USA 1 v Canada - Segment 2
Canada won the first set by 31-29 IMPs to trail by 14, 31-45. That was a solid start but now, with both teams fielding their third pair, things might get a bit livelier.
| Board 17. Dealer North. None Vul. |
| | ♠ A 8
♥ 9 5 2
♦ Q 2
♣ K Q J 6 5 2 |
♠ J 9 7 4
♥ K J 4
♦ K 8 6
♣ A 8 3 |  |
♠ K Q 10 6 5 3 2
♥ 10 3
♦ A 9
♣ 9 7 | | | ♠
♥ A Q 8 7 6
♦ J 10 7 5 4 3
♣ 10 4 |
| West | North | East | South
|
| Greenberg | Wolpert | Lall | Demuy
|
| | 1♣ | 3♠ | Dble
|
| 4♠ | 5♣ | All Pass
| |
| West | North | East | South
|
| Halasi | Grue | Capes | Kranyak
|
| | 1NT | 2♦(i) | 3♦(ii)
|
| Pass | 4♥ | All Pass
| |
(i) One-suiter
(ii) Transfer
With E/W cold for 4♠, it doesn’t look good to let N/S play 4♥, as did Capes/Halasi, but Halasi felt confident that he would go plus on defence and was unsure about 4♠ presumably spades would be partner’s suit for the 2♦ overcall. As it turned out, defending 4♥ was worth 2 IMPs to Canada. Tim Capes led the king of spades and Joe Grue ruffed in dummy and led the ten of clubs. Charles Halasi won the club ace and switched to a low diamond, so Capes got his diamond ruff and there were still two trumps to be lost; down three for 150.
Vincent Demuy started with a negative double of Justin Lall’s pre-emptive overcall and that led to Gavin Wolpert playing 5♣. He ruffed the spade lead and played the ten of clubs then, when that held, a diamond to the queen and ace. Lall switched to the ten of hearts, covered by queen and king, and Ari Greenberg played back a spade to the ace. The defence could not get at the second heart winner now so declarer established diamonds and was down two for 100 but 2 IMPs to Canada.
| Board 19. Dealer South. E/W Vul. |
| | ♠ A K 10 8 4 2
♥ 8
♦ A 8 7 6 3
♣ J |
♠ 9 3
♥ A J 9 7 6 3
♦ 4
♣ 9 8 6 4 | |
♠ 7 6
♥ K Q
♦ K J 10 9
♣ K 7 5 3 2 | | | ♠ Q J 5
♥ 10 5 4 2
♦ Q 5 2
♣ A Q 10 |
| West | North | East | South
|
| Greenberg | Wolpert | Lall | Demuy
|
| | | | Pass
|
| 2♥ | 4♦ | Pass | 4♥
|
| Pass | 4♠ | Pass | 5♣
|
| Pass | 5♦ | Pass | 5♠
|
| All Pass
| | | |
| West | North | East | South
|
| Halasi | Grue | Capes | Kranyak
|
| | | | 1♦
|
| 1♥ | 2♥ | Dble | 2♠
|
| Pass | 3♦ | Pass | 4♣
|
| Pass | 4♥ | Pass | 4NT
|
| Pass | 5♣ | Pass | 6♠
|
| Pass | Pass | Dble | All Pass
|
Wolpert used Leaping Michaels to show his two-suiter over the weak two bid and Demuy liked his spade and diamond queens and club holding sufficiently to go to the five level. He was not, however, willing to commit to slam, so the Canadians stopped just in time; + 450.
John Kranyak opened a Precision 1♦ then admitted to spade support in response to Grue’s transfer. Kranyak was willing to co-operate later in the auction so it was inevitable that slam would be reached and Capes doubled on the strength of his diamond holding and general high-card values. Halasi cashed the ace of hearts then switched to his diamond and Kranyak ran it to Capes’ king. The diamond ruff meant two down for 300 and 13 IMPs to Canada.
