USA2 - Bulgaria (Bermuda Bowl Round 8)

A place in line - by Brent Manley

USA2 and Bulgaria, two teams that were doing well in the Bermuda Bowl, met in round eight. It was no surprise that it was a close, well-played match with only one swing in double digits. Both seem destined to make the top eight and thus qualify to play in the knockout phase.

Bulgaria struck first for 1 IMP when Julian Stefanov and Victor Aronov in the closed room played 4♥ for plus 420 on their eight card fit while Zia Mahmood and Bob Hamman played in 3NT with ♣Q 9 opposite ♣J 8 and a club lead. Fortunately for Zia, opening leader’s clubs were A-K doubleton. Zia could have made 10 tricks for a push, but it would have involved finessing into the hand with a lot of good clubs.

On board 22, both declarers played opposite voids in their trumps suits, but Meckstroth had an extra trump and better spot cards in his 6-0 fit.

Board 22. Dealer East. E/W Vul.
	♠ J 10 6 ♥ A K 10 5 3 ♦ ♣ A J 9 6 4
♠ 9 8 4 ♥ Q 8 7 4 ♦ Q 8 7 4 ♣ 8 7		♠ A K 7 ♥ J 9 6 2 ♦ A 6 3 ♣ K Q 10
	♠ Q 5 3 2 ♥ ♦ K J 10 9 5 2 ♣ 5 3 2

Aronov led the ♣7 (low from doubletons) to dummy’s ace. Meckstroth cashed two high hearts, pitching his two losing clubs, then he ruffed a heart and played a spade to the jack. East won and played the ♣K, but Meckstroth won to play the ♠Q from hand. East won again and played the ♣Q, ruffed by Meckstroth as West discarded his third spade. Now a spade by declarer was ruffed by West, who exited with a low trump. East won the ♦A and could have assured two down by returning a trump, but he played the fourth round of hearts, allowing Meckstroth to make another trump trick for one down and minus 50.

Georgi Karakolev had one fewer trumps than Meckstroth and took two fewer tricks. Hamman started with the ♠K, switching to the ♣K at trick two. Declarer ducked, and Hamman continued with the ♣Q. Declarer won the ace and played three rounds of trumps. Hamman won the third and gave Zia a club ruff. When Zia exited with a diamond, Karakolev discarded instead of ruffing, so Hamman won and had two more tricks to cash for two down and 2 IMPs to USA2.

This deal produced a modest swing for USA2.

Board 25. Dealer North. E/W Vul.
	♠ 10 8 6 ♥ J 10 9 8 6 ♦ 8 5 2 ♣ Q 5
♠ J ♥ Q 4 ♦ J 7 3 ♣ A K J 9 7 6 2		♠ K 4 3 2 ♥ K 7 3 ♦ K Q 10 6 ♣ 10 8
	♠ A Q 9 7 5 ♥ A 5 2 ♦ A 9 4 ♣ 4 3

Meckstroth started with his fourth-best spade, won in dummy. Declarer cashed two high clubs and continued with the suit, pitching down to the ♠K 4, ♥K and ♦K Q. Meckstroth came down to the ♠A Q, singleton ♥A and the ♦A 9. When declarer played a diamond to his king, Meckstroth won the ♦A, cashed the ♥A and exited with his diamond, taking two spades in the end. That was plus 600.

Danailov also led the ♠7, but Hamman did not cash his clubs right away. Instead, he played a diamond to his king. Danailov won the ace, cashed the ♥A and exited with a heart. When clubs proved to be 2-2, Hamman had 11 tricks and 2 IMPs for his team.

The only double-digit swing of the match came on this deal.

Board 26. Dealer East. All Vul.
	♠ 10 2 ♥ A 10 7 3 ♦ A 10 9 5 3 ♣ A Q
♠ K Q 9 ♥ 9 8 6 2 ♦ 8 4 2 ♣ J 5 2		♠ 8 5 3 ♥ 5 4 ♦ K J 7 6 ♣ K 10 9 4
	♠ A J 7 6 4 ♥ K Q J ♦ Q ♣ 8 7 6 3

Aronov started with a low heart. Meckstroth won in hand and ran the ♦Q at trick two. Stefanov won the ♦K and played a spade. Meckstroth went up with the ace, cashed the ♥K, then overtook the ♥J with the ace to cash the 10, then played the ♦A and ♦10. East won the ♦J and played a spade, but that was only two more tricks. Meckstroth recorded plus 600.

At the other table, Zia found the killing opening lead. The auction was identical to that of the closed room, and Zia found the lead of a low club. Declarer put in the queen, but Hamman won the king and returned the ♣4, Zia unblocking the jack. Declarer played a spade to his jack and Zia’s queen, and Zia put his partner in with a club. Hamman cashed another club and got out with a spade. Declarer put up the ace but had to concede the setting trick to the third round of spades. Plus 100 was good for 12 IMPs to USA 2, now in the lead 21-6.

The lead was 23-6 when Bulgaria made some headway.

Board 28. Dealer West. N/S Vul.
	♠ A 6 ♥ 9 7 3 ♦ 10 ♣ A K J 9 6 5 2
♠ Q 8 5 3 ♥ K 6 5 ♦ K 8 6 5 ♣ Q 3		♠ J 10 9 7 4 ♥ ♦ A Q 7 4 3 ♣ 10 8 7
	♠ K 2 ♥ A Q J 10 8 4 2 ♦ J 9 2 ♣ 4

Meckstroth led his singleton club to Rodwell’s jack. Rodwell cashed the ♣K, Meckstroth discarding the ♥2, and switched to his singleton diamond. Stefanov won the ♦A and played a spade to the queen and Rodwell’s ace. When Rodwell played the ♣A, Meckstroth alertly ruffed with the ♠K and gave Rodwell a diamond ruff, extracting the maximum penalty from the sacrifice. Plus 500 wasn’t good enough, however.

The defense had a diamond and a heart coming, but that was all. Plus 650 meant 4 IMPs to Bulgaria.

Two boards later, Bulgaria closed the gap even more.

Board 30. Dealer East. N/S Vul.
	♠ A K J 5 3 2 ♥ 3 2 ♦ 4 3 ♣ 8 6 2
♠ 10 9 4 ♥ A J 9 8 5 ♦ A 10 8 ♣ 10 9		♠ 8 ♥ K 6 ♦ K J 9 7 2 ♣ Q J 7 5 4
	♠ Q 7 6 ♥ Q 10 7 4 ♦ Q 6 5 ♣ A K 3

Stefanov must have been nervous to hear his partner double considering the shortage of high cards and quick tricks in his hand, but Aronov had him covered with his two aces. Rodwell could do no better than minus 300.

Karakolev had the same eight tricks for plus 110, good for a 9-IMP swing to Bulgaria.

The final score was 24-22 for USA2, a 15-15 tie in victory points.