ORBIS WORLD BRIDGE CHAMPIONSHIPS DAILY NEWS JANUARY 7-21 BERMUDA 2000 JEAN PAUL MEYER, CO-ORDINATOR / MARK HORTON, EDITOR BRENT MANLEY & BRIAN SENIOR, ASSISTANT EDITORS JUDE GOODWIN-HANSON, TEXT LAYOUT EDITOR ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Issue: 3 Monday, 10 January 2000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Poland & Indonesia set the pace Orbis Bermuda Bowl Poland, averaging over 82%, enjoy a two-point lead from second placed Indonesia as we go into day three of the Orbis Bermuda Bowl. These two teams have a useful lead over third-placed USA 1 and fourth-placed Brazil. It is quite a surprise to see that both USA 2 and the holders, France, are currently outside the all-important top eight. As the forecasts start to come in from the armchair punters, the nail biting is already well under way, even though there are still thirteen rounds to go. USA 1 are Awesome Orbis Venice Cup If Poland's score is impressive, then how about the performance of USA 1 in the Orbis Venice Cup? They have a massive 92% total of 138 VP, but that is only 5VP ahead of second placed Denmark. They are hotly pursued by two more of the top European teams, Austria & Germany. Here also, two of the favourites, China and Great Britain are off the pace, but they have plenty of time to recover. As in the Bowl, we expect little to be decided until the last day of the round robin. North America on top Seniors Exhibition Event North America, averaging 73%, lead the way, with France just 1.5VP behind. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The FACTS, please I think all bridge players are aware that "DIRECTORS TO DECIDE CLOSE BERMUDA-NETHERLANDS MATCH" is inaccurate and could be misleading. The scores achieved by the play ers decide the matches. Tournament Staff assist by checking scores, collecting results, publishing standings, and a myriad of other details. When there are discrepancies, Tournament Directors help to "get it right." It is part of their job. The problem in the scoring of the Bermuda-Netherlands match was resolved in a routine manner. That requires talking to the players, captains, scorers, etc. Fairness clearly requires that both sides are heard from before changes are made. The immediate agreement of the Netherlands captain in the morning was of course forthcoming. That is all that was involved. Any other implications or suggestions which that article may have engendered are unfortunate. In my opinion, the headlining of this routine occurrence on page one makes a "Mountain out of a Molehill." The Code of Practice adopted by the WBF in Lausanne has placed an increased responsibility on Tournament Directors to rule the game fairly, competently, and in a timely fashion. We are well on the way toward improving our tournaments in all aspects, but in handling scoring corrections we've been there for a long time. William J. Schoder Chief Tournament Director ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The Nightwatch We are sure you are all enjoying the fantastic VuGraph that is in use here. On Friday evening, following the opening ceremony, Bernard Delange, Paul Binisti, Bernadette Pasquier, Claude Dadoun & Jean-Claude Beineix worked through the night to ensure that the first match could be presented. Bravo! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Orbis Bermuda Bowl - Round 2 Sweden v China The secondVuGraph match of the opening day featured two teams expected to survive the round robin phase of the Orbis Bermuda Bowl. It was a real nip and tuck affair, with the lead changing hand several times. We managed to catch some of the action around the middle of the match. When the music stopped, Sweden had recorded a narrow victory, 16-14VP. The first board we feature showed how the standards for an opening bid have fallen in recent years, well at least in Sweden. Board 9. Dealer North. S A T 8 7 6 3 H 9 6 D Q 9 3 2 C Q S 9 4 S K J 2 H A 7 5 H J T 8 3 D T 8 4 D A K J 6 5 C K 8 4 3 2 C T S Q 5 H K Q 4 2 D 7 C A J 9 7 6 5 Open Room West North East South Fredin Ju Lindkvist Fu - 2D Dble Redble Pass 2S Pass Pass 3C Pass 3D All Pass The cards were lying well for declarer, and he had no real problem in arriving at nine tricks to record +1T. Closed Room West North East South Yang Andersson Cao Gulberg - 1S Pass 1NT Pass 2C Dble All Pass North's emaciated opening bid was according to system, and the response was a transfer to clubs. That must have been just what North was hoping for, especially when East joined in with a double! It reminded one of the old Russian proverb, 'He who sows the wind reaps the whirlwind'. North had nowhere to go, but South's club pips were to prove useful, and prevented a major loss. The opening lead of the ten of clubs was allowed to run to declarer's queen, and West also ducked the next trick, when declarer played a heart to the king. The seven of diamonds went to the jack, and East played the jack of hearts. Declarer elected to cover that with the queen, andWest won and switched to the nine of spades. Declarer went up with the ace, and ruffed a diamond. That left the CAJ97 in dummy, andWest could not avoid being end-played later on to give declarer seven tricks and a flat board. Board T. Dealer EastAll. S A J T 7 5 H Q 8 2 D - - C Q T 7 5 2 S Q 6 4 2 S K 3 H 9 6 H A K J 3 D K Q J 6 5 D 3 2 C 9 3 C A K 8 6 4 S 9 8 H T 7 5 4 D A T 9 8 7 4 C J Open Room West