Welcome back to Marrakech on the third day of the eight-day round robin stage of the 2023 World Championships. We are now approaching the midway point of the round robin, and the contenders are making their way into the eight places from which teams will advance into the knockout.

Our featured match today pits together two of the bookies’ pre-tournament favourites, SWITZERLAND and USA2. These teams come into this match with the reigning champions leading the field and the Americans in fourth place. I joined thousands watching live on BBO VuGraph, and we did not have to wait long for the action to start.

As usual, we start with some problems. With neither side vulnerable, you are North holding:

What do you bid?

Next, with both sides vulnerable, you are sitting in the West seat with:

What action, if any, do you take?

Both North players had to answer a variation on the first of those problems on the opening board of the match.

Chip Martel (right) started with a 3♠ response, showing various hands with one or both minors. His 5NT then forced Marty Fleisher to choose at the six-level. Is there any reason why North should prefer one minor rather than the other?

One possibility is that you have a partnership agreement to always choose the lower-ranking suit with equal length. Such an agreement may allow partner to invite you to choose when he is longer in the lower-ranking suit. Another theory put forward in commentary on BBO is that you should generally make the weaker suit trumps so, on that basis, you would choose diamonds with this North hand. As one sage also pointed out, it is best to make the suit that is breaking 3-1 trumps. Thanks for that!

That was certainly what you wanted here: Michel Nowosadzki duly led the ♦2 against 6♣ and the ruff put the contract one down with 6♦ an easy make. N/S -50.

Could the Poles sniff out the winning spot at the other table?

Jacek Kalita showed his good hearts on the second round of the auction, but he then faced the same choice of minors at his next turn. Here, too, North chose clubs and the diamond ruff duly flattened the board.

At the 24 tables in the Bermuda Bowl, six N/S pairs reached 6♦ whilst eleven played in 6♣. Eight of the nine who played the club slam from the North seat went down.

Michel Nowosadzki bid his hearts with a transfer double, and then showed his diamond stopper at his second turn. That was enough for Pierre Zimmermann to raise to 3NT. Martel led a diamond and declarer duly took his nine top tricks: E/W +600.

That all looks easy enough. However, the Swiss took an extra bid at the other table, making things much more difficult.

When Jacek Kalita (left) took a second bid on the North hand, things became a whole lot trickier for the Americans. Joe Grue did not have enough high-card strength to bid 2NT, so he settled for a competitive club raise. South’s raise to 3♦ then left Moss with the second of the problems posed earlier. With no cue-bid available, is there a way for Moss to ask about diamond stoppers? What is double?

Moss settled for a competitive 4♣, giving up on game. He made ten tricks. E/W +130 but that was the first-double-digit swing of the match: 10 IMPs to Switzerland. Then came something even more substantial.

The auction started quietly, with Joe Grue making an inverted raise of his partner’s third-seat 1♦ opening. In reality, though, the destination of the IMPs had already been decided.

When Klukowski got involved having earlier declined to open the bidding, the auction took off. Moss bid his second suit but Kalita bumped the bidding to the four-level. Grue’s double was, presumably, penalty oriented, having already shown a diamond fit and a maximum for his initial pass, but Moss was not interested in defending. It seems likely that 5♥ was passable if East did not hold a club control, but Grue was happy to bid the slam.

Could Jacek Kalita find the winning club lead through dummy’s king? Yes, and the contract was soon one down. E/W -100.

It is a rare thing indeed to see Grue/Moss lose a swing because they passed a hand that an opponent opened, but that is what happened here. I guess it is a matter of style whether you open that East hand. For me, it qualifies as you have a comfortable rebid no matter what partner does (raising 1M to 2M and rebidding 2NT over 2♣). Michel Nowosadzki (right) also thought it was an opening bid, and thereafter it did not take long to reach the top spot.

The Americans got the bidding to 4♠ in double-quick time, so Pierre Zimmermann gave up on science and just bid slam in his partner’s suit. With the ♣K protected, there were twelve easy tricks. E/W +1370 and a massive 16 IMPs to Switzerland, now opening up a sizeable lead.

The action in this match began on the opening deal, and it continued right to the very end. This was the final board of the match…

Marty Fleisher closed the lively auction with a double of Michel Nowosadzki’s 3NT. Martel led the ♠Q, which held, and switched accurately to a heart. Fleisher won with the ♥K and returned a spade. There was no point ducking, as the defenders would have three tricks with two aces still to take. Nowosadzki won with the ♠A and cashed his seven diamond tricks, but the defenders had kept enough winners to take the rest. E/W -200.

Whether it was Kalita’s 2♦ bid on Board 23 or Nowosadzki’s 1♦ opening on Board 26, taking one more bid than their opponents has worked well for the Swiss in this match. However, there are always exceptions…

The auction here followed the same path until North’s double of 3NT at the first table. In the same situation, Kalita instead bid 4♣ with disastrous results. The Poles were unlikely to make a contract at the four-level and, as we have seen, East’s 3NT is also likely to come up a trick short. The one contract that cannot be beaten is 5♦, and that is exactly where Kalita’s 4♣ bid guided the Americans.

Kalita led a top heart and then thought for ages before switching to a trump. Brad Moss (left) won in dummy and ran the ♣10. When North won with the ♣A and had no second trump to lead, declarer was home, ruffing his two remaining club losers in dummy before drawing trumps and claiming 11 tricks. E/W +750 and a massive 14 IMPs to USA2.

The final result was still a win for Switzerland, but only by a score of 40-36.

We mentioned yesterday that Netherlands v USA2 was a potential match-up when the knockout matches came around. A repeat of today’s encounter is certainly another possibility. And, if this was a preview of what we can expect from a six-stanza match between these two heavyweights, bring it on!