Italy - USA2 (Bermuda Bowl Final 7)

Centimetering back into the match - by Phillip Alder

Italy started the penultimate session down by 68.33 IMPs. Could they stage a recovery?

This early deal did not hurt:

Board 99. Dealer South. East-West vul.
	♠ A 9 8 4 ♥ A K 10 3 ♦ A 9 7 ♣ Q 2
♠ K 10 7 ♥ 9 4 ♦ K Q 10 8 6 ♣ K 9 8		♠ Q ♥ Q 8 2 ♦ 5 4 3 ♣ J 10 7 6 5 3
	♠ J 6 5 3 2 ♥ J 7 6 5 ♦ J 2 ♣ A 4

Four spades is the type of game everyone bids these days, since the upside is so good when everything works nicely.

Against Claudio Nunes, Zia led the club eight. Declarer won with dummy's queen, played a club to his ace, and led the spade jack. Now Zia erred, covering with his king and making a royal trick. South ran the spade nine to West's ten, won the diamond-king shift with dummy's ace, cashed the spade eight, and eventually lost one spade, one heart and one diamond.

In the Closed Room, where the transfer auction led to North's being the declarer, Lorenzo Lauria (East) led the diamond three. Eric Rodwell took the trick with his ace and returned a diamond, Alfredo Versace (West) winning with his queen and continuing with the king. Declarer ruffed in the dummy, played a heart to his ace, cashed the spade ace, and led another spade. North had to go down two, losing two spades, one heart, one diamond and one club.

Plus 420 and plus 100 gave Italy 11 valuable IMPs.

Four boards later the margin hadn't changed. Then the United States had a good run.

On Board 103, both North-South pairs played in three diamonds. Nunes could have made it but went wrong near the end. Rodwell made no such error, even making an overtrick. Plus 100 and plus 130 was worth 6 IMPs.

Board 104. Dealer West. None vul.
	♠ Q 9 7 ♥ Q J 6 4 2 ♦ K 10 7 3 ♣ A
♠ 6 3 ♥ A 10 9 8 5 ♦ J 9 5 ♣ K 9 2		♠ K J 4 ♥ K 7 3 ♦ Q 4 ♣ 10 8 7 6 4
	♠ A 10 8 5 2 ♥ ♦ A 8 6 2 ♣ Q J 5 3

(a) 10-13 points, 5-plus hearts, unbalanced hand
(b) Relay
(c) 1=5=4=3 or 3=5=4=1

This was a bad deal for the Fantoni-Nunes system. South could not find out about three-card spade support without getting to three notrump opposite 1=5=4=3. With some help from the defense, Fulvio Fantoni took 11 tricks in three diamonds.

Jeff Meckstroth played four spades very nicely. Versace led a trump. Declarer took East's jack with his ace, played a club to dummy's ace, led a diamond to his ace, ruffed a club, cashed the diamond king, and played another diamond. West exited with a low heart to the queen, king and ruff. South ruffed another club and ruffed a heart to give this position:

	♠ ♥ J 6 4 ♦ 10 ♣
♠ 6 ♥ A 10 9 ♦ ♣		♠ K 4 ♥ 3 ♦ ♣ 10
	♠ 10 8 ♥ ♦ 8 ♣ Q

South led a trump. Lorenzo Lauria (East) won with his king and returned a heart, declarer discarding his diamond. West won and had to lead a heart, East ruffing dummy's jack. But Meckstroth overruffed and cashed the club queen.

Minus 150 and plus 420 gave 6 IMPs to USA 2.

Board 105. Dealer North. East-West vul.
	♠ Q 4 2 ♥ A Q 6 3 ♦ K 7 2 ♣ A Q J
♠ 7 5 ♥ 7 4 ♦ A J 9 8 ♣ 10 9 7 4 3		♠ A 9 8 6 3 ♥ J 9 8 ♦ 6 3 ♣ K 8 2
	♠ K J 10 ♥ K 10 5 2 ♦ Q 10 5 4 ♣ 6 5

(a) 16-plus points
(b) Balanced 8-10

Four hearts had to fail, losing one spade, two diamonds and one club. And three notrump could not be defeated the way the cards lay. Declarer won the spade lead in the South hand, played a diamond to his king, cashed his hearts, then took the club finesse. East returned a diamond to the ten and jack, and West played a club, but declarer drove out the spade ace and had nine tricks: two spades, four hearts, one diamond and two clubs. That gave 10 IMPs to USA 2 and a gain of 7 on the set.

After another 2 IMPs to the U.S., Italy had its own run of swings.

Board 107. Dealer South. None vul.
	♠ Q 9 7 6 5 4 ♥ 5 ♦ A K Q 6 2 ♣ 4
♠ J 3 ♥ A 10 9 8 3 ♦ J ♣ K Q 9 6 2		♠ A K ♥ K Q 4 ♦ 9 8 7 5 3 ♣ A J 3
	♠ 10 8 2 ♥ J 7 6 2 ♦ 10 4 ♣ 10 8 7 5

(a) At least 5-5 in spades and diamonds
(b) Game-forcing heart raise

(a) Transfer

Well bid by Lauria and Versace. Both declarers took two spades, five hearts and five clubs, which gave Italy 10 IMPs.

Then Bob Hamman made a very light overcall, which Zia raised to game. It was doubled and down two, gaining Italy 5 IMPs against Rodwell's making three diamonds at the other table.

After a flat board, Meckwell sacrificed in five clubs, down 300, against a four-spade contract that could have been made only if an opponent was holding his cards carelessly. Zia brought home three spades to hold the loss to 4 IMPs.

On Board 111, Fantoni and Nunes stopped in three hearts with four top losers, while Meckwell got to game, giving Italy another 6 IMPs.

This was the final deal of the set:

Board 112. Dealer West. East-West vul.
	♠ K 10 9 6 ♥ K 8 5 4 ♦ K 7 6 ♣ 6 2
♠ A Q 5 2 ♥ A ♦ A 10 9 5 4 ♣ A K 3		♠ 8 7 3 ♥ 10 9 7 6 2 ♦ Q ♣ Q J 10 9
	♠ J 4 ♥ Q J 3 ♦ J 8 3 2 ♣ 8 7 5 4

(a) Inquiry

Hamman could have made three notrump, but he would also have had to be playing against a careless card-holder.

Hamman won South's club lead in the dummy and played a diamond to his queen. Now he had to go to dummy in clubs and play on diamonds, benefiting from the fact that the opponents couldn't play a heart and immediately establish three cashable tricks in the suit.

Understandably, though, Hamman took the spade finesse at trick three. North won with his king and shifted to a heart. Declarer cashed his clubs, then played a spade, ducking South's jack. Nunes shifted to a diamond, declarer winning with dummy's ace and cashing the spade ace. North took the last three tricks.

Four spades played beautifully on a crossruff. Versace won the first trick with his club ace, unblocked the heart ace, played a club to dummy, ruffed a heart, cashed the diamond ace, ruffed a diamond, ruffed a heart, ruffed a diamond, ruffed a heart, and claimed the spade ace.

Plus 100 and plus 620 gave Italy 12 IMPs. They had won the set by 54 IMPs to 26. The margin was down to 40.33 with 16 boards to go.