Vugraph Deals #159

Last week, we saw the best of the action from the frenetic opening set of the 2022 Vanderbilt final between the original #8 seeds, ROSENTHAL, and the #30 seeds, GUPTA. After 15 boards of the 60-board final, GUPTA led by the slenderest of margins, 41-40.  

As usual, we start with some problems. Firstly, with only the opponents vulnerable, you are North holding: 

What action, if any, do you take?  

Next, with only your side vulnerable, you are South with: 

What action, if any, do you take? 

Finally, with neither side vulnerable, you are sitting South with this collection: 

What action, if any, do you take? 

While you mull those over, we join the action early in the second stanza, with both North players facing a variation on the first of the problems above.  

Rather than the re-opening double for which his partner was presumably hoping, Simon Cope opted to balance with a 2♥ rebid, and Boye Brogeland made a takeout double that left Christian Bakke with only unappetising options. Bakke chose to defend, but there was no winning lead for the Norwegians. Indeed, on Brogeland’s opening of a top club, declarer could have made an overtrick. However, when Simon Cope won the opening lead with the ♣A (pitching a diamond from hand), he was back to eight tricks. Declarer ruffed a club and advanced the ♠K, which was allowed to win. The ♠Q then forced Brogeland to take the ♠A and cash the ♥A to prevent a spade ruff in dummy.  

Cope won the diamond switch with the ace, ruffed a diamond, and exited with a spade to North’s jack. There was nothing Baake could do to stop declarer making his three remaining trumps: E/W +670. 

Perhaps you would not be shocked to discover that the auction on this deal ended in 2♠ at the other table. What would be surprising, though, was who became declarer! The auction started in similar fashion: 

The big difference at this table was Aaron Silverstein’s redouble. Morten Bilde still had the option of passing to suggest defending, but the stakes were so much higher now. When Bilde removed the double to 2♠, one would have thought that his partner’s redouble would have been enough to persuade Andrew Rosenthal to double with his huge trump stack, but apparently not. Silverstein could hardly wield the axe on the West cards, so declarer was allowed to play his inelegant 3-3 fit at the bargain-basement price of 50 a trick. 

Rosenthal did not lead spades at trick one, but the defenders soon realized the need to attack declarer’s fragile trump holding. The Danish star managed to scramble five tricks: E/W +150 and 11 IMPs to GUPTA, who led 55-49 at the midway point of the second quarter. 

The direction of the IMPs on our next deal came down to whether the North player considered his hand worth an opening bid: 

Christian Bakke’s decision to open the North hand had the effect of keeping East/West out of the auction. With both the ♦A and the ♠K onside, there are always at least ten tricks available in spades. However, with only an eight-card fit it was never going to be easy to bid game with only a combined 17 HCP despite South’s shape, and the Norwegian auction understandably fizzled out at the two-level.  

Playing in a partscore, Bakke concentrated on setting up dummy’s diamond suit and eschewed the trump finesse, so ended with nine tricks: N/S +140. 

Game was bid at the other table: 

Morten Bilde’s pass allowed Andrew Rosenthal to open 1♣ on the East hand. Vinita Gupta had no way of showing both of her suits with one bid, so she started with a 1♠ overcall, which allowed Aaron Silverstein to get hearts into the auction via a negative double. Bilde showed a constructive spade raise with a 2♣ cue-bid, but Gupta did not have enough to compete further and thus it was the Americans who bid to game on the East/West cards. 

This looks like just a 3-IMP swing, with the defence looking set to score two spades, a heart and either a club ruff or a natural club trick against Four Hearts. With her side having bid and raised spades, though, Gupta fatally opened the defence with the ♠A, thus surrendering one of her side’s tricks in that suit. That was all the help Rosenthal needed, N/S -420 and 11 IMPs to ROSENTHAL.  

Having trailed by 6 IMPs halfway through the stanza, ROSENTHAL then slipped into top gear, outscoring their opponents 40-0 over the last seven boards of the segment. Winning the set 49-14, ROSENTHAL thus led by 34 IMPs, 89-55, at the midway point of the contest. 

There were chances for gains in both rooms on this early deal from the third stanza: 

Emil Jepsen did not have quite enough for a bid over Boye Brogeland’s Michael’s cue-bid.  When Simon Cope doubled North’s simple preference to 3♥, Jepsen then sprang to life with a jump to game. When 4♠ came back to him, Brogeland elected to defend and led the ♥8 (third from even, low from odd).  

