Vugraph Deals #147 

We return to Salsomaggiore in northern Italy on Day 4 of the first post-Pandemic World Championships. With the midway point of the 23-match round robin upon us, the intensity is heating up as teams jostle for places in that all-important top eight who will qualify for the knockout stage. This week, we will see four more of the teams on the cusp of the qualifying places in the Bermuda Bowl. 

As usual, we begin with some problems. First, with just your side vulnerable, you hold in the South seat: 

What action, if any, do you take? 

Next, with only your opponents vulnerable, you are East holding: 

What action, if any, do you take? 

Finally, with your side only vulnerable, you are sitting North with these cards: 

What do you bid?  

While you consider those, we kick off this week’s action with a spectacular deal from Round 12. We focus first on events in the Bermuda Bowl meeting of USA-1 and Sweden, a match that began with the two teams lying ninth and tenth respectively, just a couple of VPs outside the qualifying places. As we get close to the end of the round robin, these matches take on greater significance: win and you will edge your way into the top eight; lose and you start to slide down the table, and away from the promised land. 

Ralph Katz opened 1♠ and Ola Rimstedt came in with a two-suited 2♠ overcall that showed specifically hearts and clubs. Nick Nickell advanced with 3♣ on the East cards, showing a game-forcing hand with diamonds. That left Mikael Rimstedt with the first of this week’s bidding problems, and the question of what to do on that powerful South hand at adverse vulnerability. 

Did anyone come up with the 5♣ bid chosen by the young Swedish star? You may wonder why he would bid clubs rather than hearts when he had four-card support for both. An important point to remember in competitive auctions when the opponents have spades is that all of the other suits are effectively the same, so there is no real difference between the junior major and the minors. The most important point, though, was to take away West’s 4♠ and 4NT bids, so perhaps 5♥ was an equivalent alternative, although does that perhaps sound like a much stronger hand than this one?  

Unfortunately, with East having shown game-going values, West had enough spades to be able to rebid the suit on this own at the five-level. Nickell duly raised to slam and, of course, South was not up to finding the cheap save at the seven-level. (Declarer loses just the ace of trumps in a heart contract, but the defenders can get the ♥A and a heart ruff against 7♣ – either, though, is still cheaper than conceding 6♠.) 

Ola made a valiant effort to beat the slam, leading the ♣5 in an attempt to get his partner in with the ♣Q to give him a diamond ruff. Of course, declarer won trick one with his singleton queen and claimed all 13 tricks: E/W +1010. 

Here, Eric Greco’s 2♠ overcall was standard Michaels, showing hearts and an unspecified minor, and Frederic Wrang’s 2NT bid was alerted just as ‘support’. (By the way, have you noticed how top players always get the best partners – I mean, my partner never freely raises me when I have an eight-card suit.) Geoff Hampson now adopted a two-step strategy, starting with a jump to 4♥.  

Nystrom self-alerted his pass of 4♥ as forcing, which suggests perhaps that East’s 2NT was game-forcing rather than just an ‘invitational-or-better’ raise. When Wrang just bid 4♠, Hampson now unleashed his second arrow, bidding 4NT to suggest suitability for playing in at least one and probably both minors. Nystrom moved forward with a 5♣ cue-bid and now Greco had one more go, competing to 5♥. This was passed back to Nystrom who, perhaps should have been more encouraged by his partner’s forcing pass. It seems, though, that he was persuaded by so much opposition bidding at this vulnerability that they must actually have something, so the felt he could do no more than just bid 5♠. The Americans were quite content to defend at that level: E/W +480 and 11 IMPs to USA-1. 

With the big gain on the penultimate deal, the Americans turned the match into something close to a draw, the Swedes just edging things 29-25. The win took the Swedes just ahead of the Americans, but both teams slipped further away from the top eight as they were overtaken by Italy and Australia. However, both teams remain close enough that a couple of consecutive wins would put them up where they want to be. With 13 matches still to play in the round robin, there is still plenty of troubled bridge to go over water. 

Before we leave this deal, though, take a look at how things turned out in another of the Bermuda Bowl matches seen live on BBO VuGraph, New Zealand vs Israel. 

Amir Levin first represented Israel as a junior in 1994, and he collected a bronze medal in the Junior Teams at the 1998 European Youth Teams Championships. He made his debut in his national Open Team in 2002 and was a member of the Israeli team that finished second in the 2018 European Teams Championships in Ostend. 

For the Kiwis, Michael Whibley started with a 2♥ overcall. The auction quickly gained momentum and, at his second turn, he then jumped to slam. Amir Levin was not to be shut out, though, and he took a two-way shot and ‘saved’ in 6♠ when the auction came back to him. Who was sacrificing and who was bidding to make? No one could be sure, and neither of the New Zealanders was willing to commit themselves to the seven-level at this vulnerability. So, Whibley doubled and opened the defence by cashing the ♣K. Sadly for the southern hemisphere team, that was the only trick for the defence: E/W +1210. 

