A look back at the finals from the World Bridge Championships in Marrakech

Switzerland delivered a superb defence of their title to retain the most coveted trophy in bridge, the Bermuda Bowl, scoring a decisive win over Norway. Italy got the better of USA2 to secure the bronze medals.

In the Venice Cup Final Israel cruised to victory, adding a new name to the list of winning countries, Türkiye taking the silver medals while China secured a place on the podium by defeating Norway.

The d’Orsi Trophy was fiercely contested, Denmark winning all three sessions today to defeat USA1. USA2 defeated Poland in the playoff.

By winning the fourth session 60-0(!) USAI wiped out France’s overnight lead and set up a terrific battle for the Wuhan Cup, which finally went in favour of the North Americans. Romania took the bronze by defeating Belgium.

The final of the Transnational Open saw Amistad outstay Slow Horses while Knottenbelt proved to be too strong for Barr.

Congratulations to the winners of the BAM, Vinciguerra, and to Rosenthal, who finished top in the B Final.

Here is the pick of the action on the last two days.

Sacrificial Defence

This deal from the exciting first session of the Bermuda Bowl final contained an unusual defensive possibility that might be useful for the second edition of The Mysterious Multi.

Open Room

Board 1. Dealer North. E/W Vul.

There is nothing wrong with having a five-card suit for a Multi, but perhaps South’s response is overdoing things as the hand looks defensive in nature.

East led the ♦K and switched to the ♠7, declarer winning in hand and playing the ♦J. East won and played the ♠6 to dummy’s Ace. Declarer ruffed a Diamond, cashed the ♠KQ and exited with a Heart, but he was out of ammunition, the defenders taking the rest for four down, -800.

Closed Room

Board 1. Dealer North. E/W Vul.

East led the ♠6 and declarer won with the 8 and played the ♦J, East taking the Queen and continuing with the ♠7 to dummy’s Ace. East won the next Diamond with the King and switched to the ♣ J, three rounds of the suit seeing East ruff after which two rounds of Hearts allowed West to play another Club, promoting East’s ♠J for three down, -500 but a 7 IMP loss.

Suppose East were to start with the ♣ J (unlikely, but it results in something nice!). After three rounds of the suit East, having ruffed, exits with a Spade. Declarer wins in hand and plays a Diamond and East wins and plays a second Spade to dummy’s Ace, apparently surrendering a trump trick. However, West takes the Diamond continuation with the Ace and plays a winning Club, reactivating East’s ♠J. Declarer will take only four tricks which would mean a flat board – unless EW found the same defence in the other room which would net -1100.

Thought and Choice in Bridge

How does one decide upon the best way to bid a particular hand? Experience will be helpful, but sometimes there is no clear answer. This deal from the third session might be suitable for The Bridge World’s You be the Jury or Bridge Magazine’s Cui Culpa series.

Open Room

Board 5. Dealer North. N/S Vul.

South led the ♠7 and declarer won with the Queen, cashed the ♦A and then played the ♥K followed by the ♥10, covered by the Queen and Ace. The ♣Q was covered by the King and Ace and in due time South was squeezed in Clubs and Hearts, declarer taking all the tricks, +520.

Some questions:

Should West rebid 4♦, given that it goes past 3NT?

Might East have bid 4♣ over 3NT, given his control rich hand?

Had EW reached 6 Hearts, would declarer have made it?

Closed Room

Board 5. Dealer North. N/S Vul.

I will need to check with the Norwegians for the precise meaning of the bids after 4 ♦, but once East had bid 4♠, I don’t think they were ever going to stop short of 6♦.

North led the ♥ 7 and declarer won with the Jack, drew trumps, cashed two top Hearts and then took the Spade finesse, soon claiming twelve tricks for +920 and 9 IMPs.

Sweet Sixteen

Norway was enjoying an excellent fourth session when along came:

Open Room

Board 27. Dealer South. None Vul.

South started with two rounds of Diamonds and declarer discarded dummy’s ♣2 as North won and fatally switched to the ♠8. Kalita easily emerged with the tricks he needed and scored +470.

Closed Room

Board 27. Dealer South. None Vul.

Here South went down what proved to be a much more successful route by rebidding his Clubs. NS sometimes employ 4♠ as a transfer to RKCB, but North’s response to 4NT looks more like pick a slam. Whatever, the excellent slam was reached and when West started with two rounds of Hearts declarer ruffed and claimed – a very sweet 16 IMPs.

The Italian Stallion

Despite being in the middle of a battle for the bronze medals in the Bermuda Bowl, Zia found the time to report a deal from the play-off between USA2 and Italy. On the evidence of this event, the Italians are back with a team that is a mixture of experience and youth. Zia describes Giovanni Donati as a rare talent (he calls him Mafioso as he can find plays to kill any opponent). Here he delivered a Rocky Balboa style knockout blow to declarer.

In the other room, Di Franco and Manno stopped in 3 Spades and took ten tricks for +170.

Open Room

Board 8. Dealer West. None Vul.

Expecting EW to have five Diamond tricks, maybe a couple of Spades and a couple of others, Zia decided to bid 4♠ (note that if South leads a small Spade against the No-Trump game, declarer has every chance of securing nine tricks) appreciating that partner would be likely to have a singleton Diamond.

West led the ♦8 and East won with the Queen and switched to the ♣3, which looked like a singleton. Declarer took the ♣A, ruffed a Diamond in dummy and played a Spade for the Queen and Ace, pleased to see West follow with the ♠ 10. A second Diamond ruff was followed by a Spade and East took the King and returned the ♦5. From declarer’s point of view, ducking this will allow West to win and play the ♣Q which should ensure two down, so declarer took the Ace and drew the outstanding trump, accepting one down.

When Zia discovered that East’s Hearts were KQ65, he realised he could have made 4 Spades double by withholding the ♦A, dummy’s ♦J becoming the tenth trick.

If East had exited with the ♦K, declarer could win, draw the outstanding trump and then play a Heart for the 9, Jack and Queen. Declarer ruffs the red suit return and the last trump squeezes West in the round suits.

As Zia put it, East made him an offer he couldn’t refuse – but he did – and woke up with a horse’s head in his bed!

What a great play… so beware, the next time you see a youngster with a charming smile he might just be the Mafioso.

The legitimate way to defeat 4 Spades doubled after the Diamond lead is for East to duck the second round of Spades. Declarer wins and exits with a Spade but has no good discard from dummy. Pitching a Heart allows East to exit with the ♦K, while throwing a Club can be countered by a Diamond return.