October 2006 - 23

Viva Italia!

ACBL players came home from Verona with lots of medals.
By Brent Manley

Second in the Open
Pairs went to Bobby
Levin and Steve
Weinstein.

It's a long way from start to finish
at the big international tournaments,
and the 8th World Bridge Championships in Verona, Italy, were no
exception. All the more credit, therefore, is due to the ACBL players who
returned home with medals.
Two of them were Victor Markowicz and Victor Melman, natives of
Poland who now call the USA home.
Markowicz, team captain, lives in
Boca Raton FL, Melman in Scarsdale
NY. Their teammates were Alexander
Jezioro, Jerzy Zaremba and Julian
Klukowski of Poland and Salek Zeligman, originally of Poland but now
living in Israel.
The team had its genesis in January of 2000, when most of the team
members, who are longtime friends,
got together to play in the inaugural
Transnational Open Teams in Bermuda. According to Melman, the
occasion was meant to be a one-time
adventure, but they ended up playing
together on a few more occasions,
including Verona.
Forty-two squads entered the
Senior Teams, whose format was a
round-robin to reduce the field to
eight teams for head-to-head play.
The Markowicz squad finished
atop the round-robin standings, followed closely by a mostly American
team, Jean-Marsha: Arnie Fisher,
Jim Sternberg, Allan Cokin, Neil
Chambers, John Schermer (all of the
October 2006

USA) and P.O. Sundelin of Sweden.
Americans Lew Finkel, John Sutherlin, John Mohan and Gaylor Kasle
captured the last spot in the KO.
In the knockout phase, Markowicz
started with an easy win over an Italian team, Jean-Marsha defeated an
Israeli squad, and Finkel won a nailbiter 62-61 over a strong team from
Indonesia.
In the semifinal round, Markowicz
won handily over a team from the
Netherlands, and Finkel dispatched
Jean-Marsha 61-50.
In the final, Finkel jumped out to
a 33-11 lead against Markowicz but
could not hold the lead despite a big
pickup on the first deal of the second
half. Markowicz won the second
set 48-20 to win the championship
59-53.
This deal, near the end of the
match, helped Markowicz pull closer:
Dlr: North  8
Vul: N-S  A J 3 2
862
KQJ63
 10 9
AK7543
 K 9 8 7 4 WNE  10 6 5
QJ54
93
S
A4
95
QJ62
Q
 A K 10 7
 10 8 7 2
At one table, Klukowski opened
the North hand 1, and when East

bid 2, Jezioro bid 3NT, which
could not be defeated. At the other
table, North passed, and Seligman
opened 2, showing a weak two-bid
in either major. Melman bid 2 (as
high as he wanted to be if partner's
suit was spades), which ended the
auction. That contract was two down
for minus 100, but it was 11 IMPs to
Markowicz.
With two deals to go, the Markowicz squad had brought the match to
even. The penultimate deal decided
the championship. Thanks to Bridge
Today for the report (hands rotated).
Dlr: North  A K Q 6
Vul: N-S  9 8 5 3
64
AQJ
 10 8 3
754
N
K7
A62
W E
 A J 10 5
KQ872
S
7532
94
J92
 Q J 10 4
93
 K 10 8 6
At one table, North opened 1NT
and played it there, going minus
100 when the defenders took five
diamonds and two hearts. At the other
table, Melman chanced a Stayman
bid with the South hand, striking gold
when Seligman bid hearts. Plus 140
meant a gain of 6 IMPs, and when the
final board was a push, the AmericanPolish-Israeli squad were world
champions.

Women's Pairs
Irina Levitina and Kerri Sanborn
led virtually throughout the Women's
Pairs, but there were some anxious
moments near the end. Their oncehuge lead had shrunk to minuscule
size before they rallied to rebuild it
to the point that they could survive
a complete zero on the final board
(they were the only pair doubled in
a normal 4 contract that had four
inescapable losers).

23
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of October 2006
