THE 1999 OUCHI CUP: First Final Session
We aim to print what we receive from the players (see us in Room 417 almost any hour of the day), but when we're short of stories, we have to expose you to our own adventures. Round One
For USA, Cappelletti/Itabashi finished in 4, cold even if East gets a diamond ruff. Plus 420. At the other table: Bd: 1 Dlr: North Vul: None North AJ8 QJ6432 A10 A6 West K9 AK7 Q7643 1092 East Q1065432 109 2 J75 South 7 85 KJ985 KQ843	West North East South Kokish Fu Colker Ju 1 2 Dbl. * 3 3NT All Pass 3NT was a scary place to be after a low spade lead to the king. Zhong (call me "invincible") Fu ducked, then played the jack on the continuation of the 9 (heart from dummy). Colker won the queen and had to choose between clearing spades, acting like a man with an entry, and trying to do something positive by switching. When he opted to switch to the 10, Fu brightened considerably. He lost only two hearts now and so made 3NT to hold China's loss to 1 IMP. Had Colker cleared spades, Fu might well have made 3NT anyway, using two entries to dummy to play on hearts, but if he placed Colker with a heart honor, he might instead have tried to take nine tricks in the minors and failed. Or not ... say that he runs clubs. West has discarded a club on the third spade, and proceeds to discard diamond, heart, diamond on the clubs. By now it would appear that the diamond finesse will not work. Declarer cashes the A and exits with a heart; West has to lead into the KJ at the end.

You are East, at unfavorable vulnerability. You hold: A642 Q62 AQJ9 74.
West North East South 2 (i) Pass 2NT (ii) ???   (i) natural, limited (ii) Puppet to 3 (weak raise to 3 or a game-forcing two-suiter)	Do you take any action? You have some jeopardy either way. If you double, would you be confident that you were making a takeout double of clubs and not showing a strong balanced hand? If you pass, South bids 3 (virtually forced), which is passed back to you. Would you double now?
"Nothing like a camel at the end of a long match."	Miho: "Look what we bought Jason at the Ginza."

Here is the full deal ...

Bd: 3 Dlr: South Vul: E/W 10983 K54 K5 9853 West KQ75 A93 10862 J10 East A642 Q62 AQJ9 74 South J J1087 743 AKQ62

If you double, as Colker-san did, South (Ju) raises himself to 4, proving that he has not come to Yokohama to pass. Turn now to West. If North/South have 10 or 11 clubs, as their bidding suggests, the East/West hands should fit very well. It is tempting to take a shot at 4, but to an extent this decision turns on West's expectations for East's delayed (rather than direct) double. At the table, West passed and 4 went quietly two down; minus 100. Li/Zhang were plus 140 at the other table, so China gained an IMP and trailed 1-3 at the half.

4 is a good contract for North/South, a bit worse than one of two finesses. Neither pair reached game in our match. Fu made the obvious 10 tricks on a club lead, but Cappelletti held himself to three by playing for a spade-diamond squeeze (after losing to the K and A, he cashed the A and ran his winners). 1 IMP to China, 2-3.	Bd: 4 Dlr: West Vul: Both North QJ AQ10963 KQ6 A3 West 10987 74 10752 KJ8 East K53 K52 A4 Q10974 South A642 J8 J983 652
The score remained the same after Board 5, on which both East/West pairs went minus 100 ...

Bd: 5 Dlr: North Vul: N/S North AQ7 KQ62 8754 A9 West 2 843 A62 KJ10543 East KJ10 A975 KQ1093 Q South 986543 J10 J 8762

This was our auction: West North East South Kokish Fu Colker Ju 1NT Dbl. 2 3 Pass 3 Pass 4 * Pass 5 All Pass This might have had a chance on a spade lead and a better lie, but Ju led a heart and there were four sure losers. I think West bid too much. So why didn't I bid less? Very mysterious, Kokish-san.

Cappelletti/Itabashi stopped sensibly in 3NT; plus 460. Fu/Ju were more ambitious ... West North East South Kokish Fu Colker Ju Pass 1 (i) 1 2 Pass 2 Pass 3 Pass 3NT Pass 4 Pass 4 Pass 6 All Pass   (i) strong 6 is not a good contract, but it is a lot better played by South; any lead but a trump gives away a trick or a tempo. With the Q onside with fewer than three little sisters, Ju got the lead of the 6 from Kokish and took the club finesse for twelve tricks, conceding the A. On a trump lead, declarer draws trumps and leads a heart, ducked by East. A high heart is conceded to the ace, and South still has two entries to establish the long heart and to cash it.