North East South Fredin Ju Lindkvist Fu - - 1C Pass 1H 1S 2C Pass 2D Pass 2H Pass 2NT Pass 3NT All Pass After the strong club and value showing response North was able to get his spade suit into the game, but it did not prevent East-West from getting to 3NT. North led the ten of spades, and declarer went up with the king and played a diamond. It was perfectly reasonable for South to go up with the ace and play a second spade, hoping that North had started with a six-card suit, but here it meant declarer had a simple route to nine tricks. It looks as if withholding the ace of diamonds will make life difficult for declarer, but there are several ways in which the contract can be made. One is to take the heart finesse and then play a spade, cutting communications between North and South. Declarer cannot be prevented from scoring nine tricks, most likely via one spade, three hearts, three diamonds and two clubs. The double dummy program, 'Deep Finesse' has confirmed that the contract cannot be beaten, but that does not mean declarer cannot go down! In the match between Denmark, the runaway leaders in the Venice Cup, and India, Charlotte Koch-Palmund and Bettina Kalkerup found a way to exploit a slight mistake by declarer. The opening lead was the ten of spades, ducked all round. North played a second spade to dummy's king, and declarer played a diamond to the queen. Now came a club to the king and a second diamond. Charlotte went in with the ace and gave declarer a little gift by exiting with a heart. That went to the nine, queen and king. We all know to be careful about Greeks bearing gifts, but clearly we must now add the dangerous Danes to this list. Declarer, seeing no danger, cashed her second top club. South made a second, and more spectacular gift to her opponent by discarding a heart! Now she could no longer be endplayed, Closed Room West North East South Yang Andersson Cao Gulberg - - 1C 1D Pass 1S Dble Pass 3NT All Pass The play to the first few tricks followed that in the Open Room, and when South again went up with the ace of diamonds, declarer was a heavy favourite to make. South played the eight of spades, and when that held the trick he played another diamond. Declarer won and cashed a second trick in the suit before taking the heart finesse. He was clearly annoyed that he had not cashed his third diamond winner and he failed to see that he had a winning line by cashing his top hearts, followed by the ace of clubs and a low club. That would force North to lead into the club tenace. Whatever, that was 12 IMPs to Sweden. Board 11. Dealer South. S A 6 3 2 H 8 2 D 9 C Q J 9 5 4 2 S Q 8 S J 9 4 H Q 9 5 H A J T 7 6 D Q J 7 3 D K T 2 C A T 8 7 C 6 3 S K T 7 5 H K 4 3 D A 8 6 5 4 C K Open Room West North East South Fredin Ju Lindkvist Fu - - - 1D Pass 1S Pass 2S Pass 3C Pass 4S All Pass Would you rate that North hand as being worth a game try? As Eric Kokish pointed out, the North hand is potentially good if a 4-4 spade fit exists, but even so, the singleton king of clubs was a huge card. The opening lead was the six of clubs. West can make life difficult, although not impossible, by withholding the ace of clubs, but that is a hard play to find! Declarer had no problems in arriving at ten Closed Room West North East South Yang Andersson Cao Gulberg - - - 1C Pass 1S Pass 2S All Pass Aside from the Swedish style opening bid that was an auction you would expect to see reproduced all around the room. The same ten tricks, but 6 IMPs to China. Board 14. N/S Game Dealer West. S A 8 H K 8 D J 4 2 C A K J T 6 5 S T 9 3 S K Q 6 2 H Q J 9 3 2 H T 7 5 D K 5 D T 9 7 6 C Q 8 2 C 7 4 S J 7 5 4 H A 6 4 D A Q 8 3 C 9 3 Open Room West North East South Fredin Ju Lindkvist Fu - - Pass 1D 1H 2C Pass 2NT Pass 3NT All Pass West led the two of hearts, and declarer ran it round to his ace and ran the nine of clubs. It was not difficult now to arrive at 12 tricks, East being unable to stand the pressure exerted by the club Closed Room West North East South Yang Andersson Cao Gulberg - - Pass Pass Pass 1NT Pass 2C Pass 2D Pass 3NT All Pass The same contract, but with North as declarer. East led the ten of diamonds and North had a problem. He knew that the technical line was to go up with the ace of diamonds and play on clubs, ensuring nine tricks. However, it would only be wrong to play low if West could win the king of diamonds and switch to a spade from say SQT62. That would put the contract under threat if East held the guarded queen of clubs. Against that, West would have to find the switch and these overtrick IMPs can add up quite quickly. When declarer played low, he had calculated the risks involved. West won and switched to a heart. The same twelve tricks were recorded. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Polish Open Team by W. Siwiec Krzysztof Jassem lives in Poznan. He is a 34 year old doctor of mathematics and computer science and a specialist in the field of artificial intelligence(!). He is a research worker at the University of Adam Mickiewicz in Poznan. Krzysztof has collected numerous Polish Championship titles, which he has won for the following bridge clubs: Budowlani Poznan, Czarni Slupsk, Silesia Gliwice and Unia Winkhaus Leszno. He currently represents the last of the four, together with his partner Piotr Tuszynski and Jacek Pszczola with Michal Kwiecien. His biggest international achievement was coming second in the World Transnational Open Teams in Hammamet in 1997. He made his debut in Polish national team in the European Open Teams Championship in Malta in 1999. With his partner Piotr Tuszynski he was the best Polish pair in the Butler scoring. Poland finished sixth which granted them the last qualifying place for Bermuda Bowl 2000. For the past few years Krzysztos has been a successful bridge journalist. Apolinary Kowalski, 51 year old chemistry engineer from Warsaw and a bridge professional. He plays for the bridge club Relpol Warszawa. Winner of numerous Polish Championship titles and international pairs and team tournaments, he represented Poland in many national events. His major international achievement is winning the World Mixed Pairs Championship in Albuquerque in 1994 (with Danuta Hocheker). He was fourth in the World Open Pairs Championship in Albuquerque (with Jacek Romanski) and won silvers in the European Open Teams Championship in Montecatini in 1997 and in the World Individual Masters in Ajaccio in 1998 (after Paul Chemla). Recently he won a bronze medal in the European Open Pairs Championship in Warsaw (March 1999). He has enjoyed his partnership with Jacek Romanski for almost nine years now. Michal Kwiecien, 42 year old car engineer from Lublin and a businessman. Bridge club -- Unia Winkhaus Leszno. Biggest wins: first place in the World Open Pairs Championship in Lille 1998, second place in the European Open Teams Championship in Montecatini 1997, third place in the World Transnational Open Teams in Hammamet in 1997 (all of them with Jacek Pszczola). He also won gold in the European Junior Teams Championship in Salsomaggiore in 1982 (with his former partner Marek Wojcicki). Numerous titles of Polish Champion (also in Juniors), winner of Polish and international tournaments. He has played with Jacek Pszczola for 7 years now. Jacek Pszczola, the youngest player in the Polish squad, is a 32 year old mining machines engineer from Lublin and a businessman. Bridge club -- UniaWinkhaus Leszno. Being a former Polish Junior Champion,he recently won for his first titles in the open category. Best achievements: the World Open Pairs Championship in Lille 1998, second place in the European Open Teams Championship in Montecatini in 1997, third place in the World Transnational Open Teams in Hammamet in 1997. He also won the prestigious Polish bridge event -- Festiwal Solidarnosci in Slupsk in 1995. Lately during the Fall North American Bridge Championships in Boston he made a successful debut in America. Jacek has partnered Michal Kwiecien for seven years. Jacek Romanski is a 49 year old lawyer from Lublin and a professional bridge player. Bridge club - Relpol Warszawa. Jacek has collected numerous national titles, and has represented Poland in many events. His biggest international achievements are: first place in the Bridge Olympiad in Seattle in 1984 (with Piotr Tuszynski), fourth place in the World Open Pairs Championship in Albuquerque in 1994, second place in the European Open Teams Championship in Montecatini in 1998, recently, third place in the European Open Pairs Championship in Warsaw in 1999. He played in all of those with his current partner for almost nine years now -- Apolinary Kowalski. Piotr Tuszynski, is a 44 year old railway transport engineer from Warsaw. Winner of multiple Polish championships, he has represented his country in numerous international events. He has also won many national and international tournaments. His biggest achievements are: winning the Bridge Olympiad in Seattle in 1984 (with Jacek Romanski), silver medals in the World Transnational Open Teams in Hammamet in 1997 (with Krzysztof Jassem) and in the European Junior Pairs Championship in Monte Carlo in 1980 (with Piotr Gawrys). Currently he forms a partnership with Krzysztof Jassem. Jan Rogowski is the non-playing captain of the Polish team. He is a 50 year old doctor of agricultural science and a research worker at the Warminsko-Mazurski University in Olsztyn. He is also a vice-chairman of the Polish Bridge Federation. His assistant is Wojciech Siwiec, a 46 years old chemistry engineer fromWarsaw who is a bridge expert and a professional bridge journalist, the editor of Przeglad Brydzowy, the official Polish Bridge Union magazine. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Back to the Future It took five years for the Bermuda Bowl to leave North America for Europe. That must have been a bitter pill to swallow, especially as the defeat took place on home ground. 5th Bermuda Bowl 1955 - NewYork, USA The Bermuda Bowl crossed the Atlantic for the first time in 1955 after four consecutive North American victories. Great Britain defeated the North American defenders by 5420 points. The week-long contest totalling 224 hands was played in January at the Beekman Hotel in NewYork City. The members of the victorious British team were Terence Reese, Boris Schapiro, Kenneth Konstam, Leslie Dodds, Adam Meredith and Jordanis Pavlides, with Reginald Corwen as non-playing captain. Representing North America were Lew Mathe, Bill Rosen, Milton Ellenby, Clifford Bishop, John Moran and Al Roth, with Peter Leventritt as npc. Spectators vied for the free tickets to the Open Room since the Closed Room was really closed - only the players, the director and the official recorder were allowed to enter. Only about 