Alon Birman also started with a 2♥ overcall. And Michael Cornell chose to force to game showing his diamonds rather than supporting spades right away. This enabled Dror Padon to content himself with a gentle competitive raise to 3♥. When the auction came back to him at the five-level, though, Padon decided that he had enough extras to take the vulnerable sacrifice at the six-level. What he did not know at the time, of course, was that this was the best kind of sacrifice possible – a making one! The slowly, slowly catchee monkey approach of the Israeli auction at this table left Ashley Bach in a very difficult position. He had already jumped to game in spades with no support, and his partner had just bid a competitive 5♠ rather than showing slam interest via a forcing pass and then pulling a double to 5♠. Did he really have any reason to think that his side could make twelve tricks? Equally, did it even occur to him that the opponents would be able to? 

Cornell led the ♦K against 6♥-X. Birman ruffed, ruffed a spade in dummy, and led a trump towards his hand. Bach followed with the ♥8 but Birman unerringly rose with the king, felling East’s singleton queen, and allowing declarer to claim twelve tricks. E/W -1660 and 21 IMPs to ISRAEL. I suppose you could say this was an all black board for supporters of the New Zealanders. 

For the record, two other N/S pairs in the 24-table Bermuda Bowl field also scored +1660 in 6♥-X, for Switzerland against Uruguay and for Italy against Bulgaria. Only one N/S pair, though, managed absolute par on the deal, Canada’s Nicholas L’Ecuyer and Zygmunt Marcinski took the save in 7♥ against Australia, gaining 7 IMPs and rescuing their teammates, who had played the hand in 4♠ for just +480. 

Day 5 of these championships dawns with just three days of play left before the knockout stage begins, and our next match is another featuring two teams battling to keep their hopes alive. With matches running out, Israel began the day still just in touch with the top eight, in eleventh place, whilst Canada were in Last Gulch Saloon down in seventeenth. To have a chance of qualifying in two days’ time, both teams would need to start putting together a string of good results.  

Israel got off to a flying start when the Canadians missed a making game on Board 1, and then bid one that didn’t make on Board 2, but they were both non-vulnerable so it was only 11-0. The Canadians were soon to slip further behind, though. 

Ophir Herbst passed as dealer on his 6-6 hand, then backed in with a take-out cue-bid after the Canadians had bid two suits. Marc-Andre Fourcaudot showed his good hand and his fit with a leap to 4♠, and Ilan Herbst competed to the five-level in clubs. That was good news for Kamel Fergani, who closed the brief auction by leaping to slam. Perhaps bidding Seven Clubs would have saved a few IMPs, but the Israelis elected to take their chances on defense. (For the record, 5♣-X went one, two and three down at various tables, although one lucky E/W pair were allowed to play in 4♣-X for +710.) 

The ♥K was far from the most threatening opening lead, as it established a ruffing finesse against the queen. Declarer won with the ♥A, drew two rounds of trumps, then cashed the ♦K to expose the position in that suit. Fergani could now cross to dummy as he drew the last trump, take the diamond finesse, unblock the ♦Q, and ruff out the ♥Q. Declarer’s remaining heart loser went on the ♦A. E/W +1010.  

Could the Israeli’s possibly reach the grand slam? 

No, but they did the next best thing! 

Josef Roll was a member of the Israeli junior team that collected bronze medals at the 2000 European Championships and then finished second at the 2001 World Youth Team Championships. He made his debut in the Open team in 2008 and won a silver medal at the 2018 European Team Championships in Ostend. 

Nicolas L’Ecuyer decided that the North hand qualified as a weak two, although I strongly suspect that trading standards in the U.K. would class that as false advertising. Not that the Israelis were particularly hindered by having their bidding space stolen. Roll made a takeout double and Amir Levin leapt to game in spades.  

Faced with the second of this week’s problems, Roll advanced with a 5♥ cue-bid, which encouraged Levin to make a grand slam try with 6♦. Roll declined that invitation, but Zygmunt Marcinski still emerged with a double, clearly expecting his ♣A-K to be worth at least one trick. Levin, who had worked out exactly why his RHO had doubled, promptly applied the purple card. (It’s not like he was afraid they might have a cheap save in 7♥. Indeed, one declarer who played in hearts went for 1400 at the four-level!) 

Here, too, North opened the ♥K. With even more reason than usual to guarantee at least twelve tricks, declarer drew three rounds of trumps before touching diamonds. He was therefore unable both to take the finesse and to get back to dummy to score the ♦A. He settled for ruffing his low heart and conceding a trick to North’s ♥Q. Twelve tricks: E/W +1620 and 12 IMPs to ISRAEL. 

At the 24 Bermuda Bowl tables, only one pair bid and made 7♠, Angel Vanchev and Zahari Zahariev of Bulgaria against Denmark. Indeed, two declarers managed to go minus, one in 6♠ and one in 5♠, although neither suffered a diamond ruff at trick one! 

