Some deals from the Round of 16

In the first of four sets in the Round of 16 Board 4 provided a bidding test and created a few swing.  Try this yourself and think about your auction.  Where would you end?

Dealer West All Vul

West ♠ KQ6 ♥ 8432 ♦ K9 ♣ KQ43

East ♠ AJ109 ♥ KQJ6 ♦ AJ4 ♣ A9

The best contract is 6NT which has twelve tricks any time the hearts break (4 spades, 3 hearts, 2 diamonds and 3 clubs) but chances when they don’t.  (if you only have two heart tricks there is still the diamond finesse or maybe a squeeze of some sort).   Of the 16 pairs playing this deal in the Open Teams one got to 6NT and the rest played in 6♥ .  Sometimes it wouldn’t matter but this time there was a club ruff and all but three of the pairs playing 6♥ went down.  And which pair found 6NT? Kurka and Kopecky of the Martens team.  It isn’t totally clear to me whether this was skill or good fortune.  Here is there auction.

2♦ was alerted on BBO as game forcing showing four hearts but with a small caveat (the words I think).   If it did indeed show hearts then it is not clear how hearts got lost.  In any case once Kurka did not show hearts the pair ended in 6NT.  Maybe there was more to this auction but in case it worked out well for them.

The Lavazza-Diamond match had a number of big swings.  Ray came in to my office to show me one of them.  On Board 13 the Italians did very well to bid and make 6♦ with Hampson and Greco playing 3NT in the Closed Room.  (Both Vulnerable Dealer North)

Bocchi ♠ 93 ♥ AKQ109 ♦ KQ92 ♣ 65

Ferraro ♠ AJ108 ♥ – ♦ AJ76 ♣ A9732

After North-South found the diamond fit they pressed onto the slam.  The opening lead is the ♣ Q.  How would you proceed?  There are a few approaches that will in fact work but Bocchi found a very nice line.  He won the club and returned a club Gitelman winning.  He won the diamond returned in dummy (The ♦10 forced the ♦J) and proceed with his plan to set up clubs.  At this stage if diamonds were 3-2 he was in pretty good shape.  He ruffed a club high and cashed the ♦Q.  Now he entered dummy with a spade and ruffed the last club with the nine of diamonds.  With one diamond still out he had to get three rounds of hearts through.  He cashed the top hearts and when nobody could ruff in he was able to ruff a spade and draw the last trump claiming with the winning clubs.

Since Ray had a live feed on he was able to hear all three other players congratulated Bocchi who had won 12 imps.