Marc Smith visits the final of the 2019 BBL Gold Cup

The British equivalent to America’s Spingold or Vanderbilt, but played over the course of a whole year rather than a single week, the Gold Cup has been held annually since 1932. This year’s final, played over eight 8-board stanzas, pitted ALLFREY (the 2014 winners) against GILLIS (winners in 2016). Each team included four members from their captain’s last victory. 

By a strange quirk of fate, both of these teams had trailed by 3 IMPs with just one deal to play in their respective semi-finals (held on the previous day). ALLFREY gained 13 IMPs on Board 64 to secure victory by 10 IMPs over last-year’s winners (led by Sally Brock), whilst GILLIS picked up a 10-IMP swing to win by 7 IMPs against Brian Senior’s team.

Tony Forrester had broken Boris Shapiro’s record of eleven victories in the event with his win in 2013. Success this year would be his fourteenth title since he first lifted the trophy in 1983. For Andrew Robson, it would be his eighth victory since 2002, moving him out of a six-way tie amongst players with seven wins and putting him level with Terence Reese, behind only Forrester and Shapiro. Alexander Allfrey had six previous wins.

Our first deal has some interest in both the bidding and the play:

N/S Vulnerable - Dealer East

How would you evaluate this North hand? Yes, you have five-card support for partner’s overcall, but you also have a large number of losers. Alexander Allfrey’s pre-emptive raise to Three Spades, which should not be a complete bust at this vulnerability, feels about right to me.

Hugh McGann managed to avoid the heart lead, but hit upon a club instead of the killing diamond. Robson captured East’s ♣J with his king and decided that he could probably make nine tricks even if both major-suit finesses were wrong. At trick two, he therefore returned a club to dummy’s nine and East’s ace. Tom Hanlon switched to hearts, but to the ♥J rather than the queen. McGann took Robson’s king with his ♥A and accurately played a third round of clubs, allowing his partner to ruff away the ♣Q and leave declarer still needing to pick up trumps for no loser. No problem as the cards lie: N/S +140.

West - Bell North - Gillis East - Gold South - Svendsen

After the same start, Simon Gillis decided that his hand was worth an invitational raise. Of course, Svendsen accepted the game try and now the direction of the swing came down to Simon Bell’s opening lead. When he opted, not unreasonably, for his partner’s suit, the ♥A, declarer was home and dry once he found the ♠K onside. N/S +620 and 10 IMPs to GILLIS, who led 26-13 after the first eight-board set.

A grand slam on a finesse helped ALLFREY limit the deficit to 9 IMPs (35-44) after three sets. There was nothing lucky about the swing they gained to take a narrow lead in the fourth set.

Game Vulnerable - Dealer North

West - Svendsen North - Forrester East - Gillis South - Osborne

A combined 26-count with one completely bare suit and no eight-card major-suit fit is often a tricky combination. Svendsen bid out his shape and showed a good hand. Five Clubs was a decent contract, but Gillis did not fancy the 11-trick game with such poor trumps and modest values.

The defense led two rounds of diamonds. Declarer ruffed, took the winning heart finesse, and ruffed dummy’s third diamond, He then cashed his two high trumps, crossed to dummy in spades, and drew the last piece. He now had eleven tricks without needing either major to behave. E/W +150

West - Bell North - Hanlon East - Gold South - McGann

After a similar start to the auction, David Gold was not prepared to settle for a partscore and accurately described his shape with a Four Diamond, choice-of-games cue-bid. Mike Bell opted for the Moysian heart fit, knowing that he would be taking the force in the short trump hand. 

Here, too, the defense began with two rounds of diamonds, ruffed by declarer. Bell crossed to dummy with the ♠Q and led a low trump towards his hand. The ♥J lost to North’s king, but the defense could now do no better than take a spade ruff to save the overtrick. E/W +620 and a well-deserved 10 IMPs to ALLFREY, who led 52-47 at the midway point of the match.

Both Vulnerable - Dealer East

The Irish Strong Club auction quickly established the heart fit, but when Hanlon chose not to cue-bid that was the end of the slam investigation. With the ♣K offside, stopping in game was technically the right thing to do. However, West has a blind lead, and needs to find a spade opening to hold declarer to eleven tricks,

Mike Bell opted for a club at this table. East scored his ♣K, but declarer now had two discards for his spade losers and was soon claiming twelve tricks: N/S +680.

West - Erichsen North - Allfrey East - Liggins South - Robson

After the natural One Heart opening, Allfrey’s Two Diamonds showed a constructive or better three-card heart raise. Robson then showed a good hand and initiated a cue-bidding sequence that eventually ended in Six Hearts.

