We are back in Salsomaggiore in northern Italy, the venue for the final of the Italian Bridge Federation’s annual “Cup for Men”. The two teams who have made it through numerous knockout rounds to reach this final are VINCI (Francesco Saverio Vinci, Giovanni Donati, Giorgio Duboin, Fabrizio Hugony, Lorenzo Lauria, Agustin Madala, Alfredo Versace and npc Alessandro Piana) and the team representing the Bridge Club Forte dei Marmi, COLOTTO (Giuseppe Colotto, Valerio Barra, Michele Cammarata, Camillo Gaddi, Claudio Pochini, Piergiorgio Rosa, Cristiano Valsega and Filippo Viggiano).

The format of the final is a 48-board match divided into three 16-board segments. We left the final at its midway point with VINCI leading 58-40. Let’s now take a look at the action from the second half.

As usual, we start with a couple of problems. Firstly, an opening lead. With only your side vulnerable, you are West holding:

What do you lead?

Next, with only your side vulnerable, you are sitting in the South seat with:

What do you bid?

The opening deal of the second half produced a swing, and the direction of that swing came down to the opening lead problem posed above.

I suppose the explanation for North’s 2sx rebid (rather than what looks like an obvious raise to 3♣) is that many pairs these days play a 2♣ response as a random game force without promising a club suit. Once Agustin Madala (left) drove the auction beyond 3NT, a slam was always the likely destination.

On lead to 6♣, let’s think about the heart position. Although South has not specifically denied a heart control in this auction, North has shown one and is it not very likely to be the king? Camillo Gaddi kicked off by cashing the ♥A at trick one. It was not overly taxing for Giorgio Duboin to take the rest of the tricks. N/S +980.

In this auction, South has specifically denied a heart control, so Michele Cammarata did not like to bid a slam with the lead potentially coming through his heart holding at trick one. And, quite right he was too, although that did not help him greatly on the scoreboard.

Realizing the heart position, Alfredo Versace (right) led the ♥4 against 5♣. Of course, declarer put in the jack from dummy, so the defenders took the first two tricks. “Chapeau, Alfredo!”

Almost certainly, the play would have been the same had North jumped to 6♣ rather than settling for game. N/S +400 and 11 IMPs to VINCI.

Whatever he did, Cammarata was destined to lose IMPs on this deal. The damage had already been done with the opening lead at the first table.

The final deal of the second stanza provided one of the rising stars of Italian bridge to demonstrate his skills as declarer…

Duboin led the ♥Q. Declarer played three rounds of the suit, taking a ruff with his small trump. When he then cashed the top trumps, he got the bad news. With the clubs also misbehaving, Viggiano eventually lost a heart and two tricks in each of the black suits. E/W -200.

Giovanni Donati (left) opened 1NT on the East cards. I cannot tell you exactly what Versace’s jump to 3♦ showed, but it was apparently enough for Donati to jump to game in spades from the short side.

Valsega opened with his singleton club here. Counting his tricks, Donati saw one club, two hearts and seven trumps. He won with the ♣A and ruffed a diamond. Then came a heart to the king and a second diamond ruff. The ♥A and a heart ruff returned the lead to hand and Donati took a third diamond ruff. A trump to the ace then allowed declarer to ruff a fourth diamond ruff with dummy’s last trump. The sxK was declarer’s tenth trick. Nicely played. E/W +620 and 13 IMPs to VINCI.

VINCI won the second stanza 61-21, and thus led by 49 IMPs (93-44) going into the final 16-board segment. If there was to be a comeback, it would need to start early…

Giuseppe Colotto did not bid on the East hand, so Duboin raised hearts via a Bergen variant.

East led a diamond to the ten, jack and queen. That meant that declarer could draw trumps and throw his diamond loser on dummy’s long spade. A club ruff was then declarer’s twelfth trick. N/S +680 and not much to see here, you might think. However, there is a salutary lesson from which aspiring players might learn.

Lorenzo Lauria came in with a 2♣ overcall, and Versace accurately judged that the five-level offered a paying sacrifice. With the ♦10 onside, he was right that 5♣-doubled would cost only 500 against North’s vulnerable heart game.

When Michele Cammarata (left) continued on to 5♥, Versace’s decision to double was less accurate. Students should note that if you have pushed the opponents to the five-level and they can make only ten tricks, you already have a good board and the double will gain little. However…

The play in this room was identical to the first. N/S +1050 and 9 IMPs to COLOTTO. The comeback was underway…

For COLOTTO, that deal proved to be the only silver lining in an otherwise cloudy set. VINCI picked up a series of small swings, and then both South players faced the last of this week’s problems…

Cristiano Valsega chose to rebid 3NT in at his third turn. A red-suit lead would defeat the contract out of hand, but Versace had no reason not to lead his only four-card suit. Winning in hand with the ♣J, declarer can make the contract by playing on spades. Whether West covers the sxJ or not, declarer can establish five spade tricks whilst losing the lead to West. Opening the hearts from the West seat, the defenders cannot score more than three heart tricks on this layout (assuming declarer guesses correctly).

When Valsega chose instead to play a diamond to the ace and a second diamond, the defence was easy. Lauria won with the ♦K and tabled the ♥J. There was no winning option with the first heart lead coming from the East side. N/S -200.

After an identical auction, Giorgio Duboin (right) chose to raise to game in spades.

The ♥J opening lead, with West switching to diamonds after winning with the ♥A at trick one or two, would have beaten this contract. When Colotto chose to open with the ♣9, declarer was in the game. Agustin Madala won with the ♣A and ran the sxJ. Now came a club to the king and two more rounds of trumps. When spades behaved, declarer had ten tricks, his diamond loser going on dummy’s fourth-round club winner. N/S +620 and 13 IMPs to VINCI.

VINCI won the third stanza 32-9 and the match by 72 IMPs (125-53).

Congratulations on an emphatic victory to the VINCI team:
Francesco Vinci, Giovanni Donati, Giorgio Duboin, Fabrizio Hugony, Lorenzo Lauria, Agustin Madala, Alfredo Versace and npc Alessandro Piana.

We will be back soon with the best of the action from another major event broadcast live on BBO VuGraph. In the meantime, may I wish all of my regular readers “Happy Holidays”.