Now on our third visit to Buenos Aires, Argentina, we have reached the concluding rounds of the World Championship qualifiers. These trials are being contested in four categories; Open, Women, Mixed and Seniors. The leading two teams will automatically qualify for a place in their respective World Championship event in Morocco in late Summer.

As usual, we begin with some problems. With only your opponents vulnerable, you are North holding:

Partner’s 2NT opening shows a balanced 18-19. How do you plan the auction?

Next, with only your side vulnerable, you are sitting East with:

What action, if any, do you take?

Next, with only your opponents vulnerable, you hold in the South seat:

What action, if any, do you take?

Finally, with both sides vulnerable, you are West with this collection:

What action, if any, do you take?

While you consider those problems, we start this week’s coverage in Round 7 of the Open event. After six matches, BRAZIL top the table, closely followed by the two teams featured on BBO VuGraph in this round, CHILE and COLOMBIA.

The Chilean auction on this early deal was pedestrian, but practical…

Jack Smith (left) represented Chile at Junior level a handful of times between 2005 and 2008. He was a member of the Chilean Mixed team at the 2022 World Championships in Salsomaggiore.

In the Chilean’s Precision system, South’s 2NT showed 18-19 HCP and, theoretically, balanced. Smith decided that his hand was worth no more than game, so he simply transferred to hearts at the four-level. The club finesse failed but, although hearts split 4-2, the queen coming down meant that there was only one trump to lose. N/S +450.

The Colombians were more ambitious in the replay…

Daniel Cuervo started with 1♠ (silencing East) and his 2♣ rebid was Gazzilli, showing either clubs or any 16+. Juan-Felipe’s artificial 2♦ continuation showed 8+ HCP and forced to game opposite the strong hand. Diamonds were agreed at the four-level and a couple of cue-bids later the partnership arrived in slam. We’ve certainly all made far worse slams than this one.

Jose-Manuel Robles led the ♠K. Declarer won with the ♠A, cashed the ♥K, crossed to his hand with a high trump, and played the ♥A, dropping East’s queen. Ruffing a heart high and then drawing trumps ending in hand would have given declarer twelve tricks had the trumps split 3-2. However, with diamonds breaking 4-1, West’s trump intermediates were good enough to ensure him a trump winner. With the club finesse also failing, declarer ended three down: N/S -150 and 12 IMPs to CHILE.

CHILE won a fairly high-scoring match 59-30, consolidating their second-place position behind BRAZIL with just three rounds left to play. In Round 8, CHILE took on third-placed ARGENTINA. This deal looked like a dull game, but strange things often happen at the bridge table…

Marcelo Caracci (right) made his international debut as a member of the Chilean team at the 1996 World Team Olympiad, and he has now been a regular member of his national team for more than a quarter of a century. In recent years, he has also played in his country’s Mixed and Senior teams.

The auction at this table could not have been more routine. Caracci opened 1NT in third seat and soon found himself in 4♠ after a Stayman auction. The defence started with two rounds of clubs, Caracci ruffing in dummy. He then successfully ran the ♠8. The ♠10 came next, overtaken with the jack, and declarer’s last club was ruffed with the ♠K. A diamond to hand allowed declarer to draw South’s last trump, and Caracci eventually took the diamond finesse for his twelfth trick. E/W +680 looked like at most an overtrick IMP for the Chileans.

In the replay, the Chilean North posed the second of this week’s problems.

Here, too, West opened a 15-17 1NT in third seat. However, Gonzalo Guridi was not prepared to go quietly and he essayed a pre-emptive 3♣ overcall on the North hand, leaving Julio Alfonsin with the second of this week’s problems.

It looks as if East has a routine takeout double of 3♣ which would, presumably, have led to something close to a flat board in 4♠. The only reasonable explanation for Alfonsin’s gambling 3NT bid is that the partnership were playing penalty doubles in this situation. On grounds of frequency, this is surely a mistake. On many hands where you might want to make a penalty double, you will often do just as well by bidding 3NT anyway. On hands such as this East hand, you are totally screwed if you do not have a takeout double available. If you play penalty doubles here, consider discussing a change of agreement with your regular partner.

The play in 3NT did not take long. The defenders quickly cashed their six club winners and declarer claimed the rest: E/W -200 and 13 IMPs to CHILE.

CHILE won the match 47-35. With BRAZIL defeating COLOMBIA by a similar margin, this round served to widen the gap between the top two teams and the chasing pack.

Going into the final match in the Women’s qualifier for the Venice Cup, BRAZIL topped the table with ARGENTINA trailing them by 9 VPs. The two teams met head-on in the final round, with the Argentines needing a 19-IMP win to overtake their opponents at the top of the table. Qualification was not certain, but it would take a big win by CHILE against VENEZUELA, coupled with a blowout in the match between the leaders, for either BRAZIL or ARGENTINA to miss out on a qualifying spot.

