Bridge Today • June 2005 To subscribe, click here!

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June 2005

♠
♥
♦
♣

Editor: Matthew Granovetter

The Magazine for People Who Love to Play Bridge

USA Team Trials Notebook

Day by day highlights of last month’s United States Team
Championships in Houston — Page 17

Also (click to go to page):

2 The Red Herring Forum

Don’t let those extra high cards lead you astray in your
declarer play.

3 Around the World

by Migry Zur Campanile
In Tenerife, an Italian champion finds a unique play.

5 Cavendish 2005: Beat the Experts

by Barry Rigal
Ten tough hands to keep you up all night as you try to beat
the pros in the richest tournament of the year.

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Bridge Today • June 2005 To subscribe, click here! page 2

The Red Herring Forum

A red herring is a holding you don’t South dealer North

need, and would often be better off with- None vul ♠543
out! It sort of hypnotizes you, preventing ♥A6
you from seeing the best line of play. Read- ♦ J 10 9 8
ers, you are invited to enter your own Red ♣ A 10 9 8
Herring hands in this forum, introduced ♦3
last month by Anders Wirgren. Send your South (you)
red herring hand to matt@bridgetoday.com. ♠AK872
♥ Q 10 5
This month’s entry in the Red Herring ♦AK
Forum is submitted by Lester Sokolower, of ♣Q63
Verona, NJ.
South West North East
1♠ pass 2♠ pass
4♠ (all pass)

Opening lead: ♦3

How do you play it? What is the Red

Herring?

North Solution
♠543
♥A6 Nobody wants to guess clubs. The red
♦ J 10 9 8 herring is the ♥Q-10-5.
♣ A 10 9 8
West East If you play ♥A and a heart at tricks two
♠J9 ♠ Q 10 6 and three, unsuccessfully, LHO plays a
♥KJ98 ♥7432 third heart, forcing you to ruff in dummy
♦Q763 ♦542 and now you must (eventually) guess clubs.
♣??? ♣???
South The correct play is duck a round of
♠AK872 hearts at trick two, then win any return
♥ Q 10 5 (assuming not a club return, which makes it
♦AK easy), clear the ♥A and ♦A-K, after draw-
♣Q63 ing two rounds of trump, ruff a heart and
pass a diamond, pitching a club.
Bridge Today • June 2005 To subscribe, click here!
Around the world with 52 cards
by Migry Zur Campanile
Later this month the bridge circus will be
setting up its tents in Tenerife for the sec-
ond edition of the European Open Cham-
pionship, a two-week bridge bonanza open
to everyone, European or not, and including
a wide selection of events: Mixed Teams,
Mixed pairs, Open and Ladies Teams and
Open and Ladies Pairs. The venue is the
Mare Nostrum complex, a huge resort at
the Southwestern edge of the island, which
was also the venue for the 2001 European
Championships, when I came to Tenerife
for the first time.
Tenerife is the largest of the Canary
Islands, and according to an ancient legend
mentioned in Plato’s Dialogues, the archi-
pelago is all that remains of the mythical
continent of Atlantis, brought down by an
enormous cataclysm. Known in classical
times with several exotic names like “Gar-
den of the Hesperides,” “Elysian Fields” and
“Island of Fortune,” the Canary islands were
only colonized by Spanish settlers during
the Renaissance.
Tenerife itself is a place of sharp con-
trasts: the weather for a start is dramati-
cally different in the Northeast from the
Southwest due to the dominant 10,000ft of
Mount Teide, grandmother of all volcanoes
in this neck of the woods, which stops rain
and clouds from getting to the southern
coast. That means that it generally remains
hot and sunny in the south while passing
clouds may hunch around the mountain
to the north. Such a difference in climate
page 3
has affected the development of the island,
which has become like two different coun-
tries: for sun, sea, pub and club, go to the
South; for green, scene, Spain and rain, go
to the North. Unfortunately, we were lo-
cated in the South and the mix of purpose-
built beaches, purpose-built apartments,
purpose-built hotels, the purpose being to
spend sunshine hours on the beach and
nightlight hours getting drunk and wild in
the clubs, might be your average twenty-
something’s dream, but it most surely is not
my cup of tea.
Luckily I had a lot to keep me busy: The
schedule of a European championship and
its seemingly endless round-robin matches
is a grueling one and there was not a lot of
time left to regret the crimes perpetrated by
mass tourism to what must have been once
a paradise of an island.
The Ladies competition was won by Eng-
land (Dhondy, Smith, Goldenfield, Brunner,
Courtney, Brock) with 393 VPs, 15 in front
of second place Netherlands, with Israel
finishing in seventh place just outside of the
last qualifying place for the Venice Cup.
The Open teams saw another Italian vic-
tory, the fourth in a row and a record for
the event (little did I know at the time that
Italy would win the next two as well!). The
Italian domination is all the more startling
because, unlike what was happening in
the sixties when their first Blue Team was
defeating everyone in sight, international
Bridge Today • June 2005 To subscribe, click here! page 4

bridge has become much more competitive ♠2

with a lot more countries fielding strong ♥A8
teams. Yet those four Italian musketeers, ♦—
Bocchi-Duboin and Lauria-Versace, assisted ♣J65
this time by De Falco-Ferraro, once again ♠ K 10 ♠QJ8
led the standings almost all the way, finish- ♥— N ♥963
W E
ing ahead of Norway and Poland. ♦Q985 S ♦—
♣— ♣—
Their last match saw them play against a ♠94
traditional foe of yesteryear: France. ♥K75
♦ 10
East dealer North ♣—
None vul ♠A2
♥ A 10 8 I think even double dummy it is not easy
♦J7 to figure out the best way to bring home the
♣AKJ652 contract. Not for Giorgino, however, who
West (Multon) East (Quantin) made the key play of the ♦10 from hand,
♠ K 10 6 ♠QJ875 throwing a spade from dummy!
♥2 ♥J963
♦AKQ9852 ♦6 Multon had no choice but to win and
♣73 ♣Q84 play back a diamond or spade. If a dia-
South (Duboin) mond, Duboin could ruff in hand, ruff a
♠943 spade with the ♥8, lead a club and overruff
♥KQ754 East, then take the last two tricks in a cross-
♦ 10 4 3 ruff. After a spade, Duboin ruffed with the
♣ 10 9 ♥8 and played a club through East, over-
ruffing in hand, then ruffed his last spade
West North East South with the ♥A and finished off the trump
Multon Bocchi Quantin Duboin coup against East with another club for a
— — pass pass truly magnificent +590.
1♦ double 1♠ 2♥
3♦ double pass 3♥ Had West continued with a third dia-
3♠ 4♥ double mond after the ♦A-K, declarer could make
(all pass)
the same nice play — discard the spade.
Giorgio Duboin, or Giorgino as his Now after a spade switch, he leads the ♥10,
friends affectionately call him, turned this ruffs out clubs, ruffs a spade and leads a
hand into a show-piece of declarer skill, club to the same effect.
taking full advantage of the information But if East throws a club
supplied by the bidding and by Quantin’s on the second diamond,
double. Multon cashed two top diamonds declarer must guess he’s
before switching to a spade. Duboin took done this from three
the ace and played the ♥10, covered by East to the queen and then
and won by the ♥Q in hand. Next came ruff the third diamond.
the two top clubs and a club ruff, reaching Perhaps that ♣Q is a red
this position with South to play: herring.
Giorgino
Bridge Today • June 2005 To subscribe, click here! page 5

Cavendish 2005: Beat the experts

by Barry Rigal

May 8, 2005 — Las Vegas — The Cavendish Pairs has traditionally been
such a strong field that if you can average one imp a board over the course of
the event, you would expect to come close to winning the event. This year was
no exception. To test yourself against the field, I am going to give you a quiz
with four different elements: bidding, opening leads, defense and declarer play.
There will be no prizes for doing well, but as usual, since these are difficult
hands, you can rest assured that you will probably do a great deal better than
the majority of the players here. The scoring is cross-imps (each result is scored
against each table in play) – consider it to be the equivalent of teams scoring.

Bidding

1. Neither side vulnerable 2. Unfavorable vulnerability

North (you) South (you)

♠— ♠J3
♥KJ6532 ♥72
♦K42 ♦KQ97632
♣AQ97 ♣K7

West North East South West North East South

— — 1♠ pass — 1♦ double redouble
2♠ ? 1♠ pass pass ?

