Last Minute Winner

By Brian Senior

After three quarters of their Round of 32 match in the Rosenblum, the American EKEBLAD squad trailed India’s NADAR by 67-97 IMPs. The first board of the fourth quarter saw another 6 IMPs added to NADAR’s lead and the next three boards were flat. Then EKEBLAD began a strong fightback.

Board 19. Dealer South. E/W Vul.
	♠ 8 ♥ 9 8 3 2 ♦ A J 6 ♣ 10 9 8 7 4
♠ A K 2 ♥ A 10 7 ♦ K 9 7 4 2 ♣ K J		♠ Q 10 6 5 ♥ 5 ♦ 8 5 3 ♣ Q 6 5 3 2
	♠ J 9 7 4 3 ♥ K Q J 6 4 ♦ Q 10 ♣ A

West	North	East	South
Gitelman	Tiwari	Moss	Prabhakar
			1♠
1NT	Pass	Pass	2♥
Pass	4♥	All Pass

West	North	East	South
Satyana	Hampson	Nadar	Greco
			1♠
1NT	Pass	Pass	2♥
Pass	3♥	Pass	4♥
All Pass

After identical starts to the auction, Rajesh Tiwari raised direct to 4♥ while Geoff Hampson only invited, however, Eric Greco accepted the invitation so the same contract was reached at both tables.

Against Prabhakar, Fred Gitelman led a low heart, dummy’s nine winning. Prabhakar led a spade to Gitelman’s ace and he now played ace and another trump, Brad Moss pitching a club and a diamond. Prabhakar led the queen of diamonds to the king and ace, back to the ten of diamonds, then the ♠J, ruffing out the king. He took a spade pitch on the jack of diamonds, but was left with two spade losers at the end for one down; –50.

Bachiraju Satyanarayana also led a trump, but Greco chose to win in hand to lead a spade towards dummy’s eight. Satyanarayana went in with the ace to play two more rounds of hearts and Kiran Nadar threw a club and a diamond, just as in the other room. Now Greco found a crucial extra chance. He cashed the ace of clubs before leading the ♦Q to the king and ace, ruffed a club, and saw a second honour fall on his left. Surely the clubs were five-two, so Greco next ruffed a spade and led the ♣10 for a ruffing finesse and claimed when West showed out, just conceding a diamond at the end as he had to overtake the ten with the jack to get at the established club trick; nicely played for +420 and 10 IMPs to EKEBLAD, closing to 77-103.

Board 20. Dealer West. All Vul.
	♠ 9 2 ♥ 8 6 5 4 ♦ J 2 ♣ Q 10 7 6 3
♠ K J ♥ A K 7 ♦ A Q 7 6 4 ♣ A 8 5		♠ A Q 6 5 ♥ Q J 10 9 3 ♦ K 10 5 3 ♣ –
	♠ 10 8 7 4 3 ♥ 2 ♦ 9 8 ♣ K J 9 4 2

West	North	East	South
Gitelman	Tiwari	Moss	Prabhakar
2♣	Pass	2♦	Pass
2NT	Pass	3♣	Dble
3♦	Pass	5♣	Pass
5♥	Pass	6♦	All Pass

West	North	East	South
Satyana	Hampson	Nadar	Greco
2NT	Pass	3♦	Pass
3NT	Pass	4♣	Dble
Rdbl	Pass	4♦	Pass
4NT	All Pass

Moss/Gitelman must have been concerned at missing the grand slam. The problem came with the 5♣ bid. Moss intended this as Exclusion Keycard and thought that there was something missing after the 5♥ response, while Gitelman took 5♣ to be a splinter so made an encouraging noise with his 5♥ cuebid and could not go on over Moss’s sign-off. There were, of course, 13 tricks available, so that was +1370.

Satyanarayana broke the transfer at the other table, then redoubled to show first-round club control. It looks as though he intended 4NT as asking for key-cards, but that it was taken as showing club wastage. Nadar’s conservative decision to pass 4NT was an expensive one. Plus 720 meant 12 IMPs to EKEBLAD, when it could have been 13 IMPs the other way. The score was 103-89 in favour of NADAR.

