November 2017 - 19

West
Moss
Pass
Pass
Pass

North
Nystrom
1NT
3♦
3NT

East
Grue
Pass
Pass
All Pass

South
Upmark
3♣
3♠

Grue started with the ♠5: 2, 9,
queen. At trick two, Nystrom played
a diamond to dummy's king, and a
diamond to his jack and Grue's queen.
A spade came back and declarer won
with the jack. The contract had no play
at that point with diamonds and clubs
breaking poorly. Nystrom could do no
better than cash out for minus 50. At
the other table:
West
Ola
Pass
Pass
All Pass

North
Pepsi
1♦
1NT

East
Mikael
1♠
Pass

South
Rosenberg
Dbl
3NT

The opening lead from East was the
♥K, not the best shot for the defense.
Pepsi won the ♥A and continued
with the ♠Q. Mikael won the ace and
played a spade to Pepsi's jack. Pepsi
exited his hand with the ♥9, and the
♥J won when East played low. Now
declarer cashed three rounds of clubs
and played a spade to dummy's king.
The ♦K was next, followed by a low
heart from dummy. East had only the
♥Q and the ♦Q 10 7 left, so he had to
lead into Pepsi's diamond tenace at the
end for plus 430 and 10 IMPs to USA2.
Sweden rallied in the fifth and sixth
sets, outscoring the Americans 63-26.
But they were too far behind, and
USA2 advanced to the semifinal round
with a 193-170 victory.
While USA2 was taking care of business, USA1 struggled with Bulgaria,
who had qualified sixth.
At one table, Nickell and Ralph Katz
were playing against Victor Aronov
and Diana Damianova. At the other
table, Meckstroth and Rodwell were
opposing Julian Stefanov and Ivan
Nanev.
Bulgaria burst out of the gate in that
match with a 72-36 win in the first set
despite trailing early.
USA1 was ahead when this board
came along.

Dlr: North ♠ K 10 7 4 3
Vul: N-S ♥ 6
♦A9864
♣Q2
♠2
♠QJ5
♥J98732
♥ Q 10 5
♦QJ52
♦K3
♣63
♣J9754
♠A986
♥AK4
♦ 10 7
♣ A K 10 8
West
North East
Aronov Katz Damianova
Pass Pass
3♥
3♠
Pass
Pass
5♦
Pass
Pass
5NT Pass
All Pass

South
Nickell
1♣
4♥
5♥
6♣

North-South at the other table had
landed in 4♠, making five, so this accident was costly. West started with
his singleton spade: 3, jack, ace. Nickell
played a club to dummy's queen and
another club to his 10. Nickell soldiered on, cashing his top clubs before
running the ♠9 to East's queen.
Nickell won the heart return in hand
and played a spade to the king. East
ruffed the ♠10 with the master trump
and exited with a diamond. Nickell was
limited to 10 tricks for minus 200 and
13 IMPs to Bulgaria.
That board was followed by four
pushes, then another accident.
Dlr: East
Vul: Both

♠ 10 7 3
♥AK3
♦642
♣ Q 10 8 2

♠-
♠A82
♥J87642
♥ Q 10 9
♦K985
♦AQ7
♣A94
♣KJ75
♠KQJ9654
♥5
♦ J 10 3
♣63
West
North East
South
Aronov Katz Damianova Nickell
1NT
2♥ (1)
4♥
All Pass

With the
club finesse
working, the
defense had
only the top
two trumps.
It was
quickly plus
650 to Bulgaria. At the
other table,
Meckstroth
opened 1NT
Michael Rosenberg
with the
East cards,
followed by 3♠ from South, raised by
North. Meckstroth and Rodwell landed
in 6♥, which was doubled by North.
Minus 200 meant another 13 IMPs
to Bulgaria. The first set ended with
USA1 behind by 36 IMPs.
The Americans rallied in the second
set to recover 22 IMPs, and they took
the lead at 119-95 with a strong third
set. This deal was important to the
American comeback effort.
Dlr: North ♠ Q 8 7
Vul: None ♥ 10 9 7 6 2
♦ 10 5 2
♣75
♠K653
♠A9
♥KJ84
♥AQ53
♦A9
♦KQ
♣ 10 4 3
♣AK862
♠ J 10 4 2
♥-
♦J87643
♣QJ9
Nanev (West) and Stefanov had a
long, complicated auction to 6♥ by
West. The 5-0 split in trumps meant
there was no play for 12 tricks and declarer was soon claiming one down for
minus 50. At the other table:
West North
Nickell Kar'lev
Pass
Dbl
3♦
4♦
Pass
6♣
All Pass

East
Katz
1♣
Dbl
5NT

South
Mihov
2♦
Pass
Pass

(1) Spades.
November 2017 Bridge Bulletin

19
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November 2017