Plan your auction on this round and the
next; you can confidently expect to hear
more spades coming from your left. What
do you plan to do if the auction comes back
to you at the four-level?
You do not have to like it (I can’t say I
do), but I’m going to force that redouble on
you as a sort of tactical maneuver. LHO
bids one spade, and the auction is passed
back to you.

3. Favorable vulnerability You Partner

West North East South
North (you) pass pass pass 1♣
♠98542 pass 1♠ pass 2♦
♥A pass ?
♦KQ753
♣87 What is your next call?
Bridge Today • June 2005 To subscribe, click here! page 6

Opening Leads

4. Unfavorable vulnerability 5. Unfavorable vulnerability

You West (you)

♠J2 ♠A6
♥KJ83 ♥KQ732
♦ 10 6 4 ♦KQ6
♣6532 ♣ J 10 6

Opponents bid unopposed, starting on South West North East

your right: 1♦ 1♥ double 3♥
5♣ (all pass)
LHO RHO
— 2 NT At this vulnerability you can assume
3♥ 3♠ partner does not have an absolute bust
3 NT 4♠ – not that this makes such a vast difference
pass to your opening lead – does it?

Take it from there.

Defense
cashes the ♦K and ♦A, partner following,
6. South dealer North then leads a heart to the king and ace.
Both vul ♠J983
♥K62 Back comes the ♣K. Declarer wins the
♦72 ace and plays back the ♣J. Partner takes
♣ 10 7 5 2 the trick with the queen and returns a low
West (you) spade. Declarer produces the king. What do
♠ A 10 5 4 you do from this point?
N
♥987 W E
S
♦J65 North
♣863 ♠J983
♥6
South West North East ♦—
2 NT pass 3♣ pass ♣ 10 7
3♥ pass 3 NT (all pass) West (you)
♠ A 10 5 4 N
You guess to lead a diamond. You only ♥98 W
S
E
just have time to mentally congratulate ♦—
yourself for not leading a club when de- ♣8
clarer takes partner’s ♦10 with the queen,
Bridge Today • June 2005 To subscribe, click here! page 7

7. North dealer North ♠8 to the queen to hold as partner plays

Both vul ♠KQ32 the 10 to show an odd number, then duck
♥Q the ♥Q. A low diamond from dummy goes
♦Q9754 to partner’s ten and back comes the ♣3 to
♣K54 your ten and king.
West (you)
♠AJ75 Now declarer leads the ♦7 from dummy
N
♥A962 W E and East puts up the ace as South pitches
S
♦J8 a club and you discard a spade. When East
♣ A J 10 shifts to the ♠6 you win the ace, as declarer
follows with the ♠4. What now? You need
You are defending 2♥ by South (on an three more tricks:
unopposed sequence):
♠Q3
West North East South ♥—
— 1♦ pass 1♥ ♦94
pass 1♠ pass 2♥ ♣54
(all pass) ♠J
♥A96 N
You lead the ♦J, which goes around to W E
♦— S
declarer’s king as partner encourages with ♣AJ
a reverse attitude ♦3. You allow declarer’s

Play

8. South dealer North

Both vul ♠985
♥A953
♦KQ32
♣52 You receive what looks to be a fourth
♦6 highest diamond lead.
South (you)
♠ K Q 10 6 You win in hand, taking East’s ten with
♥QJ7 your jack, and choose to lead a diamond
♦J7 back to dummy to pass the ♠9, losing to the
♣AQ74 jack. Back comes the ♥6 to East’s king. How
do you plan the rest of the play?
South North
1 NT 2♣
2♠ 3 NT
Bridge Today • June 2005 To subscribe, click here! page 8

9. In second seat with nobody vulner- 10. Playing sound weak twos your part-
able you elect to open a strong notrump as ner propels you into a dubious game
South. The bidding takes an unusual turn
– not that this should surprise you if you South dealer North
make bids like this! None vul ♠864
♥Q74
North ♦AJ2
♠932 ♣ A J 10 4
♥ A 10 ♦K
♦K84 South (you)
♣Q9432 ♠AJ5
♥ K 10 9 5 3 2
South (you) ♦93
♠AK ♣32
♥K86
♦J97653 South West North East
♣ K 10 2♥ double redouble pass
pass 2♠ 3♠ pass
West North East South 3 NT (all pass)
— — pass 1 NT
2♠ 2 NT* double (all pass) West leads a top diamond, and you duck.
You also duck the ♠K, and West shifts to
*lebensohl the ♣9. Play on.

After a spade lead to the jack and king,

you lead a diamond to the king and East’s
queen. Do you believe this card, and shift
gears, or do you stick to diamonds?

Let us say you believe the defense, and

play a club, planning to insert the ten. East
crosses you up by taking the ace and clear-
ing spades. You cash the club king and West
pitches a spade. What now?
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Bridge Today • June 2005 To subscribe, click here! page 9

Answers well not to offer a choice of minors – 5♣

would have been very awkward here.
1. As North, Bart Bramley followed the
most aggressive policy here, but one that I This is a tough opening lead for West.
approve of. There is much to be said for a trump lead,
but clearly a club gets an easy set (and even
East dealer North (Bramley) repeated spade leads work fine). West actu-
None vul ♠— ally led the ♠A. Lazard ruffed, led a heart
♥KJ6532 to the queen and ace, took the club shift
♦K42 with the ace and cashed the ♥K-J, pitching
♣AQ97 two spades as East discarded a spade on this
West East trick. Inferring in this position…
♠A72 ♠ K Q J 10 9 5 4
♥ A 10 9 4 ♥87 ♠—
♦75 ♦AJ8 ♥653
♣J842 ♣ 10 ♦K4
South (Lazard) ♣A97
♠863 ♠72 ♠KQJ54
♥Q ♥ 10 N ♥—
W E
♦ Q 10 9 6 3 ♦75 S ♦AJ8
♣K653 ♣J84 ♣—
♠—
West North East South ♥—
— — 1♠ pass ♦ Q 10 9 6 3
2♠ 3♥ 4♠ pass ♣K65
pass double pass 5♦
double (all pass) …that East’s failure to ruff in on the high
heart suggested a vulnerable trump hold-
He bid 3♥ over 2♠, then doubled when ing, Lazard led a diamond to the ten and a
4♠ came back to him, and Sidney Lazard diamond back and claimed +550. A huge
followed Edgar Kaplan’s advice by taking result, of course, since 4♠ was making, so
out his partner’s take-out double and did even down one would have scored well
enough for North-South.

Passing out 4♠ would have gained 14 cross

imps. Doubling it would have lost 86. Going
down one in 5♦ would have gained 160 (no
one did this). Making 550 was worth 299.
Bridge Today • June 2005 To subscribe, click here! page 10

2. David Birman is known to possess a 3. Here is the full story. After a simple
streak of low cunning, with a fine tactical raise to 3♦, many Norths weakly passed
awareness, and it was never better exempli- their partner’s 3NT rebid.
fied than here.
East dealer North
North dealer North E-W vul ♠98542
E-W vul ♠K86 ♥A
♥KJ9 ♦KQ753
♦ A J 10 8 5 ♣87
♣63 West East
West East ♠ K Q 10 3 ♠J76
♠ 10 5 4 2 ♠AQ97 ♥9872 ♥ Q J 10 6 4
♥ 10 8 5 4 ♥AQ63 ♦84 ♦ J 10 2
♦— ♦4 ♣Q43 ♣J2
♣ J 10 9 8 2 ♣AQ54 South
South (Birman) ♠A
♠J3 ♥K53
♥72 ♦A96
♦KQ97632 ♣ A K 10 9 6 5
♣K7
West North East South
West North East South pass pass pass 1♣
— 1♦ double redouble pass 1♠ pass 2♦
1♠ pass pass* 3 NT pass 3♦ pass 3 NT
(all pass)
A fair percentage of the field reached a
His partner was marked with a balanced minor-suit slam after bidding on over 3NT,
hand, and the opponents’ bidding suggested but no one seemed exactly confident. By
that neither opponent had a five-card suit. contrast, Franck Multon, South, and Jean-
So David boldly jumped to 3NT at his sec- Christophe Quantin, North, bid and played
ond turn! I admire his choice, and think he this one to perfection:
was a little hard done by, when this turned
out to be the full hand. West North East South
pass pass pass 1♣
Not only did partner not have a side-ace, pass 1♠ pass 2♦
but LHO turned up with an unexpected pass 4♦ pass 4 NT
five-card suit. So 3NT went down a trick, pass 5♠ pass 7♦
painlessly enough. This was still a pick-up,
because many pairs played 5♦ doubled Easy to bid, once North can show five-
down 300. card diamond support, but maybe not so
easy to play on a top spade lead? Not so,
Losing 50 was worth 64 imps. Down as Franck demonstrated. He won the ♠A,
300 would have lost 60 imps. unblocked the ♥A, cashed the ♦K-Q, came
to the ♣A, then pitched the second club on
*Looks a bit conservativve to me. — Editor the ♥K. This was the key play; it allowed
Bridge Today • June 2005 To subscribe, click here! page 11

