World Bridge Championships – Day 12

I dont watch VU Graphs featuring India, neither do I watch live matches featuring India in any sport. Call it superstition whatever. With the matches taking place well into the Indian night, I went against my routine to try save my midnight oil stock. I peeped in to watch the first set towards the end and retreated when I saw Indian declarer going down in two contracts. Later in the evening, I went in for a quick look and saw two 14 IMPs swing against India. That was that. I am back to my routine of being a "forensic Bridge writer" for Indian matches, post mortems only.

Here is a quick look at the final scores

Switzerland won the Bermuda bowl by a breath takingly narrow margin of 3 imps over Netherlands

Sweden won the Venice Cup decisively beating Turkey comprehensively.

Poland won the d'Orsi Trophy overcoming India convincingly

France won the Wuhan Cup, beating USA1

We are also presenting an analysis of India's performance in the 4th set yesterday, which we will compare with the BB results simultaneously.

The match which kept everyone on the edge was the Switzerland vs Netherlands Bermuda Bowl match. There was hardly any distance separating the two teams when we left them overnight. Netherlands were down 94.4-97 against Zimmermanns team. Netherlands had three pairs who were all pulling their might. Out of the three pairs, Simon De Wijs-Baukke Muller, Luke Verhees-Ricco van Prooijen are highly decorated, multiple world championships winners.

Compared to them, Joris Van Lankveld-Berend Van Den Bos pairing, who have come to the OPEN teams thru the much acclaimed Dutch junior programme, have only victories at the Youth Championships to showcase so far. On the first day of the finals, they played in two sets, both of which Netherlands LOST. In the very first set of the day, the youngsters were fielded again. Dutch lost that set too.

If the Dutch team captain had decided to field the senior pros for remaining two rounds today, no one would have questioned him. It is admirable that Dutch did not take that route, they fielded the three pairs by rotation. In fact, courageously (it certainly had nothing to do with the so called "Dutch courage"), the youngsters were fielded for the FINAL SET when the Dutch were ahead by a mere 2 IMPs.

World class teams are made with that spirit, both by giving responsibility to the younger team mates and willingness to take on their chin the bad result that may come but treating it as a vital investment and experience for future for the country. Every pair going by rotation also ensures that all pairs get their well deserved rest in turn and are fresh when called to duty. They had also given a clear mandate to the Dutch pairing of Bas Drijver and Sjoert Brink that if they wanted to play for Netherlands, they needed to put their national commitments ahead of their professional ones.

Drijver-Brink had taken up residency in Switzerland and qualified to play for the Swiss team. Switzerland has a liberal dual citizenship policy which makes the process easier, but a residency of 10 years is a must. So it is mystifying how these pairs played for Switzerland when they had represented their countries as recently as in 2016 and then switched over to play for Switzerland in a matter of 3 years (by 2019). The WBF database has quietly switched the citizenship of both pairs to Switzerland!

In contrast to the Dutch, the Switzerland team took a result oriented approach. The sponsor Zimmermann and his partner Piedra had already played two rounds (25%) needed for the World Champion title and also the masterpoints. Their "teammates" were Polish M Kclucowski-P Gawrys (the former is one of the most exciting young talents to come thru and already a winner of the Bermudal Bowl in Chennai). The other pair was Dutch and could well commit fratricide if they won against their countrymen. The hired guns were fielded unchanged from the third round onwards.

The Dutch team lost the fourth set 37-22 to trail by 12.

In set 5, the Dutch fielded their more experienced pairing of Wijs-Muller, Prooijen-Verhees. They won the fifth set to go into a 2 IMP lead when Swiss were penalised 2.5 IMPs.

As mentioned earlier, Dutch fielded their younger and least experienced pair rather than continue with two world champion pairs for the final set.

