This week we pay our first visit of the year to South America, for the Brazilian National Championships. After three days of play in the main event, for the Open Teams title, the 13-team field has been whittled down to just four. The semi-finals and final will both be played over 56 boards divided into four 14-board stanzas.

As usual, we begin with some problems. Firstly, with only your side vulnerable, you are East holding:

What action, if any, do you take?

If you double, the auction continues (3♦)-Pass-(Pass)-? back to you. Do you take further action and, if so, what?

Next, with neither side vulnerable, you are in the East seat with:

What do you bid?

Finally, with only your side vulnerable, you are sitting West with this collection:

What action, if any, do you take?

While you mull those over, we start in the opening stanza. In the semi-final between VENTIN and HENRIQUE, the former led 16-5 when Board 9 arrived.

Taking advantage of the vulnerability, Gabriel Chagas opened with an aggressive 3♦ pre-empt and Jose Paiva opted for a takeout double on the East cards. Had Miguel Villas Boas passed, Mauricio Figueiredo would likely have responded 3♠. It would then have been up to Paiva to find a pass to give his side a chance to go plus. Villas Boas’s rather strange-looking 3♥ advance took the pressure off the opponents. However, it might have also have saved an IMP against -140, as declarer managed to scramble seven tricks undoubled: N/S -100.

Joao Paulo Campos (right) made his international debut in the Brazilian Junior team at the 1991 World Championships. He was a member of the Brazilian Open teams that won the 1^st IOC Grand Prix in Lausanne in 1998 and then lost to USA-1 in the final of the 2000 Bermuda Bowl. In 2010, he collected a second World championship silver medal, from the Open IMP Pairs playing with one of today’s opponents, Miguel Villas Boas.

On this deal, Campos opted for a natural weak two opening in diamonds, which left Juan Carlos Ventin with the first of this week’s bidding problems. Ventin chose to start with a takeout double, which was followed by a raise to 3♦ from Henrique Salomao and two passes.

Clearly, Ventin would have been better placed had he started with a 2♠ overcall as he could now have doubled back in to show his extra values. Having started with a double, his choices were less palatable. He chose to double again, which turned the spotlight onto Stefano Tomasini: should he settle for a sedate 3♠, with no guarantee of an eight-card fit, or go for the jugular by converting the double for penalties?

Ventin led a top spade against 3♦-X. On the surface, it may look like declarer has only four losers, two trumps and two black aces, with his third heart going on dummy’s ♣K. However, declarer has one major problem, in that he cannot reach his hand to lead towards the clubs. Whether East switches to a trump, forces dummy with a second round of spades, or even switches to a heart, the defence will inevitably come to a fifth trick. The only thing that Ventin could not afford to do was play clubs.

When Ventin led a low club at trick two, Campos rose with the king from dummy and effectively then crossruffed his way to ten tricks. N/S +570 and 12 IMPs to HENRIQUE, who led by a single IMP, 22-21, after the first 14-board segment.

It was even harder going in the other semi-final. The set ended with WALTINHO leading MONPERI by just a field goal, the score standing at 9-6. Both East players had to deal with the second of this week’s bidding problems late in the second stanza:

Despite the paucity of his suit, Jose Paiva raised directly to game in the known eight-card heart fit. He found his partner with two heart honours, but there were still three unavoidable trump losers to go with the ♦A. E/W -50.

Juan Carlos Ventin (right) made his international debut in 1980, collecting a silver medal as a member of the Spanish Junior team at the European Youth Championships. He also represented his country in the Open team at the World Team Olympiad in Valkenburg later that same year. He was part of the Spanish team that collected silver medals at the 2002 European Championships and a member of the Argentina team that finished second in the 2009 South American Championships. Most recently, he captained the team that won silver medals in the Rosenblum Cup at the World Championships in Wroclaw earlier this year.

On this deal, Ventin offered his partner a choice of games. With only a doubleton heart, Marcelo Branco settled for game in no-trumps, which left Joao Paulo Campos with the difficult task of flattening the deal for his side. There was no clue from the bidding that leading from his five-card suit would be fatal, so Campos duly tabled the ♣7. With the diamond suit producing four winners, the ♣J proved to be declarer’s ninth trick. E/W +400 and 10 IMPs to VENTIN.