East dealer ♠98542 him to ruff a club in dummy, draw the last
E-W vul ♥A trump and claim. He pitched four spades on
♦KQ753 four club tricks. (Half of the field stopped
♣87 in game, so you may well ask whether the
♠ K Q 10 3 ♠J76 French journey was really necessary. As
♥9872 N ♥ Q J 10 6 4
W E against that, 6♦ will probably go down if
♦84 S ♦ J 10 2 either minor does not split. Perhaps the best
♣Q43 ♣J2 spot is 6♣, because of the club spots.)
♠A
♥K53
Plus 1440 was worth 270. Surprisingly,
♦A96
+920 would have gained 119.
♣ A K 10 9 6 5

4. West’s opening lead to 4♠ would tax a But even on a minor-suit opening lead,
Master Solvers’ Panel. game is not cold. On the ♣6 lead, which
looked rather like shortage, I watched Bart
South dealer ♠Q9643 Bramley win and play four rounds of clubs.
N-S vul ♥ 10 6 4 That brought home 10 tricks easily enough
♦A98 when East could only ruff in with a trump
♣ 10 4 trick. By contrast, quite a few declarers led
♠J2 ♠ A 10 5 a spade to the queen at trick two, and now
♥KJ83 ♥A972 went down.
♦ 10 6 4 ♦753
♣6532 ♣987 Bobby Levin found a superior play, may-
♠K87 be both technically and practically. He won
♥Q5 the opening club lead, crossed to the ♦A
♦KQJ2 and led a spade to the king. If it had lost, a
♣AKQJ heart back was unlikely since the heart lead
had not been found initially. As it was, he
South West North East could now revert to clubs with much better
2 NT pass 3♥ pass chances.
3♠ pass 3 NT pass
4♠ (all pass) At another table, Barry Goren found the
devastating ♠J lead. Jacek Pszczola “knew”
My belief is that a heart lead is called for, this had to be from the ♠J-10, so he ran
because even if declarer has the ♥A-Q, de- it to his hand and played a spade back…
clarer will surely be able to pitch dummy’s whoops! Down two when the defense drew
slow heart losers on one of the minors. The trumps and cashed out the hearts.
best chance to set the hand is to find part-
ner with the ♥A and take it from there. At another table, a low trump lead to the
Very few people agreed with me here (not first trick was considerably less successful.
unusual when it comes to opening leads). Since on this auction a spade lead figures to
cost a trick whenever partner has a trump
Beating 4♠ would have been worth
honor, I think the second choice is a dia-
214. Conceding 620 was a loss of 48.
mond.
Bridge Today • June 2005 To subscribe, click here! page 12

5. With South virtually marked with 6-5 6. Here is the full story:
minor-suit pattern,* and East likely to hold
no more than one significant card, maybe South dealer North
I’m being harsh, but I think the majority Both vul ♠J983
choice the ♥K lead was nothing short of ♥K62
pathetic. ♦72
♣ 10 7 5 2
South dealer North West East
E-W vul ♠ Q 10 5 3 ♠ A 10 5 4 ♠Q76
♥AJ64 ♥987 ♥AJ5
♦7 ♦J65 ♦ 10 8 3
♣Q932 ♣863 ♣KQ94
West East South
♠A6 ♠KJ742 ♠K2
♥KQ732 ♥ 10 9 8 5 ♥ Q 10 4 3
♦KQ6 ♦ J 10 8 ♦AKQ94
♣ J 10 6 ♣4 ♣AJ
South
♠98 South West North East
♥— 2 NT pass 3♣ pass
♦A95432 3♥ pass 3 NT (all pass)
♣AK875
Opening lead: ♦5
South West North East
1♦ 1♥ double 3♥ The play in 3NT started with three
5♣ (all pass) rounds of diamonds, then a heart to the
king and ace. East returns the ♣K. De-
Opening lead: ♥K clarer wins the ace and plays back the ♣J.
East wins the queen and leads a low spade.
As you can see this lets through 12 tricks, South plays the king.
whereas the ♠A and two more rounds of
spades promote the ♣J for down one. Is this What did you play after winning the
a collective blind spot, or am I simply biased ♠A?
by the result on this specific deal?
The answer is that whatever you do
*South could be 5-5, but even then a heart lead you cannot set the hand if declarer guesses
would be right only if South is an unlikely 1-2-5-5. spades correctly. Your best chance to set the
— editor hand may be to duck the ♠K. If declarer
cashes two more rounds of diamonds East
must pitch a spade and club, reducing to
Going +50 would have been worth this ending, known as a winkle:
200 imps (nobody beat 5♣ though
one pair beat 6♣ two tricks). Con-
ceding 400 would be –8 cross imps.
Bridge Today • June 2005 To subscribe, click here! page 13

The Winkle East dealer ♠J983

Both vul ♥K62
♠J98 ♦72
♥— ♣ 10 7 5 2
♦— ♠ A 10 5 4 ♠Q76
N
♣ 10 ♥987 W E ♥AJ5
♦J65 S ♦ 10 8 3
♠ A 10 5 ♠Q
N ♣863 ♣KQ94
♥9 W E ♥J5
♦— S ♦— ♠K2
♣— ♣9 ♥ Q 10 4 3
♠7 ♦AKQ94
♥ Q 10 4 ♣AJ
♦—
♣— At the table declarer “guessed” spades
correctly by ducking the first one. However,
To succeed now, declarer would have this left him far worse placed than on the
to cash the ♥Q, then exit with a spade, to misguess. Barry Goren took his ♠A and
ensure himself a black-suit winner one way tucked declarer back in with a second spade
or another in the ending. If he plays ♥Q as Gavin Wolpert ducked his ♠Q. Now the
and another heart, he squeezes dummy, and defense simply had a heart and spade win-
if he leads a spade, East wins and exits with ner at the end.
a club. [Editor’s note: Or declarer could keep
a little heart in dummy instead of the ♣10 Plus 100 would have been worth 160 imps.
and then lead a spade. That ♣10 winner is Minus 600 would have dropped 134 imps.
a red herring!]

7. The defenders have three tricks. his ♠A, he played the ♣A and another, and
managed to defeat the contract – but only
♠Q3 because East produced the ♥10. Better de-
♥— fense would have been to lead the ♣J to let
♦94 East overtake with the ♣Q and play a dia-
♣54 mond through, promoting the ♥9 by force
♠J ♠9 even if declarer had the ♥10. Why would
♥A96 N ♥ 10 you defend like that? Because East played
W E
♦— S ♦6 back the ♠6, not the 9, to your ace – his
♣AJ ♣Q76 only opportunity for suit preference for the
♠— lower suit on the hand thus far. That was
♥KJ854 how Billy Pollack and David Berkowitz de-
♦— fended the hand – I think they were a little
♣9 unlucky not to generate more of a swing in
their favor here.
This was the ending in 2♥, with West on
lead, and declarer having started life with a
2-6-2-3 shape, with the ♥K-J and the ♦K. No cross imps at stake since either
At the table I was watching when West took defense beats 2♥.
Bridge Today • June 2005 To subscribe, click here! page 14