The young pair committed a decisive (as was proven later) mistake when they failed to reach a 4S contract on intervention. West, van Lankeveld, holding Jxxxxx, xxx, x, AKx heard his partner open 1NT. South intervened with 2D (5 Major, 4minor). West could simply have bid Texas transfer 4H and ended in 4S. Instead West chose to bid 3H which is transfer Lebensohl. North had both minors and jumped to 4C for pass or correct. South corrected to 4D and strangely both Dutch players passed.

A simple double would have collected 500 and kept the loss to just 3 IMPs. They lost 10 IMPs on the board eventually losing the match by 3 IMPs. What a decisive mistake by the young pair.

In the fourth set, India ended narrowing the gap by 10 IMPs.

Continuous play without rest seemed to have got to the Indian pairing as Anil-Rajesh, Subroto-Sukamal continued for India. India had a disastrous fifth set losing 57-28, Poland played a steady game. The gap was too much for India to surmount in the final set. Poland ended as deserving winners. India improved their medal from bronze to silver, an excellent performance with some memorable scalps in their belts. Congratulations to Anil Padhye, Rajesh Dalal, Subroto Saha, Sukamal Das, Ashok Goel and R Krishnan.

In the fourth set of the finals, Wijs-Muller joined their younger teammates to battle.

• The predictable vagaries of modern Bridge were on full view in the very first board itself. Dealer North held JT987x, 10, KQxx, xx. Such hands, 6-4 hands, are not passed in modern Bridge however weak the holding in first suit, more so as first deal in the morning when you are eager to draw first blood. Both North's opened 3S! When South raised to 4S, West holding -, QJ9876, xx, KQJT9 bid 4N as two suited takeout. East, who would have dearly loved to defend holding AQxx, Axx, xx, xxxx, retreated to 5C which was doubled by South.

  Double dummy, the contract goes 2 down. But South went back to text books, which his partner had happily abandoned and lead a spade in both tables. East, with a silent prayer no doubt, discarded the two losing diamonds and soon claimed the contract. Identical bidding and identical plays in both tables.

  When your students see such Bridge in world class tourneys, with so many "rules" broken in a single deal, the poor Bridge teachers have nowhere to hide!

  Contrast this to what happened in the senior final, Anil opened only 2S. Rajesh bid 2N as relay, West came in with 3S showing a two suiter, East bid 3NT which Rajesh strangely passed holding Kxx, Kxx, AJTxx, Ax by far the best hand of the table. Either a DOUBLE or 4D fit non-jump bid was possible. East now settled in 4H, with the same trusting lead of low spade, that was made too. Poland opened with a similar weak two, but 2D multi variation. Over this South bid 4C which is not mentioned in the system card, but some kind of forcing raise. Subroto doubled to show clubs, Sukamal doubled the final contract of 4S which went 1 down.

• Modern Bridge science was also visible in the next board.

  West held Kx, x, Axxxx, AQxxx opened 1D after two passes. North overcalled 1H, East either bid 1S or doubled, South raised to 2H. Now with West hand, one more bid is called for. How you do that depends on your methods. Those who play Good-Bad 2NT will bid 2NT as a way to show weaker version of two-suited hand where as a direct 3C would be better than minimum openings and 5-5. With advanced science, you can do this the other way, which inverts the meaning of direct bid and 2NT with the premise that showing your second suit is more important.
  Klukowski chose to bid a direct 3C (possibly playing the inverted version) and Gawrys bid 3D, they played there. Playing the classical version, Lankeveld bid 2NT, over which Van Den Bos bid 3D (holding Qxxxx, KQx, xxx, xx) showing preference if partner had clubs to show. Both declarers got a diamond lead, ducked won the second time and tried to sneak a heart trick. Drijver went up with Ace and took his countrymen 1 down. De Wijs ducked and that was that. 4 IMPs and first blood to Swiss who wiped out the Dutch lead to go up by 0.6 IMPs.

