Furious Comeback Wins Senior KO for Budd Team

74th Fall North American Bridge Championships

November 16-November 26, 2000

Birmingham, Alabama

Daily Bulletin

Vol. 74, No. 7

Thursday, November 23, 2000

Editors: Henry Francis and Jody Latham

Furious comeback wins Senior KO for Budd team

The team captained by Richard Budd of Portland
ME went into the final 16 boards with fierce determination – they didn’t want to finish second again in the Senior Knockout Teams. They were 28 IMPs down, but they were confident they could turn the match around against the team captained by Richard Sternberg of West Palm Beach FL.
And turn it around they did! They piled up 78
IMPs while holding their foes to only 9 to win the championship by 41 IMPs, 150-109. What made the victory all the more pleasing was the fact that they were beating the team that defeated them in the final in Boston last year.
Playing with Budd were Robert Ryder, Caldwell
NJ; William Hunter, Reading MA; Shome Mukherjee, Randolph MA; Richard De Martino, Riverside CT, and Pat McDevitt, Brookline MA. On the Sternberg team were Allan Cokin, Palm Beach FL; Bernie Chazen, Tamarac FL; Chuck Burger, West Bloomfield MI; Richard Reisig, Boynton Beach FL; Robert Lipsitz, Palm Harbor FL.
The teams were not exactly the same as they were in Boston. Chuck Burger replaced Billy Eisenberg on the Sternberg team, and BUDD added DeMartino, a new member of the ACBL Board, and McDevitt.
It was a tough, hard-fought match all the way.
BUDD led, 17-13, after the first quarter, and increased the lead to six at the half, 55-49. STERNBERG put on a powerful drive in the third quarter to shoot ahead,

Victors in the Senior KnockoutTeams: front row (l to r) Bill Hunter, Bob Ryder and Dick Budd; back row (l to r) Shome Mukherjee, Pat McDevitt and Richard DeMartino.

100-72, but then came that 78-9 fourth quarter. It was the second straight day that BUDD came from behind to win in the fourth quarter.

Continued on page 6

Landen-Rajadhyaksha lead Blue Ribbon Pairs

RRaavviinnddrraaMMuurrtthhyy

RavindraMurthy

RRaavviinnddrraaMMuurrtthhyy

Stephen Landen and Pratap Rajadhykasha, winners of Open Pairs II at the 2000 Spring NABC in Cincinnati, have a slender 8.78-point lead heading into today’s two final sessions of the Edgar Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs.
Ravindra “Rev” Murthy, a two-time North
American champion and former top Junior player, died Wednesday in a New York hospital after a five-year battle with cancer. He was 34.
Murthy, a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, was a member of the U.S. Junior Team I (Murthy, Mike Cappelletti, Leni Holtz, Brad Moss, David Rowntree and Michael Klein, with Bobby Wolff as non-playing captain) that finished fourth in the 1991 World Junior Bridge Championships. He was a member of the U.S. Junior Corps.
Murthy and Moss teamed with Lew Stansby, Chip
Martel, Hugh Ross and Jeff Ferro to win the Grand National Teams Flight A at the Summer NABC in 1993. Later that year, Murthy and Moss won the Life Master Open Pairs at the Fall NABC.
Landen-Rajadhyaksha scored 2029.01 and are just ahead of Steve Beatty and John Sutherlin, who posted 2020.33 points; Jim Krekorian and Paul Kiefer, leaders after yesterday’s qualifying rounds, 2015.90; Ranny Schenider and Josef Roll, 2012.40, and Stephen Swearingen and Doug Levene, 2008.61.
These five pairs were the only ones to top the
2000-point mark.

More conventions, systemstobeOKd

Kirkham elected

“He was a super guy -- a great friend, great player,
On a trial basis during 2001, theACBL Mid-Chart great partner,” said Cappelletti. One of Murthy’s last will be expanded to include more dynamic and ex- outings was to Cappelletti’s June 3 marriage to perimental systems. This move was approved by the Shannon Lipscomb.