60 spectators could be accommodated on the stepped platform surrounding the table in the Open Room. Britain earned the right to play in the Bermuda Bowl by winning the 15-nation European Championship at Montreux in September 1954. Basically the same team defeated the 1954 world champions from North America in an exhibition match held in London the previous February. The teams certainly had different basic ideas about bidding. The British were by far the more aggressive. They were not limited to certain basic point counts for opening bids. If the shape was right, they would open 11-point and T-point hands, much like most of today's experts. They didn't worry about the preparedness principle - they opened the bidding anyway and let the future take care of itself. The British also psyched with respect to suit lengths. Meredith in particular liked to use the One Spade psyche - he felt such a bid had tremendous pre-emptive value. In contrast, the North Americans liked to have solid values for their opening bids. However, they matched the British in their use of psychic bids. This is one area where expert bidding has changed radically over the years - today's world-class players rarely psyche. The tournament was notable in that not a single appeal was filed. Alphonse Moyse noted, 'In the history of bridge there has probably never been a match more notable for ethics, sportsmanship and friendliness." One incident calls for special mention. Roth picked up a hand and immediately called the director. 'I've played this hand before," he told Al Sobel. Sobel told him that was impossible and instructed him to continue play. Roth insisted he had played it before, then left the table and went over to a corner. He proceeded to write all four hands and give the paper to Sobel. 'Check it out,' he said. Sobel did so and discovered that Roth was absolutely correct. The hand had been played a few days before. Again, the scoring reverted to the American total points method. Great Britain got off to a fast start in the first session, scoring a net gain of 2870 points. Board 11. Dealer West. S Q 4 H J 8 4 3 D J 8 6 2 C Q 9 2 S 7 5 S 9 2 H K 5 H A Q 7 6 2 D K Q 9 7 5 4 D A T 3 C T 7 3 C K 8 5 S A K J T 8 6 3 H T 9 D - - C A J 6 4 West North East South Reese Rosen Schapiro Mathe Pass Pass 1NT Dble 2NT Pass Pass 3S All Pass West North East South Ellenby Meredith Bishop Konstam Pass Pass 1H 4S Dble All Pass Why did Mathe/Rosen miss game? If Mathe needed only the little that North could supply, it seems he might well have jumped to Four Spades. Of course the British didn't make it easy. Schapiro opened One No Trump (weak) despite a worthless spade doubleton and Reese co-operated by raising to Two NoTrump with only 8 HCP after the double. Note that North/South could have taken the first nine tricks against no trump. The point is that nothing happened to East/West. It may be that in bridge, too, the thing we have most to fear is fear itself. Even with honours North America earned a mere 270 points on the deal. In the other room, Britain scored 690 points for a 420-point gain. Board 13. Dealer NorthAll. S K Q J 6 5 2 H Q 6 5 D 4 2 C K 3 S A 7 4 S T 9 3 H A 7 4 H K D T 8 5 D K J 6 C Q 6 5 2 C A J T 9 7 4 S 8 H J T 9 8 3 2 D A Q 9 7 3 C 8 West North East South Meredith Bishop Konstam Ellenby - 1S 2C 2H 2NT Pass Pass 3D Pass 3H Pass 4H All Pass With the club king right, East/West had nine cold tricks in no trumps. Neither pair reached that optimum spot. Rosen and Mathe managed to steal the contract at Three Clubs, making Four. Bishop/Ellenby, North/South in the other room, brought off a considerably bigger steal by reaching and making Four Hearts. Many of the opening leads made by the British players surprised the North American players - they had never seen such precision. However, that wasn't true of Meredith on this deal - he led the spade four and gave declarer the otherwise unmakable contract. By the end of the next day, North America had cut the British lead to 1620 points. The host team had had a chance to learn something about the bidding styles of their opponents and thus appeared more capable of coping. The most interesting event of the day took place when exactly the same hand was dealt out both in the afternoon and the evening session. The odds against this happening by chance are 53,644,737,765,488,792,839,237,439,999 to 1. There is good reason to believe, however, that both hands were inadvertently dealt from an unshuffled and uncut new deck of cards. The roof fell in on the North Americans on Board 25 as aggressive British bidding forced Roth to make a decision at a very high level. Board 25. N/S Game Dealer West. S A K Q 9 5 H K Q T 6 D 2 C K T 7 S 4 2 S J T 8 7 6 3 H 7 H 9 5 3 D K T 9 8 5 4 3 D Q J 6 C Q 8 6 C A S - - H A J 8 4 2 D A 7 C J 9 5 4 3 2 West North East South Schapiro Ellenby Reese Roth 3D Dble 4D 6C All Pass Schapiro led his singleton heart, and got a ruff when Reese won his trump ace. Roth had other options over Four Diamonds, but was forced to make a bid with just about no room to spare. He could have cuebid Five Diamonds or jumped to Five Hearts. However, Six Clubs was not a bad bid - it just didn't work because of the heart singleton. Six Hearts is best but, on a different lie, could have gone down on a club West North East South Mathe Konstam Moran Meredith Pass 1S Pass 2H Pass 4H Pass 6H All Pass The British