Gunslingers .. things to come in the Bermuda Bowl?

 

 

The Swedish played Norway in a pre-Bermuda Bowl practice session.  Sweden will be a competitor but Norway will be sitting this Open Championship out.  I sat down at my computer to watch the second 16 boards.  Pretty well all of them had big swings.  After settling down with a push on Board 17 board 18 and 19 produced two double digit swings.

You are vulnerable vs not and you have:

 

East ♠ Q106542  ♥  J ♦ K1086  ♣  KJ

 

 If you were in first chair perhaps you might open a weak two bid with 2♦  (MultU) or 2♠  (if you are from ACBCL-LAND) But you are in fourth chair and the bidding has got to quite a high level before it is your turn to speak.  South opens 3♥ and North raises to  4♥ as partner passes.  Do you bid?

I am not crazy about a save at this vulnerability.  Is there a chance partner has a good hand with insufficient spades to bid over 3♥?  Sure.  But partner doesn’t have all that many hearts and he didn’t find a bid.  Still they could be stealing.  If you do want to bid I suppose it is 4♠ . 

All those who bid spades are losing imps it is merely a question of how many.  The hand is cold for 3 down unless the defense errs and TUndal and Grotheim made no mistakes.  That is a lose of 12 imps when taking into account the +140 partner’s achieved in 3♥.  However things at this table took a worse turn when Bertheau with

 

 

West ♠ A  ♥ K32  ♦ QJ754  ♣ 10843

obviously expected more from Nystrin and sent it back upping the ante to a 16 imps lose.  However passes may still have cost you 7 imps since it is possible to make 4♥  with some good guess work.  The whole hand was

 

Dealer: Vul:	North ♠ J98  ♥ AQ6  ♦ A92  ♣ A752
West ♠ A  ♥ K32  ♦ QJ754  ♣ 10843		East ♠ Q106542  ♥ J ♦ K1086  ♣  KJ
	South ♠ K73  ♥ 1098754  ♦ 3  ♣ Q96

In the Open Room South “inexplicably passed” the six hearts to the 10 and when North opened 1NT South transferred to hearts.  The final contract was 3♥  after East intervened with 3♠.  And if you give gunslinger points do you give then to South for the  3♥ bid, East for the 4♠ bid or West for the redouble.

If you think that ended the action you are wrong.  The difference between going 5 or 6 down in 6S doubled was worth 7 imps but was this the desired result?  It is true that the opposition can make 1430 in 6H but would they have landed there.  In the Open Room East Brogeland opened 4C (Namyats showing a good opening 4♥  preempt).  Nybo West continued with 4♦  on the way to a slam try.  North Cullin held

 obstructed with 4S and Broglenad showed something in clubs with 5C.  Upmark continued the obfuscation with 5S and Nybo made a grand slam try with 5NT.