 DAILY BULLETIN 5 - (7) | |
| Friday, February 12, 2000 Bulletin Number 5 | Editors: Eric Kokish Richard Colker |
| DAILY BULLETIN 5 - (7) | |
| Friday, February 12, 2000 Bulletin Number 5 | Editors: Eric Kokish Richard Colker |
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Well done all around in USA vs DEFENDERS. Minus 100. No swing. A disaster at both tables for AUSTRALIA against GREAT BRITAIN. We have a lot of sympathy for the actions of Peter and Ish, particularly since we would bid 3  ourselves.
With all that slow junk, we would prefer to pass
5 with the West hand if that were forcing,
which it ought to be. 5 ran into a diamond ruff
for two down, so perhaps it was no big deal
after all, with only 100 available against 5
and 4 due to fail. |
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Browne's decision not to overcall would be
reasonable in a pairs event because it could be
the winning action. At teams, it's too swingy.
The other guy will bid 2 and you should too,
especially with a lead in the match. Justin's
artificial 3NT showed a singleton and Browne
duly led a trump to stop the impending ruffs.
The diamond ruff was no longer possible so 4
made easily; plus 420. So although Seamus
was right in theory (4 can be beaten so why
save?) he was wrong where it mattered-at the
table. 11 imps to GREAT BRITAIN, 66-78.
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The 6 reached by Browne-Bagchi is not the
worst contract in the world. In fact you might
make it even with the cards as they are on the
challenging heart lead by winning the A and
playing ace-king of trumps. Bagchi started
spades immediately, which is a good practical
line. If the suit is four-two with two on the right,
the slam still has chances. No, Jason
overruffed the third spade and cashed a heart;
minus 100.Everyone else was in 3NT on different auctions (Hayden's direct 3NT strikes us as the choice of a man in a hurry to catch the next Bullet Train to Kyoto). Papa Hackett made 3NT by winning the second heart, cashing the A, and playing off
AK. Bingo. Had the Q not dropped, he would
have needed all four club tricks, a rather low
percentage chance, not enough extra value to
give up on the diamond finesse, in our opinion.13 imps to GREAT BRITAIN, ahead now, 79- 78. Itabashi went down in 3NT by taking the diamond finesse but Teramoto made it. He won the first heart and played the suit right back, daring his opponents to cash the suit if they could read the position. West's lead of the three made the five-four break a heavy favorite, so he figured to have all his options open later. Unfortunately, we can't confirm what happened after this, but perhaps after he threw a couple of diamonds East discarded one also, and he read the position correctly after regaining the lead. If this is what happened, Teramoto is our new hero. 12 imps to DEFENDERS, ahead now, 64-33. |
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With West holding two diamonds but only two trumps, 3 was easy enough to make by
drawing two rounds of trumps before trying to
cash the established diamond winner. Hayden
managed an overtrick. 1 imp to USA, 34-64.
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Both British pairs used "support" doubles to clarify the length of their major-suit fits but the twins were not destined to buy the contract at their table. After a heart to the ace and the J
covered and covered again, Jason accurately
exited with a diamond and Bagchi had only
eight tricks for minus 50.Armstrong's 2I was a tricky affair but he made it by forcing Del'Monte early and scrambling his way home. We think he might have been beaten had Newmnan ruffed in with the I10 but we're too bleary-eyed to pursue it. Plus 110. 4 imps to GREAT BRITAIN, , 83-78. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Against Justin's 3 Khokan led a low trump.
Justin won the ace and led a club to the queen
and ace. Khokan played AQ but Justin played
off the king of trumps and cashed the jack
before crossing to a club to ruff his remaining
heart to revert to clubs. Khokan could ruff in
and lead away from the K or allow Justin to
cash his clubs; plus 140. Against Ish's 2NT, the defense started with the 4 to the queen and king. Papa won the A
and cashed A10, Ish discarding a diamond as
Armstrong followed with the 9. When Papa
switched to spades, Del'Monte played ace and
king for plus 120. 1 imp to GREAT BRITAIN,
84-78.
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Robison got a diamond lead against 2NT and ducked Teramoto's ten. He won the spade switch with the ace and knocked out the A,
and on the spade continuation he put up the
king. He had time for a heart trick; plus 120.Chen, in 3NT, got the lead of the 2 from
Itabashi. He won the ace and led the K,
taken. Itabashi played AQ, looking at the
king-jack doubleton, Hayden following deuce-four.
Chen played two rounds of clubs, Itabashi
hastening to dispose of his offending 10. Now
a spade to the jack and queen. Hayden played
ca heart. Chen scooped in the nine, cashed
his club, and played two rounds of spades to
endplay Itabashi to score the Q. To which we
must say, "Wow!" 6 imps to the DEFENDERS,
70-34.
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So, Mister, you were looking for a little action? It would be nice to state that the auctions speak for themselves, but Papa Bear's 3NT may need some different spokesmen. 5
doubled was universally two down; minus 300.As for Seamus's pass of 3 doubled, it's the
sort of action that has become all the rage.
Why go for a number yourself when the bad
guys are going down in 3. We don't have
enough trumps to make anything and they may
have only eight at the three level. Hey, Larry
Cohen, this is okay, right? I pass. And you
pass. And they pass. All right, so the number
was minus 1130 (first round spade finesse, no
problem in hearts, 11 tricks). Sometimes it
doesn't pay to get out of bed.Oh, yes, the imp score. 13 more to GREAT BRITAIN, who ran off the final 51 in the session to erase a deficit and move into a nice lead. The session score was 70-29, GREAT BRITAIN, and the match score stood at 97-78 with 16 deals remaining. The DEFENDERS did pretty well down the stretch in this session too, outscoring USA 55- 1 over the last 11 deals. Tune in tomorrow or maybe later this morning (nah, too tired) for the thrilling (maybe) conclusion to the NEC CUP Semifinals. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 "All right. Great Britain forever!" |
 "I make it no charges for me and...one, two, three..., seventy-six, seventy-seven for you." |
 "I think I've got Excedrin headache #6." |
 "All right, which of you wants to tell Suzuki-san that those little plastic keys aren't edible?" |