had far more room to search for the best spot - there was no opposition bidding. After the session, Mathe was the first to criticize himself for failing to preempt. Of course the play wasn't all that easy in Six Hearts. Meredith won the opening diamond lead, cashed two trumps, then ran three spades, discarding clubs. He then drew the last trump, ruffed the diamond, ruffed a spade and let the jack of clubs ride. The swing to Great Britain was 1530 points. In the Wednesday session, North America gained 500 points, reducing the British lead to 1120. The following day Britain gained 120 points, bringing the lead up to 1240 points at the end of 144 boards. Then North America staged a comeback. They picked up 760 points on this deal: Board 117. N/S Game Dealer South. S A T 9 6 H J T 8 7 5 D 8 3 C Q 7 S J 7 3 S Q 8 4 2 H 9 4 3 H Q 6 2 D K 5 D Q 6 4 C T 8 6 5 3 C K 9 2 S K 5 H A K D A J T 9 7 2 C A J 4 With East/West silent in both rooms, Schapiro and Mathe both landed in Three No Trump, and both received the club five opening lead. Mathe put up the club queen and captured the king. He led a low spade to dummy's ace and returned a diamond, putting in the seven, the key play. Dodds took the trick and returned the spade seven to the ten, queen and king. Mathe then laid down the ace and another diamond, and when the return was a club, Mathe had ten sure tricks. He actually wound up with eleven when the adverse discarding became a little confused. Schapiro took a different view, with dire effect. He ducked the club king, won the club continuation, and cashed the ace-king of hearts - clearly not the best move. This set up a heart trick for the enemy, and Ellenby and Rosen took full advantage of their chance, Schapiro was now living on borrowed time. When he went to the ace of spades and returned a diamond, finessing, Ellenby led the heart nine and Rosen returned a low spade, driving out South's king. Then Rosen had to get a diamond trick and the spade queen; down one. At the end of this session the match was an exact tie. Effectively the teams were starting from scratch with the final 80 boards to decide the world champion. At half-time on Thursday, North America led by 260 points. This was the first and only time they led in the match. Britain snapped back in the second half of the afternoon session, leading by 780 points by the dinner interval. In the evening session, the British picked up an additional 30T points, bringing their lead up to 3790 points with only 32 boards left to be played. Here are two of the more interesting boards from that last set. Board 144. N/S Game Dealer North. S 6 4 3 H K 7 2 D T 4 C K J 8 6 3 S A Q T 5 2 S K J 9 8 7 H Q T 9 8 5 3 H 6 D 3 D K J 9 8 5 2 C 7 C 9 S - - H A J 4 D A Q 7 6 C A Q T 5 4 2 In the Open Room, Reese/Schapiro found a sound Six Spade sacrifice (-300) against the Six Club contract reached by Mathe and Moran. West North East South Ellenby Meredith Roth Dodds - Pass Pass 1C 1S 2C 2S 3S 4S 5C 5D 6C Dble All Pass Ellenby confidently led his singleton diamond - but it was misplaced confidence. Roth was annoyed. He said that when Ellenby doubled Six Clubs he was announcing he could beat the slam. Ellenby felt that Roth's Five Diamond bid meant he had the ace, and Ellenby could logically double in the near assurance of a diamond ruff. If the diamond bid didn't mean the ace, only Roth (and one of the opponents) could know it, so it was up to Roth to bail himself out. Most experts agreed with Ellenby's assessment. This deal added quite a dramatic touch, particularly since the match would have been tied at this point except for this 1240-point swing to Britain; Six Spades down 300 in the Open Room, Six Clubs doubled and made for 1540 points in the Closed Room. There was more drama two boards later. Board 146. N/S Game Dealer East. S 9 4 H J 9 5 D A K Q 7 4 3 C J T S T S K 8 5 3 H A 6 4 3 H K Q T 7 D - - D 9 8 C A K Q 8 7 5 4 3 C 9 6 2 S A Q J 7 6 2 H 8 2 D J T 6 5 2 C - - West North East South Reese Mathe Schapiro Moran - - Pass 1S 5C 5D 6C Pass Pass Dble Pass 6D Pass Pass 6H Pass Pass Dble 7C Dble All Pass Moran/Mathe turned in a strong performance here, including the two doubles by Mathe that would have fallen flat if left in but which were all the better for that very fact. The double of Six Clubs couldn't go wrong because Moran couldn't think of standing for it. The double of Six Hearts was a fine idea because the slam would have been ice cold if Schapiro had stood for the double. Obviously he feared a catastrophe, so he ran and that was the real catastrophe; down one for -T0. At the other table, Roth did some brilliantly sneaky bidding, setting up a Six Clubs doubled contract that was worth T90 points; a West North East South Roth Dodds Ellenby Meredith - - Pass 1S 2C 2D Pass 3D 4C 4D 5C 5D 5H Pass Pass Dble 6C Dble All Pass Meredith/Dodds were the first to congratulate Roth for his sneak-up-on-'em tactics, both admitting that they'd been sure he was saving right from the start. In the last session, Britain gained an additional 1630, making the final margin of victory 5420 points. