Welcome to Marrakech, one of the four Imperial Cities of Morocco. Located in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains in central Morocco, Marrakech is home to a population of 925,000, so it is a city of similar size to Fort Worth TX or Jacksonville FL. The surrounding area has been inhabited by Berber farmers since Neolithic times, and the city itself was founded about the same time as the Normans were invading England, in the mid-11^th century.

The world’s best bridge players have descended on this historic city to compete for four trophies. We will concentrate much of our coverage on the main Open event for the Bermuda Bowl, but we will also keep in touch with the action in the Venice Cup (Women’s Teams), the d’Orsi Trophy (Senior Teams) and the Wuhan Cup (Mixed Teams). At the end of the two-week marathon, we’ll hope to see members of the BBO expert bidding panel in the winning teams in one or more of the events.

We begin our coverage with a Bermuda Bowl match between geographical neighbours, as Belgium take on Netherlands, one of the finalists from the last Bermuda Bowl. A year ago, in Salsomaggiore, Netherlands lost one of most thrilling finals of all time to Switzerland. Those two teams will clearly be amongst the bookies’ favourites here in Morocco, so let’s see what sort of form the Dutch are in at this early stage.

Just one problem today. With only your side vulnerable, you are North holding:

What action, if any, do you take?

We join the action early in the match. The Belgian pair in the Closed room began by bidding to two no-play games, which cost them 5 IMPs and 6 IMPs when the defenders made no mistakes. Then the cards turned around, and it was the Dutch who bid more than their counterparts at both tables…

Joris van Lankveld’s 4♣ overcall stole sufficient room from the Belgian pair that they had no space to investigate. They thus settled for bidding game in their best suit.

Van Lankveld led the ♦J. Sam Bahbout won in hand with the ace, crossed to the ♣A, returned to hand with a trump, and ruffed his remaining club with the ♠K. He then drew trumps, cashed the ♥A, and played a heart towards dummy. When West followed with a low heart, Bahbout guessed to put in the ♥10. Berend van den Bos won with the ♥J and returned a club, leaving declarer with two diamond losers at the end. N/S +620 – well stopped.

Bauke Muller (left) began with an artificial, game-forcing 1♠ response. For the Belgians, Philippe Caputo jumped only to the three-level, giving the Dutch more room. This allowed Simon de Wijs to double on the North hand, showing a singleton club. Muller now introduced his spades and De Wijs agree the suit with a raise to game. Muller decided that he had enough to make another try, and he moved with a diamond cue-bid. That encouraged De Wijs to commit his side to slam.

The early play was identical, so the fate of the contract came down to a 26-IMP heart guess. Muller called for the ♥Q from dummy on the second round. When he ruffed the third round of hearts, the king came down and he had parking places for his two diamond losers. A magnificent N/S +1430 and 13 IMPs to Netherlands, who are suddenly 24-0 ahead approaching the halfway point of the match.

The Belgians finally got on the scoreboard, but they risked a heavy loss in order to pick up the most modest of gains.

Steven de Donder’s initial Pass and Berend van den Bos’s weak jump shift response meant that the Belgians had to begin their auction at the three-level. Having established that the hand belonged to them, the Belgian’s attention then seemed to focus on ensuring that they held the requisite stoppers. Spades, though, were not their Achilles’ heal.

The spotlight turned on Van Lankveld. If he could find a club lead, then Sam Bahbout’s 3NT contract would quickly bite the dust. No – Van Lankveld laid down the ♠A, giving declarer nine tricks on the 3-3 heart break without needing any long tricks from diamonds. The spade continuation then allowed declarer to knock out the ♦K for 11 tricks. A somewhat fortuitous N/S +460.

Simon de Wijs (right) came in with a 1♦ overcall on the North hand, steering his partnership in the right direction. Mike Vandervorst joined in with a 1♥ transfer, showing spades, allowing Bauke Muller to show his suit with a double. When De Wijs rebid his diamonds, Muller looked no further than game in his partner’s suit.

