9 for her ninth trick. West won with the ♦J and played a low spade from her ace. Narasimhan won with the ♠Q in hand and cashed the ♦9. That gave her seven tricks. All she had to do was to cash her two winning clubs for plus 600. She must have miscounted her tricks, however, because she exited with a heart to East’s ace. West pitched her low spade on this trick and had good diamonds to cash when her partner put her in with the ♠A. That was minus 200 and 8 IMPs to China.