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- OrbisVenice Cup - Round 4 Bermuda v Austria The Sunday morning match between the host nation and Austria in the Venice Cup was mostly about slam bidding, with no less than six slam contracts being reached in one room. Board 1. Dealer North. S K Q T 4 2 H J D T 9 8 7 6 C Q 4 S J 8 6 S 5 H Q 5 H T 6 2 D K Q 5 2 D J 4 3 C K T 9 8 C A 7 6 5 3 2 S A 9 7 3 H A K 9 8 7 4 3 D A C J West North East South Bussell Erhart Kyme Terraneo - Pass Pass 1C Pass 1H Pass 2H Pass 2S Pass 3S Pass 4S Pass 5S Pass 6S All Pass One Club was strong and the One Heart response showed 6+ HCP but less than three controls. After that, everything was natural, with Five West North East South Weigkricht Way Fischer Johnson - Pass Pass 1C Pass 1S 2C 2H 4C 4D Pass 5S Pass 6S All Pass One Club was again strong but this time the response was a natural positive. The Bermudans also had a natural auction from here to the laydown slam. A pair of 980s and a flat board. Board 3. Dealer South. S K J 7 H A K 9 8 5 D A K J 3 C T S A 8 6 5 2 S Q T 9 4 H Q J 7 H 6 4 2 D T 8 D 6 C K 5 3 C A Q 8 7 4 S 3 H T 3 D Q 9 7 5 4 2 C J 9 6 2 West North East South Bussell Erhart Kyme Terraneo - - - Pass Pass 1C Pass 1D Pass 1H Pass 1S Pass 2D Pass 5D All Pass Another strong club auction saw the Austrians bid smoothly to the top spot. One Diamond was a negative and One Spade a relay. Maria Erhart showed her hearts and diamonds and Sylvia Terraneo simply jumped to game in the known ten-card fit. There was nothing to the play and she had soon chalked up +400. West North East South Weigkricht Way Fischer Johnson - - - Pass Pass 1C Pass 1D 1S 3H 3S 4H All Pass Another strong club auction but this time the Austrian E/W pair interfered. North's ugly jump to Three Hearts pre\empted her own auction -- it is surely unnecessary to jump; if partner passes a simple Two Heart bid, how often will you have missed anything? The diamonds got lost now as Jean Johnson, reason ably enough, simply raised to Four Hearts. Doris Fischer led her singleton diamond and Margaret Way rose with dummy's queen to lead a spade. Terri Weigkricht went in with the spade ace and dealt her partner a diamond ruff and there was still a club and a heart to come. One down for -50 meant T IMPs to Austria. Board 5 saw Austria make a Three No Trump which failed at the other table for T IMPs, and then: Board 6. Dealer East. S A T 6 3 H K 5 2 D 7 2 C K J 4 2 S K J 7 S 8 5 4 2 H J 8 4 H Q 6 3 D K J T 8 6 D 9 4 C A T C 9 8 7 5 S Q 9 H A T 9 7 D A Q 5 3 C Q 6 3 West North East South Bussell Erhart Kyme Terraneo - - Pass 1H 2D Dble All Pass There was more good news for Austria when Judy Bussell made a questionable but hardly terrible overcall and had her head handed back to her on a platter when Erhart made a negative double and Terraneo converted it for penalties. Erhart led the two of diamonds and this was covered by the four, five and six. Declarer might have done better to play dummy's nine, forcing Terraneo to win and lead to the next trick. Having won the first trick cheaply, Bussell played ace and another club. Terraneo won the queen and switched to the queen of spades to the king and ace. Back came a spade to the nine and jack and Bussell exited with her third spade,Terraneo pitching a heart as Erhart won the ten. Erhart led a winning club for declarer to ruff and she made the mistake of ruffing with the eight. Now came a heart to the queen and ace, the ten of hearts to jack and king, and a third heart to the nine. At this point,Terraneo exited with a low diamond and declarer had to win in hand and play a diamond back into the tenace for three down; -800. Had she ruffed the third club with the ten, she could have won Terraneo's diamond exit with dummy's nine and led up to her hand at trick twelve West North East South Weigkricht Way Fischer Johnson - - Pass 1D Pass 1S Pass 1NT Pass 2NT Pass 3NT All Pass Johnson's One Diamond opening kept Weigkricht out of the auction and the Bermudans had an invitational auction to the normal no trump game. Weigkricht led the ten of diamonds round to the queen and Johnson played a club to the jack then a heart to the ten and jack. Weigkricht cleared the diamonds and, when in the fullness of time she gained the lead, had three winners to cash for down one; -50 and 13 IMPs to Austria, ahead by 33-0. Board 7. Dealer SouthAll. S 8 4 2 H A 6 5 D 9 7 5 C J 8 2 S 7 6 S J T H J 8 H T 7 4 3 D J T 8 2 D K 6 C K T 9 6 4 C A Q 7 5 3 S A K Q 9 5 3 H K Q 9 2 D A 4 3 C - - West North East South Bussell Erhart Kyme Terraneo - - - 1C Pass 1D Pass 2S Pass 2NT Pass 3H Pass 5S Pass 6S All Pass One Club was strong and One Diamond a negative (I don't know why it didn't qualify for a One Heart response). The auction proceeded on natural lines until Erhart leaped to Five Spades -- which looks rather like a Humpty Dumpty bid (it means what I say it means), which partner is supposed to work out. Anyway, the ace of hearts, as the only suit which cannot be cuebid, looks likely, plus some bits and pieces, andTerraneo judged to go on to six. A passive lead would have left Terraneo with a tough play problem, but Bussell hit on a low diamond. Terraneo called for a low card from dummy and the 2-2 trump break meant that she had no further West North East South Weigkricht Way Fischer Johnson - - - 1C Pass 1D Pass 1H Pass 1NTPass 2S Pass 3S Pass 4S All Pass Way started with a negative, showed some values by rebidding One No Trump over the One Heart relay, then raised spades. Johnson certainly might have made a try for slam at this point, but decided to go quietly. There is no guarantee that they would have got there any\ way; +680 and 13 IMPs to Austria. Board 