Bulletin – Bhartiya Edition

3N by South was reached at both tables and the play progressed similarly. A club was led, won by the ♣J and the ♠J was played, ducked by East. Switching to hearts now would lead to nine tricks, but at the tables another spade was continued. Here, the play diverged.
In Room 1, Binod Shaw won the ♠A and switched to a club. Srinivasan was able to win and test spades for a 3-3 break and fall back on setting up the hearts playing Ace, King and another. He made 9 tricks when the heart jack fell doubleton.
Arvind Srinivasan won the ♠A and switched to diamonds. Subrata Saha won the the third round, crossed to the ♣K and cashed the ♠Q. When spades did not break, he had to go down. Setting up a heart trick will allow the defence to score 2 spades, 1 heart and two diamonds. 10 IMPs to Rampage

An ironclad 5♣ was missed by Arvind-RV. The East hand is golden facing a club suit with side spade length. Arvind's evaluation appears pessimistic.

MMS gained 9 IMPs when Subrata - Sukamal bid a good 4♥ in a competetive auction and made it. The auction died at 3♥ at the other table on a milder auction.

MMS lost 11 IMPs on board 7 when Subrata Saha made an ill-timed 3♣ overcall which was doubled for -1100.

Binod Shaw declared an aggressive 4♥ contract on a favourable club lead. He won the ♣Q and led a spade. Rajeev, North, won the ♠K and led a trump won by declarer's Ace. The play continued - spade ruff, diamond ruff, spade ruffed with the ♥10 overruffed with the ♥K, diamond ruff. A spade now was ruffed by South with the ♥J and a trump return drew declarer's trumps. This held declarer to 2 clubs, 1 diamond, 2 ruffs in each hand and 2 trumps for 1 down.

If Declarer played ♦A and ♦ ruff before giving up a spade, the rest of the play would continue as before, but when South ruffs in with the ♥J, declarer would have already scored three diamond ruffs in hand and the ♥8 would be high for the tenth trick. This line should be attempted only if South is known to hold four hearts, as it loses on many other layouts. The other table was in 3♥ making for 6 IMPs to Rampage

A 4-IMP gain to MMS on the last board rounded out the score to a 16-IMP lead for Rampage at the end of the first session. In the second session, board numbers 1-12 were played rather than the expected 13-24. Rampage gained 3 IMPs on the first board. They lost 6 IMPs on the second when an aggressive 3NT by Sanjit-Binod made when the defensive hearts split 5-3 and the ♦AK was with the short-heart hand. Then,

On Board 3, Binod-Sanjit's methods against a 10-12 NT were tested. Some partnerships play that a Dbl of a 2♣ response to a mini-NT is artificial showing a strong hand. Regardless of that agreement, passing out 2♦ rather than reopening with Dbl or even with 2NT was taking a big position. The defence dropped a trick for +200 against -600 in 3N in the other room. 9 IMPs to Rampage.

Board 6 was a double game swing for MMS, both games being made due to defensive missteps. Against 3N by Sanjit, Rajeev led the ♠K - ♠J - ♠5 - ♠2. Unable to read the spade suit, he switched to a diamond but he switched to the ♦4!. The diamonds ran and declarer made nine tricks. Against 4♠X by Sukamal, Arvind led the ♦A on which RV played the ♦Q. After this, all roads lead to 10 tricks. 15 IMPs to MMS

Rampage got 13 IMPs back with a well-bid slam by RV and Arvind.

Sanjit doubled South's Precision 1♦, arguably the best call with the hand desipte the doubleton club. The auction ended with East declaring 3♣. South led three rounds of diamonds, ruffed by Binod. He crossed to the ♥J and played a club to the King losing to the Ace. The contract has to go down one or two tricks now, and it went three down in practice. +300 was 8 IMPs to Rampage when South went one down in 3♦ in the other room.

It appears that 3♣ can make if declarer guesses the clubs right taking the double finesse, but the defence has an answer, perhaps double-dummy. North must play the ♣T on the first club from dummy and South must duck. Declarer cannot cross to dummy without losing a ruff or setting up spade tricks for the defense to cash when in with the ♣A.

