August 2010 - 17

US Team Trials

West North
Moss Weinstein
Pass
1
Pass
4NT Pass
5
Pass
7
All Pass

East
Gitelman
1
3
5
5NT

South
Levin
1
Pass
Pass
Pass

After his partner made a jump raise,
Moss eschewed a control bid in clubs
and went directly to Roman Key Card
Blackwood. Gitelman's 5 response
showed three key cards. The 5
queen-ask received a 5NT response
showing the Q but no outside king.
Moss knew his partner held the A
Q, the A and the A, but Gitleman had jumped at his second turn: If
Gitelman didn't have any kings, Moss
reasoned his partner must have secondary honors in diamonds and clubs
to justify the 3 bid. Moss had an
almost perfect picture of his partner's
hand before the dummy hit the table.
Making seven for plus 2210, and
a 13-IMP pickup when Fleisher and
Kamil stopped in 6 at the other
table.
The fourth segment saw Diamond
pick up an additional 4 IMPs. The
halftime score: Fleisher 132-Diamond
121.
When play resumed on the second
day, the finalists played to a 34-34
tie in the fifth set. Diamond won the
sixth set 30-16, however, to grab the
lead. Hampson's good decision in the
auction on this board earned 10 IMPs
for Diamond:
Dlr: East
Vul: N-S
J532
AJ4
 K 10 9
KJ3

A86
 K 10 7 5
AJ8
Q75
K974
N
Q2
W E
Q7543
S
A8
 Q 10
9863
62
 10 9 6 4 2

West
North East
Hampson Kamil Greco
1
3NT
Pass
Pass

South
Fleisher
Pass
Pass

After the Precision 1 opening
(11-15 HCP, at least two diamonds),
Hampson chose 3NT instead of 1.
With such a balanced hand, scattered
values and poor spades, the 3NT description was on target.
Kamil, North, led a low heart. Declarer Hampson put up dummy's
queen and played a diamond to the
10 and North's jack. The club switch
ran to declarer's jack. The K was
ducked, and when North won the
next round of diamonds perforce, he
tried a low spade. Hampson rose with
the king, however, and claimed nine
tricks.
Martel played 4 at the other table
after this auction:
West North
East
Martel Gitelman Stansby
1
1
Pass
2
3NT
Pass
4

South
Moss
Pass
Pass
All Pass

Martel offered a choice of games,
but the two-suited nature of the East
hand tilted Stansby's evaluation in
favor of 4.
Even with a low club lead, Martel
still had to lose two trumps, the K
and the A. He guessed diamonds
correctly to hold the damage to down
one.
After fighting their way back into
the lead, however, Diamond suffered
a devastating 57-4 loss in the penultimate segment. Moss drove to a close
slam on this deal, but was unable to
find his way home in the play. This
cost 11 IMPs when his counterpart
stopped in game:
See next column
Gitleman created a force with 2
and then agreed hearts as trumps.
The RKCB sequence revealed one key
card in the North hand.
West led a low diamond to the
queen and declarer's ace. Moss imme-

Dlr: South  K 9 7 5 2
Vul: E-W  K 10 4
8
 K Q 10 8
Q8
 A J 10 6 3
N
J53
72
W E
96543
 K Q 10 7
S
964
J5
4
AQ986
AJ2
A732
West
North
East
South
Stansby Gitelman Martel Moss
1
Pass
1
Pass
2
Pass
2
Pass
2
Pass
3
Pass
4NT
Pass
5
Pass
6
All Pass

diately tried a spade to the king, but
Martel won and played another spade,
ruffed by declarer. Moss ruffed a diamond in dummy with the 10 and tried
to return to his hand with a spade
ruff. West overruffed the 8 with the
jack, however, for down one.
Double dummy, the correct line is
to ruff a diamond at trick two, cash
the K (optional, but certainly makes
drawing trumps later easier), cross
to the A and ruff the last diamond
in dummy. A low spade toward the
closed hand concedes a trick to the
defense, but declarer can win any
return and draw trumps. True, Moss
could have rejected this line because
of a possible trump promotion in
diamonds if East wins the spade and
plays a fourth round of the suit, but
the contract is safe on the actual layout.
Fleisher, up 50 going into the last
set, stayed in control in the final segment, cruising to a final score of
260-217.
r
For complete results, visit www.
usbf.org or visit the vugraph archive
at Bridge Base Online.
August 2010 Bridge Bulletin

17
http://www.usbf.org
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of August 2010
