Daily Bulletin

----- Monday, February 10, 1997 -----
Bulletin Number 2

Congratulations to the winners: Flight A: Hiroshi Hisatomi, Tadashi Teramoto, Hiroya Abe, Chen Da-Wei Flight B: Hiroko Ohta, Quin Bei-Li, Nobuko Setoguchi, Midori Sakamoto Flight C: Atsushi Kikuchi, Takehiko Tada, Mr. & Mrs. Ryohei Orihara

Results of the OUCHI CUP Flight A: 1st H. Hisatomi, T. Teramoto, H. Abe, D. Chen 2nd Y. Nakamura, K. Miyakuni, R. Tanaka, S. Morimura, T. Hirata 3rd S. Fukuda, Y. Shimizu, H. Kaku, M. Mizuta 4th A. Yamada, K. Ohno, M. Ino, T. Imakura, M. Hirata, T. Hanayama 5th A. Kimura, K. Namoto, N. Tanai, A. Muto 6th M. Kanazawa, K. Kawahara, R. Illingworth, A. Yanagisawa 7th R. Geller, S. Ogihara, K. Yamada, K. Takahashi, H. Narita, Y. Ito 8th H. Liu, Z. Shi, E. Naito, N. Nishida T. Hara, K. Tatai, K. Ito, T. Jomura, T. Miyashiro Flight B: 1st H. Ohta, B. Quin, N. Setoguchi, M. Sakamoto 2nd S. Amram, C. Hamada, M. Goto, N. Sano 3rd E Kokish, R. Colker, D. Sacul. E. Manoppo, H. Lasut, T. Asbi 4th Y. Kobayashi, Y. Ohtsuka, M. Takayama, K. Furuta 5th O. Kameda, J. Sawai, K. Hayashida, M. Hamano 6th M. Abe, M. Shida, K. Matsuzaki, K. Toyofuku 7th E. Mizutani, R. Fujuwara, M. Hein, K. Umehara 8th H. Takeuchi, Ka, K. Asai, K. Tokiwa Flight C: 1st A. Kikuchi, T. Tada, Mr. & Mrs. Orihara 2nd M. Iwata, Y. Matsumura, M. Tanabe, M. Kohno 3rd Y. Sakamoto, Y. Umetsu, T. Suzuki, C. Ichikawa 4th K. Izaki, Y. Tsuji, K. Asaoka, S. Inoue 5th M. Ando, M. Nomura, T. Kawaguchi, H. Tsubahara 6th Y. Narita, K. Sasaki, T. Higashiguchi, H. Takano 7th F. Sakabe, K. Honme, S. Nakagawa, E. Hamaguchi 8th M. Shioya, R. Namiki, N. Manabe, J. Nishimura

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"SEVEN CITY" SEVEN
by Kaz Yamada

Bd: O-F1-1 NORTH DLR: N 2 VUL: None K Q 9 8 4 3 2 J 9 8 6 Q WEST EAST K 9 5 4 3 A Q 8 7 A J 7 5 K 3 2 A 10 7 4 A 10 5 2 K J SOUTH J 10 6 10 6 Q 5 9 8 7 6 4 3

TABLE ONE WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH K. Ito Yomada Jomura Takahashi 3 DBL Pass 4 Pass 4 Pass 4NT Pass 5(1) Pass 5NT Pass 6(2) Pass 6(3) Pass 6 All Pass (1) Two key cards plus Q; (2) K (3) Still interested in 7 TABLE TWO WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH Y. Ito Tatai Narita Hara 2(1) 2NT Pass 3(2) 4 4 Pass 4NT Pass 5 Pass 5NT Pass 6(3) Pass 7(3) All Pass (1) 5+ of either major & 4+ diamonds, weak (2) Transfer; (3) K

At TABLE ONE, after North's normal preemptive 3 bid, E/W tried mightily to reach the grand slam, but ultimately settled for just six. At TABLE TWO North had a new gadget to try out, which his side had been given permission to play in this event, and that gave East just enough room to show his strong notrump range hand. West then judged the rest of the auction perfectly, and placed his side in 7. Congratulations to the bravery of Messers Narita and Ito. After the 10 lead, the play was simple at both tables. Declarer drew trump, cashed the K, and claimed thirteen tricks. But what if South had held the Q? The hand is still cold. Declarer draws trump in three rounds, cashes the K, and finesses South for the queen. A diamond to the king and a club ruff follow, after which declarer ruffs a heart back to his hand. The thirteenth spade then squeezes North between the red suits. Perhaps there is a moral to this story. Never abuse your own conventional openings. Showing a four-card suit ahead of a fair seven-card suit is asking for trouble. Here it came in a rare seven-sided package.