| Board 20. Dealer West. All Vul. |
| | ♠ K 9 5 2
♥ J 6 2
♦ A Q 9 6 4
♣ 7 |
♠ 3
♥ A 8 3
♦ K 10 3 2
♣ A K 8 4 2 | |
♠ A Q J
♥ 10 9 7 5 4
♦ 8
♣ Q 10 9 3 | | | ♠ 10 8 7 6 4
♥ K Q
♦ J 7 5
♣ J 6 5 |
| West | North | East | South
|
| Greenberg | Wolpert | Lall | Demuy
|
| 1♣ | Dble | 1♠ | 1♠
|
| Dble | 2♠ | 4♥ | All Pass
|
| West | North | East | South
|
| Halasi | Grue | Capes | Kranyak
|
| 1♣ | Dble | 1♥ | 1♠
|
| Dble | Pass | 1NT | Pass
|
| Pass | 2♠ | 3♣ | All Pass
|
The early boards in the set had given encouragement to the trailing team but now USA1 negated the lost game swing on the previous board by bidding and making a heart game while their counterparts did not even find a heart contract. When the defence never led diamonds, Lall made eleven tricks in 4♥ for +650. Meanwhile, Capes/Halasi stopped off in 3♣, making ten tricks for +130 but losing 11 IMPs.
Things quietened down for a while, with USA1 picking up a few points here and there, then came the next major swing.
| Board 27. Dealer South. None Vul. |
| | ♠ K 10 8 4 3
♥ J 10 5
♦ J 8 3
♣ 7 6 |
♠ A 6 5 2
♥ A 3
♦ K 9
♣ K J 10 5 3 | |
♠ 7
♥ K 8 6 2
♦ A Q 7 5 4 2
♣ A Q | | | ♠ Q J 9
♥ Q 9 7 4
♦ 10 6
♣ 9 8 4 2 |
| West | North | East | South
|
| Greenberg | Wolpert | Lall | Demuy
|
| | | | Pass
|
| 1NT | Pass | 2♣ | Pass
|
| 2♠ | Pass | 3♦ | Pass
|
| 3NT | Pass | 4♦ | Pass
|
| 4♥ | Pass | 4NT | Pass
|
| 5♦ | Pass | 5NT | Pass
|
| 6♣ | Pass | 6♦ | All Pass
|
| West | North | East | South
|
| Halasi | Grue | Capes | Kranyak
|
| | | | Pass
|
| 1NT | Pass | 2♣ | Pass
|
| 2♠ | Pass | 3♦ | Pass
|
| 3NT | Pass | 4♦ | Pass
|
| 5♦ | All Pass
| | |
The auctions were identical as far as East’s 4♦, then Greeneberg appreciated that his controls were good enough to justify a cuebid, while Halasi signed off in 5♦. With 7♦ requiring only a three-two trump split, Lall/Greenberg would have been pleasantly surprised to gain 11 IMPs for getting to the small slam.
| Board 28. Dealer West. N/S Vul. |
| | ♠ 3
♥ A 9 7 6 4 3 2
♦ 10 6 3 2
♣ J |
♠ A K 10 8 4
♥ Q 5
♦ 9 7 5
♣ K 8 6 | |
♠ J 5
♥ K 8
♦ A K J
♣ A Q 10 9 7 3 | | | ♠ Q 9 7 6 2
♥ J 10
♦ Q 8 4
♣ 5 4 2 |
| West | North | East | South
|
| Greenberg | Wolpert | Lall | Demuy
|
| 1♠ | 2♥ | 3♣ | Pass
|
| 3♥ | Pass | 4NT | Pass
|
| 6♣ | All Pass
| | |
| West | North | East | South
|
| Halasi | Grue | Capes | Kranyak
|
| 1♠ | 2♥ | 3♣ | Pass
|
| 3♥ | Pass | 4♣ | Pass
|
| 5♣ | Pass | 6♣ | All Pass
|
A second slam came along on the next deal but this one was no successful though it could, of course, have been made. Both East/West pairs bid to the good small slam and received the lead of a heart to the ace and a second heart. Both cashed the ace of clubs, dropping the bare jack, and now had two club entries to dummy. All that was required to make twelve tricks was a four-two or better spade split, or the bare queen. Declarer cashed the top spades next, intending to ruff the queen out if it had not yet appeared, but the five-one split meant that the suit could not be established. They drew trumps, cashing one top diamond on the way, and took the diamond finesse down one for 50 and a push board.