Bd: 6 Dlr: East Vul: E/W North 65 3 A974 AKJ1087 West KJ1042 1097 Q6 Q92 East 87 A842 10832 654 South AQ93 KQJ65 KJ5 3

How revolting. China, 12-3. 24-6 in VP. The start of a long day for USA. Rounds Two and Three:

We seemed to be doing better in our next match, but the penultimate board gave us an opportunity to commit hara-kiri, and like the true pressure players that we are, we rose to the occasion ...

Bd: II-5 Dlr: North Vul: N/S North K76 KQJ10 Q652 Q7 West 2 843 A98743 A52 East QJ5 9762 KJ K964 South A109843 A5 J J1083 West North East South Kokish Colker 1 Pass 1 Pass 1NT Pass 2 (i) Pass 2 Pass 2 (ii) Pass 3 Pass 4 Dbl. All Pass   (i) Puppet to 2; (ii) Invitational

4 is a good contract, perhaps because South has such a good hand for an invitational sequence. West doubled because trumps were not breaking and North/South would have nothing in reserve. To defeat 4, West must lead or underlead a minor-suit ace, else declarer discards her diamond on a heart. West duly led a club and chose the deuce in case dummy had a holding that left declarer a guess. Declarer called for the seven and East put in the nine. After which declarer lost only a club and a trump for plus 990. The comparison was no fun for East/West. Cappelletti/ Itasbashi had made 620 on a heart lead, so the American team's loss was 9 imps. We lost the match by 2 imps, 11-19 in VP. "If you'd held them to four, we'd have won anyway, even with the double," opined our South. When you're right, you're right. We are not worthy. In the wonderful hockey movie Slapshot, an early scene features a TV interview with the French-Canadian goalie who had allowed eight goals. "How do you feel about that?" asked the interview. Replied the goalie: "I feel shame." ... As do we.

Haruko Koshi/Meiko Nakanishi had already achieved a good result with the Multi 2 opening on the first deal of the match. Here, on Board 5, Koshi-san's 2 opening propelled her opponents into a game they might not have bid on their own. North led her singleton diamond and declarer had his work cut out for him. He won the A, played A, heart ruff, spade (four from South) to the ace, heart ruff, spade. South won and found herself endplayed. South was blaming herself for not playing the king on the first trump lead, but that would not have beaten the contract outright. North would have been able to exit safely with a heart to force declarer, who would counter with the 9. South wins and must exit with the K, establishing a winner in dummy. Now declarer has to guess clubs for the contract, but every dog has his day. Why not me? "The octopus is gread, bur Alpapa is really my dish."

Bd: III-5 Dlr: North Vul: N/S North Q10 QJ10863 7 A875 West AJ852 A74 92 Q43 East 9763 2 AQ1063 K106 South K4 K95 KJ854 J92 West North East South Kokish Koshi Colker Nakanishi 2 (i) Pass 2 (ii) Pass Pass Dbl. Rdbl. 4 All Pass   (i) Multi; (ii) Pass or correct

NOT HEARTLESS - BUT CLOSE!

Bd: 29 Dlr: North Vul: Both North 96 A107 K109762 94 West KJ732 J865 J8 J5 East AQ1054 942 - AKQ76 South 8 KQ3 AQ543 10832 West North East South Hara Shioya Tatai Teruko Pass 1 2 4 5 5 ! Pass 5 Pass 6 All Pass

It was the second session of the Ouchi Cup and Kikuo Tatai was tired of getting pushed around. He picked up the East hand and we'd bet if we'd been at the table we might have seen a twinkle in his eyes as he perpetrated the diagrammed auction on his unsuspecting opponent Teruko Nishimura who, in recognition of Kikuo's clever bid, reported this hand to us. Teruko led the A and Kikuo lost no time drawing trumps and pitching three of dummy's hearts on his long clubs to score up plus 1430. At the other table the auction was slightly different: West North East South Junko N Kamiyo Pass 1 2 4 Pass Pass Pass South led the K and when she shifted at trick two, Kamiyo scored up plus 680. That was a welcome 13 IMPs. to the Tatai team.