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TEAM EFFORT

Bd: 26 NORTH DLR: E 8 6 2 VUL: Both A K 10 7 6 5 3 4 10 6 WEST EAST K 10 5 4 Q Q J 9 8 4 2 K Q 8 5 3 A J 7 6 2 9 5 4 3 2 SOUTH A J 9 7 3 --- 10 9 A K Q J 8 7

TABLE ONE WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH Hanayama Yamada Hirata Takahashi Pass 1 1 1 4 4 All Pass TABLE TWO WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH Geller Ino Ogiwara Imakura Pass 1 1 1 3 3 Pass 4 5 DBL All Pass

AThis was a deal from Round Eight of the Flight A Swiss Final of the OUCHI CUP. At TABLE TWO, Ogiwara-san saved at 5 before Imakura-san could convert 4 to 4, depriving herself of the opportunity to find a pretty defense. Imakura doubled 5, which had to go two down; minus 500. At the other table, Makoto Hirata followed up a good piece of competitive evaluation (based to some extent on a Law of Total Tricks projection in which he placed his side with ten trumps and N/S with eight, give-or-take) with the aforementioned fine defense. When Takeshi Hanayama led the K, Hirata overtook with the A and played a second diamond. Katsumi Takahashi had to ruff in dummy, and when he played a trump to the queen and ace and a second trump, Hanayama could win the ten and play a third diamond, forcing the long trump hand. Whatever Takahashi did, he could not prevent Hanayama from taking a third trump trick, and the contract went one down. 12 well-deserved imps to Japan's national team.

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SINGLETON OVERLOAD

OUCHI B NORTH DLR: S 5 2 VUL: E/W A J 9 7 5 4 A Q J K 2 WEST EAST K Q J 9 7 4 3 A 10 10 Q 8 6 2 8 K 10 5 J 9 4 3 A Q 10 7 SOUTH 8 6 K 3 9 7 6 4 3 2 8 6 5

TABLE ONE WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH Asbi Nagasaka Sacul Kito Pass 3 4 DBL All Pass TABLE TWO WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH Sato Colker Okamoto Kokish Pass 3 4 DBL All Pass

The West hand certainly looks like a 3 opening at unfavourable vulnerability, but at the table, neither East seemed to believe that West would have such an appropriate hand. Both of them doubled North's overcall of 4 rather than raise to 4, which would have produced an easy plus 650 on this layout. That wouldn't be a tragedy for E/W if they could collect 500 against 4, and when East started with ace and another spade, prospects seemed good for the defense. It's not every day that you are dealt two singletons, and in the course of history I believe that in situations like this one you will find that most players cannot resist the temptation to seek a ruff with their singleton trump. And that is just what happened at both tables in our featured match. West won the second spade and switched to his singleton diamond. Both declarers won the A, depriving West of a moment of instant gratification. At one table, declarer crossed to the A, felling the ten, and played two more rounds of hearts. East won the queen and exited with his remaining trump. Declarer won and tried to sneak the J through, but East won the king and exited with the ten and declarer had to lose two club tricks for three down; minus 500. At the other table, Rich Colker did a trick better than his counterpart. When he won the A, he led the J. East did not cover, but it didn't matter. When the jack collected West's ten, Rich led the J. East won the king and exited with a trump to dummy's king, but the handrwriting was on the wall and he saw it all too clearly. Rich came to the Q, and played A, heart to East's queen. East was down to nothing but clubs and had to concede a trick to the K. Two down; minus 300. That was 5 imps to Team Indonesia-North America, who had gained 11 imps on an earlier deal to lead 16-6 going into the last board of this second-round Swiss match. However, they were heading for ....

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A MAJOR MINOR REVERSAL OF FORTUNE

OUCHI B NORTH DLR: W 5 VUL: Both A K Q 6 2 8 5 A K Q 5 3 WEST EAST K Q 9 8 6 3 7 4 J 8 5 10 7 4 Q 9 A K 10 7 4 2 7 4 9 8 SOUTH A J 10 2 9 3 J 6 3 J 10 6 2

TABLE ONE WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH Asbi Nagasaka Sacul Kito 2 2NT(1) Pass 3 Pass 3 Pass 3NT Pass 4NT(2) Pass 5 Pass 6 DBL All Pass (1) Strong takeout; (2) Blackwood TABLE TWO WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH Sato Colker Okamoto Kokish 2 4(1) Pass 5 All Pass (1) Hearts and clubs; strong

At TABLE TWO, N/S were able to stop at 5, which was just as well, since Okamoto-san cashed two high diamonds; plus 600. At TABLE ONE, the vagaries of the N/S competitive methods enabled them toi declare a club contract from the South side, and although 6 was a slam with an obvious flaw, it was hardly obvious to West what it was. East doubled to try to attract a diamond lead, well aware that the slam might be cold all the time. That was a good idea here, but West was on a different wavelength and led a spade, trying to give East a ruff. That was plus 1540 for Kito-san, and a 14-imp gain, enabling their team to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, 20-16.

