THE 1999 NEC CUP FINAL: GREAT BRITAIN vs JAPAN Bd: 10 North Dlr: East Q9 Vul: Both KJ10654 K6 J53   West   East    K 108762    Q872 A    Q9852 AJ3    642 A987 South AJ543 93 1074 KQ10 Open Room West North East South Chen Justin Ino Jason 1 Pass 1NT * 2 Pass 2NT All Pass   Closed Room West North East South Armst Imakura Paul Miyakuni 1 Pass 1NT 2 Pass 2 Pass 2NT Pass 3NT All Pass   Add a grain or two of salt to my reference to the soundness of the twins' overcalls, will you. Jason went only three light in 2NT on a diamond lead through the king, eventually losing to the K; minus 300. Imakura-Miyakuni also describe their overcalls as sound, which is true except when they're not. Imakura's 2 got him to 3NT, which is a lot of notrump, even for sound overcallers. Better from his side. Club lead to the king, 9 around to the ace, switch to A, curious continuation of the 3, low ... queen, king, Q run to the king, diamond back to the jack ... various red faces. Back to clubs. Imakura had seven tricks now for a magnificent two down; minus 200. 3 imps to JAPAN, 24-26. Almost like real bridge. Board 11 was a flat 4, plus 450, North/South. Board 12 proved to be flat at East/West plus 480, but neither of those pairs cared much for their result. Bd: 12 North Dlr: West J96 Vul: N/S 953 107 109732   West   East    AK10 Q4    QJ2 K10874    85432 AJ    A6 KQ84 South 87532 A6 KQ96 J5 Open Room West North East South Chen Justin Ino Jason 1 Pass 1 Pass 1NT Pass 2 * Pass 2 * Pass 4 All Pass   Closed Room West North East South Armst Imakura Paul Miyakuni 1NT Pass 2 * Dble 2 * Pass 4 All Pass   With the perfect fit, declarer can make 6 on any lead. And if not 980, someone might have scooped in 760 at 2 redoubled. Hmm. Bd: 13 North Dlr: North K83 Vul: Both Q10832 8 8753   West   East    A75 QJ642    K5 A76    QJ742 A96    A62 K9 South 109 J94 K1053 QJ104 Open Room West North East South Chen Justin Ino Jason Pass 1 Pass 2 Pass 3 Pass 3 Pass 4 Pass 6 All Pass   Closed Room West North East South Armst Imakura Paul Miyakuni Pass 1NT Pass 2 Pass 2 (1) Pass 4 All Pass   (1) 5 Ino's 3 presumably showed extra values, or Chen's 6 doesn't make any sense at all. The slam had a play (declarer needs the 10 doubleton in South) but not on this lie. Jason ducked the Q, but Chen continued with a low trump and so held his trump losers to one. One down; minus 100. 4 made five; plus 650. 13 imps to GREAT BRITAIN, 39-24. Bd: 14 North Dlr: East 65 Vul: None A94 853 KJ654   West   East    A82 K1093    K87 QJ102    Q9 K1064    Q10832 9 South QJ74 653 AJ72 A7 Open Room West North East South Chen Justin Ino Jason Pass 1 Pass 1NT All Pass   Closed Room West North East South Armst Imakura Paul Miyakuni Pass 1 Dble 1NT 2 * Pass 2 All Pass   The depths to which the modern player will go to enter the auction were plumbed by John Armstrong, whose takeout double of 1 facing a passed partner might be a popular choice on a desert island or the prison lunchroom, but hardly anywhere else where there is hope for a better life. Of course, nothing happened to him. Paul cue-bid to find the right major fit, but there was no eight-card fit. No matter. The lead of the 3 went to the (unfortunate) jack and queen and Armstrong went after trumps. Imakura won the second trump and switched to spades, duplicating the hatchet job performed on the J. Armstrong was able to knock out the A and the Q and took nine tricks; plus 140. Sometimes it's an easy game. Justin went two down in 1NT on the lead of the Q; minus 100. 