Veldhoven.2011.Bulletin.[7]

IN THE HOME STRETCH Saturday, 22 October 2011Issue No. 7 Contenders for the quarterfinal stages of the three main events — Bermuda Bowl, Venice Cup and D’Orsi Senior Bowl — have 48 boards to make their cases, and there are many with legitimate shots to still be playing on Sunday. The teams on the cusp in their respective events will be looking to make strong runs in the final three matches of the round robin. Some have easier courses than others, but there are no excuses now. The strong — and the lucky — will be the survivors. Without these very friendly volunteers this World Championship could not have been organized. Co-ordinator: Jean-Paul Meyer • Chief Editor: Brent Manley • Editors: Phillip Alder, Mark Horton, Jos Jacobs, Micke Melander, Brian Senior • Lay Out Editor: Akis Kanaris • Photographer: Ron Tacchi Contents Tournament Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-3 Slammed around . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Score draw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 BB Round 13 (USA 2 - Brazil) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 If they don’t cover - they don’t have it! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Heavyweights meet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 SB Round 14 (USA 1 - India) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 BB Round 15 (Poland - Israel) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 SB Round 16 (Indonesia - Germany) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Nice Brazilian technique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 Transnational registration Notice to team captains: You must register for the World Transnational Open Teams by the end of round robin play in the three main events. Even if you believe your team might qualify for the quarter-final stage, you are advised to register. You may do so online at www.worldbridge1.org or at the Registration Desk in the Bridge Plaza. Maurizio Di Sacco, Championship Manager Italy has led the Bermuda Bowl round robin from the beginning, and the host team from the Netherlands continue to make a strong case for themselves. On Friday in the Venice Cup, USA1 jumped over England and USA2 into the lead, and Denmark held their lead in the Senior Bowl. 2 40th WORLD TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS Veldhoven, The Netherlands RESULTS Bermuda Bowl Venice Cup Home Team Visiting Team IMPs VPs 1 Brazil Australia 29 -44 12 - 18 2 New Zealand South Africa 27 -20 16 - 14 3 India Singapore 43 -22 20 - 10 4 Poland Pakistan 44 -37 16 - 14 5 Iceland Netherlands 12 -40 8 - 22 6 Egypt Italy 22 -43 10 - 20 7 Bulgaria Chile 8 - 44 7 - 23 8 China USA 2 16 -26 13 - 17 9 Japan Canada 55 -14 24 - 6 10 Israel Guadeloupe 31 -26 16 - 14 11 Sweden USA 1 24 -35 13 - 17 ROUND 16 ROUND 17 ROUND 18 Home Team Visiting Team IMPs VPs 1 Netherlands Israel 33 - 16 19 -11 2 Guadeloupe Japan 17 -53 7 -23 3 Canada China 14 -46 7 -23 4 USA 2 Bulgaria 29 -28 15 -15 5 Chile Egypt 38 -35 16 -14 6 Australia Iceland 54 - 6 25 - 4 7 USA 1 Poland 20 -45 9 -21 8 Pakistan India 28 -41 12 -18 9 Singapore New Zealand 24 -24 15 -15 10 South Africa Brazil 49 - 11 24 - 6 11 Italy Sweden 43 -37 16 -14 Home Team Visiting Team IMPs VPs 1 Australia South Africa 22 -19 16 -14 2 Brazil Singapore 38 -57 11 -19 3 New Zealand Pakistan 52 -17 23 - 7 4 India USA 1 25 -17 17 -13 5 Poland Italy 18 -45 9 -21 6 Sweden Chile 42 -35 16 -14 7 Iceland Israel 33 - 30 16 -14 8 Bulgaria Canada 7 -41 7 -23 9 China Guadeloupe 22 -12 17 -13 10 Japan Netherlands 40 -54 12 -18 11 Egypt USA 2 11 -46 7 -23 Home Team Visiting Team IMPs VPs 21 USA 2 India 23 -27 14 -16 22 Brazil Japan 33 -26 16 -14 23 Canada France 41 -12 22 - 8 24 Italy Morocco 30 -15 18 -12 25 Australia England 31 -22 17 -13 26 Jordan New Zealand 16 -51 7 -23 27 Egypt China 16 -12 16 -14 28 Netherlands Sweden 32 -16 19 -11 29 Trinidad & Tobago USA 1 36 -54 11 -19 30 