The second day of the World Bridge Games was relatively disappointing. None of our teams actually improved on the previous day's positions and we saw some serious disasters at the bridge table. In addition, our ladies and mixed teams both picked up penalties of 3 VPs each. This sort of penalty is not small and we need to understand what exactly happened.
I did start out trying to cover matches in detail but, at nearly 12 noon, I was nowhere near half complete. So I will attempt as best possible.
As mentioned yesterday, we would welcome reports of hands, or detailed matches from anybody. Will try and post them in the day's coverage. Photographs from the venue would be really welcome.
The first match against Poland saw the team take a tiny lead of 10 imps which they held till the half way stage. Later though, Binod and Sanjit stretched to an unmakable 6♥ on Board 11. It is unclear whether they reached this by themselves or pushed over a 5♠ sacrifice by their opponents. Nevertheless, that cost India 11 imps. In the open room, Raju and Ajay did not even compete to 4♠. On Board 12, the lead of the ♣Q by Raju Tolani gave the declarer 3 club tricks and the contract. In the closed room, Sanjit received the lead of a small club after which he could not make more than 2 club tricks and proceeded to go 1 down for another 10 imps. Prior to that, on Board 6, the Poles were shown to have played in 4♠ for 11 tricks for a long time before the score got corrected. I wonder whether that was a ruling or just an error in score entry.
Eventually, India lost the match 4.81 - 15.19
In their next match against Italy, India fell back on the first board (Board 17) itself when, in the open room, the Italians competed to an aggressive 4♥ which is unstoppable. In the closed room Raju and Ajay opted to let the opponents play in 3♠ which is 1 down. They pulled this back later on Board 22 when Sandeep and Jaggy decided to sacrifice in 6♦ for -2 giving 300. In the closed room, the Italians opted to bid one on to 6♥ which was not makeable. The next big exchange happened on Board 24, where both sides bid extremely aggressive games. However, the Italians were in 4♥ , which, with South's unbalanced had has better scope for play than 3NT which Raju and Ajay opted to play in. On Board 26, India were gifted 9 imps when the Italians opted to not bid 4♥. Finally, on Board 30, India conceded another 9 imps, when Raju and Ajay opted to not bid over 4♠.
India lost this match 5.61-14.39.
In their final match, India played Norway. They basically won this match on the back of 3 boards. On Board 9, Christian Bakke and Brogeland Boye opted to not bid 4♠ which, if bid, makes comfortably. Instead they opted to play in 4♦ where only 9 tricks can be made. In the other room, Binod and Sanjit were doubled in 4♠ where they collected 590 and an additional 2 imps. On Board 13, Jaggy and Sandeep bid an aggressive 3NT and made 9 tricks. The Norwegian East opted to pass his partner's 1NT bid with 8 HCP. And finally, on Board 15, Boye failed to bid over Bakke's 1♠ in what seems to have been a total brain fade. Virtually the whole field was in 3NT giving India a further 10 imps.
India won this match 12.03-7.97
At the end of the day, India was in 14th place (with 8 to qualify). Today, they will be playing Finland, Korea and Australia.
India's scorecard, as well as their upcoming matches can be seen by clicking here.
India started their first match on day 2 against Spain with a bang when Alka Kshirsagar and Bharati Dey bid and Bharati played an excellent 6♥. With trumps breaking badly and the ♣K wrongly placed, the hand has to be played carefully. Fortunately the cards are placed favorably and everybody who bid the slam was able to bring it home. On Board 16, Bharati appears to have brought home an almost impossible 3NT on the favorable lead of the ♥Q. With her spade stopper intact and the diamonds fortuitously breaking 2-2, she was able to collect 5 diamonds, 2 clubs, a heart and a spade after the club finesse failed. Chile played this hand in 5♦, which has no chance whatsoever. However, the Spaniards had the better of most other exchanges and India finally won this match 11.70 - 8.30.
India's next match against Chile appears to have been disastrous. On Board 2, Devi Bhatnagar and Alka Jain inexplicably failed to cash four tricks against their opponents giving them 10 imps. Then, on Board 12, the Chilean East appears to have brought home an extremely difficult 6NT by throwing Devi in with the ♥Q and forcing her to lead into declarers ♣AQ. This cost India another 14 imps. To add insult to injury, India appear to have been penalized 3VPs. We shall attempt to find out the reason for this penalty for our readers. India lost this match 2.92-14.08.
India's third match was against Hong Kong China. This match saw 2 big swings go either way. While these squared each other out, Hong Kong China got the better of the exchanges on several boards to win the match. The final score 6.82-13.18
In their final match, India played Argentina, against whom they carved out a facile 15.37-4.63 victory.
At the end of the day, after the 3 VP Penalty, India is lying in 16th place.
Today, they will be playing Turkiye, Japan, South Africa and England. India's scorecard, as well as their upcoming matches can be seen by clicking here.
The India Seniors had a below par day yesterday.
Their first outing against Argentina was disastrous. The opening board cost India 17 imps when Arun Bapat went down in 6♥. This is hard to make undoubtedly with the hearts breaking 4-0 and the ♣K wrong. Nevertheless, quite a few declarers appear to have made this contract. From there on, it was down hill all the way and they finally lost the match 1.86-18.14.
The next match was against England and this was a cakewalk. Everything went right for them as England made one wrong decision after another and they won this match 19.13 - 0.87
India continued their winning ways in their third match against Canada. They won this match 11.70 - 8.30. The margin may have been higher had Arun Bapat not been caught stretching on the last board.
Their last match against lowly placed Morocco was disastrous with India losing 3 boards and winning back only one of them. The final score was 5.54 - 14.46.
At the end of the day, India was lying in 5th place.
Today, they will be playing France, New Zealand, Israel and the USA. India's scorecard, as well as their upcoming matches can be seen by clicking here.
The mixed team started their campaign today with a match against New Zealand. They lost this match 7.82 - 12.18
Their second match was against Switzerland which they lost by 19 imps (4.25-15.75). The problem was that all 19 imps were conceded on one board when Kiran and Satya ended up playing in 1♦ XX and scoring only 3 tricks. It is seriously pointless speculating how one of the longest standing partnerships in the country could get their wires crossed so. I would call it a black swan episode.
After a bye in the 8th round, India played Sweden in round 9. They won this match 13.14-6.86.
In the final round, India played England. While they won the match by 10 imps, they too were penalized 3 VPs and the score reads 10.43-6.57. We shall attempt to obtain details on this too.
At the end of the day, India were in 12th place.
Today, they play Turkiye, France, Denmark, Argentina and Canada.
India's scorecard, as well as their upcoming matches can be seen by clicking here.
Disclaimer : All opinions are entirely those of the author and are no reflection of the views of the BridgeFromHome Team.