The 2017 Spingold Final

by Phillip Alder

The Summer North American Championships took place in Toronto last month. The premier event was the Spingold Knockout Teams. There were 104 entries, which were reduced to 64 on the first day. Then there were six days of 60-board knockout matches to decide the winner. Before we get to the final match, here are some problems for you to try and see if you ought to enter the Spingold next year – or, saving time, the Reisinger Board-a-Match teams at the Fall Nationals in San Diego.

1. With only your side vulnerable, you are dealt:

‰ K 10 3 Š K Q 9 2 ‹ K 9 7 Œ 8 5 3

It goes three passes to you. Would you pass out the deal or open something?

2. North Dlr: East ‰ K 10 3 Vul: N-S Š K Q 9 2 ‹ K 9 7 Œ 8 5 3 West ‰ A Q J 2 Š 10 5 ‹ J 8 6 Œ Q 10 9 6 West North East South You Dummy Partner Declarer Pass Pass Pass 1‹ 1‰ 2Š 3Š (a) Pass 3‰ 4Œ Pass 4Š Dble All Pass (a) Strong spade raise

You lead the spade ace: three, eight (upside down count and attitude), nine. What would you do now?

3a. With both sides vulnerable, you pick up:

‰ Q J 9 8 Š Q 9 8 ‹ A 10 9 3 2 Œ 2

It goes pass on your left, partner opens one club, and righty jumps to four hearts. What would you do, if anything?

1 3b. ‰ Q J 9 8 Š Q 9 8 ‹ A 10 9 3 2 Œ 2

At the other table, partner opened one diamond, showing at least two diamonds and (10) 11-15 points. After righty jumps to four hearts, would you do something different?

The final was between Lavazza (Alejandro Bianchedi-Agustin Madala, Dennis Bilde-Giorgio Duboin and Norberto Bocchi-Antonio Sementa) and John Diamond-Brian Platnick and Boye Brogeland-Espen Lindqvist. The three North American Championships held each year are multinational. In this match, Bocchi, Duboin and Sementa are Italians (although Bocchi lives with his Spanish wife in Barcelona), Bilde is Danish, Bianchedi and Madala are Argentinian, and Brogeland and Lindqvist are Norwegian. Diamond and Platnick were the lone locals in the match. Diamond started well, being ahead by 27 international match points to 0 after seven boards. Lavazza recovered slightly, but was still 8 imps behind after the first quarter. In the second set, Diamond edged further ahead, by 65 imps to 53. The third session, though, belonged to Lavazza , by 56 imps to 3. Could Diamond recover from the 41-imp deficit? For this set, Lavazza retained the lineup that had just done so well. Diamond , being four- handed, had no choice. Diamond gained 6 imps on the first two deals. Then came Board 48:

2 North Dlr: East ‰ K 10 3 Vul: N-S Š K Q 9 2 ‹ K 9 7 Œ 8 5 3 West East ‰ A Q J 2 ‰ 8 7 6 5 4 Š 10 5 Š A ‹ J 8 6 ‹ A 10 4 3 2 Œ Q 10 9 6 Œ J 2 South ‰ 9 Š J 8 7 6 4 3 ‹ Q 5 Œ A K 7 4 Open Room West North East South Sementa Lindqvist Bocchi Brogeland Pass Pass Pass 1‹ 1‰ 2Š 3Š (a) Pass 3‰ 4Œ Pass 4Š Dble All Pass (a) Strong spade raise

Four hearts was tough to defeat. West led the spade ace, but then had to continue with the spade queen, forcing South to decide what to discard on the king before East has to commit himself in diamonds. (If South ruffs the second spade and plays a trump, East wins and returns a spade for the same result.) West actually shifted to the diamond jack, putting his partner on the spot. When East won with his ace and shifted to the club jack, South took the trick, played a trump to the king and ace, won the next club, cashed the diamond ace, crossed to the board with a trump and discarded his two club losers on the spade king and diamond king.