8. South dealer North ♠—

Both vul ♠985 ♥A9
♥A953 ♦Q3
♦KQ32 ♣—
♣52 ♠4 ♠—
♥— N ♥ 10 8
West East W E
♠J432 ♠A7 ♦A98 S ♦—
♥64 ♥ K 10 8 2 ♣— ♣K9
♦A9865 ♦ 10 4 ♠ 10
♣ J 10 ♣K9863 ♥7
South ♦—
♠ K Q 10 6 ♣74
♥QJ7
♦J7 The ♠10 executed a strip squeeze on
♣AQ74 East, who had to concede the ninth trick.
Note the importance of the unblock of the
South North ♥J at trick four. If South does not make
1 NT 2♣ the play, East can exit with a heart at once,
2♠ 3 NT then again when he wins the ♠A, cutting
declarer off from dummy. Now declarer
In 3NT Bart Bramley won the diamond would have to lose two clubs in the end.
lead with the jack, led a diamond back to
the queen, and finessed the ♠9, losing to Of course, if like Michael Rosenberg, you
the jack. On the heart return he played run the ♥J at trick two you unblock the
low and unblocked the jack from hand as hearts yourself and have no need for any
East won the king. He won the heart return brilliancy. I still think I prefer the other
with the queen, gave up a spade to the ace, approach though; it leaves West on lead, if
finessed in clubs when a club was returned, the ♠9 loses to the jack, to prevent the club
cashed the ♣A, then led his two remaining coming through from the dangerous side.
spades. This was the ending before the final
spade was cashed: Editor’s Note: Nevertheless, had West
shifted to the ♣J, instead of a heart, he
would have defeated 3NT!
Beating 3NT was worth 155 imps. Con-
ceding 9 tricks was –64.
Bridge Today • June 2005 To subscribe, click here! page 15

9. East dealer ♠932 rounds of hearts, and collects the ♣9 at the

None vul ♥ A 10 end).
♦K84
♣Q9432 After West pitches a spade on the ♣K,
♠ Q 10 8 7 5 4 ♠J6 declarer goes to dummy with the ♥A to
♥J54 ♥Q9732 cash the ♣Q and squeeze another spade
♦ A 10 2 ♦Q out of West (if he pitches a heart, the same
♣8 ♣AJ765 endplay as described above works, and a
♠AK diamond pitch would allow declarer to es-
♥K86 tablish diamonds and lose just three spades,
♦J97653 one club and a diamond). Once West has
♣ K 10 pitched two spade winners, declarer changes
tack again and leads the ♥K and a second
West North East South heart. If West wins, he has to concede a
— — pass 1 NT diamond at the end; if East wins he must
2♠ 2 NT* double (all pass) concede trick 13 to the ♣9.

*lebensohl One cute point: If West pitches a heart

Opening lead: ♠7
This is the full deal in 2NT. After a
spade to the king, a diamond to the king,
and a club lead from dummy, East goes up
with the ace and clears spades. The ♣K
squeezes West out of a spade (if he pitches
a heart, as happened at the table, declarer
cashes the ♥A, ♣Q, then plays two more
Making 2NT doubled was worth 216 imps.
Going –100 would lose 44.
on the ♣K, one false trail to follow would
be to play three rounds of hearts, expect-
ing to force East to lead clubs into dummy’s
tenace. But East can duck the third heart,
and now you have to concede the last five
tricks to West! Therefore, if West throws a
heart on the ♣K, you must lead a heart to
the ace and then cash the ♣Q (your sixth
trick). Now you lead to the ♥K (trick seven)
and play the ♥8. East can’t duck this,
because it’s your eighth trick. But you still
score the ♣9 at the end, since East has the
♣J-7 left.

SCOREBOARD — 2005 Cavendish Pairs

Place IMP Score Auction prize Pair prize

1 3364.90 Andrea Buratti - Massimo Lanzarotti $230,152 $23,240
2 2896.05 Cezary Balicki - Adam Zmudzinski $147,954 $14,940
3 2361.55 Pablo Lambardi - Juan Ventin $ 98,636 $ 9,960
4 1718.50 Bobby Levin - Steve Weinstein $ 73,976 $ 7,470
5 1569.00 Gary Cohler - Chris Willenken $ 65,758 $ 6,640
6 1564.15 David Berkowitz - Bill Pollack $ 57,540 $ 5,810
7 1494.00 Bob Hamman - Zia Mahmood $ 49,318 $ 4,980
8 1455.80 Steve Garner - Howard Weinstein $ 44,098 $ 4,150
9 1294.10 Eric Greco - Geoff Hampson $ 32,878 $ 3,320
10 1204.30 Franck Multon - Jean-Christophe Quantin $ 25,660 $ 2,500
Bridge Today • June 2005 To subscribe, click here! page 16

10. Here is the full deal, where we left The Hard Way in Las Vegas
Geoff Hampson in 3NT on a top diamond
ducked, a top spade ducked, and the ♣9 On VuGraph, Massimo Lanzarotti, who
shift. won the event with Andrea Buratti, de-
North clared 4♥ on the lead of the ♥A and a top
♠864 spade switch. He won in hand and led a
♥Q74 club to the king and ace, then ran all but
♦AJ2 one of his trumps, reducing to a six-card
♣ A J 10 4 ending:
West East
♠KQ73 ♠ 10 9 2 ♠86
♥A ♥J86 ♥—
♦ K Q 10 5 ♦7643 ♦A
♣KQ97 ♣865 ♣ J 10 4
South ♠Q7 ♠ 10 9 2
♠AJ5 ♥— N ♥J86
W E
♥ K 10 9 5 3 2 ♦K S ♦7643
♦93 ♣Q97 ♣865
♣32 ♠J5
♥5
South West North East ♦93
2♥ double redouble pass ♣3
pass 2♠ 3♠ pass
3 NT (all pass) Weinstein as West kept one top diamond,
three clubs and two spades, and declarer
Hampson quite reasonably decided to kept dummy with exactly the same pattern.
play West for a 4-2-5-2 shape with ♣Q-9 Lanzarotti led a club to the jack, ruffed a
or ♣K-9. Since he could not afford to let club, crossed to the ♦A and exited with a
East in for a spade continuation, he flew club to West, who had to lead the ♠Q and
with the ♣A and knocked out the ♥A, let- ♠7 at the end. Yes, keeping the ♦J would
ting West cash out his five top winners for have been easier. That ♠6 in dummy was
down one. Even if you believe you would not needed!
not have fallen for this, you have to admire
David Berkowitz for his imagination in the
West seat.

Making game scores 14 imps (there are a lot

of pairs E-W going –500/800/1100!). Going
down a trick loses 178.

The winners:
Andrea Buratti and Massimo Lanzarotti
Bridge Today • June 2005 To subscribe, click here! page 17

USA Team Trials Notebook

by Matthew Granovetter

The USA Team Trials is an open team Houston, Friday, May 13

event (anyone from the USA can enter, but
not many do, because it’s a tough competi-
tion to win and an expensive one in time
and money). This year there were 20 teams.
The cost is $115 a session. The prize is a
trip to Portugal this fall as the second USA
team in the Bermuda Bowl (the first USA
team is the Nickell team, the winners of the
2004 USA trials).
Today begins a round-robin. Two teams
have a bye, because of their seeding points
earned in national team events. The other
18 teams are playing a total of 17 matches
of six boards each in a round-robin. There
are 102 boards to be played today and
tomorrow — not easy. At the end of the
round-robin, 13 teams will stay for the
round-of-16 and five will pack their bags.

Road Maps RHO. How nice of West to tell him the

Don’t you love it when your opponents entire distribution.
give you a roadmap on how to play a hand?
He then played ♠A, ♠K and a spade.
South dealer North East won the third spade and cashed the
All vul ♠ A K 10 6 4 ♠J. The position was this with East to lead
♥KQ8 (five tricks in for declarer, two for the de-
♦ 10 7 6 fenders):
♣K8 ♠6
West East ♥K8
♠7 ♠QJ832 ♦ 10
♥J9543 ♥6 ♣K8
♦KQ852 ♦43 ♠— ♠Q
♣J9 ♣AQ754 ♥J95 N ♥—
W E
South ♦K S ♦—
♠95 ♣J9 ♣AQ754
♥ A 10 7 2 ♠—
♦AJ9 ♥ A 10 7
♣ 10 6 3 2 ♦—
♣ 10 6 3
South West North East
pass 2 ♥* 2♠ pass East cashed the last spade. South and
2 NT pass 3 NT (all pass) West threw clubs. West had no choice. If
East exits with a low club, declarer can win
*hearts and another 5-5, 6-10 points. in dummy, cash the ♥K and endplay West
with a diamond. Instead, East cashed the
Opening lead: ♦5 ♣A and led a club, squeezing his partner.

