November 2022 - 15

Closed Room
West
North
3l Pass
4l Pass
5' Pass
East South
Hallberg Hampson Hult Greco
Pass
2NT
Pass
3k Pass
4k Pass
6l All Pass
Hult opened with a 20-22 2NT, and
Hallberg began with a 3l bid that apparently
showed a four-card major and
a longer minor. Hult bid his hearts and
Hallberg now showed his minor. When
Hult cooperated with a 4k cuebid, Hallberg
made one more try, cuebidding his
club control. With such great controls,
Hult could hardly bid less than six.
It may not the best of slams, but, as
Bob Hamman once observed, any slam
that makes is a good slam. The defense
could perhaps have been more demanding,
and North's A lead certainly
did declarer no harm. Hallberg won
the heart switch, unblocked the K,
returned to his hand with a club ruff, and
ruffed a spade with the lA. A trump to
hand then enabled him to draw trumps
and claim. East-West +1370 and a
much-needed 12 IMPs to TEAM BLACK.
Dlr: South  K J 6 5
Vul: N-S k J 7
l Q J 9
' A K Q 10
 3 2
k K
l 10 8 4 3 2
' 9 8 5 4 3
 Q 10 8
k Q 10 8 6 4
l 7
' J 7 6 2
 A 9 7 4
k A 9 5 3 2
l A K 6 5
' -
Open Room
West North
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
2'
2
4'
4k
5k
East
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
South
Katz Bertheau Nickell Black
1k
2l
3
4l
4NT
6
All Pass
Although he knew that dummy had
a five-card heart suit, Nickell duly
found the winning heart lead against
6. Bertheau won with the kA and
then tried to combine his chances.
He first tried to bring down the Q in
two rounds and, when that failed, he
switched to diamonds, hoping that the
defender with the high trump held at
least three diamonds. It was not to be,
Nickell ruffing the second diamond and
cashing the kQ for one down. North-
South minus 100. At the other table, Hult
knew less about the distribution:
Closed Room
West
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
North
2k
3
4NT
5l
East South
Hallberg Hampson Hult Greco
1'
Pass 3'
Pass 4
Pass 5'
Pass 6
All Pass
Greco opened a strong club, and
Hampson's 2k response showed a
balanced hand of either 12-13 or 16plus.
South's 3' was then Stayman,
and Greco confirmed the 4-4 fit and his
minimum with a simple raise to game.
Hampson now rolled out Blackwood
and stopped in a small slam once he
found out that the Q was missing.
Hult opened the l7, and now declarer's
only concern was to avoid losing
two trumps. He ruffed his club loser in
dummy and cashed the A (10 from
East), and then ran the 9. East won
with the Q but had no killing continuation.
North-South +1430 and 17 massive
IMPs to NICKELL.
The NICKELL-VENTIN final
was a six-stanza match, and it began
with VENTIN taking a 16-IMP lead
in the first set. By the end of the third
set, however, NICKELL had taken
over to lead by the same margin. The
halftime score was NICKELL 100,
VENTIN 84.
Daily Bulletin columnist David
Bird spotted these deals from the
first set:
Dlr: East  6 4 3
Vul: E-W k Q 6 2
l A J 7 5
' K 10 8
 A K Q 2
k 5
l K Q 10
' 9 7 6 3 2
 J 9 7 5
k K 10 9 4
l 9 6 4
' 5 4
Open Room
West North East
1 Pass
1NT
South
Levin Ventin Weinstein Palma
1k
Pass
Pass
3NT All Pass
The l9 was covered by the king and
allowed to win. Weinstein played a club
to the queen, which won. He continued
with the 'A, failing to drop the king, and
cleared the clubs. That gave him nine
tricks. The play record is incomplete, but
+630 was recorded.
In the Closed Room, Mendes de Leon
also declared 3NT as East against Hampson
and Greco (North-South respectively).
He won the 5 lead with dummy's
ace. After a club to the queen, he too
cashed the 'A. This could not be afforded
after the spade lead; declarer needed
to repeat the club finesse. Hampson won
the third club and switched to the l5,
drawing the 8 and 9. A heart went to the
queen and ace. A diamond to the king
and ace allowed the defenders to claim
two more heart tricks for one down. It
was 12 IMPs to NICKELL.
Dlr: North  6
Vul: E-W k Q 10 9 7 3
l A Q 10 8 6
' 8 4
 J 5
k K 6
l K J 7 3 2
' A 7 6 5
 Q 10 8 7 4 3 2
k A 8
l 4
' 10 9 3
 A K 9
k J 5 4 2
l 9 5
' K Q J 2
November 2022 | Bridge Bulletin |
15

 10 8
k A J 8 7 3
l 8 3 2
' A Q J
November 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November 2022
