USA2 - Netherlands (Bermuda Bowl Quarterfinal 6)

One last shot - by Brent Manley

Going into their sixth and final set with the Netherlands in the Bermuda Bowl quarter-final round, USA2 had a lead of 35 IMPs. Considering that the Dutch had won the last set of the day on Sunday 44-11, no one was taking anything for granted.

The Dutch had shown themselves to be resilient competitors, and they struck first.

Board 17. Dealer North. None Vul.
	♠ J 10 3 2 ♥ K 5 2 ♦ 10 9 5 ♣ Q J 2
♠ A Q 5 ♥ A Q 7 6 4 ♦ Q ♣ A 8 5 3		♠ K 9 8 4 ♥ J 8 3 ♦ J 7 3 2 ♣ 10 9
	♠ 7 6 ♥ 10 9 ♦ A K 8 6 4 ♣ K 7 6 4

Eric Rodwell led the ♣Q to the ace, and declarer, Simon de Wijs, returned a club at trick two. Rodwell took the ♣J and switched to the ♥2: 3, 9, queen. Now de Wijs ruffed a club and returned to hand with the ♠A to ruff his last club loser. He played a diamond from dummy, taken by Jeff Meckstroth with the king. The only other loser for de Wijs was the trump king: plus 170.

Zia Mahmood received the lead of the ♦10, taken by Sjoert Brink with the king. He tried to cash the ♦A, but Zia ruffed and played a low heart from hand to dummy’s jack. Apparently convinced that Brink’s ♥9 was a singleton, Zia embarked on a line of play designed to succeed if North held four trumps to the king. Zia passed the ♣9 to Bas Drijver’s jack, won the diamond return in dummy, pitching a club, then cashed the ♣A and ruffed a club. He played a spade to the ace, then cashed the ♠Q and could have made the contract by cashing the ♥A, but he played a spade to dummy’s king, expecting to ruff dummy’s fourth spade to endplay North, who Zia thought was down to ♥K 10 5. Unfortunately for Zia, South ruffed the ♠K. North still had a trump trick to come. One down meant 6 IMPs to the Netherlands.

Two deals later, they scored again.

Board 19. Dealer South. E/W Vul.
	♠ A 8 ♥ Q J 10 9 7 6 ♦ A 7 ♣ 10 3 2
♠ K 9 5 4 3 ♥ A 5 ♦ 10 9 6 3 ♣ 8 4		♠ Q 6 ♥ K 8 3 ♦ K Q J 8 ♣ A J 9 6
	♠ J 10 7 2 ♥ 4 2 ♦ 5 4 2 ♣ K Q 7 5

With North holding ♠A and ♦A along with the six-card heart suit, Hamman never had a chance not that the final contract was his fault. Zia’s raise to game with his meagre assets was on the aggressive side.

Brink led a heart to his partner’s 9, Hamman ducking. The ♥Q went to dummy’s ace, and Hamman played a club to his 9 and Brink’s queen. A spade to the ace allowed Drijver to clear the heart suit while he still held the ♦A. The result was three down for minus 300.

De Wijs lost a diamond, a club and two spades for plus 140 10 IMPs to the Netherlands.

The Americans recovered 4 IMPs on boards 20 and 21, and another 5 on this deal:

Board 23. Dealer South. All Vul.
	♠ A Q 9 7 5 4 3 ♥ K Q J 3 ♦ J ♣ 7
♠ 10 8 2 ♥ 8 4 2 ♦ 10 ♣ A K 10 8 5 3		♠ K J 6 ♥ A 9 7 6 ♦ K Q 8 ♣ Q J 4
	♠ ♥ 10 5 ♦ A 9 7 6 5 4 3 2 ♣ 9 6 2

On the next deal, more IMPs went to the Dutch.