ACBL president

Early in 1999, Jim Kirkham said to his wife, ACBL Board of Directors. The following will be

Another friend and teammate, Sam Lev, remembers Murthy as “a very talented player and a very

Corinne: “ Y o u know, there are two things I’d still added to the Mid-Chart: really like to do: make Grand Life Master and be- come president of ACBL . ”

A pair wishing to play a method not permitted nice guy. He played really well.”

by this chart is required to submit a complete expla-

Lev recalled a mid-Nineties victory in the Forbo

nation and a cogent and complete defense to the C&C Team Tournament, played at The Hague, Netherlands, Committee. If the committee approves the method, where Murthy played with Moss and Lev with

“I can’t help you with the second one , ” Corinne replied, “but I’ll sure do my best with the first . ”
At the 1999 Spring NABC in V a ncouve r , J im and the player will receive written approval. Each experi- Michael Polowan.
Corinne Kirkham won the Silver Ribbon Pairs – and mental convention or system allowed will be reviewed

Murthy “was just starting his life and he was getat year-end, and a decision regarding future use will ting better and better,” said Lev. “He was a very talbe made at that time. ented guy.”

Continued on page 6

Pag e 2

Daily Bulletin

Blue Ribbon Blues

SPECIAL EVENTS

By Mark Horton, Great Britain

Thursday,November23

Thanksgiving Day

Intermediate/Newcomer Speakers Program: Billy Miller, The Art of the Squeeze, East Meeting Rooms N & O. Miller, Las Vegas, is a professional player and teacher whose popular “Dear Billy” columns are a regular feature in The Bridge Bulletin. Intermediate/Newcomer Speakers Program: Lynn Berg, Responding to Notrump Openings with 5/5 Hands, East Meeting Rooms N & O. Berg, DeLand FL, is a club manager, accredited teacher and Easybridge! presenter. She is a Silver Life Master.

Every player knows the feeling. You need only around average for the session to qualify, but the points are traveling in only one direction. The second session of the Edgar Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs featured some tough deals – well, they were tough at our table!

12:15 p.m. 7:15 p.m.

Board 5

« A 7 6

Dlr: North Vul: N-S

ª 5

Friday, November24

« K 9 3 2 ª 10 9 7 3 2

© —

« 10 5 4 ª K Q 8 6 4 © 9 8

Mid-South Bridge Conference (District 10) Day

Intermediate/Newcomer Speakers Program: Jade Barrett, It’s All in your Head, East Meeting Rooms N & O. Barrett, Vancouver WA, is a professional player and teacher who is also an ABA Life Master. Intermediate/Newcomer Speakers Program: Judy Cotterman, Director Please! East Meeting Rooms N & O. Cotterman of Kokomo IN is an associate regional director and IN field coordinator for the ACBL.

¨ 10 6 4 2

¨ A 7 5

12:15 p.m. 7:15 p.m.

« Q J 8 ª A J © A J 7 5 4 3 ¨ J 9

West

North

East

South

Hall

Horton

1©

Meerschaert Helman

1ª

3NT

Saturday, November25

4ª

Pass

5©

All Pass

Alabama Bridge Association (Unit 157) Day

9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Easybridge! accreditation stages A & B (with a break between stages). Medical Forum
Room C.

At least 5© outscores 3NT. Notice that as long as
East has the ¨A, the position of the «K is irrelevant. Declarer wins the opening heart lead, draws trumps, ruffs a heart and plays a club to the jack. When that holds he plays a club to the king and can claim 12 tricks.

12:15 p.m.

Intermediate/Newcomer Speakers Program: Lowell Andrews, The Balancing Act, East

Meeting Rooms N & O. Andrews, Huntington Beach CA, is a retired tournament director who plays bridge professionally.
7:15 p.m.

