Italy v Netherlands (Bermuda Bowl)

Rematch

In his pre-match interviews, Mark Horton asked Giorgio Duboin to enlighten him about three rumors surrounding the Italian team. The first concerned the team's preparation and the suggestion that they were employing the services of a voice coach, one Luciano Pavarotti. The second concerned the coffee machines which all carry the logo Lavazza Blue - is this in tribute to the team? Finally, was it true that Alfredo Versace wears only suits designed by Armani?

Giorgio was able to confirm that the first two suggestions have no foundation in fact, but as a member of the family, Alfredo naturally stays loyal to the Versace label! When it was the turn of Jan Jansma, he informed the audience that despite the team's obvious connection with the phrase 'the future's bright, the future's Orange’, it had proved impossible to obtain sponsorship from the Orange mobile phone network. He was not worried about the prospect of next year's World Cup being won by England (!) and in response to a question suggested by Sabine Auken, he said that if the team didn't qualify he would play in the Transnational event - as long as it was with Sabine! On a more serious note, the third-round match between Italy and the Netherlands featured two teams with something to prove. Italy, the betting favorite to win the Bermuda Bowl, had just suffered a loss to India. The Netherlands, losing finalist (to Italy) in last year's Olympiad Teams, were nowhere near what was expected of them in 2005. The Dutch did not help themselves, dropping the match to Italy 36-9 (21-9 in Victory Points). Italy gained 32 of their 36 IMPs on three boards, starting with the fourth board of the match.

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

In the open room, Italians Norberto Bocchi and Giorgio Duboin reached 3♠ on the North-South cards. The bad splits limited Bocchi, declarer as North, to eight tricks for minus 100. They could hardly have imagined that it was an 11-IMP pickup, but the Dutch had a serious accident at the other table.

West	North	East	South
Versace	De Wijs	Lauria	Muller
Pass	1♣	1♥	Dble
4♥	Dble	Pass	4♠
Pass	5♦	All Pass

The 5♦ bid by Simon De Wijs clearly was not understood by his partner, Bauke Muller, although they were booked for a bad result just being at the five level, even if Muller had corrected to 5♠. The same bad splits that made spades a bad proposition, made the 4-3 diamond fit a disaster. De Wijs finished six down and could be thankful that he wasn't doubled.

The next swing came in a more conventional manner - an expert defensive play by Lorenzo Lauria that was missed in the open room.

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

West	North	East	South
Jansma	Bocchi	Verhees	Duboin
Pass	1♠	Pass	1NT
Pass	2♦	Pass	3♠
Pass	4♠	All Pass

Louk Verhees started with the ♥10, ducked all around. He continued with the ♥Q, ruffed by Bocchi. At trick three, Bocchi led a low club from hand, and when Verhees played low, Bocchi put in dummy's 10. Jan Jansma exited with the ♦J, taken by declarer with the ace. Bocchi cashed the ♦K and ruffed the ♦5 in dummy with the jack. Jansma discarded a club instead of overruffing, but there was nothing the defense could do. Jansma was eventually thrown in with a choice of leading into the club tenace in dummy, allowing Bocchi to discard his losing diamond, or playing a heart, which establishes dummy's king for the diamond pitch. That was plus 420 for Italy.

At the other table, De Wijs also played in 4♠ from the North seat. The play went along similar lines, but when De Wijs led a club from hand, Lauria as East put in the queen. De Wijs could still have succeeded had he known the exact layout of the opponents' cards, but without a peek he played along normal lines and finished one down - 10 IMPs to Italy. The final swing resulted from some ugly bidding but beautiful play by Duboin.

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

West	North	East	South
		Pass	2♣*
Pass	2♥*	Pass	2♠
Pass	2NT*	Pass	3♣*
Pass	4♥	Pass	4NT
Pass	5♥	Pass	6♠
All Pass

2♣ showed a balanced hand with 18-19 high-card points; 2♥ showed at least four spades; 2NT showed six or more spades.

This ugly contract, played from the South side, had the virtue of being cold. All Duboin had to do was figure out the way to 12 tricks. Jansma started with a trump, won by the ace in the South hand. The ♠Q was next, followed by a heart to dummy's jack. From Duboin's point of view, if the heart finesse was right, he could ruff out the king and discard one of dummy's diamonds on the ♥10 - and then he could try to guess clubs. When the ♥J held, Duboin cashed the ace and played the ♠K, then entered his hand with a diamond to the ace. When Duboin played the ♥Q, Jansma covered. There was speculation that had Jansma refused to cover, Duboin might have discarded a diamond, still planning to try to guess the club suit. As it happened, Duboin ruffed the ♥K and returned to hand with the ♦K when the queen of that suit fell, he could claim. There was a reaction from the vugraph audience to Duboin's expert play, prompting commentator Paul Chemla to remark: "We should applaud the way (the contract) was played, but not the way it was bid." Italian partisans might have agreed with that comment, but they might have added: "The proof is in the pudding."