For the Brazilians, Paula David opened 3♦ in first seat at ‘green’. Ana-Lia Smalinsky’s vulnerable 4♠ overcall then left Sylvia Mello with the third of this week’s problems. We have discussed the folly of saving on balanced hands many times in this column, as the penalty is often more than you expect. With South’s values facing her partner’s shortage, that would indeed have been the case here – the defenders can score two spades, two hearts, a heart ruff and the ♦A for +800 against 5♦-X. It looked like Mello’s decision to defend was a good one.

She kicked off with two high clubs and then switched to a heart at trick three. Declarer won in hand and could have taken a diamond ruff for an eleventh trick. When she instead opted for ultra-safety by just drawing trumps, she was left with a loser at the end. E/W +620.

Maria Garateguy (left) has been a regular member of the Argentine Women’s team since making her debut at the 2000 Venice Cup.

At this table, Maria-Elena Iacapraro’s 2♠ opening showed a three-level pre-empt in either minor. After East’s 4♠ overcall, Garateguy was thus in a similar position to her counterpart in the other room, but with the added possibility that her partner’s suit was clubs.

Perhaps tempted by the allure of clubs, Garateguy pressed on to the five-level with a pass-or-correct 5♣. Either of the Brazilians might have doubled 5♦ but, when neither did so, Iacapraro was left in the satisfying position of playing for undertricks at a cost of only 50 each.

The defence started with two high spades. Lucia Doria then continued with a third spade, presumably hoping to promote a trump trick in her partner. This allowed declarer to ruff with the ♦Q and discard two hearts on dummy’s high clubs. Not only had the defenders heart ruff now disappeared, but so too had one of their high-card tricks in the suit. E/W +100 and 11 IMPs to ARGENTINA.

How many IMPs did the Argentines need to win by in order to snatch bragging rights from the Brazilians? 19. When the scores were tallied, ARGENTINA had won the match by a score of 37-19.

BRAZIL had held on their place at the top the table with 115.89 VPs, ARGENTINA finishing with 115.85 VPs. Both qualified comfortably for a place in the Venice Cup, with CHILE (105.2 VPs) well behind in third place.

Round 9 also the ended the round robin stage in both the Seniors and the Mixed. In the Seniors, ARGENTINA finished comfortable winners with 121.2 VPs, whilst COLOMBIA (98.9 VPs) edged out BRAZIL (89.47 VPs) for the second place in that category. ARGENTINA (119.41 VPs) also claimed top spot in the Mixed event. Here, too, it was COLOMBIA (104.05) who also qualified, with BRAZIL (88.84) missing out.

Because of the number of teams contesting the Bermuda Bowl berths, there was a tenth round in the Open event. As in the Women’s event, the top two teams were also meeting head-on in the final round here. With ARGENTINA more than 16 VPs behind second place, qualification for the top two teams was virtually assured. The final match would be only for bragging rights, and it was close. BRAZIL went in with 110.77 VP and CHILE with 107.78, so a single-figure win for the Chileans would see them claim first place.

With four boards remaining in the match, CHILE had their noses just in front, 28-26, but BRAZIL were just still clinging to the top spot. Both West players then had to answer a variation of the final bidding problem posed at the top of this article.

Marco Toma advanced with 2NT on the West hand, showing his invitational values and the overall balanced nature of his hand. When Jose-Manuel Robles then competed to 3♠, neither of the Brazilians had anything further to add to what they had already said. There were three minor-suit losers and one heart on top. Declarer could either ruff his third heart or pick up the trumps, but not both, so he finished one down. E/W +100.

Francisca Nacrur (right) made her international debut in Chile’s Under-26 Women’s team at the 2015 World Youth Championships. She has twice just missed out on a medal in the same event, Chile finishing fourth in 2017 and fifth in 2019.

After effectively the same start to the auction on this deal, Nacrur adopted a two-step approach. She first settled for a competitive 2♥ but, when North’s 2♠ came back to her, she backed in, showing her clubs at the three-level. Gonzalo Guridi was sufficiently encouraged by news of the double fit to jump to game in hearts.

A club lead would have enabled the defenders to score a ruff, but Mauricio Figueiredo had no reason not to lead his partner’s suit. Declarer won the diamond opening, knocked out the ♥A, and was soon claiming eleven tricks. E/W +650 and 11 IMPs to CHILE, moving them up into the top spot with three boards to play.

In fact, CHILE picked up another game swing on the final board of the match to win 49-26 and thus claim the title of South American champions with 123.34 VPs. Francisca Nacrur may well be the only woman, and perhaps also the youngest player, in the 2023 Bermuda Bowl field. BRAZIL (115.21 VPs) will also be representing South America in Morocco, with ARGENTINA (101.04 VPs) missing out.

We will be back soon with more action from Buenos Aires, as many of the world’s best players line up to contest the South American Transnational Teams.