Could Espen Erichsen find the winning spade lead? Yes, he fished out the ♠3, which went to East’s queen and declarer’s ace. Robson drew trumps in three rounds (Erichsen discarding two spades), and then ran the ♣10 to East’s king. Clearly, Liggins can defeat the slam by simply cashing the ♠K, but his partner’s lead and discards were presumably consistent with holding six spades to the ten. Evidently afraid of setting up a diamond discard on dummy’s ♠J, Liggins exited with a diamond. Declarer now had twelve tricks and a 13-IMP swing to GILLIS had suddenly become the same number in the ALLFREY plus column.

Just two boards later, came another slam deal for the North/South pairs:

N/S Vulnerable - Dealer West

A method fast-gaining in popularity in the UK is to play two ranges of weak two opening, with the stronger hands opening a natural bid and the weaker version going through the Multi. For anyone thinking of adding this method to their repertoire, though, you should consider reversing the meanings. Opening the weaker hand with the natural bid gives the opponents less chance to catch you speeding, whereas they get more chances to double if you start with a Multi.

East at both tables in our match started with a Multi. Alexander Allfrey entered the fray with a natural Three Diamond overcall and Andrew Robson immediately launched into RKCB. When he found two key cards and the ♦Q opposite, he decided that he had heard enough. There were thirteen top tricks: N/S +2220. Well judged!

West - Bell North - Hanlon East - Gold South - McGann

Perhaps Tom Hanlon’s Four Diamonds was just a stronger natural overcall, but I suspect it was Leaping Michaels, showing diamonds and a major. Fairly sure which major partner held, McGann marked time with Four Hearts. When Hanlon then revealed his spades, McGann launched RKCB However, with spades the ostensibly-agreed suit, the one-key-card response did not tell McGann what he really needed to know. Indeed, when he now jumped to 6NT, he could not be sure of even twelve tricks, let alone thirteen. N/S +1470 and another 13 IMPs to ALLFREY.

On the very next deal, Gold/Bell reached a slam off a cashing ace-king, and thus GILLIS recovered 13 IMPs, but with six of the eight stanzas played ALLFREY had still opened a small lead, 93-72. By midway through the seventh set, the advantage had grown to 34, but then came this:

N/S Vulnerable - Dealer North

We have seen an explosion of random five-card weak two openings in major events of late. One of the problems with opening such random hands, though, is that sometimes partner has a good hand. The Irish demonstrated that constructive bidding is still quite possible given well thought out methods. I cannot be sure, but I suspect Three Clubs showed hearts. Hanlon probably could have shown a better hand with Three Diamonds, and his Three Hearts suggested a hand with no extras. 4NT was now RKCB for hearts and Five Clubs was one key card. McGann’s jump to Six Diamonds was now asking for third-round diamond control (he could have found out about the king via 5NT). Six Hearts denied the ♦Q or a doubleton and some trump length, and so there matters rested. 

South led a diamond and declarer rumbled an awful lot of red cards. In the end position, though, the play records show that the defenders had kept the right cards (North ♠K and ♦Q, and South the ♠J-9), but somehow declarer claimed thirteen tricks and the defenders agreed. E/W +1460.

West - Osborne North - Liggins East - Forrester South - Erichsen

Predictably, Tony Forrester did not consider the East hand a weak two opening, so Graham Osborne got to open with a strong Two Clubs. A Kokish sequence then followed, with West’s Three Heart bid showing a heart single-suiter. Forrester introduced his spades and Osborne cue-bid Four Clubs, obviously intending this as an auto-cue-bid, self-agreeing his own suit, From the subsequent auction, though, it seems that Forrester thought that spades were being agreed. Osborne used Blackwood to confirm possession of the ♠A. When he then continued with 5NT, though, Forrester bid Six Spades, intending it to deny holding anything else of use. Osborne, though, who thought hearts was the agreed suit, took it to show the ♠K, hence his jump to 7NT.

Not that the defenders were out of the woods yet. Liggins had first to survive the opening lead, with either a spade or a diamond giving declarer his thirteenth trick. I have to say that leading from that hand into a Two Club opener, the singleton heart looks the least likely to give anything away, but Liggins diced with danger by opting for a low club. The first hurdle safely negotiated, the defenders kept the right cards in the endgame and thus the contract eventually failed by a trick. E/W -100 and 14 IMPs to GILLIS. It was a lifeline that kept them within touching distance, 21 down with one eight-board set to play. 

Unfortunately, the final set of boards were as dull as ditchwater. ALLFREY won the final stanza 13-9 and the match 121-98. Congratulations to Alexander Allfrey, Andrew Robson, David Gold, Mike Bell, Tony Forrester and Graham Osborne. Although this was the Allfrey team’s first win since 2014, they have won six times in the past 15 years, making them the most successful team is the long history of the most prestigious event in the UK bridge calendar.