District 16 2021 Championship Flight There aren’t too many districts that could field the kind of GNT Championship Flight that D16 can and did. While there were only two teams entered, they were a pretty impressive gang of eight. The Lall team was composed of Hemant Lall/Bob Hamman and Mike Passell/Eddie Wold. The Bramley team was Bart Bramley/Phil Clayton and Ira Hessel/Dan Morse. They only have 123 National Championships among them.

The match was competed on BBO and Zoom on May 22, with Kevin Perkins running the game. It got off to a rip-roaring start. On the very first , Bramley and Clayton found a very good 5D contract, when Hamman, playing with Lall, applied the Hamman rule and played in 3NT. There were only 8 tricks in NT and Bramley was off to an 11-imp lead. It grew to 21, when Bramley brought home a 4S contract that failed at the other table. But Lall struck back, finding a makeable 6D contract, while Bramley played a Moysian 4S, making 5. And Lall recovered another 7 imps, when Bramley and Clayton pushed to a thin 4H contract and went down one. After four boards, it was 21-17.

After a “routine” 4S contract failed at both tables, the swings resumed when Morse and Hessel made a move toward slam and stopped in 4NT, but only 9 tricks were available. Then Lall doubled a 4H contract and beat it one trick, while Passell and Wold stopped in 3. Lall had gained 35 unanswered imps and led 35-21 after 7. A flat board 8 – both teams found a cold 6C slam – and things got a lot tamer. Lall held a 36-32 lead at the end of 12 boards.

The second quarter was much lower scoring, with the only big swing coming on a slam that Bramley and Clayton bid, while Lall and Hamman investigated and stopped in 5, making 6. Each team bid one unmakeable game that failed. The quarter score was a low 20-9 in favor of Bramley, giving them a 52-45 lead at the half.

Lightner struck early in the third quarter. After Bramley gained six imps by staying out of a game that failed at the other table, both pairs bid to 6S, off two cashing clubs. But while Morse and Hessel had an uncontested auction, and received a friendly diamond lead, Bramley had the opportunity to double a transfer to spades and hear his partner compete to 4H. So, when he found himself about to defend 6S, holding the A and K of clubs and a heart suit headed by the Q, he made a Lightner double, asking for an unusual lead. And faced with a choice between his singleton diamond or four clubs to the Q, Clayton correctly led the club and Wold was down before he even got started. The Bramley lead had grown to 31 by the fourth board.

Lall made some it back when Passell took a more optimistic view of his 2-5-2-4 nine-count and invited game, while Hessel contented himself with a signoff. It only needed spades 3-3 with the K onside, which it was. (I think Bramley would calculate the odds at 18%.) That was ten imps to Lall. But Bramley got it back and more when he and Clayton bid a cold slam, while Hamman and Lall stopped in 5.

Board 11 was a delicate 4H contract. Both Lall and Clayton played well to bring home the game for no swing. But on the last board of the set, Bramley and Clayton misjudged (uncharacteristically) and doubled a marginal 2S. Passell played very well to bring home the vulnerable “game”. That was 12 imps for Lall, closing the gap to 90-68 with one quarter remaining. Bramley gained six imps when they made a NT partial at both tables, and ten more when Bramley and Clayton bid a game that was not bid at the other table. The lead was up to 37 with eight boards to play. But there were still several double-digit swings to come.

Thirteen imps swung back on Morse’s choice of opening leads: after a 1NT-3NT auction, do you lead from KT876 or QT87. He led from the K-fifth and Hamman rolled 3NT. At the other table, Wold had overcalled with that spade suit over a 1C opener, so when Bramley drove to game, he tried hearts, with great success. Down two was worth 13 imps to Lall. The play of the suit with KT9 opposite Q7654 swung 10 imps to Bramley, but 11 imps swung back when Lall made 3NT at one table and 3D at the other. Still, the lead was 33 with three boards remaining. There were no big swings left and Bramley won by the score of 119-95.

Congratulations to Bart and Phil and Ira and Dan. Best of luck at the Nationals in July.