Vandervorst led a club to declarer’s ace. When a trump was played, East showed out, so declarer rose with the ♦A and started on hearts. One spade disappeared on the third heart and, when Caputo ruffed in with the ♦K on the fourth round, away went declarer’s remaining loser. Had West ruffed with the fourth heart with the ♦10, declarer would have overruffed, returned to dummy with a club ruff, and played another winning heart to achieve the same result. N/S +420 and 1 IMP to Belgium, but a moral victory for the Dutch.

The Belgians finally got into the match as boards were running out, with both North players having to deal with the problem posed at the top of this article.

For the Dutch, Simon de Wijs chose to enter with a takeout double of West’s 3♦ opening. Muller had a good hand in terms of high cards but no sensible positive action, so he settled for a minimum response in his only suit. But, even that proved to be too high.

Caputo led the ♦Q to dummy’s bare ace. Muller started trumps by leading the queen from dummy, and Vandervorst took his ace right away. Then came three rounds of hearts, forcing declarer to ruff. Muller cashed the ♣K and, when West showed out, East had a second trump trick with the ♣10. N/S -100.

Steven de Donder (left) opted for a 3♠ overcall, and Sam Bahbout just about had enough for a raise to game. Looking at all four hands, it is easy enough to see that there are three top losers and thus a club ruff will put the contract down for a flat board. But, finding the ruff proved to be not so easy.

Van den Bos opened the ♥A and, at trick two, switched to a spade. That was not the end of the defence as, of course, declarer still needed to score a heart ruff in dummy, or he would be left with four top losers. De Donder therefore won the trump switch in dummy and continued with the ♥Q. Unfortunately for the Dutch, the defence was set on its path now, so Van den Bos won with the ♥K and continued with a second trump. Declarer overtook the ♠J, ruffed his remaining heart with dummy’s last trump, returned to hand with the ♦A, and drew the last trump. All that remained was to bring in the clubs for three tricks and, after West’s opening pre-empt, this was not something that declarer was ever likely to get wrong. N/S +620 and 12 IMPs to Belgium.

On the very next board, both EW pairs bid to a game that could have been made. With a diamond suit of KQ opposite 98xx, a holding of J-10 doubleton in one of the defender’s hands did the Dutch declarer in 3NT no harm whatsoever. At the other table, the Belgian in 4♥ ran into ruffs and overruffs by the time he found out about the diamond position, so he finished two down. 13 IMPs to Netherlands.

The set finished with a deal where the result hinged in no small part on the vagaries of no-trump ranges.

Van den Bos opened his partnership’s system strong bid and his 2NT rebid showed 23-24 HCP balanced. Joris Van Lankveld (right) inquired with Muppet Stayman and 3♥ denied a major of more than three cards. With an uninspiring 7 HCP facing 23-24, Van Lankveld judged that game was high enough, and duly signed off in 3NT.

The defence led hearts and declarer set up his clubs. He then used his heart entry to get to the long clubs and eventually played a diamond to the ten. The defenders thus came to three tricks: An unremarkable E/W +430.

For the Belgians, Vandervorst began with a Multi 2♦ and his 2NT rebid after the pass-or-correct 2♥ response showed 24-26 HCP balanced. Caputo also asked for majors and got the same ‘None’ response. Facing 24-26, this flat 7-count perhaps looks rather more promising. Thus, with a very likely fit for his five-card suit, Caputo advanced with a natural 4♣. Vandervorst had no reason not to cooperate, so he showed his club support with a 4♦ cue-bid. When Caputo showed his heart control, out came Blackwood. Caputo confirmed he had an ace and Vandervorst asked for the ♣Q with 5♥. The 5♠ response said he didn’t have it, but the partnership was committed to slam by now.

There was an avoidable loser in each minor. Declarer finished two down: E/W -100 and 11 IMPs to Netherlands. The final score of the match was 53-15 to Netherlands

At the top of this article, I said we’d take a look to see whether the Netherlands had arrived in good form. I think we have an answer. Although they have come without one of their front-line pairs from a year ago, it looks like the Orange Army will be singing well into the latter stages of their two weeks in Marrakech.

We will be back soon with the best of the action from Day 2 of the 2023 World Championships in Marrakech, Morocco.