Intermediate/Newcomer Speakers Program: Harold Feldheim, Swiss T e am T a ctics, East

Meeting Rooms N & O. Feldheim, Hamden CT, is a bridge writer and teacher who has won more than 10,000 masterpoints and more than 200 regional events.

Several pairs bid to 6© , collecting the lion’s share of the matchpoints.
Board 11 Dlr: South Vul: None
« Q 5 3 ª A Q 6 5 © A Q 9 2 ¨ J 9
The late great Barry Crane once wrote that if God deals you the ace-king of a suit, He did it so you wouldn’t have a lead problem, but that was not the winning move here. South has to lead a spade, and if North has the wit to put in the queen and switch to a club, 3ª can be defeated. If you were up to finding that, let Henry Francis know!
You may have noticed that the East-West pairs mentioned in this report were not exactly unknown, and our wind-up story involves another pair of household names.
Board 16
Dlr: West Vul: E-W
« 10 ª A 10 6 3 2

© 9

« K 10 8 6 4 2

ª 9

© 5 3
« A J 9 7 ª 8 7 4 © K 8 6 4 ¨ 8 6
¨ K Q 9 8 5 4
« 8 7 ª Q 9 7 4 © J 6 4
« A K Q 4 3 2 ª J 8 5 © 7 5 2
¨ A K 7 4

« —

ª K J 10 3 2 © J 10 7
¨ J 10 7 2

¨ 3

« J 9 6 5

ª K

© A K Q 10 8 3 ¨ A 6
¨ Q 10 5 3 2

West

North

East

South

Board 25 Dlr: North Vul: E-W
« J 8 ª A 9 © K Q J 8 6 2 ¨ Q 9 8

Helgemo Helman

Zeckhauser Horton

2ª

All Pass

West

Cohen

Pass

North

Horton

Pass 3NT

East

Rigal

1«

South

Helman

1NT

2«

3ª

3«

« A 10 7 6 5 3

ª —

« Q

ª K Q J 8 7 3 © A 9
North/South were not playing musical chairs – the board was rotated. Norway’s favorite son recorded ten tricks for +170. The par result is 5ª doubled, but not many pairs achieved that.

Pass

All Pass

¨ A 10 6 3 2

¨ K J 5 4

With South figuring to have some values in

spades, North settled for the nine-trick game.
West led a spade, and East took his tricks, declarer eventually claiming the rest when one of the minor suits behaved. This looked a reasonable result for North/South, but at many tables, East, realizing that the club suit was probably not breaking, decided to duck the opening lead. The grateful declarers quickly recorded twelve tricks – and the sort of score that North/South were finding hard to achieve.
This next deal features one of the toughest defensive problems I have seen in a long time.
« K 9 4 2 ª 10 6 5 4 2 © 5 4 3
Board 12 Dlr: West Vul: N-S
« A Q 9 4 3 ª K 7 © 10 9 3 ¨ K 9 8

¨ 7

North

Seligman Horton

West

East

Helman

1ª

South

Rodwell

Pass
« J 2 ª 9 5 3 © 8 7 2
« 8 7 6 ª Q J 10 8 6 4 2 © J 6

1©

1«

2©

3ª

All Pass
¨ A Q 6 5 4

¨ J

West gave some though to bidding 4¨ , but when he passed, the fate of 3ª depended on the view declarer took in the club suit. He won the opening diamond lead and played the king of hearts. North won and played two rounds of diamonds, declarer ruffing and cashing the queen and jack of hearts. A club to the ace was followed by a club to the….king. One down, and a rare good result for North/South.
To all those players who didn’t make it to the semifinals – console yourselves with the thought that you can relax, enjoy Thanksgiving, recharge your batteries and then get ready to rumble in the Reisinger and the Swiss Teams.
« K 10 5

ª A

© A K Q 5 4 ¨ 10 7 3 2
Board 18 Dlr: East Vul: N-S
« A Q 4 2 ª 3 2 © 10 8 5 2 ¨ 10 8 5

West

North

East

South

Helgemo Helman

Zeckhauser Horton

1NT!

