March 2020 - 22

back, so Perlin rose with dummy's
ace and played three more rounds of
trump, hoping that South started with
honor-fourth in spades and the ♣J.
The squeeze did not materialize on
this layout, so Perlin finished with just
nine tricks and plus 110, but a win for
MOHANDES.
In the first final session, LAVAZZA
had their first and only below-average
set. They had a string of bad results,
including this one in the first round
against Peter Crouch's squad:
Second in the Reisinger Board-a-Match Teams: Bas Drijver, Sjoert Brink,
Jacek Pszczola, Jacek Kalita and (inset) Michal Nowosadzki.
(Not pictured: non-playing captain Josef Blass.)

with the Q-J-7 of trumps over East's
9-4-3. So Wrang made just eight tricks
for plus 110.
Some interesting twists: When
declarer ruffs a heart in dummy, he can
cash the ♦A, crashing his own king,
and play a club. If North ruffs with the
6, declarer overuffs and then exits with
a heart. South wins the queen, but this
time he's the one who's endplayed,
forced to lead from the Q-J-7 of
trumps into declarer's 9-4-3, allowing
the overtrick. In this spy vs. spy ending,
South can foil this plan by playing the
♥Q when declarer ruffs the heart. This
allows North to win the late heart exit
by declarer, and South gets all of his
trumps.
Moving on to the second semifinal
session, here's a deal between the
Shireen Mohandes and Eugene Hung
squads. The declarers at both tables,
were in the 3♦. Try to find the best
line for the valuable overtrick:
Dlr: South ♠ Q 8 5
Vul: Both ♥ A K Q 8 2
Bd: 23
♦97
♣K85
♠K63
♠ A 10 9 2
♥974
♥ 10 5
♦AK843
♦ Q J 10 6
♣Q6
♣ A 10 4
♠J74
♥J63
♦52
♣J9732

22 Bridge Bulletin March 2020

West
North
Mohandes Liu
1♦
2♦
3♦

East
Bowles

1♥
Dbl
Pass
2♥
All Pass

South
Hung
Pass
Pass
Pass

Mohandes was playing with Andy
Bowles, while Hung's partner was
Howard Liu.
Liu began the defense by cashing two
top hearts and switching to a trump.
Declarer has five diamonds in hand, a
heart ruff in dummy, two top spades
and the ♣A for nine. What's the best
chance to score a 10th?
Mohandes won, drew another round
of trumps, and then played the ♠K,
♠A and another spade. When the suit
proved to be 3-3, Mohandes could park
her club loser on dummy's long spade.
Making four for plus 130.
At the other table, Alex Perlin and
Dana Berkowitz opposed Malcolm
Pryor and Karen Pryor:
West North
East
South
Perlin M. Pryor Berkowitz K. Pryor
Pass
1♦
1♥
Dbl
2♥
Pass Pass
3♦
All Pass
The defense began the same way
(♥K, ♥Q, trump shift) and declarer
won, ruffed his remaining heart, drew
the outstanding trumps with the ♦Q,
and tried a low club toward the queen.
North won the king and volleyed a club

Dlr: South ♠ A K Q 6
Vul: N-S ♥ Q 10
Bd: 15
♦QJ87
♣KJ2
♠-
♠J8532
♥KJ876
♥A542
♦A543
♦ K 10
♣ Q 10 9 7
♣84
♠ 10 9 7 4
♥93
♦962
♣A653
West
Crouch

North
Bilde

East
Cope

1♥
3♣
All Pass

Dbl
Dbl

2NT
4♥

South
Madala
Pass
Pass
Dbl

Simon Cope's 2NT was a mixed raise
(four-card support, 7-10 HCP).
Even though East-West have just
18 combined high-card points, 4♥
is cold. Bilde led the ♠A, ruffed by
declarer, who then played a diamond
to the king, and a club to the 10 and
jack. Another high spade was ruffed
in the closed hand, and a low club
went to South's ace. Declarer won the
diamond exit with the ace, ruffed a club
low in dummy, ruffed a spade in hand,
ruffed a diamond and ruffed another
spade with the ♥J. With eight tricks
already in the bag, another pair of ruffs
with the ♥K and the ♥A brought the
contract home, and Crouch scored plus
590. This was a win for his team when
their counterparts stopped in 3♥ at
the other table.
Another loss for LAVAZZA occurred
March 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2020