Board 24. Dealer West. None Vul.
	♠ K J 10 2 ♥ 10 5 2 ♦ K 7 2 ♣ A K Q
♠ 9 6 4 3 ♥ Q ♦ 10 8 6 5 ♣ 10 9 6 2		♠ 8 ♥ A K 8 7 ♦ A Q 9 4 3 ♣ J 7 4
	♠ A Q 7 5 ♥ J 9 6 4 3 ♦ J ♣ 8 5 3

Brink led the ♦J to Hamman’s queen. Hamman played a spade at trick two, taken by Drijver to play another trump. Hamman won in dummy, cashed the ♥Q, ruffed a spade to hand and cashed two high hearts, pitching clubs. He threw another club on the losing heart, but Brink played a club to his partner for a third round of trumps to defeat the contract one trick for plus 100.

Muller made a well-judged double. He started with a high heart, cashed his ♦A next, then continued with the other high heart, followed by a ruff. Plus 100 at both tables meant 5 more IMPs to the Dutch, still down 28 IMPs, but a big gain was in store.

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

2♠ To play

Brink led a diamond, and Hamman put up the ace. He cashed the ♦K and ruffed a diamond, then ruffed a spade, cashed three high clubs and ruffed a club (North pitching a spade), then ruffed a spade. Hamman could have been down only one by ruffing a diamond, but he called for dummy’s last club: ♥3, ♥9, ♥10. A spade was ruffed by dummy’s ♥J and overruffed by the ace. A heart back crashed the king and queen together, Drijver taking the last trick with the only remaining trump. Plus 500.

No double, no trouble…well, almost no trouble. Muller also played along crossruff lines after Meckstroth led a club. Muller ruffed a diamond near the end instead of a club, but there just weren’t enough tricks. Still, minus 100 was worth 9 IMPs to the Netherlands, now within 14 IMPs with seven deals to play.

Board 28 gave USA2 some breathing room.

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

Hamman led a low diamond to the king and ace, and he won the ♠10 when Zia shifted to a low spade and Drijver put in the 9. Now the ♦J went to dummy’s queen, and a spade to the ace was followed by three rounds of hearts. Declarer lost two spades, two hearts, a diamond and a club for minus 200.

1♣ Strong
1♦ Negative

Meckstroth did well to compete in clubs, and Rodwell played skilfully to land his contract. Rodwell discarded a spade from dummy on the heart lead, winning the ace. He played a diamond to the king and ace, then played the ♣9 on the trump shift. Muller put in the 10 (playing the ace would sacrifice a trump trick), forcing dummy’s queen, but Rodwell ruffed a low diamond with the ♣K, cashed the ♥K, pitching a spade, then ruffed a heart to dummy and played a trump. The defenders got two trumps and two diamonds, but Rodwell had plus 110 and a 7-IMP swing.

USA2 returned the favor on the next deal.

Board 29. Dealer North. All Vul.
	♠ 10 4 2 ♥ 3 ♦ A 10 5 3 ♣ K 9 8 5 3
♠ K Q 7 6 3 ♥ Q J 8 5 ♦ Q 9 6 2 ♣		♠ J 8 5 ♥ A K 10 9 4 ♦ K J 7 4 ♣ A
	♠ A 9 ♥ 7 6 2 ♦ 8 ♣ Q J 10 7 6 4 2

De Wijs and Muller did well not to press on over 5♣. Played by East, 5♥ would almost certainly have been defeated by a diamond lead. Three tricks were available to the defenders, so they collection plus 200.

Brink could have led his singleton diamond for a ruff and two down, but Hamman had no way to avoid losing two aces even after the clubs lead and soon was recording minus 100.

The Dutch missed a chance for a partscore pickup on the next deal, but managed another 5-IMP gain on the next-to-last deal to get the margin to 12 IMPs, but there was no chance of a swing on the final board a routine 3NT that would always be bid and never go down. In fact, Zia managed to take 11 tricks for plus 660 against plus 600 for de Wijs. The final score was 214-200 for USA2.