It looks normal to play this way. Yes, either a spade finesse or spade/diamond squeeze would have made the hand, but after North’s overcall he rated to hold more high cards than was actually the case and why should he hold a second singleton after turning up with the bare jack of clubs?
Of course, dropping the club jack from something like:
| | ♠ 3
♥ A 9 7 6 4 3 2
♦ Q 10 6
♣ J 5 | would have been interesting, given that both declarers took the fall of the jack at face value.
| Board 30. Dealer East. None Vul. |
| | ♠ K J 8 2
♥ 4
♦ K 9 7
♣ Q 10 9 5 4 |
♠ A Q 6 4 3
♥ 10 8 7
♦ 8 5
♣ K J 8 | |
♠ 9 5
♥ A J 9 5
♦ 10 6 3 2
♣ A 3 2 | | | ♠ 10 7
♥ K Q 6 3 2
♦ A Q J 4
♣ 7 6 |
| West | North | East | South
|
| Greenberg | Wolpert | Lall | Demuy
|
| | | Pass | 1♥
|
| 1♠ | 1NT | All Pass
| |
| West | North | East | South
|
| Halasi | Grue | Capes | Kranyak
|
| | | Pass | 1♥
|
| 1♠ | 1NT | Dble | Pass
|
| 2♣ | Dble | 2♠ | Pass
|
| Pass | Dble | All Pass
| |
Lall was prepared to go quietly over Wolpert’s 1NT call, while at the other table Capes made a competitive double. As the cards lay, the double was a disaster with Halasi eventually being doubled in 2♠.
Grue led his heart against 2♠ doubled. Halasi rose with the ace and played three rounds of clubs to Grue’s queen. Grue switched to a low diamond to the ace then pitched his remaining diamonds on Kranyak’s heart winners. A fourth heart was ruffed and over-ruffed, then a club was ruffed with the nine, ten and queen. Halasi cashed the ace of trumps next and had two more losers in the suit; down three for 500.
Meanwhile, everything was lying very nicely for Wolpert in 1NT and he came to nine tricks for +150 after the lead of the nine of spades; 8 IMPs to USA1.
| Board 31. Dealer South. N/S Vul. |
| | ♠ K 5 4
♥ 10 8 6
♦ Q J 9 8 5
♣ Q 10 |
♠ A Q 10 2
♥ 7 4 2
♦ A 10 7 3
♣ 8 6 | |
♠ J 9 8 7
♥ Q
♦ 6 2
♣ A K J 9 7 3 | | | ♠ 6 3
♥ A K J 9 5 3
♦ K 4
♣ 5 4 2 |
| West | North | East | South
|
| Greenberg | Wolpert | Lall | Demuy
|
| | | | 1♥
|
| Pass | 2♥ | 3♣ | Pass
|
| 3♥ | Pass | 3♠ | Pass
|
| 4♠ | All Pass
| | |
| West | North | East | South
|
| Halasi | Grue | Capes | Kranyak
|
| | | | 1♥
|
| Pass | 2♥ | 3♣ | All Pass
|
Would you move with the West hand if partner overcalled 3♣ over 2♥? Halasi gave his partner plenty of leeway to have overcalled on limited values, not seeing what game would be playable when he had neither a club fit nor help towards a heart stopper for no trump. In 3♣ there was just one loser in each side-suit; +130.
Greenberg was not willing to give up on game and tried a 3♥ asking bid. The 3♠ response was just what Greenberg wanted to hear and he raised to game. Demuy cashed the ace of hearts then switched to the king of diamonds to dummy’s ace. Lall crossed to a top club, then ran the nine of spades. Wolpert won the ♠K and played queen of diamonds then a heart. Lall ruffed, played a spade to dummy and a club up. When the queen appeared he won, drew the last trump and ran the clubs for +420 and 7 IMPs to USA1.
USA1 won the set by 50-17 and led by 95-48 at the half-way point. Still 32 boards to play, but Canada would need to start to pull closer sooner rather than later to build some momentum if they were to reach the final.
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