The Israelis led 31-0 after just six deals. The North American team recovered some of the deficit in the middle part of the match, but Board 12 was the final nail in the Canadian coffin: 

What range does a 2NT overcall of a weak two opening show? Specifically, what is the upper limit for 2NT? Logic suggests that it should be a bit higher than for a 1NT overcall, if only because the alternative is to double and, if partner responds with a Lebensohl 2NT, to raise to 3NT. Do you really want to be bidding 3NT facing a potential Yarborough with an 18-count? This North hand is probably about a maximum for 2NT. The South hand is not that far from a quantitative raise to 4NT, but not quite good enough. As is often the case when both players have a bit to spare, the Canadians found themselves in game rather than a good slam. Both 6♦ and 6NT (or 6♣ for that matter) all simply need the club suit to play for three tricks – decent odds, for sure. 

Quite why L’Ecuyer thought he should cash all of his major-suit winners before knocking out the defenders’ club stopper, I have no idea. The result, though, was that he ended up with just the 11 top tricks with which he began: N/S +660. 

For the Canadians, Fergani had to start with a Multi rather than a natural weak two. This gives the defenders a major advantage, as they have a number of additional sequences, and thus more defined point ranges. Over a Multi, North can afford to double on this 19-21 range, because the odds are that either East or South will bid a major, allowing him to then bid 2NT to show a hand a bit too strong for a direct 2NT overcall, which is exactly what he had here. Fourcaudot bid a ‘pass-or-correct’ 2♥ on the East cards and Ilan Herbst jumped to 3NT. Ophir now had an easy raise to slam, although he might perhaps have investigated alternative strains on the way. As it happened, there was no need, as no-trumps was as playable as any other slam.  

Declarer had no problem picking up the clubs and, indeed, he might even have made an overtrick as the cards lay. Herbst settled for 12 tricks, though: N/S +1440 and 13 IMPs to ISRAEL, pulling away now. 

Our final deal did not produce a big swing and there were no sexy contracts. How often does a soccer player meet a volley so perfectly that it flies 20 yards into the top corner of the goal, unstoppable? If he is lucky, it will occur on a Saturday afternoon in front of 60,000 with millions watching on “Match of the Day”, and he wins “Goal of the Season”. It is more likely, though, that he will do it on a chilly Wednesday morning on a training ground on the outskirts of Nottingham, and that no one other than he, the goalkeeper the ball flies past, and perhaps one man and his dog watching from the sidelines, will know just how well he connected with the ball.  

Similarly, really good declarer play does not always happen in 6NT-XX. Sometimes, as in this match, declarer is in a lowly partscore contract that my fellow scribe David Bird would refuse to write up just on principle. However, I felt that the play by Canada’s Zygmunt Marcinski deserved to be recognized for what it was – excellent! 

Nothing very interesting here. Declarer made seven tricks: N/S +80. 

Zygmunt Marcinski made his debut in the Canadian team in 2016, reaching the quarter-final stage of the Open Olympiad at the World Bridge Games in Wroclaw, Poland.  

South had no natural club bid available on the first round. West’s 2♦ was a weak jump shift in one of the majors, and East’s 2♥ was pass-or-correct. Now, South could bid clubs naturally, and Marcinski duly did so. 

Had Levin led a spade, or a diamond to his partner (who could then switch to spades while the hearts were still blocked), there would have been no story, as the defenders would have five or more winners (one spade, two diamonds and at least two trumps). Fortunately for those watching on BBO VuGraph and the rest of us, though, West kicked off with a heart. Declarer won with the ♥A, laid down the ♣A to get the bad news, then crossed to the ♠A and pitched his losing spade on the ♥K. He then set about reducing his trump length by taking a spade ruff in his hand. Marcinski then made the key play of the ♦Q from his hand. What could East do? 

Roll won with the ♦K and played the ♣Q, but declarer allowed him to hold that trick. Now Roll is legitimately endplayed. If he plays a low trump, declarer wins with the ♣10, cashes the ♣K, and exits with a trump, forcing East to concede a trick to the ♦J. At the table, Roll exited with king and another diamond after the ♣Q had won. That did not get him off the hook, though. Declarer played another spade, ruffing low as East shed his remaining diamond. Now Marcinski exited with a low trump, leaving East to lead away from ♣J-9 into his K-10 at trick 12. Nicely played, however lowly the contract: N/S +110 and 1 IMP to CANADA. 

The match finished as a resounding win for the Israelis, and moved them up a place to tenth, just 4 VPs behind 8th-placed USA-1. With eight rounds left, the Israelis still have to play half of their matches against teams ahead of them, but at least they are in there fighting for a place in the knockout stage. For Canada, this loss leaves them more than 50 VPs off the pace, and surely any hope they had of playing late into the competition has now gone. 

We will be back next week with the best of the action from the final stages of the round robin, when we will discover which teams will be advancing to the knockout.