The Spring North American Championships VII

by Phillip Alder

The Spring North American Championships ended last Sunday (March 20) in Reno, NV. On the final day, the main event was the final of the Vanderbilt Knockout Teams, about which more in a moment.

The Jacoby Swiss Teams was won with one round to spare by Richie Schwartz of Aventura, FL, Allan Graves of Saint Johnsbury, VT, Huub Bertens of Bend, OR, Daniel Korbel of Hamilton, ON, and Boye Brogeland and Espen Lindqvist from Norway. Second were of Clearwater Beach, FL, of Clearwater, FL, Bobby Levin of Henderson, NV, and of Andes, NY. Third were Mary Ann Berg of Atherton, CA, Mark Lair of Canyon, TX, Grzegorz Narkiewicz of Chapel Hill, NC, Krzysztof Buras from Poland, and Aleksander Dubinin and Andrei Gromov from Rus- sia.

The Machlin Women's Swiss was much closer. Sally Meckstroth of Clearwater Beach, Meike Wortel from Norway, and Cecilia Rimstedt, Ida Groenkvist and Marion Michielsen from Sweden finished 0.23 victory points ahead of Barbara Ferm and Juanita Chambers of Dallas, Jill Meyers of Santa Monica, CA, of Henderson, and Migry Zur Campanile and Judi Radin of New York City. Third were Joanne Weingold of Boca Raton, FL, Jan Assini of Aurora, OH, Sheri Winestock of Las Vegas, Shan- non Cappelletti of Delray Beach, FL, and Victoria Gromova and Tatiana Ponomareva from Russia.

The Fast Pairs was also tight, with Gil Cohen of Ashburn, VA, and Marty Nelson of Annapolis, MD, winning by 2.77 matchpoints from Terry Beckman of Brooklyn Park, MN, and John Koch of Saint Cloud, MN. Third were Brad Bart of Coquitlam, BC, and Neil Kimelman of Winnipeg, MB.

Last but not least, the Mott-Smith Trophy, which is awarded to the winner(s) of the most platinum masterpoints during the Nationals was shared by partners Eric Greco of Wynnewood, PA, and Geoff Hampson of Las Vegas.

Now to the 60-board Vanderbilt final between James Cayne and Michael Seamon of Boca Raton, FL, Lorenzo Lauria, Alfredo Versace and Antonio Sementa from Italy, and Mustafa Cem Tokay from Turkey; and Lavazza (Norberto Bocchi and Diego Brenner from Spain, Giorgio Duboin from Italy, of New York City, and Alejandro Bianchedi and Agustin Madala from Argentina). First, try the declarer-play problem on the next page.

1 Dummy (North) Dlr: East ‰ 8 7 Vul: Both Š A Q J 6 ‹ A K 9 8 3 Œ 8 2 Opening lead: Œ K Declarer (You) ‰ K J 10 Š 10 9 3 2 ‹ Q 7 5 Œ Q 5 4 West North East South Partner You Pass Pass Pass 1‹ Pass 1Š 2Œ 3Š All Pass

West leads the club king: deuce, nine (standard signals), four. West cashes the club ace: eight, three, five. West shifts to the diamond four: nine, ten, queen. How would you continue? The answer is later in the article.

In the first quarter, each team scored 48 international match points. However, the big swings came from errors rather than good play. The second session was much quieter, with only two sizable swings. After five deals, Lavazza had gained four imps. Then came Board 21:

North Dlr: North ‰ 8 6 Vul: N-S Š Q 7 ‹ 8 4 3 2 Œ 8 6 5 4 3 West East ‰ A K J 7 ‰ Q 10 9 3 Š 8 4 3 2 Š A J 10 6 ‹ 10 9 ‹ Q J 7 Œ A 9 7 Œ J 2 South ‰ 5 4 2 Š K 9 5 ‹ A K 6 5 Œ K Q 10 Table 1: West North East South Sementa Duboin Tokay Zia Pass Pass 1NT Pass Pass Pass

The defenders started with the spade ace, spade king and a spade to the queen. East shifted to the diamond queen. When that was allowed to hold, he went back to spades, South discarding the club ten. West won, cashed the club ace, and played another club. Declarer won, led a heart to the queen and ace, and conceded down two. Zia took one heart, three diamonds and one club.

2 North Dlr: North ‰ 8 6 Vul: N-S Š Q 7 ‹ 8 4 3 2 Œ 8 6 5 4 3 West East ‰ A K J 7 ‰ Q 10 9 3 Š 8 4 3 2 Š A J 10 6 ‹ 10 9 ‹ Q J 7 Œ A 9 7 Œ J 2 South ‰ 5 4 2 Š K 9 5 ‹ A K 6 5 Œ K Q 10 Table 2: West North East South Brenner Cayne Bocchi Seamon Pass 1Œ (a) 1NT Dble Redble (b) Pass 2Œ Dble Pass Pass Pass (a) Natural or a balanced hand outside the range for a one-notrump opening (b) Forces two clubs

West's double with only three clubs was debatable, but if South had held one fewer club, it could have worked well. Here, though, the defenders could take only two spades, one heart, one diamond and one club. Plus 200 and plus 180 gave Cayne 9 imps and the lead by 5. Two boards later came the deal on the next page.

3 North Dlr: South ‰ Q 4 3 2 Vul: Both Š 7 4 ‹ 4 Œ A K J 10 7 6 West East ‰ K J 10 ‰ 8 7 Š 10 9 3 2 Š A Q J 6 ‹ Q 7 5 ‹ A K 9 8 3 Œ Q 5 4 Œ 8 2 South ‰ A 9 6 5 Š K 8 5 ‹ J 10 6 2 Œ 9 3 Table 1: West North East South Sementa Duboin Tokay Zia Pass Pass 1Œ 1‹ 1‰ 2‹ 2‰ (a) Dble (b) Pass 2NT Pass 3NT Dble Pass Pass Pass (a) Four-card support (b) Four hearts and longer diamonds Presumably East expected his partner to have more values for the two-notrump bid. West maybe thought he was protected by his limited two-diamond raise on the first round. Whatever the answer, the defense was perfect. North led the club king, asking his partner to unblock an honor or to signal count. When South played the nine, North shifted to a low spade. South won and returned his second club, resulting in down three.

Table 2: West North East South Brenner Cayne Bocchi Seamon Pass Pass Pass 1‹ Pass 1Š 2Œ 3Š All Pass Cayne is one of the most conservative bidders these days. And note that on the second round, he pre- ferred to show his excellent clubs than to make a takeout double. North led the club king, cashed the club ace (South played high-low using standard signals), and shifted to his singleton diamond, which ran to West's queen. Now you might have thought that declarer would have placed South with the heart king, because surely North, with that card and his known ace-king-jack-ten-sixth of clubs, would have opened one club. And if West had played a heart to the ace, followed by another heart, he would have made his contract. (When South won with his heart king and shifted to a low spade, West would have known to put up his king.) However, West finessed dummy's heart queen. South won with his king, gave his partner a diamond ruff, and won the next trick with the spade ace for down one. Plus 800 and minus 100 gave Lavazza 12 imps. The same team gained another 5 imps over the last seven boards of the set to take a halftime lead of 76 imps to 64. To be continued

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