Indonesia Poland 42 -22 20 -10 31 Venezuela Germany 5 -53 4 -25 ROUND 16 ROUND 17 ROUND 18 Home Team Visiting Team IMPs VPs 21 England Indonesia 43 -22 20 - 10 22 Poland Trinidad & Tobago 33 -20 18 - 12 23 USA 1 Netherlands 67 -11 25 - 3 24 Sweden Egypt 67 -10 25 - 3 25 China Jordan 71 -21 25 - 4 26 India Australia 42 -57 12 - 18 27 Germany Italy 45 -10 23 - 7 28 Morocco Canada 21 -57 7 - 23 29 France Brazil 29 - 43 12 - 18 30 Japan USA 2 40 -23 19 - 11 31 New Zealand Venezuela 40 -11 22 - 8 Home Team Visiting Team IMPs VPs 21 India Japan 55 -16 24 - 6 22 USA 2 France 50 -22 22 - 8 23 Brazil Morocco 27 -22 16 -14 24 Canada Germany 21 -48 9 -21 25 Italy New Zealand 39 -34 16 -14 26 Venezuela China 10 -45 7 -23 27 Australia Indonesia 34 -81 4 -25 28 Egypt USA 1 29 -33 14 -16 29 Netherlands Poland 52 -10 25 - 5 30 Trinidad & Tobago England 39 -24 18 -12 31 Jordan Sweden 35 -40 14 -16 3 40th WORLD TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS15-29 October 2011 Home Team Visiting Team IMPs VPs 41 India France 18 -33 12 -18 42 Netherlands Italy 17 -49 7 -23 43 Indonesia Germany 46 -25 20 -10 44 Australia Reunion 34 -13 20 -10 45 USA 2 Egypt 35 -30 16 -14 46 New Zealand Denmark 21 -47 9 -21 47 Argentina China Hong Kong 28 -22 16 -14 48 Canada Brazil 37 - 15 20 -10 49 Poland Bulgaria 27 -19 17 -13 50 USA 1 Guadeloupe 47 -17 22 - 8 51 Pakistan Japan 32 -42 13 -17 ROUND 16 1 Italy 344 2 Netherlands 326 USA 2 326 4 Israel 302.34 5 USA 1 298.5 6 Iceland 292.5 7 Australia 286 8 China 281.5 9 Sweden 280 10 New Zealand 279 11 Japan 277 12 Poland 265 13 Egypt 261.67 14 Brazil 261 15 South Africa 256 16 Bulgaria 252.5 17 India 252 18 Chile 220 19 Canada 217 20 Guadeloupe 208 21 Pakistan 204 22 Singapore 197 ROUND 17 ROUND 18 Home Team Visiting Team IMPs VPs 41 France Italy 25 -13 18 -12 42 India Germany 31 -60 8 -22 43 Netherlands Japan 23 -36 12 -18 44 Indonesia Egypt 41 -15 21 - 9 45 Pakistan Denmark 39 -32 16 -14 46 USA 1 Reunion 78 - 9 25 - 1 47 New Zealand Brazil 27 - 40 12 -18 48 Argentina Bulgaria 52 -31 20 -10 49 Canada Guadeloupe 43 -10 23 - 7 50 Poland Australia 51 - 0 25 - 4 51 USA 2 China Hong Kong 17 -51 7 -23 Home Team Visiting Team IMPs VPs 41 USA 1 Poland 17 -37 10 -20 42 Australia Canada 22 -37 12 -18 43 Guadeloupe Argentina 40 -18 20 -10 44 Bulgaria New Zealand 41 -22 19 -11 45 Brazil USA 2 30 -28 15 -15 46 China Hong Kong Pakistan 39 - 8 22 - 8 47 Reunion Italy 12 -67 3 -25 48 Egypt Netherlands 26 -26 15 -15 49 Japan India 38 -20 19 -11 50 Germany France 21 -15 16 -14 51 Denmark Indonesia 21 -33 12 -18 RESULTS d’Orsi Senior Bowl Ranking after 18 rounds Bermuda Bowl 1 USA 1 325 2 England 323 3 USA 2 321 4 China 314 5 Germany 313 Indonesia 313 7 Sweden 309 8 Netherlands 304 9 Canada 297 10 France 292 11 Italy 289 12 Poland 275 13 New Zealand 273 14 Japan 262 15 Brazil 261 16 India 252 17 Australia 211 18 Jordan 201 19 Egypt 199 20 Morocco 188 21 Venezuela 179.5 22 Trinidad & Tobago 169 Venice Cup 1 Denmark 325.5 2 USA 1 320 3 Poland 318 4 France 316 5 USA 2 313 6 Indonesia 303 7 China Hong Kong 302.5 8 Germany 299 9 Australia 289 10 India 285 11 Italy 277 12 Argentina 271 13 Canada 270 14 Japan 260 15 Netherlands 256 16 Egypt 250 17 Bulgaria 244 18 Guadeloupe 231 19 Pakistan 212 20 New Zealand 195 21 Brazil 191.5 22 Reunion 165 d’Orsi Senior Bowl 4 40th WORLD TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS Veldhoven, The Netherlands VUGRAPH PRESENTATIONS Round 19 (10.30) Match Room Teams Series Table BBO 1 8 Open (VG Studio) Netherlands — China BB/2 50 Closed BBO 2 12 Open USA 2 — Sweden BB/5 24 Closed BBO 3 13 Open Italy — India BB/7 23 Closed BBO 4 16 Open USA 1 — New Zealand BB/11 22 Closed BBO 5 17 Open New Zealand — Canada VC/27 21 Closed BBO 6 18 Open Indonesia — China Hong Kong SB/45 9 Closed OurGame 19 Open China — Italy VC/26 11 Closed StepBridge 14 Open (studio) England — Netherlands VC/22 10 Closed Round 20 (13.45) Match Room Teams Series Table BBO 1 8 Open (VG