This week, we are ‘down under’ for the final stage of the trials to select the Australian Open team for the 2023 Bermuda Bowl in Morocco. Seven teams began the journey with one, HANS, seeded through to the semi-final stage. In the first round of 120-board matches, DALLEY was the only one of the three favoured teams to win, and they did so with a convincing 74-IMP victory over FRAZER. In the semi-finals, HANS and DALLEY both started with a 0.1-IMP advantage. After 60 boards, HANS led ASHTON by 10 IMPs (135-125) whilst DALLEY trailed by 25 (142-118) against LORENTZ. In the second half, HANS powered away, winning three of the last four sets to run out 60-IMP winners (258-198). In the other match, the underdogs still led by 13 IMPs with two sets to play, but a big seventh stanza from DALLEY saw them steam ahead to a 26-IMP win (273-247).

The final, over 120 boards, would be HANS (Sartaj Hans/Peter Gill, James Coutts/Liam Milne and Shane Harrison/Andy Hung) against DALLEY (Paul Dalley/Tony Nunn, Tony Leibowitz/Paul Gosney and Robert Fruewirth/Jamie Thompson).

A usual, we start with some problems for you. With both sides vulnerable, you are East holding:

What action, if any, do you take?

Next, a lead problem. Sitting East, you hear this unusual auction:

What do you lead?

Finally, with only the opponents vulnerable, you hold the East cards in this situation:

What action, if any, do you take?

While you ponder those, we start in an opening set that had nine flat boards and five small swings. However, the fifteenth board produced what looks like a major misunderstanding by a couple of Australia’s most experienced players. The first table was also not without interest:

James Coutts found the best lead for the defence, a club covered by queen and king. Declarer ducked his ♣A twice, and Liam Milne then switched to the ♠Q, declarer winning with the ace. (If you are going to switch to a spade, perhaps the low one is better?) Of course, declarer can always make nine tricks by taking a double diamond finesse. However, Tony Leibowitz (left) understandably played diamonds from the top, and South was in with the ♦Q. When Coutts exited with a low spade, declarer won cheaply in dummy and thus had nine tricks by simply playing a heart. E/W +600.

Yes, declarer can always make three spade tricks by playing ace, king and third round of spades towards the ten. However, note how much more difficult the contract becomes if either defender plays a third round of clubs… For a start, what does declarer throw from dummy?

As it turned out, events in this room became almost irrelevant when East failed to interpret his partner’s intentions on the first of this week’s problem hands:

Sartaj Hans has been a regular member of the Australian Open team since making his debut at the 2004 Olympiad. He was also part of the ‘OZ OPEN’ team that collected silver medals at the 2011 World Transnational Teams in Veldhoven. That team also included two members of the opposition team in this final, Tony Nunn and John Gosney. Peter Gill has been around for even longer, having made his first appearance in the national Open team at the Seattle Olympiad in 1984. So, no lack of experience there, then.

In this not so uncommon auction, North doubles Stayman. What do East’s various actions mean? For me, opener bids a major if he has one, bids 2♦ to show diamonds, redoubles to show good clubs, and passes with all other hands. If the double is passed around to West, what should a redouble then mean? Does it ask for a club stopper for no-trumps, perhaps? Or does it show clubs and an interest in playing here? It would seem that this very experienced pair had not discussed this situation, with disastrous results. It might be worth finding out what you regular partner would make of West’s redouble before you spring it on him at the table.

2♣-XX did not play well for declarer. He managed just six tricks: E/W -1000 and a huge 18 IMPs to DALLEY, who won the first stanza 21-11. When the second set got underway, it quickly became apparent which way the wind was blowing.

Shane Harrison started with a weak 1NT opening on the West hand. Paul Dalley’s 2♣ overcall showed both majors and Tony Nunn’s jump to 4♠ ended a brisk auction. Shane Harrison led a top club and his trump switch then saved a guess in that suit. With the ♥K offside, there was still a heart to lose, but that was all: N/S +650.

John Paul Gosney (right) began with a natural 1♣ and, here too, North overcalled showing both majors. Tony Leibowitz now found the key bid, stretching to 2♥, showing an invitational or better club raise. James Coutts jumped to 4♠ on the South cards, but the damage had already been done.

South clearly cannot bid a fifth spade over West’s 5♣, but perhaps Milne might have done so on the North cards. Failing that, someone needs to find a double rather than let West go down in 50s.

The defence also managed to drop a trick: North led a spade to his partner’s ace and won the spade return. However, North’s trump switch put paid to the defenders’ diamond ruff, so declarer just had two more aces to lose. N/S +100 and 11 IMPs to DALLEY to open the second stanza.

Those watching live in BBO VuGraph did not have to wait long for the next firecracker. I could have presented this deal as a bidding problem from the point of view of either North or South but, instead, I gave you East’s lead problem.

I would guess that the question most of you pondered was whether to lead a club or a heart. Congratulations therefore to anyone who chose a trump, which was the only way to defeat 5♦. On Andy Hung’s club lead, declarer was able to ruff two hearts in dummy and claim 11 tricks, losing a trick in each major at the end. N/S +400.

I have to say that I think Paul Dalley’s jump to 5♦ at the other table rather bizarre. I suspect that if the North hand was presented to the BBO bidding panel, we would achieve close to unanimity, with everyone looking at nine solid tricks and jumping to 3NT, as Liam Milne (left) did.

The question then becomes whether James Coutts should pass, or ‘correct’ to game in his six-card spade suit. Bidding certainly turned out to be a disastrous move on this layout: Milne had to retreat to 4NT, where he still had only the nine obvious tricks. N/S -50 and 10 IMPs to DALLEY.

DALLEY won the second stanza 50-5 to lead by 71-16 after two of the eight stanzas. The third set was fairly flat, DALLEY adding 6 IMPs to their lead, but the final stanza of the first day’s play finally saw a fightback from the pre-tournament favourites.

North/South judged well in that they can make only nine tricks in spades, so they stopped short of game. I am far from convinced about the 3♥ bid by West. After all, other than one extra heart in a fairly modest suit, what else does he have other than a minimum opening bid. Does not taking a free bid at the three-level after partner’s 1NT response look like a massive over-exaggeration of the hand’s worth? It would seem that Andy Hung was also expecting a better hand opposite too, as he now chose to introduce his suit at the four-level. As it happened, 4♣ was a good save against conceding -140 in 3♠. Declarer made nine tricks in clubs: N/S +50.

At the other table, you could conclude that N/S judged the hand less well than their counterparts, or you could say that they applied maximum pressure on their opponents. The upshot was that Tony Leibowitz was faced with the last of this week’s problems.

After the same start, Liam Milne jumped to 4♠ on the North hand. At this table, West had also made the 3♥ overbid, but here it really came back to haunt him as Leibowitz decided to bid again over 4♠. He could have saved one doubled undertrick had he chosen to play in his own seven-card suit, but he assumed that a doubleton-king would be more than adequate support in the face of his partner’s 3♥ bid.

Milne led his singleton club against 5♥-X. He subsequently regained the lead with the ♥A and put his partner in with a high spade to get his club ruff. A second spade winner and the ♦A gave the defenders five tricks. N/S +500 and 10 IMPs to HANS.

HANS won the final set of the first day by 27 IMPs (64-37), wiping out almost half of the deficit. At the end of the day, and at the midway point in the final, DALLEY led by 34 IMPs (155-121). There would be another 60 boards to decide which team would be taking the Road to Morocco.

We will be back soon with the best of the action from the second half of this final.