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ORIHARA AND THE TALE OF THE CALCULATED UNDEBID?

Here's a teaser for you? With both sides vulnerable, you hold as East:
10 8 4 A J 2 3 K J 10 9 6 5
North passes and you pass. South opens 1 and West, bless her, overcalls 2. The 64,000,000 Yen question is this: How did you arrange to become declarer in a contract of 2?
Bd: 13 NORTH DLR: N Q 7 3 VUL: Both 8 5 A 10 9 7 6 2 8 3 WEST EAST K J 9 6 10 8 4 K 3 A J 2 K Q 8 5 4 3 Q 2 K J 10 9 6 5 SOUTH A 5 2 Q 10 9 7 6 4 J A 7 4	TABLE ONE WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH N Orihara Hamaguchi R Orihara Nakagawa Pass Pass 1 2 1NT 2 All Pass TABLE TWO WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH Sato Colker Okamoto Kokish Pass Pass 1 2 All Pass
You might not agree with West's vulnerable 2 overcall, but the bid was madse at both tables in this match, and would have been made in many others. At TABLE TWO, poor West was left to languish in 2, and took six tricks for minus 200. At TABLE ONE, Ryohei Orihara found a solution to the impossible problem posed at the outset of this tale. He had a bit of help from his friends, however. Over 2, Hamaguchi-san tried 1NT with the North cards, perhaps overlooking the bidding card played on the right. Orihara-san now took the opportunity to introduce his clubs at the two-level, condoning the insufficient bid on his right. No one disturbed that and so 2 bought the auction. Orihara-san took eight tricks for plus 90 and a most unusual 7-imp gain.

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SOMETIMES A GRAND NOTION

Bd: 4 NORTH DLR: W A K J 2 VUL: Both 5 2 A 7 6 5 A Q J WEST EAST 10 8 9 7 6 5 4 J 9 7 6 K 4 3 8 3 2 J 10 9 4 10 8 5 3 9 SOUTH Q 3 A Q 10 8 K Q K 7 6 4 2	On this deal from the fifth-round Swiss match in the OUCHI CUP A Final, only three of eight pairs at the top four tables reached an excellent grand slam with the N/S cards. 7NT is better than 7 since It's cold with clubs not five-zero, and if they are, the heart finesse might work; that's why it's best to play 7NT from the South side. Only Kanazawa-san and Kawahara-san reached 7NT. They disappeared before we could catch their auction, but we'll try to find out the truth and publish it in an upcoming edition. But their counterparts were Messrs Shi and Liu from China, who reached 7 on a Precision auction ...
NZ Shi SH Liu NORTH SOUTH 1(strong) 2 2(relay) 2NT 3 3 4 4 4NT 5 5NT 6 6NT 7
....so the swing was only 2 imps in that match.
The other grand slam bidders were Mizuta-san and Kaku-san ...
Mizuta Kaku NORTH SOUTH 1(strong) 2 3(trumps?) 3(1 top honour, fifth) 4 5(AK or AQ) 6 7
Kaku-san had such a good hand on the auction that he knew seven would be good, so he went on over Mizuta-san's 6. Since North had shown interest in seven after the trump ask, it was more than reasonable for South to do what he did.

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SOLO SUCCESS

Bd: 21 NORTH DLR: N 8 7 3 VUL: N/S 8 7 6 3 10 8 7 4 Q 9 WEST EAST K Q J 5 A K J 10 Q 5 4 Q A K J 9 5 2 J 10 8 7 5 A 3 2 SOUTH 10 9 6 4 2 A 9 2 6 3 K 6 4	In Round Seven of the Flight A Swiss, Board 21 provided a test for the E/W pairs. If you're going to bid a slam, the one you would like to reach is 6, but that seems like a tall order. One pair reached 6, which had to fail, and another (Goto-san and Nakajima-san) reached 6NT, which made easily enough when South did not find the killing club lead. The heroes of this deal are Illingworth-san and (Akiko) Yanagisawa-san ...
Yanagisawa Illingworth WEST EAST 1 2(FG) 2 2 3 3NT 4 5 6
In the strong two-over-one style favoured by the partnership, East was able to go slowly with his big hand. Since he had denied solid diamonds on this sequence, his jump to 6 left West with a choice between 6 and 6NT, and she chose wisely indeed. Bravo.