Chris Compton of the Deutsch team was PS. East could have saved the day by
South. He won the lead, cashed the ♦A, leading a club before the ♠Q.
and led a heart to the king, stripping his
Bridge Today • June 2005 To subscribe, click here! page 18

Sunday, May 15 — The round of 16 Team Rosters

(1) Schwartz: Richard Schwartz, Michael Becker,
Or you might say, the round of 15. The David Berkowitz, Larry Cohen, Jim Krekorian, Drew
Schwartz team has a bye to the quarterfi- Casen
nal stage, and seven teams are going to be (2) Welland: Roy Welland, Bjorn Fallenius, Michael
joining him there. The Welland team has Rosenberg, Zia Mahmood
joined the other 13 teams qualified from (3) Jacobs: George Jacobs, Ralph Katz, Steve Garner,
the round-robin. The match-ups (and scores Howard Weinstein, Billy Cohen, Ron Smith, Ralph
after 60 of 90 hands) are: Cohen, NPC
(4) Cayne: Jimmy Cayne, Michael Seamon, Bobby
(9) Simson 119 Levin, Steve Weinstein, Charlie Weed, NPC
(8) Lynch 107 (5) Ekeblad: Russ Ekeblad, Ron Rubin, Geoff Hamp-
son, Eric Greco, Fred Gitelman, Brad Moss
(5) Ekeblad 192 (6) O’Rourke: Lou Ann O’Rourke, Mike Passell, Ed-
(12) Milner 65 die Wold, Joe Grue, Curtis Cheek
(7) Meltzer: Rose Meltzer, Kyle Larsen, Alan Sontag,
(4) Cayne 108 Peter Weichsel, Lew Stansby, Chip Martel
(13) Lall 57 (8) Lynch: Dennis Dawson, Roger Bates, Bobby
Wolff, Dan Morse, Pratap Rajadhyaksha, Steve
(3) Jacobs 130 Landen, Venkatrao Koneru, NPC
(14) Junior Team #1 111 (9) Simson: Doug Simson, Walter Johnson, Dennis
Clerkin, Jerry Clerkin, Mark Tolliver, Marc Zwerling
(6) OʼRourke 130 (10) Mahaffey: Jim Mahaffey, Barnet Shenkin, Mark
(11) Robinson 119 Lair, Garey Hayden, Gary Cohler, Chris Willenken
(11) Robinson: Steve Robinson, Peter Boyd, Kit
(10) Mahaffey 130 Woolsey, Fred Stewart, Mark Feldman, Bart Bramley
(7) Meltzer 76 (12) Milner: Reese Milner, Marc Jacobus, John Mo-
han, Mark Molson, Sam Lev, Jacek Pszczola
(2) Welland 142 (13) Lall: Hemant Lall, Ira Chorush, Allan Falk, Peter
(15) Colchamiro 119 Friedland
(14) USA Jr Team #1: Kevin Bathurst, John Kranyak,
Joel Wooldridge, John Hurd, Justin Lall, Ari Green-
Tomorrow the final 30 boards will be berg, Robert Rosen, NPC
played. (15) Colchamiro: Mel Colchamiro, Janet Colchamiro,
Steve Bloom, Betty Bloom, Jan Martel, Sally Woolsey

Juniors Causing Commotion

The youngest team in contention is giv-

ing the Jacobs team a tough time. They bid
and made two great slams in the third set
today:
Bridge Today • June 2005 To subscribe, click here! page 19

Joel Wooldridge was South (partnered by not against declarer trying to ruff a club in
John Hurd). dummy, so he returned a heart rather than
a trump. Wooldridge figured that Weinstein
South dealer North (Hurd) is not trying to make bad plays, and if a
All vul ♠QJ854 trump had been the right return, he would
♥A974 have returned one. So Wooldridge drew the
♦Q2 trumps himself. Then he played the rest of
♣K2 the trumps, arriving in this position:
West (Garner) East (Weinstein)
♠ 10 7 6 3 2 ♠K9 ♠Q
♥ 10 8 6 2 ♥J53 ♥A9
♦97 ♦ A 10 6 ♦—
♣43 ♣QJ975 ♣K2
South (Wooldridge) ♠ 10 ♠K
♠A ♥ 10 8 N ♥3
W E
♥KQ ♦— S ♦—
♦KJ8543 ♣43 ♣QJ97
♣ A 10 8 6 ♠—
♥—
South West North East ♦3
1♦ pass 1♠ pass ♣ A 10 8 6
2♣ pass 2♥ pass
3♦ pass 3 NT pass When Wooldridge played the last trump,
4 NT pass 6♦ (all pass) the ♦3, Steve Garner (West) threw the
♠10. Reading from the leads and carding
Opening lead: ♥6 (third best) in hearts that Garner had two hearts left,
Wooldridge threw the ♥9 from dummy,
Wooldridge won the ♥K, cashed the ♠A crossed to the ♣K and cashed the ♥A,
and played a diamond to the queen. How- squeezing Weinstein in spades and clubs.
ard Weinstein (East) won the trick and was After that one made, the boys tried another:

Joel Wooldridge
Bridge Today • June 2005 To subscribe, click here! page 20

West dealer North (Hurd) ♠ J 10

None vul ♠ J 10 3 ♥54
♥A5432 ♦—
♦8 ♣Q9
♣Q962 ♠K8 ♠965
West (Garner) East (Weinstein) ♥ 10 N ♥—
W E
♠K87 ♠96542 ♦— S ♦—
♥ 10 8 7 ♥QJ ♣KJ8 ♣543
♦ J 10 6 ♦Q42 ♠AQ
♣KJ87 ♣543 ♥6
South (Wooldridge) ♦3
♠AQ ♣ A 10
♥K96
♦AK9753 Wooldridge cashed his last diamond (the
♣ A 10 ♦3 again!). Garner pitched a spade, the
expert move of baring your king to fool de-
West North East South clarer in the endposition. But a club would
pass pass pass 2♣ not have helped. Wooldridge threw a spade
pass 2♦ pass 2 NT from dummy and led a trump. Garner
pass 3♦ pass 3♥ was on lead, and Wooldridge could not go
pass 3 NT pass 4♣ wrong.
pass 6♣ pass 6♥
(all pass) Later Wooldridge pointed out his own
error: In this ending he should not cash
Garner led a trump. Wooldridge won the last diamond, because by doing so he
the ace, cashed a diamond and ruffed a would have gone down if the East-West
diamond, came to the ♥K and ran the black holdings were switched and East held
diamonds. Garner refused to ruff, because the ♠K and ♣K-J. He would have been
he would then have to lead from one of his stuck in his hand after a club exit by West.
black kings. This was the ending after seven Instead, he should have played the trump
tricks: before the ♦3. If West wins and leads a
club, and East covers the queen with the
king or 9 with the jack, he can win the ♣A
and cash the last diamond, discarding a
club. Then he can ruff a club and still take
the spade finesse.

