August 2022 - 18

At the other table, East started
with 2k, South doubled and didn't
raise North's 2 bid, so leaving in
the double of 4k would have also
been successful; the defense can take
six tricks for plus 500, whereas nine
tricks are the limit in spades with the
North-South cards - if East leads a
prescient low heart and the defense
plays three rounds, which will lead to
a trump promotion.
Kranyak won with the 'A and
led a low spade: 6, ace, 10. He returned
to hand with the lK and led
another low spade, finessing the
jack. After pulling the last trump, he
could discard two hearts on the good
diamonds, losing only two clubs and
one heart for plus 620. 10 IMPs back
to SPECTOR.
The seventh segment started off
with SPECTOR up by 13. Both teams
reached 5' down one on the first
board when game in either diamonds
or notrump was available, then
SPECTOR added another 12 IMPs
when they bid and made 3NT while
the other table was in 3k down one.
The rest of the set, however, was
dominated by NICKELL, who went
on a 45-10 run. The match was tied at
171 when this deal came up:
Dlr: North  9 5 2
Vul: E-W k 7 6
Bd. 41 l Q 9 5
' K 10 8 7 3
 7 6
 A K Q 10 4
k A K Q J 10 5 3 k 9 8
l A K 4
' 9
 J 8 3
k 4 2
l J 6 2
' A Q J 4 2
West
1k
4k
North East South
Bathurst Katz Hurd Nickell
Pass
Pass
Pass Pass
1 Pass
All Pass
West North East South
Hampson Kranyak Greco Demuy
Pass
Pass 1'
Dbl
5k
2NT(1) 4 Pass
Pass
6k All Pass
1) Preemptive club raise
The opponents' bidding didn't slow
down Hampson. He started with a big
double and pulled partner's 4 bid to
5k. Greco got the message and made
a thoughtful raise to slam.
With three passes to the West
hand, a strong 2' opening bid seems
reasonable. East, looking at three
tricks, would be hard-pressed to stop
short of slam.
18 | Bridge Bulletin | August 2022
Hampson passed 3l; Demuy bid
3NT. Played from the East, there are
technically 10 tricks available with a
correct guess in clubs, but a low heart
lead enabled Kranyak to happily take
his nine. The last three boards were
flat. Final score: SPECTOR 224,
NICKELL 192.
NICKELL will have another
chance in the May 2023 USBC. The
winner of that Open event will represent
the country as USA2.
l 10 8 7 3
' 6 5
NICKELL was now up by 13. SPECTOR
chipped away at that, and the
final segment began with them down
10. After a couple of push boards, the
lead changed when SPECTOR picked
up 14 IMPs after a takeout double of
a making partscore was left in, while
their teammates chalked up a vulnerable
3NT at the other table. There
was still time, even with SPECTOR
adding another 20 IMPs to their total.
With four boards to go, the score
was 214-192.
Dlr: North  Q 10 9 2
Vul: E-W k 10 8 6 4 2
l 7
' 8 6 4
 7 5 3
k K
l J 10 9 6 5 3
' A 10 3
 A J 6 4
k A Q 9 3
l Q 2
' Q 5 2
The auction was the same at both
tables - up to a point:
West North East
2NT(1) Pass
?
South
Hampson Bathurst Greco Hurd
Demuy Levin Kranyak Weinstein
Pass
1NT Pass
3l(2) Pass
1) Diamonds
2) Positive for diamonds
 K 8
k J 7 5
l A K 8 4
' K J 9 7
August 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of August 2022