2ª

Pass

1«

Dbl

3ª 4«

« 8 5 3

« 9 7

ª A K 10 8 6 5 © 6 3
Pass Pass
Pass 3NT
ª Q J 4 © Q J 9 4 ¨ A 7 6
Pass
All Pass
¨ K J 2

« K J 10 6 ª 9 7 © A K 7
It was not difficult to expose East’s psychic effort, but it left South with a decision when North showed some heart values. An easy way to collect a good score is for South to pass, as +690 was way over average. George Jacobs and Alfredo Versaca were one of the few pairs to get to 6NT – why don’t you ask them how they did it?
¨ Q 9 4 3

Two more women who won open events

West

North

East

Martel

1ª

South

Helman

Dbl
It has been brought to our attention that two more women have won open events in recent years. Linda Robb and Renee Mancuso both have victories in the NABC IMP Pairs.

W o olsey Horton

Redbl

3ª
1«

All Pass

2ª

2«

Daily Bulletin

Pag e 3

A Bulletin hand

Duke-ing it out

All 40 points!

This deal is from the first semifinal session of the Edgar Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs.

in the Blue Ribbon

Have you ever seen a deal where one side held all 40 high card points? We’re sure it happens, but certainly not often. But this deal came up in the Morning Knockouts where a pair of newcomer teams were facing off.
Dlr: East Vul: Both
« J 10 ª A 10 9 8 7 © 7 3

By Phillip Alder

Leaders after the first semifinal session/semifinals are longstanding friends from Duke University, Jim Krekorian and Paul Kiefer.
In the first semifinal session, Krekorian scored
59 out of 64 matchpoints for them with his play in this deal:
¨ J 6 3 2
« A 2 ª 6 4 © A K J 6 2 ¨ A 10 7 4
« K Q 8 7 6 ª K J 5 3 © Q 5 4

¨ 9

Vul: N-S
« A 5 4 ª 9 7 6
« 9 5 4 3 ª Q 2 © 10 9 8 ¨ K Q 8 5
¨ K 10
« 8 5 4 ª 7 6 5 4 © 6 5 4 ¨ 7 6 2
« 6 3 2 ª 10 9 3 © 8 7 3
© K 10 7 4 2 ¨ J 3
« 8 3 ª A J 10 8 5 4

© Q

« Q J 10 6 2

ª K

West

North

East

1« 2ª 3©

South

3¨

4© 6©
5©

All Pass

W e st

North

East

South

(1) 2/1 game force
Pass

2¨ 5« 6ª

¨ A K 8 4 2
Paul Linxwiler (West), managing editor of the

Bridge Bulletin, and Harley Bress, a staff member in the ACBL Education Department, were playing against former Junior world champions Bernando Biondo (North) and Furio di Bello of Italy.
When Biondo took a while to lead the ª10,
Linxwiler’s thoughts turned to the 1999 World Junior Team Championship when Joel Wooldridge underled an ace against a slam contract – and the Italian declarer went up with the king!
Pass Dbl
4NT 5NT 7NT
Pass Pass All Pass

West

North

Kiefer

Pass

East

South

Krekorian

2NT
Pass

2ª

Pass
Pass

3NT

All Pass

Steve Meadow, South, and George Butcher,
North, both from theAtlanta area, had no trouble getting to the right spot. When the dummy went down, Butcher couldn’t believe what he saw – all the rest of the high cards were spread in dummy. Even three of the 10s! He could count 16 tricks in top cards.
Meadow and Butcher had another surprise coming – they gained 17 IMPs. Unbelievably the bidding at the other table went Pass - 3NT - Pass - Pass - Pass!
West started with the ªJ: 6, K, 3. (You or I would have led the ªA, of course. Or -- to stop a flood of letters to the editor -- a spade or a diamond or a top club.) East switched to the «Q. Krekorian won in hand to lead a club to dummy’s jack, but East produced the queen and persevered with the «J. Taking that in the dummy, Krekorian played a club to his ace and cashed the ¨K, pitching a diamond from the dummy. When East did likewise, the deal had counted out. West was marked with 2-6-1-4 distribution. So Krekorian cashed the ©A to remove that exit card, then gave West his club trick. This was the position:

« –

Accordingly, Linxwiler went up with dummy’s
ªK – “that was the only way this could be a Bulletin hand,” he explained.