Monday, May 16 — Round of 16 concludes

One of the pre-tournament favorites, the Tale of the ♦J

Meltzer team, lost today to the Mahaffey You may examine this incredible deal,
team. Here’s one hand that did them in, and see if you can tell why the location of
perhaps psychologically as well as on the the ♦J played such a key roll. In fact, I’ll let
scoreboard. the ♦J tell the story....
Bridge Today • June 2005 To subscribe, click here! page 21

South dealer North (Mahaffey) “When Alan passed the double, Barnet
E-W vul ♠ K Q 10 5 Shenkin jumped into the auction with a
♥63 4♠ bid. Peter doubled and that became the
♦ A 10 9 3 contract. Unfortunately, Peter ignored me
♣864 again! If only he had put me on the table.
West (Peter) East (Alan) Barnet would have had no choice but to go
♠A72 ♠43 after hearts. Peter could lead the ♦7 next
♥ Q 10 2 ♥AK7 and receive a diamond ruff on the third
♦J7 ♦865 round to set the contract. But he wasn’t
♣ A J 10 9 2 ♣KQ753 really worried that much about setting the
South (Barnet) contract, I think. After all, he and his part-
♠J986 ner had most of the deck, didn’t they?
♥J9854
♦KQ42 “Well, Peter led a heart instead. Alan
♣— won and shifted to a club. Barnet ruffed
and led another heart. Sontag won and
South West North East now tried a diamond shift — I was played
pass 1 ♦* pass 2♣ finally, but too late. Barnet ruffed a second
pass 3♣ pass 3♥ club in hand, went to the ♦10 and ruffed
pass 3♠ double pass his last club in hand. Then he led the ♠J
4♠ double (all pass) overtaking in dummy and continued with
the ♠K to knock-out the ♠A. He ruffed
*Precision Club system, could be short the club return, drew the last trump and
cashed two more diamonds for +590.
Opening lead: ♥2
“Even if Peter had led a low trump on
“There I was in the West hand, ignored opening lead it would not have helped. And
for the most part. My holder, Peter Weich- I know many players would have. Declarer
sel, was too enamored with the ♥10 and can win the trump lead and play a heart.
♣10-9 to notice me. As you can see from If the defenders continue trumps, declarer
the auction, he opened 1♦, which could leads a second heart and has the timing to
be short (and was). He and Alan Sontag ruff out hearts, so that’s no good. If the de-
play Super Precision, where 1NT open- fenders switch to clubs at trick three, declar-
ings show 15-17 points and 1♦ followed er leads a second heart. Now another club
by 1NT shows 12-14. Well, Peter was plan- is led and declarer ruffs in hand and leads a
ning to raise a major-suit response to two, diamond toward dummy, finessing through
but his partner bid 2♣ instead. That was me! He can ruff a third club and get back
nice. Peter raised to 3♣ and Alan bid 3♥, to the ♦A to lead trumps and make it that
looking for 3NT and denying a diamond way. No, I had to be led at trick one (OK,
stopper. I didn’t qualify for that, so Peter my friend the ♦7 could have been led as
bid 3♠, since he hated to give up on 3NT. well).”
He was sort of hoping his partner would
bid 3NT with a half stopper in diamonds. At the other table, Mahaffey’s teammates
Then North, Mahaffey, spoiled everything played 5♣ down one, for a 9-imp gain. Here
by doubling. are the final scores of the round of 16:
Bridge Today • June 2005 To subscribe, click here! page 22

Tuesday, May 17
(1) Schwartz
Bye The quarterfinals are underway and
every match from here on in is a long 2-day
(9) Simson 177 120 board affair. The match-ups are (with
(8) Lynch 152 half-time scores at the end of the day):

(5) Ekeblad 236

(12) Milner 110 (1) Schwartz 160

(4) Cayne 153 (8) Simson 88

(13) Lall 86
(4) Cayne 94
(3) Jacobs 204
(14) Junior Team #1 146 (5) Ekeblad 85

(11) Robinson 207 (3) Jacobs 110

(6) OʼRourke 189
(6) Robinson 169
(10) Mahaffey 215
(7) Meltzer 141 (7) Mahaffey 98

(2) Welland 240 (2) Welland 143

(15) Colchamiro 176

The only really close match is Cayne ver- when you table these cards in 2♣ doubled.
sus Ekeblad, 94 to 85. If you want to know Cayne, an old rubber bridge player, passed.
how tough it is at this level of competition, But this was imps and suddenly things took
look at this hand, where Jimmy Cayne and a strange turn: LHO bid 4♠ and partner bid
Michael Seamon had to sweat and strain 5♣! A new problem occurred:
just to get a push board. Try it from Cayne’s
viewpoint: West North East South
1♠ pass 4♠ 5♣
♠A8 pass ?
♥ A 10 4 2
♦K984 It’s now your side’s hand, and you must
♣654 decide whether to carry on to slam or give
up in 5♣ and table this fine hand after
All vul, you’re North, in second seat. having never made a bid.
Your RHO opens 1♠. Your call.
Cayne thought for quite awhile and
Would you double? I think I might if passed, which turned out to be the winning
the ♠A were the ♣A, but in this case if it call. The full hand:
goes redouble, you might soon lose a partner
Bridge Today • June 2005 To subscribe, click here! page 23

West dealer North (Cayne) ♠J86 ♠97

All vul ♠A8 ♥98 ♥AKQJ6
♥ A 10 4 2 ♦AJ7 ♦98
♦K984 ♣AK432 ♣J875
♣654
West (Moss) East (Gitelman) Spades were 5-3, so 3NT went down one.
♠KJ975 ♠ Q 10 6 4 3 2 In 4♥, David made an overtrick when the
♥KQ9 ♥73 ♣Q came down.
♦ A 10 3 ♦J72
♣97 ♣Q2 The Robinson team had a big third set
South (Seamon) against the Jacobs team, 70-14, to take the
♠— lead. On this hand, Mark Feldman for the
♥J865 Robinson team shined as declarer:
♦Q65
♣ A K J 10 8 3 East dealer North
Both vul ♠K5
West North East South ♥8632
1♠ pass 4♠ 5♣ ♦A54
pass pass pass ♣A953
West East
With trumps 2-2 and the heart position ♠Q8 ♠ J 10 9 6 3 2
friendly, Seamon had no problem scoring 11 ♥AQ754 ♥—
tricks. ♦K32 ♦J876
♣ J 10 8 ♣742
Delicate bidding was required on this South (Mark)
next hand as well. Larry Cohen, on the ♠A74
Schwartz team, was bidding with David ♥ K J 10 9
Berkowitz: ♦ Q 10 9
♣KQ6
West (Larry)
♠J86 West North East South
♥98 — — pass 1 NT
♦AJ7 pass 2♣ pass 2♥
♣AK432 pass 4♥ (all pass)

West North East South Opening lead: ♣J

— — 1♥ pass
2♣ pass 3♣ pass Mark won the lead in hand with the
3♦ pass 3♥ pass king, led to the ♠K and called for a heart.
? Gulp. West won two trump tricks and
played a third trump. The other declarer at
What would you bid at this point? In the this point cashed the ♣Q, then played ♠A
other room, West bid 3NT, but Larry bid and a spade ruff, on which West discarded
3♠, one more very delicate probe. Berkow- his last club. When the ♣A was led next,
itz bid 4♥, and that was the contract: West ruffed and exited with a heart, even-
tually scoring a diamond trick — down one.
Bridge Today • June 2005 To subscribe, click here! page 24

East dealer North ♠—

Both vul ♠K5 ♥—
♥8632 ♦A54
♦A54 ♣A95
♣A953 ♠— ♠J
West East ♥75 N ♥—
W E
♠Q8 ♠ J 10 9 6 3 2 ♦K32 S ♦J876
♥AQ754 ♥— ♣ 10 ♣7
♦K32 ♦J876 ♠—
♣ J 10 8 ♣742 ♥K
South (Mark) ♦ Q 10 9
♠A74 ♣Q6
♥ K J 10 9
♦ Q 10 9 Mark led a club to his queen, cashed
♣KQ6 the ♥K and continued with the ♣6. West
pitched a diamond, but on the thirteenth
Mark ruffed a spade before playing any club, West had no choice but to ruff and
more clubs. West pitched a second club on lead a diamond. Mark let it ride to his hand
the third round of spades, leaving this: and made the contract.