Closed Room: West North East South Diamond Bilde Platnick Duboin Pass Pass 1‰ Pass 2Œ (a) 2Š Pass 2‰ 4‰ Dble Pass Pass Pass (a) Reverse Drury: maximum pass with spade support

West's opening bid made it easy for his side to reach four spades. Declarer lost one spade, one diamond and two clubs, but plus 790 and minus 100 gave Diamond 12 imps. Over the next four boards, Diamond gained 11 imps (12-1); then came Board 53:

3 North Dlr: South ‰ 7 4 Vul: Both Š A K J 10 7 6 5 3 ‹ J Œ 8 7 West East ‰ A 10 3 ‰ Q J 9 8 Š 2 Š Q 9 8 ‹ Q 8 7 5 ‹ A 10 9 3 2 Œ A Q J 10 3 Œ 2 South ‰ K 6 5 2 Š 4 ‹ K 6 4 Œ K 9 6 5 4 Open Room West North East South Sementa Lindqvist Bocchi Brogeland Pass 1Œ 4Š All Pass

Closed Room: West North East South Diamond Bilde Platnick Duboin Pass 1‹ (a) 4Š Dble (b) Pass 4NT (c) Pass 5‹ All Pass (a) Two-plus diamonds, (10) 11-15 points (b) Card-showing (c) Length in both minors

Four hearts looks destined to go down three, losing two spades, one heart, one diamond and two clubs. The play started with a club to the queen, the club ace, a diamond to the ace and the spade queen, covered by the king and ace. Now another spade would have given the defenders those six tricks. But Sementa tried for a trump promotion with the club jack. However, North discarded his sec- ond spade, and East's ruff cost his natural trump trick. Lindqvist was out for down two. This was a good deal for the Precision one-diamond opening because Platnick made a negative double, and Diamond asked for a choice of minors. Against five diamonds, North led the heart ace and shifted to the spade seven, dummy's queen taking the trick. Diamond continued with a club to his queen, a diamond to the jack and ace, a spade to his ten, the club ace (discarding a spade from the dummy), a club ruff, a spade to the ace, another club ruff and the heart nine. When South discarded his club king, West ruffed, trumped his last club and conceded only one heart and one diamond. Minus 200 and plus 600 gave Diamond anther 9 imps and leaving Lavazza ahead by 3. Six deals later, that was still the margin. Then came the dernier cri , Board 60:

4 North Dlr: East ‰ A 6 Vul: None Š K 4 ‹ 10 9 5 2 Œ A K Q 8 2 West East ‰ 2 ‰ 9 7 5 4 3 Š A Q J 8 2 Š 6 5 ‹ A Q J 7 4 ‹ 8 6 Œ 7 6 Œ 10 9 5 4 South ‰ K Q J 10 8 Š 10 9 7 3 ‹ K 3 Œ J 3 Closed Room: West North East South Diamond Bilde Platnick Duboin Pass Pass 1Š 2Œ Pass 2‰ 3‹ Dble Pass 4‰ Pass Pass Pass

It looks as though Bilde and Duboin (a relatively new partnership) had a misunderstanding. But it did not matter, because five spades was cold. West led the club seven. Duboin won with his jack, drew all of the trumps and led a heart. After West won with his ace and cashed the diamond ace, declarer claimed. To tie the match, Brogeland and Lindqvist had to be between plus 540 and 570. To win, they had to be plus 580 or better. This was the auction:

Open Room West North East South Sementa Lindqvist Bocchi Brogeland Pass Pass 1Š 1NT Pass 2Š 3‹ Pass Pass Dble Pass Pass 3Š Dble Pass Pass Pass

Sementa did not heed the warning signs. He should have passed over South's two-heart transfer. If North's two-spade rebid had been passed around to him, then he might have balanced with three diamonds. Here, though, South would have rebid three notrump. This probably would have made with two overtricks, but it would not have been sufficient for Diamond . Three hearts doubled, though, was another matter. North cashed two high clubs, then continued with the spade ace and another spade. West ruffed and exited with a low diamond to the eight and king. South led a high spade, ruffed with the heart eight and overruffed with the king. Lindqvist continued the perfect defense by leading his last high club, on which Brogeland discarded his last diamond. West trumped and tried to cash the diamond ace, but South ruffed and led a spade. West trumped to give this position:

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

West played the diamond queen and discarded dummy's last spade. South ruffed that and returned a trump, but West won and led the diamond jack. Declarer took the last trick with dummy's heart six to “escape” for down four. However, minus 450 and plus 800 gave Diamond 8 imps. John Diamond, Brian Platnick, Boye Brogeland and Espen Lindqvist had produced a terrific comeback to win the 2017 Spingold Knockout Teams by 121 imps to 116. Congratulations!

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