Against 4♠, East led the ♥10 and declarer had an immediate guess. Sukamal guessed to cover with the ♥J after which the contract had to go down. The contract makes if he plays a small heart at trick one; regardless of the exact line of play, he can knock out West's spades and run hearts with the ♥J as entry. In the other room, Rajeev-Himani rested in 2♥ making three. 7 IMPs to Rampage.

After 1♥ (Dbl) 3♥, Subrata Saha bid 3♠ which allowed his partner to bid 4♠ over 4♥ and later content himself with a Dbl of 5♥. When RV bid 4♠ and North bid 5♥, Arvind had to take his second action at the five level having only made a one-level takeout double and chose 5♠. Possibly, he also believed that his partner had longer spades. +500 against 5♥X and +200 against 5♠X was 12 IMPs to MMS.

MMS scored 11 IMPs each on three consecutive boards.

After North passed, Sukamal opened the East hand 3♥, got raised to 4♥ and made the contract by guessing the location of the ♣J. Arvind passed the East hand after North opened 1♦. When South bid hearts before him, East-West lost their opportunity to play in hearts.

As on the previous board, Sukamal made an aggressive opening, 1♥ this time, which easily got him to 4♥. Arvind passed as dealer, and passed again when his RHO overcalled partner's 1♠ with 2♦. This is perhaps part of a modern trend of passing when holding length in overcaller's suit even with a good hand such as this. His partner had other ideas, however, and passed out 2♦.

Favourable in third seat, Srinivasan pre-empted 3♥ which propelled the opponents to 4♠. He led the ♦A and continued with a diamond to Subrata's ♦K. Subrata played a spade to dummy, ducked by South, and led a heart to the ten, queen and ace. The contract was now foolproof. Had South won the first spade or risen with the ♥K and pushed a diamond through, declarer may ruff the diamond not knowing that North is out of spades and end up short of the contract. At the other table, North-South bid to 4♥ on a slower auction and went one down.

Rampage's lead was cut down to just 4 IMPs in the third session.

At both tables, North opened 1♥ and East bid 1♠. Sanjit bid 1NT showing clubs. After this, Binod bid jumped to 4♥, making seven on a spade lead. RV bid 1NT natural, and Arvind reasonably thought that 9 tricks in NT would be easier than 10 and bid 3NT. On some days, there may even be four inescapable losers in 4♥. West's surprise diamond suit allowed the defense to take the first five tricks for one down. 11 IMPs to MMS, who now led by 4 IMPs

VUL against NV, you hold ♠ 843 ♥ 7643 ♦ A72 ♣ A53. RHO opens 1♦, you pass, LHO bids 1♥, partner bids 1NT, pass back to you. What is your action? This is a question that depends partly on evaluation and partly on expectation of partner's strength. Arvind passed and RV made an overtrick. Binod bid 3NT which went two down. 8 IMPs to Rampage, who regained the lead and was now ahead by 6 IMPs.

Against 3NT by Subrata on the above transfer auction, Arvind led the ♣K - ♣3 - ♣10 - ♣5. He switched to a heart at trick two, delivering the ninth trick to declarer who had no other hope for one. The heart switch is necessary should declarer need his ninth trick (rather than his eighth) in clubs. He may hold, for example, ♠Kxxx ♥Kx ♦AJx ♣Axxx or ♠KQxx ♥Qx ♦AJx ♣Axxx
Binod's 1♥ opening in the other room froze East-West out of the auction. He declared 1N going two down. 9 IMPs to MMS and the lead changed hands again, MMS leading by 3 IMPs

Subrata - Sukamal bid to 3NT, while Rajeev - Srinivasan stayed in 1NT. Although every card is onside for declarer, he still has to decide whether to play for it to be onside. Subrata went after hearts for his ninth trick, but his entries were tangled and he could only take eight of them. By the time he attacked clubs, the defence had already set up North's long diamond for the setting trick. One down was 5 IMPs to Rampage, who now led by 2 IMPs

Binod-Sanjit bid 4♠, an adequate contract VUL at IMPs, while Arvind-RV stopped in three. A heart was led to the king and ace. When the spade finesse lost, two more rounds of hearts promoted West's ♠10 with the ♣A yet to come. -100 vs +140 was 6 more IMPs to Rampage. The last board was flat, and Rampage won a nailbiter by 8 IMPs. Congratulations to both teams on a well-fought match.