Wednesday, May 18 The most exciting cardplay hand of the

day was the following 6♦ contract. Try it as
The quarter finals finished today and a defensive problem:
here are the results:
South dealer ♠K63
None vul ♥752
(1) Schwartz 296 ♦AQJ975
♣A
(8) Simson 179 ♠972
N ♥983
W E
(4) Cayne 182 ♦4 S ♦ 10 8
♣ Q J 10 9 5
(5) Ekeblad 233
You
(3) Jacobs 260 South West North East
1 NT pass 2 NT* pass
(6) Robinson 302 3♦ pass 3♠ pass
3 NT pass 4 NT pass
(7) Mahaffey 179 6♦ (all pass)
*diamonds

(2) Welland 317 You are East. Partner leads the ♦4, won
with the jack. The ♣A is cashed, then
a trump led to the king and 3. A club is
This leaves semifinal matches of Schwartz ruffed (partner shows an even number),
vs. Ekeblad, Robinson vs. Welland. then the ♦A led. What do you pitch?
Bridge Today • June 2005 To subscribe, click here! page 25

South dealer North heart. Fallenius did the same, then took the
None vul ♠K63 heart finesse. West returned the ♠J. Falleni-
♥752 us won the king, led a heart to the ace and
♦AQJ975 cashed the ♣K, throwing a spade. He was
♣A hoping clubs would break 4-3, but when
West East West discarded, he ruffed a club and led the
♠QJ84 ♠972 last trump:
♥ K J 10 6 ♥983 ♠6
♦643 ♦ 10 8 ♥7
♣76 ♣ Q J 10 9 5 ♦9
South ♣—
♠ A 10 5 ♠Q8 ♠97
N
♥AQ4 ♥J W E ♥—
S
♦K2 ♦— ♦—
♣K8432 ♣— ♣Q
♠ A 10
South West North East ♥—
1 NT pass 2 NT pass ♦—
3♦ pass 3♠ pass ♣8
3 NT pass 4 NT pass
6♦ (all pass) On the ♦9, East threw a spade and Falle-
nius threw the ♣8. West was squeezed in
Bjorn Fallenius, of the Welland team, the majors. East was sorry he had pitched a
declared 6♦ against a trump lead. He won heart from the 9-8-3!
the ♦J, cashed the ♣A, led to the ♦K and
ruffed a club, then drew the last trump. PS. The slam can always be made if
declarer comes down to ♠A-10 and ♥A-Q,
East cannot throw a club, so it’s between with West holding ♠Q-J and ♥K-J. But
spades and hearts. He threw an innocent declarer can’t possibly know this.

Thursday, May 19 South dealer ♠KQ7

None vul ♥Q9
It’s a new day. You threw a spade on the ♦7654
previous deal and defeated 6♦. Now you’re ♣ 10 9 3 2
in the semifinals and you have another ♠A95
chance to find the killing defense. W
N
E
♥ 10 6 2
♦3 S ♦ A Q J 10 2
Once again you are East. Look at the auc- ♣Q7
tion on your right. You made that nice 5♦
bid on the way to your 5♥ sacrifice, so your You
good partner led a diamond. The trick was: South West North East
♦3, 4, ace, 8. What is your plan from here? 1♣ 3♥ pass 4♥
4♠ pass pass 5♦
pass pass 5♠ (all pass)
Bridge Today • June 2005 To subscribe, click here! page 26

David Berkowitz found the killing de- David was East. His 5♦ lead-director got
fense on this deal, by picturing declarer’s partner off to the ♦3 lead. David won the
distribution. ace and realized no more diamonds were
cashing. Declarer’s bidding sounded like 5-5
South dealer North or 6-5 in the blacks and partner was marked
None vul ♠KQ7 with at least two trumps. That gave part-
♥Q9 ner 2-7-3-1 shape. So David knew the best
♦7654 defense. He switched to a club, grabbed the
♣ 10 9 3 2 ♠A and led another club. Down one.
West East
♠J4 ♠A95 Yes, it would have been easier for West
♥KJ87543 ♥ 10 6 2 to lead his singleton, but David might hold
♦K93 ♦ A Q J 10 2 three diamonds for his bid and no ♠A,
♣6 ♣Q7 where a cash-out of three diamond tricks
South would be necessary.
♠ 10 8 6 3 2
♥A At the end of the day the semifinal scores
♦8 looked like this:
♣AKJ854

South West North East (1) Schwartz 106

1♣ 3♥ pass 4♥
4♠ pass pass 5♦ (4) Ekeblad 123
pass pass 5♠ (all pass)
(3) Robinson 170

(2) Welland 112

Friday, May 20

In the Welland vs. Robinson match, both

East-West pairs found a perfect Moysian fit.
Both of their auctions were nice as well:
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North dealer North Barry Rigal pointed out a “book” play on

Both vul ♠QJ743 this 4♠ contract. Look at all four hands and
♥A74 tell me how you can defeat 4♠.
♦KQ62
♣8 South dealer North
West East N-S vul ♠962
♠65 ♠A2 ♥ A 10 2
♥ Q 10 2 ♥KJ86 ♦KQ63
♦AJ873 ♦95 ♣KJ3
♣K53 ♣AQJ96 West East
South ♠AQ3 ♠ 10 8
♠ K 10 9 8 ♥Q5 ♥9643
♥953 ♦ A 10 8 4 ♦J972
♦ 10 4 ♣ Q 10 8 4 ♣952
♣ 10 7 4 2 North
♠KJ754
Rosenberg Zia ♥KJ87
West North East South ♦5
— 1♠ double 2♠ ♣A76
3♦ pass 3♠ pass
4♥ (all pass) South West North East
1♠ pass 2♦ pass
Feldman Bramley 2♥ pass 2♠ pass
West North East South 4♠ (all pass)
— 1♠ double 2♠
double 3♠ 4♣ pass Opening lead: ♣4
4♦ pass 4♥ (all pass)
Well, it doesn’t look like it can be defeat-
In the first auction, Zia’s 3♠ bid worked ed. Declarer has two spade losers and one
very well when Rosenberg, having de- diamond, as the hearts get discarded on the
nied four hearts, now bid his fragment. In ♦K-Q. But there is a way. East must follow
the second auction, Feldman’s responsive to the first trump lead from dummy with
double worked even better when North bid the ♠10. Now declarer will suspect West
3♠. Bramley (East) was now able to compete has the ♠8 and perhaps A-Q-8-3, in which
to 4♣. Feldman showed his diamonds and case, he must lead a spade to the 6 on the
Bramley moved over to hearts. There they second round of trumps. Oops. Cute play,
rested. With hearts breaking, there was no that ♠10, and neither defender found it.
problem, and 620 scored in both rooms.
Well done. PS. At another table, West overcalled
1NT and went for 800, down four doubled.

The semifinals were close and decided on

the last two hands, boards 119 and 120. It
was lots of fun … for the kibitzers!
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After 118 boards, the Robinson team had Bramley cashed two club tricks and led a
a 4-imp lead against the Welland team. In trump to the king. Zia led a low spade and
the other semifinal, Schwartz vs. Ekeblad, it Bramley guessed right by going up with the
was a dead tie at this point! king. When he led another spade, Rosen-
berg (East) rose with the queen, cashed the
Board 119 - rotated ♥A and exited with a spade. This left de-
North dealer North clarer with the task of taking three diamond
Both vul ♠K53 tricks, and when Bramley played the suit in
♥9432 the normal fashion, he was down one. That
♦KJ93 meant 7 imps to the Welland team, who
♣ K 10 had taken the lead by 3.
West East
♠A8764 ♠ Q 10 2 In the Schwartz-Ekeblad match, Larry
♥K ♥A7 Cohen declared 4♥ and received the ♠A
♦ 10 ♦Q8765 opening lead. This lead didn’t hurt declarer.
♣875432 ♣QJ9 He won the next spade lead with the king
South and stripped all the black cards before
♠J9 leading trumps. West, in with the ♥K, was
♥ Q J 10 8 6 5 stuck and had to lead his ♦10, so Cohen
♦A42 scored up 620.
♣A6
At the other table, Jim Krekorian (East
In the Robinson-Welland match, Roy for the Schwartz team) opened the bidding
Welland opened 2♥ in third chair and 1♦, so when Drew Casen (West) found him-
was raised to 3♥. That’s where he played self on lead against 4♥ he decided the best
it, making an overtrick. At the other table, lead would be the ♦10. Well, there went
Bart Bramley opened 1♥ in third seat, the diamonds, but not only that. When
heard Drury and jumped to game. Zia declarer led a trump from dummy, East
(West) led the ♣7. went up with the ace to give his partner a
diamond ruff. Oops. Making an overtrick
was worth 650 and one imp to the Ekeblad
team. So going into the last board, Welland
led by 3 and Ekblad by one.