8. Dealer West. S Q 9 7 H 5 3 D K 9 8 5 3 C 6 5 3 S 8 5 4 S K J T 2 H K Q T 9 8 H A J 6 D A J T 7 D Q C K C A Q J T 7 S A 6 3 H 7 4 2 D 6 4 2 C 9 8 4 2 West North East South Bussell Erhart Kyme Terraneo 1H Pass 2C Pass 2D Pass 2NT Pass 3NT Pass 4C Pass 4H Pass 5C Pass 5NT Pass 6H All Pass Having sat and watched their opponents bid two slams already, finally it was East/West's turn. The Two Club response was game-forcing, enabling Stephanie Kyme to make a space-saving Two No Trump rebid. She continued with Gerber and more Gerber, finding her partner with one ace and two odd kings. Bussell won the trump lead and drew a second round. When they divided 3-2, she unblocked the king of clubs, crossed to dummy while drawing the last trump, and cashed the clubs, pitching all West North East South Weigkricht Way Fischer Johnson 1H Pass 1S Pass 2D Pass 3C Pass 3H Pass 3NT All Pass The Austrians didn't even look at the slam; +490 but T IMPs to Bermuda, on the board at last. Board 11. Dealer South. S K 6 5 H - - D T 9 7 4 3 C A Q J T 5 S T 9 8 S 4 3 2 H T 9 6 H 8 7 4 3 2 D K Q 8 6 D J 5 C 8 7 2 C K 9 6 S A Q J 7 H A K Q J 5 D A 2 C 4 3 West North East South Bussell Erhart Kyme Terraneo - - - 1C Pass 1S Pass 2H Pass 3C Pass 3S Pass 4C Pass 4D Pass 4S Pass 6C All Pass One Club was strong and one spade showed three controls. After three natural bids, Erhart found herself wanting to do more than simply raise to Four Spades, but with no convenient way of doing so. She repeated the club suit, which drew a cuebid from Terraneo. Now Erhart completed her plan by showing the spade support, but Terraneo expected more clubs and jumped to the mediocre club slam. Six Clubs would have been OK had the auction not strongly indicated a diamond lead. Bussell led the diamond king andTerraneo won and took an immediate club finesse. When that failed she was down one; -50. That gave Bermuda a chance for another big pick-up but they did not take their opportunity. West North East South Weigkricht Way Fischer Johnson - - - 1C Pass 2NT Pass 3C Pass 6C Pass 6NT Pass 7C All Pass One Club was strong and I would love to tell you the meaning of the Two No Trump response. Maybe I will find someone to ask before we go to press (but see Board 13). It looks as though South thought she was making an enquiry bid when she said Three Clubs. Anyway, Seven Clubs was one too many. The chosen lead was a club so the contract was only one down for a flat board. Board 12. N/S Game Dealer West. S 7 3 2 H 9 D A Q 8 7 6 3 2 C 9 8 S K Q J T 8 5 S 6 4 H A Q 3 2 H K J 5 4 D 5 D K T 9 4 C Q 3 C A T 2 S A 9 H T 8 7 6 D J C K J 7 6 5 4 West North East South Bussell Erhart Kyme Terraneo 1S 3D Dble All Pass East alerted her double as negative but West passed without alerting, clearly taking it to be for penalty. Erhart won the spade lead and returned a spade, forcing West to switch to a trump to prevent a ruff in dummy. The diamond switch ran to the king and Kyme switched to a low heart. Bussell won the ace and played a spade through, ruffed and overruffed. yme tried to cash a heart now but Erhart ruffed and drew trumps. She had the club guess now and got it wrong, so was three down for -800. The director was called, of course, but it seemed that the play was not affected apart, perhaps, from the club guess and that declarer had not been damaged, so the result was unchanged. West North East South Weigkricht Way Fischer Johnson 1H 3D Pass Pass 3S Pass 4H All Pass Weigkricht opened One Heart in the Austrian canapé style. Fischer had a penalty on her mind despite the four-card heart support, so passed in the hope of hearing a reopening double. It was not to be. Weigkricht's spade suit was just too good to ignore. Fischer corrected to Four Hearts, ending the auction. After the lead of the ace of diamonds, Weigkricht just lost a trick in each side-suit; +420 but 9 IMPs to Bermuda. Board 13. Dealer NorthAll. S A 8 2 H A D K 6 5 4 2 C A K Q 9 S K 9 7 5 S Q T 6 3 H J T 8 4 3 2 H 6 5 D T 9 D J 8 3 C 7 C T 8 5 2 S J 4 H K Q 9 7 D A Q 7 C J 6 4 3 West North East South Bussell Erhart Kyme Terraneo - 1C Pass 1S Pass 2D Pass 2H Pass 3C Pass 3D Pass 3S Pass 4D Pass 6D All Pass In case you haven't got the hang of the Austrian methods yet, One Club was strong and One Spade showed three controls. Everything seemed to be going smoothly after that until Erhart suddenly jumped to Six Diamonds when she had no need to do so. 13 tricks were easy in any of three denominations. West North East South Weigkricht Way Fischer Johnson 1C Pass 2NT Pass 3D Pass 4D Pass 6D All Pass This time the Two No Trump response to the strong club looks to have the standard Precision meaning of 11-13 balanced, although that may be just coincidental. Way/Johnson found the diamond fit and once again North jumped precipitately to the small slam when a slower route might have found the grand. Another chance missed by the host nation. Board 19. Dealer South. S Q J T 5 2 H J D T 7 4 C A J 6 3 S 6 S A K 3 H A K Q T H 9 8 6 5 3 2 D A K 3 2 D J 8 C K Q 5 4 C 8 7 S 9 8 7 4 H 7 4 D Q 9 6 5 C T 9 2 West North East South Bussell Erhart Kyme Terraneo - - - Pass 2C 2S 3H 3S 4NT Pass 5D Pass 6H All Pass Two Clubs was strong and artificial and once East had shown values and a heart suit Bussell had no more practical approach than to ask for aces. On finding one she settled for the small slam. Had East held one less spade the slam might not have been quite solid, but it would always have play and she was more likely to have the club ace than the actual spade ace, which would have made the slam cold had she been, say, 2-6-3-2. West North East South Weigkricht Way Fischer Johnson - - - Pass 1C 1S 1NT 2S Pass Pass 3H Pass 4NT Pass 5C Pass 6H All Pass Weigkricht opened a strong club and Fischer showed three controls over the spade overcall. When she next bid her heart suit, Weigkricht also checked on aces before bidding the small slam. Both declarers made the obvious 12 tricks for a push at +1430. Austria won a lively set by 86-20 IMPs, converting to 25-2 VPs. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Seniors Exhibition Event The six senior teams play a double round robin finishing on Wednesday. Then the leading team chooses its opponent from the third and fourth ranked teams for the semifinals over 40 Boards, leaving the second placed team to play the other. The final, over 60 Boards, will start with 20 Boards on Thursday evening. The losing semifinalists will play-off for third place over 40 Boards on Friday. The fifth and sixth ranked teams will play-off to determine their final positions. There will be a carry over entering the (semi)finals and play off for fifth place. It will be either half or one third of the difference in IMPs based on the results from the round robin, with a maximum of 8 IMPs in the semifinals and 12 IMPs in the final and play off for third place. It is half if the higher ranked team in the round robins won the combined mutual matches and one third if it lost the mutual matches. Ton Kooijman Operations Director ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Orbis Bermuda Bowl - Round 4 Indonesia v Australia Wrong place, wrong time Indonesia's Bermuda Bowl was hot from the start in Sunday's round-robin matches. Their first victims were the Australian team, who fell, 60-11. Iin subsequent rounds Sunday, Indonesia took the measure of China, 70-39, and Argentina, 49-21, and moved into second place in the round-robin standings. Here are some of the key deals in Indonesia's match against Australia in Round 4. Board 3. Dealer South. S K J 7 H A K 9 8 5 D A K J 3 C T S A 8 6 5 2 S Q T 9 4 H Q J 7 H 6 4 2 D T 8 D 6 C K 5 3 C A Q 8 7 4 S 3 H T 3 D Q 9 7 5 4 2 C J 9 6 2 In the closed room, Khokan Bagchi opened 3D with the South hand and was raised to 5D by Seamus Browne. Bagchi lost a spade and a club for plus 400. At the other table -- where Ishmael Del'Monte and Bobby Richman opposed Henky Lasut and Eddy Manoppo -- there were fireworks. West North East South Del'Monte Manoppo Richman Lasut - - - Pass 1S Dble 4S 5D Pass Pass Dble Pass Pass Redble All Pass Lasut passed up his chance for the aggressive opening diamond preempt, but he was not reluctant to bid his suit opposite his partner's takeout double. Richman, mistakenly taking his partner's opening bid seriously -- and no doubt expecting to take more than one club trick -- applied the red card. There was nothing to be done after the redouble. Running to 5S would have probably resulted in the same score as 5D redoubled -- minus 800 (to high hearts, heart ruff, with tricks to come in spades and diamonds). That was 9 IMPs to Indonesia. The next board was worse for Australia. Board 4. Dealer West. S 9 8 H A T 3 D K J 8 2 C A 9 8 4 S T 6 4 S K Q 7 5 3 2 H K 7 H Q 8 4 2 D T 5 3 D A 7 6 C Q T 7 5 3 C - - S A J H J 9 6 5 D Q 9 4 C K J 6 2 West North East South Panelewen Browne Tobing Bagchi Pass 1NT (1) 2C (2) Dble (3) 2D (3) Dble 2S Dble Pass 2NT Pass 3NT All Pass (1) 12-14. (2) One-suited hand. (3) Values. Even with the lead of a low spade by East, Browne could manage only West North East South Del'Monte Manoppo Richman Lasut Pass 1D (1) 1S Dble (2) 2S Pass 4S Dble All Pass Richman no doubt expected -- or at least hoped for -- a better dummy. The best he could do was minus 500 -- another 12 IMPs away. In two slam swings that went against Australia, the opening lead was critical. Board 7. Dealer South. S 8 4 2 H A 6 5 D Q 9 7 5 C J 8 2 S 7 6 S J T H J 8 H T 7 4 3 D J T 8 2 D K 6 C K T 9 6 4 C A Q 7 5 3 S A K Q 9 5 3 H K Q 9 2 D A 4 3 C - - Browne and Bagchi bid the North-South cards to 4S, making six on the lead of the DJ, thanks to the convenient placement of the D9. In the open room: West North East South Del'Monte Manoppo Richman Lasut - - - 1C (1) Pass 1D (2) Pass 2S Pass 4S Pass 5C Pass 5H Pass 6S All Pass (1) Strong, artificial and forcing. (2) Negative. On any lead but the DJ, Lasut would have had to guess what to do in diamonds. Unfortunately for Australia, Del'Monte chose just that card. Play was over quickly and Indonesia had scored another 13 IMPs. Board 11. Dealer South. S K 6 5 H - - D T 9 7 4 3 C A Q J T 5 S T 9 8 S 4 3 2 H T 9 6 H 8 7 4 3 2 D K Q 8 6 D J 5 C 8 7 2 C K 9 6 S A Q J 7 H A K Q J 5 D A 2 C 4 3 West North East South Del'Monte Manoppo Richman Lasut - - - 1C (1) Pass 2C Pass 2H Pass 3D Pass 3S Pass 3NT Pass 4NT Pass 5C Pass 6NT All Pass At the other table, 6NT was declared by South, and West found the lead of the DK. When the club finesse failed, the contract was down. The killing lead was much more difficult for East to find, and indeed he started with a heart, giving Manoppo time to set up the necessary club tricks. Australia suffered another loss, this one of 14 IMPs. ======================================================================