Studio) Australia — China BB/7 50 Closed BBO 2 12 Open Poland — Iceland BB/9 24 Closed BBO 3 13 Open India — Sweden BB/10 23 Closed BBO 4 16 Open France — Indonesia VC/25 22 Closed BBO 5 17 Open Germany — Poland VC/23 21 Closed BBO 6 18 Open Poland — Germany SB/46 9 Closed OurGame 19 Open China — Sweden VC/21 11 Closed StepBridge 14 Open (studio) India — Netherlands VC/27 10 Closed Round 21 (16.45) Match Room Teams Series Table BBO 1 8 Open (VG Studio) Iceland — USA 2 BB/10 50 Closed BBO 2 12 Open Sweden — New Zealand BB/2 24 Closed BBO 3 13 Open Egypt — Brazil BB/3 23 Closed BBO 4 16 Open Italy — Canada VC/21 22 Closed BBO 5 17 Open USA 1 — China VC/31 21 Closed BBO 6 18 Open Denmark — Australia SB/43 9 Closed OurGame 19 Open China — South Africa BB/5 11 Closed StepBridge 14 Open (studio) Netherlands — USA 1 BB/8 10 Closed Just the Facts A new feature designed to tell you more about some of the best known players here in Eindhoven. Name Jón Baldursson. Date of Birth 23 December 1954. Place of Birth Reykyavik. Place of Residence Iceland. What kind of food makes you happy? Barbecued Icelandic Lamb Cutlets. And what drink? Long Island Ice Tea (Hawaii 2006). Who is your favourite author? Halldór Laxness. Do you have a favourite actor? Paul Newman. Actress? Goldie Hawn. What kind of music do you like to listen to? ABBA and The Beatles. Do you have a favourite painter or artist? Jóhannes Sveinsson Kjarval. What do you see as your best ever result? Bermuda Bowl win in 1991. Do you have a favourite hand? [ A Q xxx ] — { — } A K Q J xxxx Partner held [ K J xx and } 10 xxx. We bid up to 7[ with- out ever mentioning clubs and the guy on lead led his sin- gleton club!! Is there a bridge book that had a profound influ- ence on you? Case for the Defence (Victor Mollo). What is the best bridge country in the world? Italy. What are bridge players particularly good at (ex- cept for bridge)? Self belief. What is it you dislike in a person? Dishonesty. Do you have any superstitions concerning bridge? If I happen to follow a Saab car on my way to a bridge tournament then I have to pass it; fortunately Saab cars are becoming very rare. Who or what would you like to be if you weren’t yourself? Rory Mcllroy. 5 40th WORLD TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS15-29 October 2011 One man’s meat by Chris Dixon Board 14. Dealer East. None Vul. [ K 10 ] J 10 5 3 { K 8 } A 10 9 8 5 [ A 3 [ Q J 9 7 4 2 ] K 9 ] 8 7 4 { Q 10 7 6 5 4 3 { A J 2 } 4 3 } Q [ 8 6 5 ] A Q 6 2 { 9 } K J 7 6 2 On this deal from the Bermuda Bowl, round 15, the final contract of 3[ was played 14 times, generally on the opening lead of the singleton diamond. Some de- clarers played the [A and another spade, and some ran the [Q and after the diamond ruff the contract rolled home comfortably when the ]A was well placed. On VuGraph, we saw a variation when Grzegorz Narkiewicz, from Poland, won the second round of trumps and returned the ]J to dummy’s King. Unable to return to hand to draw trumps declarer now had to lose two hearts and the diamond ruff to go one down. This defence was replicated by Sweden against Japan. So, how else can declarer succeed? How about playing a club at trick two to create a quick re-entry to hand? No good — the defence can counter this by just playing a second club. But now, declarer can lead up to the ]K. If West wins and leads a trump, we can duck in dummy and after West gets a diamond ruff dummy will be high. But wait — East returns a second heart, and now if we draw the [A we’ll lose another heart trick and if we don’t, we’ll have to let both defenders get diamond ruffs! The clue to the hand is that the defence succeeded by not taking their diamond ruff early. What is one man’s meat is another man’s poison, so one winning play ([Q at trick two is the other) is for declarer to play a sec- ond diamond at trick two, forcing the defence to take their ruff early. Now, no defence prevails. N W E S It’s a heart eight, nothing