Bart Bramley
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Deal 120 - rotated the slam. Now Feldman was in the hot seat.
North dealer North A club lead defeats the slam, a spade or
None vul ♠K982 trump lead forces declarer to guess the ♥Q.
♥AJ2 And a heart lead gives the slam. Feldman
♦974 led a heart, hoping to catch partner with
♣986 the ♥K and an outside ace. So the Welland
West East team won 12 imps and the match.
♠ Q 10 6 ♠J7543
♥Q987 ♥643 In the Schwartz-Ekeblad match, where
♦52 ♦6 Ekeblad was leading by one imp, at the first
♣ J 10 7 4 ♣AK53 table:
South
♠A West North East South
♥ K 10 5 Berkowitz Moss Cohen Gitelman
♦ A K Q J 10 8 3 — pass pass 1♦
♣Q2 pass 1♠ pass 3 NT
(all pass)
In the Robinson-Welland match, Robin-
son-Boyd played in 3NT, scoring 490 after a Berkowitz figured Gitelman for short
heart lead. At the other table: spades and led the dramatic ♠Q. Nice try.
Gitelman won, went to dummy in dia-
West North East South monds, cashed the ♠K, discarding a club,
Feldman Rosenberg Bramley Zia and ran diamonds. Berkowitz kept one
— pass pass 1♦ spade and three hearts; Cohen kept one
pass 1♠ pass 3 ♥* spade, one heart and the ♣A-K. Gitelman
pass 5♦ pass 6♦ led a heart to the ace and a heart back, and
(all pass) when Cohen showed out, he had to settle
for 11 tricks, +460.
*artificial, showing a strong one-suited hand with
diamonds At the other table:

Had Zia known he was ahead by 3 imps West North East South
at this point, he might have settled for Hampson Krekorian Greco Casen
5♦. Then if he made an overtrick, his side — pass pass 3 NT
would lose 2 imps and win the match by (all pass)
one. But he didn’t know the score and bid
Hampson led a heart. So that was one
precious imp to the Schwartz team and a tie
score. There would be an 8-board playoff!

The Playoff
Mark Feldman The first five boards of the playoff were
pushes. The score was still tied, with three
boards to go....
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Board 6 North At Table 1, Berkowitz led the ♠2 against

East dealer ♠ K Q 10 8 3♥. Cohen won the 8 and shifted to
E-W vul ♥8 trumps. Berkowitz won and continued with
♦KJ85 the ♥2. Cohen had to discard a minor and
♣J943 took the ♥2 as suit-preference for clubs. He
West East discarded a club, which turned out to be
♠J9543 ♠6 fatal.
♥ J 10 7 6 ♥KQ93
♦A ♦ 10 9 7 4 3 Greco won the second trump in dummy
♣AK2 ♣ 10 7 6 and ruffed a spade with the ♥Q. He led a
South club to the ace and ruffed another spade
♠A72 with the ♥K. He returned to dummy with
♥A542 the ♣K to draw the last two trumps. Then
♦Q62 he gave up a spade, setting up the fifth
♣Q85 spade, while dummy still had the ♦A.
Cohen won the fourth round of spades and
Table 1 had only one club to cash. That’s why he
West North East South had to discard a diamond at trick three.
Hampson Cohen Greco Berkowitz Now who would have thought?
— — pass 1 ♦ (1)
double 1 ♥ (2) 2♥ double (3)
pass 2♠ pass pass
3♥ (all pass)

(1) Precision, could be short

(2) spades
(3) support double, 3-card raise

Table 2
West North East South At Table 2, Gitelman also opened that
Krekorian Moss Casen Gitelman “drek” but didn’t find the spade fit, because
— — pass 1♣ Krekorian bid the suit first. After 2♠ by
1♠ 2 ♠* pass 2 NT Moss, North-South did well to stop in 2NT,
(all pass) down one. The swing was 90 points, 3 imps
to the Ekeblad team, with two boards left.
*limit raise or better in clubs

Fred Gitelman
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Board 7 North At Table 1, Cohen got his strength and

South dealer ♠AK92 shape across with his strong 1♣ and sub-
All vul ♥AK32 sequent takeout double, so he settled for a
♦ Q J 10 5 partscore.
♣5
West East Table 2
♠ Q J 10 6 ♠74 South West North East
♥754 ♥Q8 Gitelman Krekorian Moss Casen
♦AK62 ♦74 pass pass 1♦ 3♣
♣93 ♣ A Q J 10 8 7 2 pass pass double pass
South 3♥ pass 4♥ (all pass)
♠853
♥ J 10 9 6 At table 2, where Casen made things
♦983 more difficult with a preempt, Moss
♣K64 thought his balancing double did not neces-
sarily show such a perfect playing hand, so
Table 1 he pushed on to 4♥ over 3♥. Both sides
South West North East took nine tricks for a net 240 and 6 imps to
Berkowitz Hampson Cohen Greco the Schwartz team, who took the lead by 3
pass pass 1♣ 2♣ imps with one board to go....
pass pass double pass
2♥ (all pass)

Board 8 North Hampson’s “Precision” 1♦ opening

South dealer ♠AJ842 (could be short) started the ball rolling to
All vul ♥92 the normal 4♥ game. Berkowitz broke the
♦K6 “law” by not jumping to 4♠, but he had an
♣ Q 10 3 2 awful looking hand, and he was right, since
West East 4♠ doubled can be set 500. His 3♦ bid was
♠7 ♠ K 10 a “mixed raise” and Cohen’s 3♠ bid showed
♥ Q 10 8 6 ♥AK74 a minimum overcall, since 3♦ had forced to
♦Q843 ♦ J 10 9 5 2 3♠ (this is the principle of “fast arrival”).
♣AK64 ♣87
South Cohen led a dramatic ♦K. He quickly
♠Q9653 cashed the ♠A and led the ♦6 planning to
♥J53 ruff the next diamond and set the contract.
♦A7 Berkowitz was a big disappointment when
♣J95 he had no more diamonds. Nice try, Larry!

Table 1
West North East South
Hampson Cohen Greco Berkowitz
1♦ 1♠ double 3♦
3♥ 3♠ 4♥ (all pass)
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At the other table: This allowed Moss to double with the

North hand. Casen bid 4♥, which, in their
Board 8 North methods, expressed no interest in the single-
South dealer ♠AJ842 ton, and now Gitelman bid 4♠.
All vul ♥92
♦K6 Krekorian would have doubled 4♠ if he
♣ Q 10 3 2 had already shown a singleton spade, but
West East since he hadn’t, he passed, not really think-
♠7 ♠ K 10 ing the hand could be passed out. When
♥ Q 10 8 6 ♥AK74 this came around to Casen, he thought a
♦Q843 ♦ J 10 9 5 2 long time. He was concerned less the double
♣AK64 ♣87 of 4♠ backfire for -590 and the match slip
South away on the last board. He expected to set
♠Q9653 4♠ at most one trick, so he also passed.
♥J53
♦A7 Krekorian led three rounds of clubs.
♣J95 Casen ruffed, cashed the ♥K, underled to
the ♥Q and received a second club ruff, for
Table 2 down three. Nice defense, guys, too bad it
West North East South was 50 a trick.
Krekorian Moss Casen Gitelman
pass pass 1♥ pass So the Ekeblad team gained 270 points
3 ♠ (1) double 4 ♥ (2) 4♠ for 7 imps, winning the 128 board match by
pass pass pass 4 imps. I consulted with Eddie Kantar, who
has been writing a series for Bridge Today
(1) unspecified splinter on forcing passes, to see what he thought.
(2) fast arrival, no interest in your splinter He said that it was not a forcing auction.
But he also thought that both West and
Krekorian’s first-seat pass is more than East should have doubled 4♠ anyway on
reasonable — it’s the best action, since a the “sound” of the auction and their prob-
double of a spade bid will describe the hand able 2+ tricks each on defense.
in one call. Casen opened 1♥ and that
was fine, too. Had Krekorian jumped to Saturday, May 21
game, the hand would have been over very The Ekeblad team faces the Welland
quickly and the Schwartz team would have team today and tomorrow in a 120-board
played two more days of bridge. final....

But Krekorian and Casen play 3♠ as a
splinter bid in any suit, and there was no
reason to suspect that Casen did not hold
a good hand for his 1♥ opening. After all,
he could have been dealt one. So Krekorian
made the disciplined 3♠ response to leave
slam options open.
This was one of the most exciting finals
in history, in which the Ekeblad team came
from behind to wallop the Welland team
in the last two sets. Read the July issue of
Bridge Today for all the wonderful hands!