NATIONAL HEROES BRING GLORY TO JAPAN JAPAN OVER GREAT BRITAIN NEC CUP FINAL GREAT BRITAIN and JAPAN - PABF OPEN faced off in yesterday's 64-board final of the NEC Cup. In a match which was close all the way, JAPAN too the lead in the second quarter and held on to win at the wire. Congratulations to both teams for their outstanding play throughout the event. The box scores appear below, and a complete, blow-by-blow account of the match can be found beginning here.

NEC Cup Final TEAM c/o 1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr 4th Qtr Total GREAT BRITAIN   40 31 24 20 115 JAPAN - PABF OPEN 1 40 37 21 26 125

NEC CUP SEMIFINALS: JAPAN vs USA As you will remember from yesterday's episode, our heroes (JAPAN and USA) were engaged in quite a dogfight. At the half, the score stood ominously at JAPAN 75, USA 58.2. Third Quarter (Boards 33-48): USA began the set with a 3.2-imp carryover. Based on our performance in the round-robin, this could be a much needed advantage. Bd: 33 North Dlr: North Q86 Vul: None J86 AJ982 103   West   East    KJ9 A10432    A94 7    10 Q765    AKQ542 987 South 75 KQ10532 K43 J6 Open Room West North East South Kokish Imakura Colker Miyakuni Pass Pass 1 2 2 2 Pass 4NT Pass 5 Pass 5 Pass 5 All Pass   Closed Room West North East South Chen Capp Ino Lipscomb Pass Pass 2 Dble 3 3 Pass 4 Pass 4 Pass 6 All Pass   6 is an excellent slam, needing only to locate the Q. 6 is less good but still playable. In the Open Room Kokish sniffed at slam but in the end settled for 5 when he found he was off an ace and the Q. This was a good decision since he had the inference from Colker's failure to open a weak two-bid earlier that he was virtually certain not to have a six-card suit for his later 2. The defense led the K and when Colker located the Q at trick 2, USA was plus 480. In the Closed Room the A was led followed by the J. Unluckily this saved Chen a spade guess. He ruffed, played A and ruffed a heart, ruffed out the K, and ruffed his last heart. Now he simply drew trumps and claimed. Plus 920 was 10 more imps to JAPAN, leading 85-58. Board 34 was a game push and on Boards 35 and 36 JAPAN picked up 1 and 3 imps, respectively, on partscore/overtrick differences. The next board was a slam push and JAPAN was leading, 89-58 when this swing board came along. Bd: 38 North Dlr: East AK94 Vul: E/W AJ102 1085 J7   West   East    QJ72 103    K86 73    4 QJ9763    98643 AQ5 South 865 Q954 AK2 K102 Open Room West North East South Kokish Imakura Colker Miyakuni 2 Pass Pass Dble Pass 3 All Pass   Closed Room West North East South Chen Capp Ino Lipscomb Pass 1 Pass 1 Pass 2 Pass 2 * Pass 3 Pass 4 All Pass   4 may not be the best contract, but it does have the advantage that it can be made on either of two lines: playing East for the AQ or for honor-doubleton of spades (by leading low from dummy when first attacking the suit). In the Open Room Colker's weak 2 opening seems to have impeded Imakura-Miyakuni's hand evaluation. Imakura's diamond holding was unappealing and Miyakuni appeared to have too much wastage; plus 170. In the Closed Room Ino passed in first seat and gave Cappelletti-Lipscomb a free run, and they bounced right into game. The Q lead was won with the ace and the 9 held at trick 2. The remaining trumps were drawn and Cappelletti played ace and a spade to Ino's ten. When Ino tried A and a second club Cappelletti found the duck to bring home his game. Plus 420 was 6 imps to USA, trailing 89-64. Two more game pushes followed and then THE big hand of the set was placed on the tray. Buckle up tour seatbelts, kids, this one is going to be a rocky trip. Bd: 41 North Dlr: North KQJ1064 Vul: E/W 108 75 962   West   East    - A87    KJ97542 AQ6    - 9643    AQ10743 KJ8 South 9532 3 AKQJ1082 5 Open Room West North East South Kokish Imakura Colker Miyakuni 2 * Dble * 2NT * Pass 3 * Pass 4 5 Pass 6 Pass 6 Pass Pass 6 Pass * Pass Dble All Pass   Closed Room West North East South Chen Capp Ino Lipscomb 2 Pass 4 * Dble 4 Pass 4 5 Pass 6 6 Pass Pass 7 ! Dble Pass Pass 7NT Dble All Pass   In the Open Room, Imakura's 2 was of the multi variety and Colker's double showed either 13-15 balanced or 19+. Miyakuni's 2NT was an inquiry and Kokish, with the most dramatic hand at the table, could do nothing but pass in his methods. Imakura's 3 showed a weak two-bid in spades with minumum values and Miyakuni promptly bid the game. Little did he know what awaited him. Suddenly the sleeping editor awoke and entered the auction with a vengeance. 