Little things can sometimes make a big difference. Cope thoughtfully covered the opening lead with the ♥9 from dummy, and Christian Bakke should surely have worked out how this suit was laying. Covering with the ♥Q was an error that would come back to bite the Norwegians. Cope won with the ♥A, drew three rounds of trumps and started diamonds. Bakke allowed the ♦10 to win and took his king when declarer continued with the ♦Q. Brogeland won the club switch with the jack, but then found himself endplayed: declarer was bound to score either the ♣K or the ♥J as his tenth trick. E/W +420. 

At the other table, Andreas Meister had to answer the second of this week’s bidding problems: 

Jan Jansma opened a Polish-style 1♣ (clubs, weak no-trump or any 17+), so Andreas Meister started with a simple 1♥ overcall. Chris Willenken’s 1♠ bid was now the equivalent of a non-negative double, denying as many as four spades. Morten Bilde raised to 2♥ and Jansma revealed his hand as game-forcing with 5+♠. Meister now bid 3♦, described on his side of the screen as ‘game try’ but on the other side as ‘natural game try’. Willenken agreed spades with a raise and Jansma showed his minimum by only raising to game.  

With Willenken having bid spades first, the defence to Four Spades was likely to be easy at this table. Whether North leads clubs or hearts, there is no prospect of an accident in the heart suit, so the defenders are booked to make a diamond and three club tricks to beat the game by one. E/W +50 would be an easy 10-IMP gain for GUPTA. 

Sacrificing at ‘red’ is always a dangerous proposition: not only must you not be going more than one down in your save, but you also need to be sure that the opponents’ game is making, so Meister’s decision to bid 5♥ on this deal was wrong on both counts. Had Willenken just led his partner’s suit, the defenders would score two spade tricks and the ♥A. Declarer would also have a slow club loser for two down, which would mean E/W +500 and a 2-IMP gain for ROSENTHAL, despite the accident at the other table.  

When Willenken instead opened the ♣10, the defence could still have collected the maximum had Jansma not contributed his ♣K to this trick, as declarer has insufficient entries or trumps in dummy to pick up the suit. Playing the ♣K at trick one, though, cost the defenders their trick in that suit. Not that declarer was out of the woods yet. However, Meister led a trump at trick two and played low from dummy. East’s ace fell on thin air and thus declarer was able to escape for one down: E/W +200 and a somewhat fortunate 6 IMPs to GUPTA.  

The trailing team continued to make steady inroads into the deficit, making a 3NT that could have been beaten on one deal, defeating another 3NT that could have been made on another. GUPTA won the third stanza 34-12 and thus trailed by just 12 IMPs, 90-102, going into the final 15-board set. 

Simon Cope passed North’s takeout double of his partner’s 1♦ opening and soon found himself putting down dummy. 1♦-X was not a comfortable spot for Emil Jepsen, although the defence dropped a trick, so the young Dane managed to make four trump tricks and the ♠A. N/S +300. 

After the same start, Jan Jansma redoubled showing hearts on the East hand. Faced with the last of this week’s bidding problems, Andreas Meister’s somewhat impetuous jump to 3NT ended the brief auction. Passing in this position would not have shown a hand that was going to pass the double of 1♦ but, rather, just a hand with no suitable bid to make, but it still seems to be the better option. Yes, East/West may find their club fit, but it is not guaranteed. 

3NT had little chance once the club finesse lost at trick one, East winning with the ♣K and returning the suit. Declarer played a spade to his queen and West’s ace, and a third round of clubs knocked out declarer’s last stopper in that suit. The defenders now had two winners to cash when they regained the lead as declarer established his long spade. E/W -50 and 8 IMPs to ROSENTHAL.   

The final stanza was very low-scoring: the 12 IMPs that GUPTA gained on the penultimate deal really only made the outcome appear closer than it was. ROSENTHAL won the stanza 17-14 and the match by 15 IMPs, 119-104. Congratulations to the ROSENTHAL team on winning one of the most  prestigious events on the bridge calendar: Andrew Rosenthal, Aaron Silverstein, Chris Willenken, Boye Brogeland, Christian Bakke and Jan Jansma. 

Next week, we return to the online world with the opening rounds from the second heat of Alt-22. 

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