1 imp to GREAT BRITAIN, 40-24. Bd: 15 North Dlr: South 1065 Vul: N/S - AQJ8743 653   West   East    8 KJ42    A1098652 QJ43    K52 6    KQ A1084 South AQ973 K7 109 J972 Open Room West North East South Chen Justin Ino Jason Pass 1 3 4 Pass 4 All Pass   Closed Room West North East South Armst Imakura Paul Miyakuni 1 2 4 Dble All Pass   The Brits like to have a bit more when they open, vulnerable, so Jason passed the South hand while Miyakuni opened it. The difference was rather dramatic. Chen was left to play peacefully in 4, which he made easily; plus 420. I confess that Imakura's jump to 4 would not have occurred to me, five-card majors or not, but here it proved to be remarkably effective. Paul, torn between raising hearts and doubling for penalty, decided to try for four tricks on defense. Armstrong led the K and continued with the queen, and Paul did not overtake to give him a third-round ruff. When the K held, Armstrong switched not to the A but to the 8, covered all around. Miyakuni led the 10 to dummy's jack, ran the 5, and was still in dummy to repeat the spade finesse. He drew trumps and took another diamond finesse and so took 11 tricks for a spectacular plus 880, 16 imps to JAPAN, tying the match at 40. Bd: 16 North Dlr: West K10863 Vul: E/W 1092 J AKQ8   West   East    J7 AQ952    Q7643 5    A8 106    J1092 76543 South 4 AKJ8 KQ975432 - Open Room West North East South Chen Justin Ino Jason Pass 1 Pass 2 (1) Pass 2 Pass 3 Pass 3NT Pass 4 Pass 5 Pass 5 All Pass   (1) FG Closed Room West North East South Armst Imakura Paul Miyakuni Pass 1 Pass 2 (1) Pass 2 Pass 3 Pass 3NT Pass 4 Pass 4 * Pass 5 All Pass   (1) FG 5 can be beaten on a spade lead and heart switch, or on the remarkable lead of the Q (keeping declarer out of dummy for those club tricks until it is too late). Armstrong led a club, so Miyakuni threw his spade and two hearts and lost only to the trump ace; plus 420. Chen did well to find a heart lead but chose a low one, of course. The ten won and declarer threw a spade and a heart on high clubs before leading a trump. Chen won and gave Ino a heart ruff. Plus 400. 1 imp to JAPAN. The first set was even at the table, but JAPAN was 1 imp ahead on carryover, 41-40. "Do you give up?" asked Miyakuni to the nearest available Hackett.

Second Quarter (Boards 17-32): Bd: 17 North Dlr: North K105 Vul: None AK AQ76 AQ92   West   East    J8764 A    J954 Q10632    K85 94    5 K10876 South Q932 87 J1032 J43 Both Norths declared 3NT. Ino led a club from the East hand and Justin, the declarer, won the nine to return the suit. He had time for an overtrick and would have made five had he led a low spade from hand; plus 430. Paul found the more challenging lead of a heart. Hiroshi Hisatomi won and was in danger of going down; the K from hand would be fatal, for example. He led the 5 from hand, however, and now could take two spades, two hearts, four diamonds, and the A for plus 400 and a 1-imp loss. The match was tied at 41. In the playoff for third, Zhang, for CHINA, won the heart lead and tried the Q from hand. East won and knocked out the high heart while he retained the A. So, was declarer going down? Not at all. He crossed to the J, finessed diamonds, and ran the suit. East could discard one club, but a second would have given declarer a third club trick. He had to part with a heart and now declarer could concede a spade. An unusual squeeze. Bd: 18 North Dlr: East KQJ Vul: N/S AKQJ63 864 6   West   East    9642 A1087    95 72    AQ3 9    AQ98 KJ10543 South 53 1084 KJ10752 72 Open Room West North East South Chen Justin Ino Jason Pass Pass 1 Dble 1 Pass 2 3 4 All Pass   Closed Room West North East South Armst Hisatomi Paul Teramoto Pass Pass 1 2 4 All Pass   I really like Armstrong's ugly 1 opening in third seat. With a minimum-range hand he can pass any response and 1 shuts out the one-level (Colker-san disagrees violently, but that's what makes the game interesting). In any case, 4 was reached at both tables, a tad high. Right? Well, it was in the Open Room, where Jason led a heart and Justin took two of them and got two trumps later. One down; minus 50. In the Closed Room, Hisatomi thought there might be some advantage in taking out some of the enemy trumps, which are rarely plentiful. Oh no! Armstrong won the ace, finessed the Q, threw a heart from dummy on the A, and played a trump; plus 420. 10 imps to GREAT BRITAIN, 51-41.