5 was a big two-suiter, but who knew it consumed his entire hand? Colker preferred diamonds to clubs and so bid the chunky four-bagger to let Kokish know who had the goods. When "Rip Van" converted to 6 it was clear that his two suits did not include the red pointed kind. It may be possible in some alternate universe for East to bid the grand in such an auction, but this was not it; Colker passed. But Kenji heard the trumpets and rose to the occasion with 6. Kokish's pass was of the forcing variety, but again Colker had no clue of the extent to which Kokish meant it. Double ended the auction and Kenji could actually have gotten out for minus 100 when the opening lead was a heart and Colker lazily continued the suit. But to those pure in heart all good things eventually come as Kenji played on trumps before trying for club pitches on his diamonds. (See the strength of Colker's 6 bid.) Now Colker also awoke, won his A and cashed the K; down two, plus 300 to USA. The auction in the Closed Room actually came from that alternate universe mentioned above. Cappelletti's weak 2 was one of the few normal-looking bids in the auction, which is one of the last things we ever thought we'd say about Mikey's bidding. 4 was RKCB and 4 after the double showed one keycard. Lipscomb decided to try to end the auction with 4, but Chen-Ino bid merrily on to 6. Just as had happened in the Open Room, Shannon took the 6 save and Chen made a forcing pass. But Ino, who had much in reserve for his actions up to this point in the auction, shrugged his shoulders and found the magic 7 bid. Take that, USA! When Lipscomb contributed a double, Ino was certain that a club void was lurking about and decided that 7NT must be a far safer contract. After all, shouldn't Chen have first-round diamond control for his forcing pass of 6? In point of fact he did, but unfortunately for JAPAN not at notrump. Some people we've spoken claim that Lipscomb's double of 7NT can still be heard echoing in the fourth-floor halls of the Pacifico. 2000 points later, USA had 20 imps in the bank; trailing now only 89-84. On the next two boards JAPAN picked up 3 random imps and the USA 1, so going into the next to last deal of the set JAPAN's lead was back up to 7 imps, at 92-85. Then came another heart-wrenching deal for team USA. Bd: 47 North Dlr: South 108765 Vul: N/S KQ872 2 73   West   East    - AKQJ94    A10964 5    AKQ985 J1076    K5 98 South 32 J3 43 AQJ10642 Open Room West North East South Kokish Imakura Colker Miyakuni 3 3 Pass 3 Pass 4 Pass 5 All Pass   Closed Room West North East South Chen Capp Ino Lipscomb 3 Dble Pass 4 Dble 4 Pass 4 Pass 5 Pass 6 All Pass   In the Open Room Kokish's 3 overcall would not have been some peoples' choice, but on this deal it hit partner in the perfect spot. Colker's 3 bid was forcing and Kokish's 4 did nothing to brighten Colker's world. Still, Kokish had gone past the safety of 4, so he had to have good values or a fit for spades. Still, with clubs uncontrolled what could he do? Would 4NT be taken as forward-going but lacking a club control? Perhaps in a well-practiced partnership, or had there been some discussion of such issues in their history, but this was largely uncharted waters for them. What if Kokish took it as RKCB for spades (or hearts, or diamonds)? In the final analysis, Colker settled for a "safe" 5 and the auction came to a screeching end. When dummy came down Colker could see that Kokish was not a happy camper; nor was plus 420 a happy result. In the Closed Room Chen chose to double with the West hand; a call that might not have been the choice of many players. We can only infer that Ino's 4 bid followed by 4 indicated a hand too good to just jump to game. When Chen bid and rebid his diamonds rather than showing his heart suit, Ino probably placed him with a strong one-suiter. Thus, 6 was probably a safer action than it would have been in the Open Room. Plus 920 added 11 much-needed imps to JAPAN's total, and took a good bit of the wind out of USA's sails; JAPAN 103, USA 85. Bd: 48 North Dlr: West AQJ6 Vul: E/W J10 AJ83 Q93   West   East    108 K9432    AK2 Q8    Q9654 K72    KJ10 765 South 75 976543 10 A842 Open Room West North East South Kokish Imakura Colker Miyakuni 1 1NT 2 4 * Pass 4 All Pass   Closed Room West North East South Chen Capp Ino Lipscomb 1 1NT Pass 2 * Pass 2 2 3 Pass 3NT Pass 4 All Pass   The last board of the set, and not one to write home to the folks about - for either team. Both North/South pairs overbid to the terrible 4 game and went down two tricks when the spade king turned up offside, which was more than likely on the auctions. No swing, but a good chance for a pickup lost by both sides. The third quarter ended, JAPAN 103, USA 85.