July 2018 - 10

With ♠J 9 5, Hurd was happy to cooperate. South led a low spade, and there
were 10 tricks for the taking.
West
Moss
3♥
4♥

North
Kranyak
Pass
Pass
All Pass

East
Grue
Pass
4♣

South
Demuy
2♠
Pass

In the other room, Demuy made it
considerably more difficult for Grue
and Moss when he opened the South
hand 2♠. Moss overcalled 3♥ and
Grue artificially showed a good raise
with his robust support. 4♥ went
down one on the expected spade lead
through the king, high spade, spade
ruff. Declarer can't avoid a club loser.
Down one.
In the NICKELL-MAHAFFEY
match, 4♥ by West was allowed to
make at both tables on a non-spade
lead.
LALL faced FIREMAN in the semifinals, staving off a late rally to come
away with a 225-210 victory.
Here's a precarious contract from
the fourth segment skillfully navigated
by Wooldridge:
Dlr: North ♠ A Q 10 5 4 2
Vul: Both ♥ 7
Bd: 29
♦K97
♣972
♠KJ93
♠87
♥KQ842
♥ J 10 5 3
♦ 10 3
♦Q42
♣ Q 10
♣KJ63
♠6
♥A96
♦AJ865
♣A854
West North
B'hurst Wolpert
1♠
Pass
2♠
Pass
3♦
Dbl
4♦
Pass
5♦

East
J. Lall
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
All Pass

South
W'dridge
2♦
3♣
3♥
4NT

In the Closed Room, Pepsi opened
the North hand 2♠ and played it
there for plus 140. At the other table,

10 Bridge Bulletin July 2018

Wolpert opened the North cards 1♠.
Wooldridge forced to game with 2♦,
and after a natural auction, they came
to rest in 5♦.
Wooldridge won the ♥Q lead and
immediately played a spade to the
queen. He cashed the ♠A, shedding
a club loser, then ruffed a spade to his
hand. It did East no good to ruff in
front of declarer, so he pitched a heart.
Declarer then ruffed a heart, played a
club to his ace, ruffed his last heart and
ruffed another spade (East discarding
a club). He cashed the ♦K and exited a
club. East rose with the king to swallow
partner's queen and cashed the ♣J,
but then he was endplayed into leading
away from the ♦Q. That was 10 IMPs
to the Fireman squad.
LALL would not be caught. A lowlevel, lead-directing double backfired
on FIREMAN in the last segment of
the semifinals.
Dlr: South ♠ A Q 4 3
Vul: Both ♥ 10 7 4 2
Bd: 23
♦AJ854
♣-
♠962
♠ K 10 7
♥KJ8
♥93
♦ 10 9 6 2
♦Q3
♣862
♣QJ9543
♠J85
♥AQ65
♦K7
♣ A K 10 7
West
W'dridge

North
J. Lall

East
Hurd

Pass
Pass
All Pass

1♥(2)
2♣

Pass
Dbl

South
B'hurst
1♣(1)
1NT
Redbl

(1) 16+, forcing.
(2) 8-11 HCP, denies five spades.
Oops! Helping your partner with his
opening lead is a good thing, usually. So
Hurd doubled Justin's Stayman call.
But Bathurst, who had shown a 17-18
balanced notrump hand, redoubled
to show his excellent club holding.
Despite having no clubs, Justin, with
good offensive values, tapped the table.

Bathurst was able to score ruffs with
both his ♣10 and ♣7 in addition to
two spades, two diamonds, a heart and
the ♣A K, so he made 2♣ redoubled
with an overtrick - plus 1160.
At the other table, Demuy and
Kranyak got to 3NT after South's
strong 1NT opening. East also doubled
North's Stayman 2♣, but Demuy
wasn't interested in playing any number of clubs with the North hand. 11
IMPs for LALL and a seat at the final
table.
JUSTER played NICKELL close on
day one of their semifinal round, down
only 5 IMPs after the first four segments. But NICKELL came out with
guns blazing on day two, trouncing
JUSTER 345-234.
And then there were two: two teams,
two days.
NICKELL looked to be in control
after the first 60 boards; they entered
the second day of the final with a 43IMP lead.
Here is a delicate defense by Levin
and Weinstein from the first day of the
final:
Dlr: North ♠ 8 3 2
Vul: N-S ♥ Q J 10 9 7 5
Bd: 21
♦K6
♣ 10 6
♠ K 10 5
♠7
♥A4
♥K832
♦AQ7
♦ J 10 9 8 5
♣Q8542
♣J93
♠AQJ964
♥6
♦432
♣AK7
West
Zia
2NT

North
East
M'stroth Pepsi
2♥
Pass
All Pass

South
Rodwell
2♠(1)

(1) Nonforcing.
West
Levin
Dbl
All Pass

North
J. Lall
2♥
3♠

East
W'stein
Pass
Pass

South
B'hurst
2♠
4♠

Getty Images/iStockphoto
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July 2018