but a heart eight by Barry Rigal As Bonny Tyler might have sung, Norberto Bocchi told me what a bad card holder his partner was on this deal. Board 10. Dealer East. All Vul. [ A J 7 4 ] Q 10 { 6 4 2 } A 8 5 3 [ 6 2 [ K 10 ] K J 7 5 4 3 2 ] 9 6 { K Q 10 { A J 7 5 } 6 } K Q 7 4 2 [ Q 9 8 5 3 ] A 8 { 9 8 3 } J 10 9 Quite a few of the field had opened the East hand to get to 4] by East. After a Texas transfer or the like. On a club lead North won the ace and cashed [A then played another spade. After North had produced two aces declarer was not hard pressed to get hearts right. In the open series 16 of 22 declarers made ten tricks in their heart contracts. Bocchi sat North and on an infor- mative auction (1} — 1]; 1NT — 3]; 4]) led the spade ace and shifted to a diamond. Believing the opponents’ count cards declarer played four rounds of diamonds, discarding his club, in the hope that whichever defender ruffed would weaken his trump holding. Bocchi now knew his partner must have the ace of hearts, and see- ing the trump nine in dummy he thoughtfully ruffed with the ]Q. his expectation was that declarer would win the spade return on the board and pass the heart nine. Alas for him, when declarer led the ]9 from dummy South’s cursed heart eight got in the way; declarer now knew to go up with the king (on the assumption that Madala would have covered from 10-8 — by no means a sure thing, incidentally) and hold his trump losers to one. N W E S N o rb e rt o B o cc h i G rz e go rz N ar k ie w ic z 6 40th WORLD TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS Veldhoven, The Netherlands Slammed around by John Carruthers There is nothing more exciting in bridge than a touch- and-go slam at the crucial point in a tense match. Here are three from the first two days’ play. Psychology In the first, old rivals Sweden faced Iceland. Both teams have high hopes of reaching the knockout rounds. Iceland is putting its perfect Bermuda Bowl record (one appear- ance, one win) on the line and Sweden is hoping to improve on its handful of bronze-medal finishes. Iceland got off to a racing start, opening a 45-0 lead after eight boards — they’d had three consecutive double-digit swings in their favour on boards 2 through 4 and a 6 IMP gain on Board 6. It was time for Sweden to stanch the bleeding. Board 9. Dealer North. E/W Vul. [ A K Q 10 8 6 5 ] A K 9 { 9 6 } A [ 4 [ J 9 ] Q 8 7 5 4 ] J 2 { Q 3 { A 7 5 4 2 } Q 10 7 4 3 } J 9 6 5 [ 7 3 2 ] 10 6 3 { K J 10 8 } K 8 2 West North East South Einarsson Fredin Jorgensen Fallenius 2} Pass 2{1 Pass 2[ Pass 3[ Pass 3NT2 Pass 4}3 Pass 4]3 Pass 4[ Pass 5}3 Pass 5{3 Pass 5NT4 Pass 6[5 All Pass 1. Neutral 2. Denies shortness 3. Cue bids 4. Anything more to say? 5. Nope The auction was very revealing: North had denied a sin- gleton or void, choosing not to declare that he had a club singleton, albeit the ace, and even more key, denying a dia- mond control. It looked like South had the diamond king. At his teammates’ table, Jorgensen’s Swedish counterpart, Fredrik Nyström, had led a trump against the Icelanders’ slam and Jon Baldursson had guessed diamonds to make his contract. Peter Fredin had to duplicate that feat to avoid an ignominious blitz to start the tournament. N W E S Jorgensen was one of the stars of Iceland’s 1991 Bermu- da Bowl win in Yokohama. Fredin knew him to be capable of anything. Thus when the two of diamonds was led, Fredin knew that the auction called for a diamond lead whatever East had. Assuming the contract was makeable, he had to guess whether Jorgensen had led from the queen or the ace. There was no way Fredin was going to pay off to the underlead of an ace against a slam, especially from a long- time rival. “King,” Fredin called confidently. Plus 980 and a push. Everyone put their cards away. A good recovery Holland and Canada have a great relationship. During World War II, Canadian troops were instrumental in liber- ating Holland. Ottawa was home