HENRIQUE won the second stanza 43-31 to lead by 13 IMPs (65-52) at the midway point of the match. In the other semi-final, WALTINHO outscored MONPERI 35-28 in the second stanza. They led by 10 IMPs (44-34), and BBO VuGraph coverage switched to this match for the next segment. Unfortunately, the names of the players and part of the play are missing from one table in the VuGraph records of the third stanza. We can, though, still see most of the action on the key deal of the set.

Once the MONPERI South player had opened the bidding, there was little stopping his partner. North’s 4NT perhaps seems somewhat precipitous, but it was probably only a matter of time. East led the ♣4, declarer winning in hand with the jack. The ♥A-K were cashed and then came the ♠A. There, however, the play record ends, with declarer apparently making only eleven tricks. N/S -50.

Having presumably already guessed the trumps right, declarer can make the contract from here by drawing four rounds of trumps. He then has to play diamonds by starting with the ace, dropping West’s jack, and finessing the ♦10 on the second round. Declarer would then be left with just one minor-suit loser at the end. Not exactly obvious!

Once Felix de Souza passed on the South hand, perhaps N/S were never likely to venture beyond game, and the space taken up by the opponents’ bidding virtually ensured that outcome. Roberto Barbosa de Oliveira opened 2♦, a transfer showing a weak hand with hearts, and Joevani Salomao’s 2♥ cue-bid was the equivalent of a takeout double. Diego Brenner increased the pre-empt to the three-level and, although De Souza now came in with a free bid at the three-level, Salomao was not tempted to look beyond game facing a passed partner.

West led the ♥10 and declarer started by getting the trumps right. Although he later began diamonds by playing low to the ten, losing to West’s singleton jack, they were only playing for overtricks, and it mattered little that a discarding error in the endgame gave declarer a twelfth trick. N/S +480 and 11 IMPs to WALTHINO.

WALTHINO won the third stanza 37-18 to open a 29-IMP lead (81-52) going into the final 14-board set. The margin was similar in the other semi-final, with HENRIQUE winning the stanza 34-22 to lead by 25 IMPs (99-74). The final set of both matches was shown on BBO VuGraph, and the hundreds who tuned in watch live were not disappointed, whichever match they chose to follow.

WALTHINO led by 29 IMPs but MONPERI made early inroads with three partscore swings that reduced the difference to 10 (83-73). Then came a deal on which a conservative choice in one room and a not-so conservative one in the other combined to create a significant swing.

Joevani Salomao passed as Dealer and then showed an invitational raise of his partner’s spade overcall with a 2♥ cue-bid. De Deus competed with 3♦ on the East cards, and Felix de Souza made a conservative-looking pass. Salomao not unreasonably decided that he did not have enough to bid game, so he simply competed to 3♠, and there matters rested.

Mauricio Machado led the ♥J to his partner’s king, and De Deus continued with the ♥A and a third round of hearts. I am sure that De Souza is a good enough player to make ten tricks on this deal but, playing in a partscore, he clearly lost concentration and ruffed the third heart low. West overruffed and the defenders eventually made a club trick at the end. N/S +140.

Playing in 4♠, declarer can get home by simply pitching his club loser on the third round of hearts. This negates the defenders’ trump promotion, as dummy protects declarer against a fourth round of hearts. (As the defensive cards lie, declarer can also make ten tricks by ruffing the third heart with a high trump.)

In the replay, N/S did get to game, which left East with the last of this week’s bidding problems:

Diego Brenner (right) made his international debut in the Brazilian Junior team in 1991. A decade later he became the brightest young star of South American bridge. Partnering the legendary Gabriel Chagas, he won the Transnational Teams at the 2001 World Championships in Paris. Then came a bronze medal at the 2002 World Open Pairs in Montreal and another bronze from the Open Teams at the 2003 European Transnational Championships. More recently, the partnership reached the quarter-finals of the 2018 Rosenblum Cup in Orlando.

On this deal, after an identical start to the auction, Brenner jumped all the way to game on the South cards. This left Marcio Ceglia with the bidding problem presented at the top of this article. Yes, we’ve all heard “6-5, Come Alive”. However, with his partner likely to hold very little in terms of high cards, and no guarantee of a fit for either of his suits, passing is clearly the prudent action. When Ceglia bravely waded back in with 5♦, Brenner expressed his doubt about the viability of this contract in the traditional way. Costa might have corrected to 5♥, but that would have been no picnic either.

