Argentina - Netherlands (Bermuda Bowl Round 19)

The home stretch - by Brent Manley

At the start of play on Saturday, the Netherlands stood in sixth place in the Bermuda Bowl qualifying, only 8 victory points clear of the eighth and final qualifying spot. Their opponents in the 19th round were Argentina, tied with Germany for eighth.

The match, therefore, was significant for both teams.

Argentina had a 1-0 lead after two boards when this deal came up.

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

Ernesto Muzzio started with a low club to the queen, followed by the ace. With only one ruff available in the short hand, Simon de Wijs was held to nine tricks. After cashing the two clubs, Alejandro Bianchedi played a heart to dummy’s ace. De Wijs played a spade to his ace, ruffed a heart and played the ♠9, but Bianchedi covered and there was no way to get to the good spades. Plus 110 to the Dutch.

The system notes for Carlos Pellegrini and Pablo Ravenna say that they play transfers when an opening of one of a major is doubled, so Muzzio was able to bid clubs pre-emptively after his partner’s 1NT bid. Had Sjoert Brink been able to see all the cards, he would have underled his ♦A for a club switch to defeat 4♣. Not gifted with X-ray vision, however, he started the defense with a low heart to Ravenna’s singleton ace. A spade to the ace was next, followed by a heart ruff, the ♠Q covered and ruffed, another heart ruff to hand, then the ♠9 for a diamond discard. Brink scored only his ♣A Q for minus 610 and an 11-IMP loss.

Argentina’s 12-0 lead doubled on the next board.

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

1♣ Ostensibly 16+ (no doubt considered too good for a 12-15 1NT)
1♥ Spades

With spades and hearts breaking, North-South have15 tricks. Bauke Muller scored a disappointing plus 1470. Pellegrini and Ravenna did much better.

3♥ Five spades, four hearts.
5♥ Two key cards, no trump queen.

Over 5NT (king ask), Pellegrini showed the ♣K but did not deny other kings. 6♦ checked to see if Pellegrini had the ♦K. He did not, but he could show the ♥K below 6♠. That was enough for Ravenna to go for the grand slam, which was cold on the lie of the cards. Plus 2210 gave Argentina another 12 IMPs and a 24-0 lead.

It was 28-2 for Argentina when the Netherlands landed their first big blow of the match.

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

The heart game can always be made by West because North cannot lead a trump without giving up his heart trick and any other lead makes the play relatively easy.

De Wijs started with the ♣A and a club to Bianchedi’s queen. Bianchedi could have succeeded simply by playing three rounds of hearts and relying on South to hold the ♠A, or he could have entered dummy with a diamond to play a spade up. South could take his ♠A and give North a ruff, but declarer could simply discard a low spade and let North ruff with his natural trick.

Instead, Bianchedi played a diamond to the ace to cash the ♣K. De Wijs ruffed and exited with a heart. Declarer played the ♠K from hand, taken by Muller, who took out dummy’s last trump. The result was two down for minus 200.

Pellegrini led a low spade to Ravenna’s ace, and the suit was returned. Looking at that dummy, a trump return seems more logical. Brink played low, ruffing in dummy, then he played three rounds of trumps. The defenders took one heart, one spade and one club. Plus 620 was good for 13 IMPs to the Netherlands, now trailing 28-15.

On the next deal, Brink found himself in third seat after two passes looking at

♠ 8 2
♥ Q J 7 6
♦ 8 7 6 4 3
♣ K 6

His 1♥ opener as West was followed by a double and raise to 2♥ by Drijver. Eventually, North-South settled in 3NT, not a happy circumstance for Argentina because this was the full deal:

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

Fortunately for Argentina, de Wijs and Muller had a long, complicated auction to 4♠ instead of the cold slam, so the board was a push.

Another big swing went to the Dutch on the next board.

Board 11. Dealer South. None Vul.
	♠ J ♥ A Q 9 ♦ A 9 7 ♣ A 10 7 5 4 2
♠ Q 9 8 6 5 4 2 ♥ 6 5 2 ♦ 5 ♣ 8 3		♠ A 7 ♥ K 8 7 ♦ K J 10 6 4 2 ♣ J 6
	♠ K 10 3 ♥ J 10 4 3 ♦ Q 8 3 ♣ K Q 9

There’s always a risk in bidding a lot on a weak suit, but the payoff when you jam the opponents’ auction makes it worthwhile. They don’t always catch you speeding, after all.

On this occasion, however, Muller had just the hand to punish East for furthering the preempt. De Wijs started with the ♥A and another heart, best for the defense. Bianchedi took six spades and a heart, so he was three down for minus 500.

Drijver had a few assets that might be useful on defense, so he let his opponents figure out what to do.

Played from the North side, 4♥ cannot be defeated because if East leads a diamond, declarer can win the queen and play two rounds of trumps. East win the ♥K, gives his partner a diamond ruff and will also score the ♠A, but that’s it for the defense.

Played from the South side, the diamond lead by West which Ravenna received is the killer. If South goes up with the ♦A, even the ♥A and another heart will leave West with a trump, which he will make after East cashes the ♦K (and probably the ♠A).

At the table, Ravenna ducked the diamond lead, losing to the king. A diamond ruff, spade to the ace and a second diamond ruff had declarer one down before he even got started, and East still had the trump king coming for two down and 12 IMPs to the Netherlands. Argentina’s lead had been reduced to 1 IMP at 28-27.

The Dutch went in front on this deal.

Board 14. Dealer East. N/S Vul.
	♠ A Q 9 ♥ 9 6 ♦ K J 7 3 ♣ A Q 8 3
♠ 6 5 ♥ A 10 7 4 3 2 ♦ 9 4 ♣ J 10 5		♠ K J 10 8 7 ♥ K Q 8 5 ♦ 6 5 ♣ K 9
	♠ 4 3 2 ♥ J ♦ A Q 10 8 2 ♣ 7 6 4 2

Bianchedi’s exhuberance in the bidding was not justified by the strength of his hand. On the club lead, it was trivial for de Wijs and Muller to collect their four tricks for plus 50. At the other table, the auction was more sensible.

Plus 140 meant 5 IMPs to the Netherlands, who moved into the lead at 32-28. They tacked on an overtrick IMP on the next-to-last deal to win the set 33-28, dropping Argentina to 9th place in the round robin standings, just out of a qualifying spot.