Board 21. Dealer North. N/S Vul.
	♠ A 4 2 ♥ Q 10 3 ♦ K J 4 2 ♣ 5 4 2
♠ 8 7 6 5 ♥ A 7 5 ♦ 9 8 6 ♣ 10 7 6		♠ K Q 3 ♥ K J 9 2 ♦ 7 5 ♣ Q J 8 3
	♠ J 10 9 ♥ 8 6 4 ♦ A Q 10 3 ♣ A K 9

West	North	East	South
Gitelman	Tiwari	Moss	Prabhakar
	Pass	1♣	Pass
Pass	Dble	Rdbl	1♦
1♠	All Pass

West	North	East	South
Satyana	Hampson	Nadar	Greco
	Pass	1♣	Dble
Pass	1♦	All Pass

The match tightened up even further when EKEBLAD bought the contract at both tables on this deal and made them both. It was mildly surprising to see Prabhakar pass out 1♠ holding 14 HCP, when both 1NT and 2♦ can be made by North/South.

Tiwari led a low trump against 1♠. Gitelman went up with the king and played a low club, Prabhakar taking the king to return a trump. Tiwari won and played the third trump, so the defenders could cash three diamond tricks when in with the ace of clubs, but that was all; +80. Nadar led the queen of clubs against 1♦. Hampson won the ace and drew trumps then exited with king and another club. Satyanarayana won the ♣10 and switched to a low heart so that three hearts could be cashed ending in the West hand, but now Hampson ducked the spade switch so Nadar was endplayed to give the overtrick for +90 and 5 IMPs to EKEBLAD; 94-103. NADAR stopped the bleeding temporarily on Board 22 when Tiwari/Prabhakar stayed low while Hampson/Greco bid a poor and unsuccessful game; 5 IMPs to NADAR, increasing the lead to 108-94.

Board 23. Dealer South. All Vul.
	♠ A J 9 8 ♥ 10 3 2 ♦ 10 2 ♣ A 9 8 2
♠ 6 5 ♥ K 7 ♦ A K 8 7 6 ♣ K J 10 4		♠ 10 7 4 2 ♥ A 8 6 5 4 ♦ J 9 ♣ 7 3
	♠ K Q 3 ♥ Q J 9 ♦ Q 5 4 3 ♣ Q 6 5

West	North	East	South
Gitelman	Tiwari	Moss	Prabhakar
			1♦
1NT	Dble	All Pass

West	North	East	South
Satyana	Hampson	Nadar	Greco
			1♦
Pass	1♠	Pass	1NT
All Pass

Satyanarayana took the classical approach with length in the suit opened on his right, passing the West hand. He passed again over the 1NT rebid when some players might have doubled to show a decent hand including diamonds, so Greco declared 1NT and Satyanarayana led a low diamond to the nine and queen. Greco played a diamond right back so Satyanarayana cashed four of those, giving a delicate suit-preference signal for clubs along the way, then exited with a spade. Greco won with dummy’s jack to lead the ten of hearts, wanting West to win the first round of the suit. That worked out well for him as Nadar ducked and Satyanarayana won the king then exited safely with a heart. Nadar won the ace and played a club to the jack and ace, leaving the spades blocked so that Greco had to concede the last trick; down one for –100.

Gitelman overcalled 1NT and Tiwari doubled, ending the auction. Tiwari found the disastrous lead of the ten of diamonds. Dummy’s jack was allowed to hold the first trick and the ♦9 the second – an error on Prabhakar’s part as it left the lead in dummy for a club play to the jack and ace. Tiwari switched to a heart to dummy’s ace and Gitelman took a second club finesse then cashed his winners; nine tricks for +580 and 10 IMPs to EKEBLAD, closing again to 104-108.

Board 24. Dealer West. None Vul.
	♠ J ♥ A Q 5 ♦ A K Q J 8 3 ♣ A 8 4
♠ K Q 6 4 3 2 ♥ 7 6 3 ♦ 2 ♣ K J 5		♠ A 9 8 5 ♥ 8 2 ♦ 7 5 ♣ Q 9 7 3 2
	♠ 10 7 ♥ K J 10 9 4 ♦ 10 9 6 4 ♣ 10 6

West	North	East	South
Gitelman	Tiwari	Moss	Prabhakar
2♠	Dble	4♠	Pass
Pass	5♦	All Pass