  For India, Saha bid 3C (possibly forgetting their agreement), North doubled as game try, Sukamal passed and later when 3H came around to him (possibly taking partners 3C to mean a stronger hand) bid 3NT. Near identical bidding at the other table too. North, Anil, too decided not to double, holding AJx, ATxxx, QJ, KJx and the best hand at the table. There was no escape but to go 2 down. So either science or age prevailed, you decide, Seniors got into trouble while Open played in a sensible contract.

• More modern science came to the fore in the next board.
  Lankeveld opened 1H with xx, AQJxx, Axx, AJx. This gave a chance for North to exhibit a modern gadget, the Raptor 1N overcall which shows 4 cards in unbid Major and 5 cards in an unspecified Minor. So a strong NT overcall is given shoo off. East held Ax, KTxx, xx, KQT9x and bid 2NT showing a limit raise or better. He may have been better off showing clubs and setting up a forcing auction or some kind of fit showing jump and later show a strong hand. South with Jxxxx spade jumped to 4S which gave West no option but to double and show a better hand. East strangely passed this holding GF hand himself and spade control. 4S went 3 down.

  At the other table, Kluckowski opened 1NT North did not have a handy gadget to show his hand 5m+4M and passed. when Klukowski rebid 3H on partner's Stayman, the bird had flown. Too late to intervene and cause damage to the auction. 6H was reached and made without any trouble. 14 IMPs to Switzerland and now 15 IMPs ahead.

  In seniors match, Saha opened 1N and when North doubled (to show 5m+4M hand type), Sukamal strangely decided to bid 3N with such a good hand and missed a sitter slam. At the other table, 1H was opened, doubled by Anil, East bid 4C as a fit showing raise and later passed partner's 4H. No swing, but missed opportunity for both sides.

• Board 68 was equally exciting.

  Dealer West held A, xx, AQJTxxxx, Jx. Temptation to open high due to lack of either Major was resisted at all tables. After 1D, there was no bidding by NS and Kluk-Gawrys reached 5D. Drijver came in with a double and this placed cards for East who held xx, AQxxx, K, AQTxx. The young Dutch pair reached 6D and got 13 IMPs.

  For India seniors, Anil too didn't come into the bidding holding KQxx, KJx, xxx, Kxx wisely deciding that bidding here with a flat 4333 would be more help to opponents. This left the Poles to find their way, they stopped at Game in 5D. Starkowski came in with a double after Saha's opening and Sukamal made amends to the earlier slam miss by simply raising Saha's rebid of 3D to 6D. 13 IMPs to India.

• Board 69 also saw lot of action, but no big swing. Against a 2C strong opening, NV against Vul, the Dutch youngsters preempted their way to 4 level to 4S which was doubled and went three down.

  At the other table, Tarzan club was opened and with the preempt was at 3 level and this enabled NS to reach 4H. 3 IMPs to the Dutch. Strong club pairing Anil-Rajesh too reached 4H which made without much difficulty.

  Poland reached 3NT played by North but Subroto didnt introduce his KQJ9xxx Spade suit and only Sukamal preempted with 3C. When Sukamal led a club, India were in with a chance.

  Declarer sees the play of Club Q by Subroto and now knows the lay of the club suit. Declarer had Axx, AKQT, AJxx, AK and dummy xx, Jxxx, 987x, xxx. Declarer needs a diamond as ninth trick, so a 3-2 break is a must. If Sukamal held KQx in diamonds, it was curtains for declarer.

  So declarer needs to play for split honours and either Hxx or Hx with his RHO. Correct play is to enter dummy with the fourth heart and play low towards AJxx. If RHO plays a diamond honour, duck. RHO will be on lead and unable to play a club to partner. If RHO, on the other hand, plays low, Declarer should go up with the Ace and play back a low diamond.

  At the table, the Polish declarer cashed three top hearts, but erred by not entering dummy and playing a diamond towards hand. Instead declarer played the diamond Ace. Now Subroto can work out from the lead and subsequent play that partner needs two entries and his diamond Queen must be sacrificed. He should play the Queen under the Ace. Sukamal held KTx in diamonds and will thank him for the two entries. Not a very difficult defense to find, but continuous play on all the days would have taken a toll of our players. 1 IMP only to India.

