The 2015 Player of the Year

by Phillip Alder

Just before we get into the story, here is a defense problem:

North (Dummy) Dlr: West ‰ 9 4 Vul: E-W Š A 9 ‹ A 10 6 3 Œ A 10 9 7 5 East (You) ‰ A J 10 Š Q 10 7 ‹ J 9 8 5 Œ J 4 2 West North East South Partner Dummy You Declarer 1Š 2Œ 2Š Pass Pass 2NT (a) Dble (b) 3‹ Pass Pass Pass (a) Both minors, shorter diamonds than clubs (b) A maximum single raise with only three hearts and some defense

Your partner leads the spade queen, Rusinow, from a suit headed by the king-queen, or a singleton, or a doubleton. You overtake with your ace (declarer plays the three) and return the spade jack: five, seven, nine. What would you do now? The answer will come later.

The NABC+ major national championships award platinum points, and the player with the most platinum points in a calendar year is the American League's Player of the Year. Last year, that award went to Cédric Lorenzini from Paris, . He won 690.30 points, 10.33 ahead of Eric Greco of Wynnewood, Penn., with of New York City another 44.94 points behind. Lorenzini is the first winner who does not live in North America, and is the youngest ever at 26. He beat Steve Weinstein's record by five years. Lorenzini learned bridge from his grandfather, Michel Balland, when he was seven. They took lessons at a bridge club in Mulhouse, which is not far from Strasbourg. They studied for two years, then entered a pair event similar to a sectional rating and won with a 72 percent game. They remained partners for seven years. At the age of nine, Lorenzini began to play on the French junior team, and was taking lessons organized by the French Bridge Federation. His first big win was the 2008 under-21 teams at the in Beijing. Lorenzini was also on his country's winning under-26 team in the 2009 and 2013 European Junior Team Championships. He won a silver medal at the 2010 world jun- ior event in Philadelphia, losing to Israel in the final. He started to play with in 2013 and began to attend our Nationals. They were fifth in the 2013 -a-Match Teams at the Fall Nationals in Phoenix and second in the 2014 Norman Kay Platinum Pairs during the Spring Nationals in Dallas. They won the bronze medals in the World Pairs Championship in Sanya, China, the same year. I first talked with Lorenzini after he and Bessis won the 2015 Norman Kay Platinum Pairs in

1 New Orleans. This was a very tough event to win, because after two days of play, only 28 pairs qualified for the last two sessions. Here are the two deals that he gave me.

North Dlr: East ‰ Q 8 5 3 Vul: None Š K 6 4 ‹ K 10 8 7 Œ K Q West East ‰ A 10 9 4 ‰ K 7 2 Š 9 Š 10 8 7 5 2 ‹ J 9 6 3 ‹ 4 2 Œ J 8 4 3 Œ 9 7 2 South ‰ J 6 Š A Q J 3 ‹ A Q 5 Œ A 10 6 5 West North East South Bessis Lorenzini Pass 1Œ Pass 1‰ Pass 2NT Pass 3NT All Pass West led the diamond three. Lorenzini won with dummy's seven, took his two top diamonds, played a heart to the king, then cashed the diamond king, club king-queen, and other three heart winners to give this position: North ‰ Q 8 5 Š – ‹ – Œ – West East ‰ A ‰ K 7 2 Š – Š – ‹ – ‹ – Œ J 8 Œ – South ‰ J Š – ‹ – Œ A 10

Reading the end-position perfectly, South endplayed West with a spade to his ace. West had to lead away from his club jack. Plus 490 was worth 6.5 matchpoints out of 13, but plus 460 would have gained only 0.5 matchpoints and relegated Lorenzini and Bessis to fourth. Did you notice East's error? He discarded his third club to give his partner the count in the suit. But if he had kept one club and king-doubleton of spades, on South's last heart winner, West could have discarded the spade ace. Then, when declarer played his spade jack, East could have taken the trick and led a club through South's ace-ten up to West's jack-eight.

2 North Dlr: West ‰ 9 4 Vul: E-W Š A 9 ‹ A 10 6 3 Œ A 10 9 7 5 West East ‰ K Q 8 7 ‰ A J 10 Š 8 6 4 3 2 Š Q 10 7 ‹ K ‹ J 9 8 5 Œ K Q 3 Œ J 4 2 South ‰ 6 5 3 2 Š K J 5 ‹ Q 7 4 2 Œ 8 6 West North East South Bessis Lorenzini 1Š 2Œ 2Š Pass Pass 2NT (a) Dble (b) 3‹ Pass Pass Pass (a) Both minors, shorter diamonds than clubs (b) A maximum single raise with only three hearts and some defense

North's two-notrump bid followed the important principle of not permitting the opponents to play at the two-level in a known eight-card or better fit. West led the spade queen, Rusinow, promising the king or a short suit. East overtook with his ace, returned the spade jack, then shifted to the heart ten. Lorenzini won with his jack and led a low diamond to collect West's singleton king with dum- my's ace. Now declarer ducked a club. West won the trick and played a spade. Declarer ruffed in the dummy, cashed the heart ace and club ace, ruffed a club in his hand, and took the heart king, discarding a club from the dummy. That gave the position on the next page.

3 North ‰ – Š – ‹ 10 6 Œ 10 West East ‰ K ‰ – Š 8 6 Š – ‹ – ‹ J 9 8 Œ – Œ – South ‰ 6 Š – ‹ Q 7 Œ –

South led his last spade and discarded dummy's remaining club. East had to and lead away from the diamond jack. Lorenzini lost only two spades, one club and the ruff by East. Plus 110 was worth 10 matchpoints out of 13. Minus 50 would have gained only 6 matchpoints, which would have dropped Lorenzini and Bessis to second. East erred when he did not lead another spade at trick three. Then, when West got his club trick, this would probably have been the layout:

North ‰ – Š A 9 ‹ A 10 6 Œ A 10 9 7 West East ‰ K ‰ – Š 8 6 4 3 2 Š Q 10 7 ‹ K ‹ J 9 8 5 Œ K 3 Œ J 4 South ‰ 6 Š K J 5 ‹ Q 7 4 2 Œ 8

West could have led his last spade to generate an extra trick for East. He would have overruffed the dummy and taken a second diamond trick later.

4