West	North	East	South
Satyana	Hampson	Nadar	Greco
2♦	Pass	2♥	Pass
2♠	Dble	3♠	4♥
4♠	6♦	All Pass

Both North/South pairs had some guessing to do, but the natural weak two bid worked out a lot better than the multi, as it permitted an immediate pre-emptive raise from East. That left Tiwari with little option but to bid 5♦ at his second turn and, while Prabhakar was happy to hear that call, he could hardly raise to six; +420. The multi, coupled with Nadar’s less pre-emptive raise to 3♠ at her second turn, left room for Greco to show his hearts and some modest values. That was enough for Hampson, who took a shot at 6♦, which proved to be an excellent decision; +920 and 11 IMPs to EKEBLAD. We had a new leader in the match, EKEBLAD ahead by 115-108.

The lead did not survive a single deal.

Board 25. Dealer North. E/W Vul.
	♠ 10 8 3 ♥ 10 2 ♦ Q J 4 ♣ J 10 9 8 7
♠ 7 5 ♥ K 8 7 ♦ A K 9 2 ♣ K 6 4 3		♠ K 6 2 ♥ A Q 5 4 3 ♦ 8 6 5 3 ♣ Q
	♠ A Q J 9 4 ♥ J 9 6 ♦ 10 7 ♣ A 5 2

West	North	East	South
Gitelman	Tiwari	Moss	Prabhakar
	Pass	1♥	1♠
Dble	2♠	Pass	Pass
4♥	All Pass

West	North	East	South
Satyana	Hampson	Nadar	Greco
	Pass	Pass	1♠
Pass	Pass	2♥	Pass
2♠	Pass	4♥	All Pass

Moss opened a very thin 1♥ but the Indians also got to game. The swing came in the defence.

Prabhakar led a trump, which Moss won in dummy to lead a club to the queen and ace. Back came a second trump. Moss won and drew the last trump, then played a diamond to the ace, threw a spade on the king of clubs, then ruffed a club and played king and another diamond. Tiwari won the diamond and played a spade through; down one for –100. At the other table, Hampson led the ace of spades and that was the fourth defensive trick up in smoke; ten tricks for +620 and 12 IMPs to NADAR, back ahead by 120-115 with just three deals to play. Board 26 was a flat 3NT+2 and EKEBLAD picked up an overtrick IMP on Board 27, so trailed b y 4 IMPs going into the final deal.

Board 28. Dealer West. N/S Vul.
	♠ 9 8 7 4 ♥ A 7 3 ♦ K Q 8 ♣ K J 6
♠ Q J 10 5 ♥ 9 2 ♦ A J 9 4 3 2 ♣ 7		♠ A 2 ♥ Q 10 8 5 ♦ 10 7 6 5 ♣ Q 10 5
	♠ K 6 3 ♥ K J 6 4 ♦ – ♣ A 9 8 4 3 2

West	North	East	South
Gitelman	Tiwari	Moss	Prabhakar
Pass	1♣	Pass	1NT
3♦	3NT	All Pass

West	North	East	South
Satyana	Hampson	Nadar	Greco
Pass	1♦	Pass	2♣
Pass	2♥	Pass	3♥
Pass	3NT	All Pass

Requirements of system saw Prabhakar respond 1NT, showing clubs, with the South cards and Gitelman made a pre-emptive jump overcall. Tiwari liked his minor-suit holdings so took a shot at 3NT. On a diamond lead, Prabhakar would have had time to develop nine tricks, but Gitelman led the jack of spades. Moss won the ace and returned a spade so the defence had two spade tricks established and when Moss got in with a club they cashed them; down one for –100. EKEBLAD had done what needed to be done at one table, but could they also go plus at the other?

Hampson’s 1♦ opening ensured an uncontested auction and his 2♥ rebid showed 11-13 balanced. Greco showed his second suit and Hampson tried 3NT. It is not impossible to lead ace and another spade on this auction, but a diamond is normal and that is what Nadar chose. When Satyanarayana won and returned the suit, Hampson won and cleared the clubs and Nadar continued diamonds. Hampson cashed out for +600 and 12 IMPs to EKEBLAD. The American team had come back strongly in the last session and won the match by 128-120, contrary to what was stated on the front page of yesterday’s Bulletin. Our apologies for that, which was caused by late-night Internet problems.