Beating the percentages

ª 9 7 © K 10 7

¨ –

By Barry Rigal

Son shows Dad he can defend

The Hideous Hog was always trying to keep destiny at bay; JoAnna Stansby found a way to overcome the apparently unfavorable lie of the minor suits on this deal.
« Q 9 5 3

« –

« 10 6

ª –

¨ –

ª A 10 8 5 4

Paul Bethe, his father Henry and declarer collaborated to make Board 2 of the Open Board-a-Match final worth remembering.
ª K J © A 5 3 ¨ A K 9 3

« 9

ª Q 2

© 8

Dlr: East Vul: N-S Board 2
« A K 7 ª 9 7 5 4 © Q 7 4 ¨ A K 4
« A 10 7 6 4 ª A 9 4 © Q 10 4 ¨ 10 6
« J 8 2 ª 10 8 6 5 3 © 8 6

¨ 8

If West had exited with a low heart, Krekorian would have won in hand and cashed the ¨8 to squeeze-endplay East. If East comes down to the «10 and ©J-9, he is endplayed in spades to lead into dummy’s diamond tenace.
« Q 9 2 ª K J 8

© K

« K

¨ 8

However, when West exited with the ace and another heart, the ¨8 squeezed him in the pointed suits.
Both tables reached 3NT (played by North) after

West opened 1« in third seat. At our table I (East) led a spade to the ace and my partner, Jeff Blond, returned the «6. I did not have to decide whether to unblock the «J because North mistakenly put in the «9 and I won the jack. Now Jeff could overtake my 8 with his 10 and declarer could not escape for less than two down.
JoAnna also reached 3NT and East led the «2, which promised an honor.WhenWest won his ace and returned the «4, JoAnna rose with the «Q to block the suit. East agonized over unblocking his «J and followed with a low spade. Now it looks as if the right theoretical play is to drive out the ªA after which you can – if you read the position – set up clubs to collect eight tricks. But JoAnna actually took a diamond finesse. When this lost to the ©Q and a spade came back, East was left on play with the «J – having to guess whether to put his partner in with a heart or a club. JoAnna had observed the «4 return at trick two and hoped that East would read this as suit preference. Of course, the «7 play at trick four might have given a counter message but East duly shifted to a club.
It is possible (maybe even likely) to misguess which club to play from dummy now. But JoAnna had not come this far into the hand to misguess the key suit. She put up the ¨J and, when it held, ran for home with nine tricks.
East opened a 10-12 notrump, West bid three invitational clubs, and East accepted with his 11 count. Henry, South, led fourth best from his longest and strongest – the «3 – to the deuce, king and 6. Paul switched to the ª4, won by declarer with the ace as Henry played the encouraging deuce. A club went to the jack and king, and North continued with a second heart, won by the queen. Declarer cleared clubs as South pitched a heart and a spade.
At this point, if Paul had woodenly played a third heart, the run of three more clubs would have stripsqueezed him into letting declarer take two diamond tricks, either because the ©Q falls under the king or because declarer can cash the ©K, exit with a spade and win trick 13 with the ©A.
But Paul foresaw this and exited with a diamond.
Declarer saw that, if he won the ©K, the dummy would be endplayed in spades, so he tried to coax a defensive error by winning the ©A and playing a spade toward the queen-9. Unfortunately for him, South played the «J. After Paul won and cashed the ©Q, a spade put declarer back in his hand where he still had a diamond loser. Down two and a win for the Bethe team.