to Queen Juliana during the war and Princess Margriet was born there in 1943, the Canadian government declaring her hospital room to be- long to Holland so that she could be born on Dutch soil. Every year since then, the Dutch Royal Family sends 20,000 tulip bulbs to Ottawa, helping create and maintain Ottawa’s annual Tulip Festival. The Dutch Bermuda Bowl team showed no reciprocal hospitality to the Canadians in Round 5 of the qualifying matches, slaughtering us like lambs. This was one example: Board 13. Dealer North. All Vul. [ K ] J 7 { 9 8 4 } K 9 8 7 6 5 3 [ J 6 [ A Q 10 8 7 4 ] A K 5 3 2 ] 9 4 { K 7 { A J 10 5 } A Q J 2 } 4 [ 9 5 3 2 ] Q 10 8 6 { Q 6 3 2 } 10 N W E S Bjorn Fallenius, Sweden 7 40th WORLD TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS15-29 October 2011 West North East South Verhees Hargreaves van Prooijen McAvoy Pass 1{1 Pass 2}2 Pass 2]3 Pass 2[4 Pass 3{5 Pass 3[6 Pass 3NT7 Pass 4{8 Pass 5]9 Pass 6[ All Pass 1. Could be canapé 2. Game-forcing relay 3. 6+ spades 4. Relay 5. Good hand 6. Puppet 7. Forced 8. Strongest spade slam try 9. Good hand in context plus two key cards and the trump queen Hargreaves knew everything about the East hand. Unfor- tunately, that was the dummy. He led the club nine — maybe his partner would ruff it, or failing that, have the ace or queen. Verhees won the club queen and played… the jack of spades! This was a clear technical error and created a trump trick for South. Verhees drew one more round of trumps and looked a little sheepish; he continued with a heart to the king and cashed the club ace, except that McAvoy, not wanting to be stuck on lead later, ruffed and led another heart. Verhees won that and ruffed a heart — maybe they were 3-3. No luck there. You’ll notice, however, that on the run of the spades, South must keep a heart and thus come down to a dou- bleton diamond. When declarer’s then useless heart is dis- carded, North must also come to two diamonds to protect the club. Three diamond tricks make 12 in all. Verhees said, “I played the hand like a moron.” No one disagreed. Nunn other Tony Nunn is on everyone’s shortlist for the best player in Australia. There is no doubt that he is a very talented guy. Watch him in action here in the sixth round robin match versus the Netherlands… Board 29. Dealer North. All Vul. [ A K 10 7 6 5 3 ] 10 { Q 10 9 } 7 4 [ J 9 2 [ 8 ] Q J 7 6 ] 8 5 { 2 { K J 7 6 5 } Q 9 8 5 3 } A J 10 6 2 [ Q 4 ] A K 9 4 3 2 { A 8 4 3 } K N W E S West North East South Hans de Wijs Nunn Muller 4[ Pass 4NT Pass 5] Pass 6[ All Pass Lesser players had opened one spade or three spades, but true to the aggressive style of this Dutch team, de Wijs opened at the four level. For Muller, slam seemed certain. The other table had played game, so a swing was certain. Nunn led the club ace and had a look at the dummy. As I watched on BBO, he seemed to take about four seconds before shifting to the diamond king! A Merrimac coup, named after the American ship sunk in Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish-American War to bottle up the Spanish fleet. What should de Wijs do? De Wijs won the diamond ace and had a number of plays available to him. He could (i.) try to ruff a club in dummy, (ii.) finesse the diamond ten, or (iii.) split out hearts and spades. He decided to ruff a club in dummy. The best percentage play seemed to be to cash the spade queen, discard a diamond on the top hearts, come to the diamond queen and ruff the losing club. Then, depending on the cards that had fallen in the other suits, ruff a red card to hand (maybe high), draw the trumps and claim. Accordingly, de Wijs won the diamond ace, cashed the spade queen, the heart ace and king, then led a diamond. Sartaj Hans was grateful to ruff and lead his remaining trump. Down two, 13 IMPs to Australia. 2011 World Championship Book The official book of these champi- onships will be available in late March/early April next year. As usual, it will c