• The next board was a 1N partial.

  Only Sukamal found a great neutral lead of club out of the East players in Bermuda Bowl and Seniors finals. Sparkling defense by both partners soon took the contract 1 down. Good deal for students of the game to study for defensive signalling and partnership understanding.

  At the other table, a heart lead and subsequent defense saw Anil make an overtrick. An overtrick was made by Swiss player also for a similar 1 IMP swing.

• Board 71 also saw lot of action. Most tables, North opened strong club (or diamond in case of Tarzan Club) and was soon preempted to 5C. They elected to double holding Kxxx, KQJx, KQxx, A and their partners passed holding JTxxx, xxxxx, J, xx both vulnerable. Dutch didn't double and lost 3 IMPs.

  In a similar situation, Rajesh strangely decided to bid 5H which was doubled, went to 5S which was from frying pan to fire. 3 down only mercifully -800 and loss of 15 IMPs.

• Board 72 Both the Swiss pairs played in a 3 level partial in Majors. 3H does not make, but was allowed to. In 3S, with dummy having KJxxx and RHO being the opener, Drijver had to guess the location of the Ace. He played low from hand and went up with the King when East who held the Ace ducked. 7 imps to Swiss.

  For India, Saha opened 2H 10-13, 6 cards and Sukamal holding QJT, Qxx, Axx, Jxxx decided that 3NT had a chance and bid it. He had only 8 tricks after a helpful diamond lead which was won with the Ten in dummy. He might have tried a spade from dummy, tough for North to go up with King and return a diamond. If South ends up winning the Ace, would be tough to find the continuation. If South ducks the spade, you have nine tricks by switching to hearts. 1 down and a push board when other table played in 3H 1 down.

• After a dull 4S, 3N was played in all tables. Three tables made it. At the table where Indians defended, 3NT was taken down when Rajesh found a good continuation after the opening lead. Declarer could still survive by playing for 3-3 break in diamonds, but didnt. Badly needed 12 IMPs to India.
• Next board again saw three tables playing in 4S. Declarers brought home a diamond suit A8 opposite QT97x when a diamond singleton was led thru the long suit. In the Indian table, Das and Surbroto intervened aggressively and wrong footed the Poles into playing in 4H which went 1 down. 11 imps.
• After two quiet boards, in Board 78, Indians overreached to 4H which was doubled by North holding JT98X in trumps. This goes 2 down, but Sukamal escaped with only 1 down and the board was pushed when it went 2 down at the other table.
• India were now trailing by 23 when a pickup opportunity came up. After 1n-2c, Sukamal came in with Kxx, x, KJxxxx, Jxx bidding 2d. Poland ended up in 6H and Subroto led a diamond. After this, the hand will go down unless declarer plays Sukamal for singleton.

  He didnt and 1 down. At the other table, there was no opposition bidding. Rajesh too played for an even break of trumps. Bidding and result was duplicated at all tables in Bowl as well.

• Board 32

  3NT was bid and made in two tables, Dutch pair played in 2NT and lost 7 IMPs.

  Rajesh got a club lead when declaring 3NT after his RHO preempted in a Major. Dummy had K8xx, hand TX. Rajesh ducked, RHO wins with the Jack and plays back the Queen.

  If Rajesh ducks this also, the club suit cannot be played again. Win heart shift, establish diamonds. West will need to find 3 discards on the run of Diamonds. The lay of the spade suit may now become known on the run of diamonds East held QJ doubleton. Rajesh elected to win the second club with King. East now held A9x in cubs (all winners) and Diamond Ace. So that play did not succeed. 1 down.

  The Polish Declarer guessed the layout correctly and made 10 tricks. 10 IMPs to Poland.