Brenner attacked with two top spades, Ceglia taking the force. Declarer cashed the ♥A-K successfully, then exited with his club, North winning with the ace and continuing with the ♣K. Declarer ruffed, ruffed a heart in dummy (South pitching his remaining club), took another spade ruff in his hand, and played a winning heart. The combination of ♦K-x in his hand and ♦10-x-x in dummy meant that the defenders could not prevent declarer scoring one more trump winner, but that was still only seven tricks. N/S +800 and 12 IMPs to MONPERI, who edged ahead for the first time since early in the first stanza.

Not that the excitement was over in this match, which would go right down to the wire. WALTHINO edged back in front as the boards ran out, but a light third-seat opening by Raul Leon on the penultimate board talked his opponents out of a non-vulnerable game, and the 6 IMPs gained squared the match. On the final deal, with both tables playing a lowly 1NT contract, MONPERI gained an overtrick IMP to win the match by the narrowest of margins, 94-93.

In the other semi-final, you will recall that HENRIQUE led by 25 IMPs going into the final stanza. VENTIN gained steadily as the set progressed, slowly narrowing the gap as the number of remaining boards diminished. Salomao/Campos scored +140 in a comfortable heart partscore on Board 25 and, when Branco/Ventin made +430 at the other table, the 7-IMP swing gave VENTIN the lead by 116-111 with only three deals left to play. However, The Great Dealer still had one firecracker up his sleeve: this was Board 26:

Perhaps a 1♦ response would not have been everyone’s choice on the North hand (passing certainly looks like a reasonable alternative, and no doubt some would also respond 1♥). Marcello Branco sprang to life at his second turn, showing his monster hand with a 2♠ cue-bid. However, when West’s double was passed back to him, Branco’s non-forcing 3♣ bid gave his partner an exit. Well judged to land in what looks like the right contract. (Indeed, the same contract was played at both tables in the other match, one team gaining an overtrick IMP.) The defence was accurate here, making two diamond tricks to go with their two black aces: N/S +110.

One of the most highly-touted prospects in the country, Henrique Salomao (right) made his international debut as a member of the Brazilian Schools team at the 2016 World Youth Championships. 

After the same start as the other table, Salomao began with a double of East’s 1♠ overcall. When West’s raise to 2♠ came back to him, he might have doubled again, or perhaps advanced with 3♣, but he clearly decided that his hand was just too good. When Salomao instead chose to advance with a 3♠ cue-bid, Joao Paulo Campos found himself with no attractive choice. Neither 4♣ nor 4♦ held any great appeal, so he went the action that offered the greatest upside if it was right, 4♥.

Looking at all four hands, it is clear that 4♥ has no legitimate chance. Indeed, if the defenders simply play spades, forcing declarer to ruff twice with dummy’s high trumps, the defenders are likely to come to at least five tricks. Perhaps someone should have doubled!

However, pressure can affect even the best players. Gabriel Chagas opened the defence with the ♣A and, although not fatal in itself, perhaps the sight of dummy created a sense of panic in the East/West seats. The contract can still be defeated at this point by playing two rounds of spades, forcing dummy and eventually promoting the ♥10. Chagas duly cashed his ♠A at trick two but, when he switched to a diamond at trick three, the defence was in trouble. With dummy’s clubs now established and no entry to the East hand to play a second diamond through the king, the defenders can no longer score two tricks in that suit. Miguel Villas Boas took his best shot, rising with the ♦A and trying to give his partner a club ruff. It was not to be and declarer was soon claiming ten tricks: N/S a remarkable +620, and a match-winning 11 IMPs to HENRIQUE.

There were only a couple of overtrick IMPs scored on the final deals, so VENTIN won the final stanza 42-25 but that was not quite enough. HENRIQUE advanced to the final with victory by a score of 124-116.

Two nail-biting semi-finals enjoyed by hundreds of spectators live on BBO VuGraph. I am sure that most of them will be back for the final over the next two days. We will return next week with the best of the action from that final.