August 2014 - 14

The Whole Wide World
ACBL Winners in Worldwide Bridge Contest were pairs from West Texas and Philadelphia.
BY ROB CLARK

Friday, June 6: Top ACBL pair
Deborah Brookins and Robert Baker.

More than 8500 bridge players
competed this year in the 28th annual
Worldwide Bridge Contest held on
Friday, June 6, and Saturday, June 7.
Pairs played at their local clubs in the
two independent matchpoint games.
Their results were scored at the club
level, in addition to being compared to
people playing simultaneously from all
over the world.
Following the game, participants
received a booklet with commentary
on the deals by Eric Kokish. Proceeds
assist the World Bridge Federation's
youth projects.

Game 1: Friday, June 6

The Friday contest drew 4353 pairs
who played at 262 clubs in 35 countries. Surene Lombard and Felicity
Newman attained the top score, with
a 74.64% game at the Bloemfontein
Bridge Club in South Africa.
Second worldwide with 72.78% were
Italians Paolo Chizzoli and Franco De
Giacomi,	who	played	at	ASD	Fanfulla	
Bridge.
Third in the world - and the best
result in ACBL - belonged to Deborah
Brookins and Robert Baker, both of

14 Bridge Bulletin August 2014

Midland TX. The pair scored
72.66% at Bridge of the Permian
Basin, owned and managed by
Brookins.
She said, "It was a privilege for
Bob and I to compete against players of all levels in the world. The
hands played in the contest were
well suited to our Standard American 'disciplined' approach. Also,
our win should be attributed to our
complete trust in each other's bidding, play and defense."
Brookins and Baker scored
below average worldwide on only
three of the 27 boards they played.
On eight of the boards, they scored
higher than 90%. The best result, and
one that highlighted their partnership
trust, came on board 13, with the pair
earning 3821 matchpoints on a 3930
top (97.22%).
Dlr: North ♠ K Q 6 5 3 2
Vul: Both ♥ 4
♦AQ5
♣K63
♠ 10
♠AJ94
♥72
♥ A J 10 8 6
♦ 10 3 2
♦974
♣ Q J 10 9 8 7 4
♣5
♠87
♥KQ953
♦KJ86
♣A2
West
Pass

North
East
South
Brookins
Baker
1♠
2♥
Pass
Dbl
All Pass

Despite knowing that they had the
values for a 3NT game, Baker passed
over the light 2♥ overcall. He felt certain partner would reopen the bidding.
Brookins could have rebid spades, but
the singleton heart and a partner who
did not make a negative double sug-

gested a reopening double.
The play was relatively straightforward. Declarer scored the ♠A, a spade
ruff and three hearts in hand for down
three - plus 800 for North-South.

Game 2: Saturday, June 7

The game on Saturday attracted
4234 pairs, playing at 237 clubs in
26 countries. The top performance
worldwide was from John Vergitsakis
and	George	Criparacos.	They	posted	a	
74.62%	game	at	Oamkh	2	in	Greece.
Second in the world, and the best of
all ACBL pairs, was a Philadelphia duo:
Corey Krantz and Bruce Lang. They
scored 73.12% at the Bridge Club of
Center City.
Lang said his partnership with
Krantz "has been evolving over the
last six to nine months with some nice
milestones. This was obviously a nice
game, but we have used a very similar
style of aggressive non-vulnerable
preempts accompanied with good
defensive understandings, respect of
each other's styles and clear carding
signals to play well in open regional
events, too."
Measured on a worldwide basis,
Krantz and Lang scored 90%+ on
one-third of their 24 boards. The pair's
greatest success came on board 1 - plus
1100 was worth 98.95%, garnering
3772 matchpoints on a 3812 top.
Dlr: North ♠ K Q
Vul: None ♥ 4
♦ K J 10 4 3
♣QJ752
♠A72
♠J84
♥ A 10 9 3 2
♥KJ5
♦Q96
♦A8
♣83
♣ A K 10 9 4
♠ 10 9 6 5 3
♥Q876
♦752
♣6
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of August 2014
