              Marlboro Bermuda and Venice Cup
                       Beijing, China
                  October 8th - 21st, 1995
           Issue 10, Tuesday, October 17th, 1995
           Editor: Henry Francis and Brian Senior
*********************************************************
1995 Marlboro Bermuda Bowl Semi Final End
                    Final
               Canada vs USA II

Boards   16   32   48   64   80   96   Result
Sweden   20   35   23   10   21   48     157
Canada   28   41   47   17   57   28     218

Boards   16   32   48   64   80   96   Result
France   17   22   17   41   44   12     153
USA II   31   28   46   27   51   38     221
***************************************************
 1995 Marlboro Venice Cup Semi Final
                   Final
               Germany vs USA I

Boards   16   32   48   64   80   96   Result 
France   30    5   13   26   45   45     164
Germany  36   64   65   50   26   16     257

Boards   16   32   48   64   80   96   Result 
China    11   27   28   51   31   37     185
USA I    24   55   53   43    4   40     259
***************************************************                       
                       Appeal Case 9
                     by Richard Colker

Bermuda Bowl: Indonesia (E-W) vs. USA II (N-S).
             Board 13. Game All. Dealer North.
                         Meckstroth
                           S 98
                           H 6
                           D 862
                           C AQ98754
                Lasut                 Manoppo
                S QT76                S AJ42
                H AQJ3                H 842
                D AQ3                 D JT75
                C J6                  C K2
                          Rodwell
                           S K53
                           H KT975
                           D K94
                           C T3

               West    North    East    South
                       3C (1)   Pass    Pass
                Dbl    Pass     3S (2)  Pass
                 4S   All Pass

               (1) Alerted.
               (2) After a delay.

Committee members: Jose Damiani (Chair), Jean-Claude
     Beineix, Jens Auken, Mazhar Jafri, John Wignall.

Facts: There was a delay before the tray was returned to
the South-West side of the screen following West's double.
N-S felt this could have influenced West's 4S bid.

Director's ruling: After the (alleged) hesitation on the
North-East side of the screen it was determined that West
had unauthorized information available to him, and an
alternative action (pass) available.  Based on Laws 16 and
12C2 the score was adjusted to -200 for N-S and +200 for
E-W.  This ruling was appealed by E-W.

Testimony: North testified that while the tray was still on
the South-West side of the screen following East's pass of
3C, he wrote an explanation of his Alert to East, who
ignored it until the tray was returned.  At that point East
began asking questions and was told that 2S would have
shown either a diamond preempt or a bad 3C bid, so 3C
showed a "good" preempt (either a good suit or a poorer
suit with compensating outside values).

East thought for a while and then inadvertently pulled the
3NT card out of his bidding box, noticed his mistake, and
then corrected his call to 3S.  N-S estimated that the tray
remained on the North-East side of the screen for at least
15-20 seconds, while E-W denied that it remained there that
long.

Committee's decision: Although it had been largely
accidental (due to the bidding box error), the Committee
determined that there had been a delay by East before his
3S bid.  In light of the possible unauthorized information
from this delay, a pass by West was deemed to be a logical
alternative to bidding 4S.  However, it was also felt that
West might still have bid 4S some percentage of the time
even without the hesitation.

Both pairs were therefore assigned 50 percent of the score
for E-W bidding 4S and making five (+320 to E-W, -320 to
N-S).  An additional 1 IMP penalty was also assessed
against E-W for East not attending to North's explanation
of his 3C bid when it was offered while the tray was still
on the South-West side of the screen, which might have
averted the problem entirely.
********************************************************
            Politicians Give the Press a Lesson
                    By Patrick Jourdain

Following the quarterfinals of the Marlboro World Bridge
Championships, Jose Damiani invited me to field a team of
journalists against a foursome which included Ding
Guengang, a senior member of the Politburo, and his son Yu
Cheng.  Damiani warned that they were excellent players.
Just how good is illustrated by this hand played by the
Minister himself:
         Board 6 (rotated):  E/W Vul. Dealer West.
                           S KT8
                           H KT9
                           D 652
                           C AJT9
                  S Q3             S A7642
                  H Q72            H AJ8654
                  D KQJ94          D 7
                  C 653            C 8
                           S J95
                           H 3
                           D AT83
                           C KQ742

               West    North   East  South
               Pass    Pass     1H     2C
                2D      3D     Pass   3NT
               Pass    Pass    Pass

The call by Ding Junior of 3D suggested his father bid 3NT
if he held a diamond stop, and the Minister obeyed, despite
his singleton heart. Had I led my partner's suit, 3NT would
have gone two light, but there would have been no story (at
the other table East-West had reached 4H and gone two
down). So I was lucky to make the wrong lead, DK, and give
Ding Senior the chance to show  his great skill in the
play.

Declarer gave the matter due thought. He then won the first
diamond, giving the defense no chance to find the heart
switch, and started on the clubs.

Note that if declarer begins by running the S9, East will
hold up. Declarer cannot play either major next because
East will clear whichever major is played and have enough
winners to beat the game when he gains the lead in the
other major.

As this article is a candidate for the BOLS Bridge Press
Prize, you may forgive a reference to the author's first
BOLS Tip (was it really ten years ago?): "In 3NT, with
eight winners and five losers,  play off your long suit".
Here declarer had only six winners, but playing off the
clubs still worked.

East threw a heart on the second club, but on the third he
had to give up a threat in one major.  If he threw a spade,
declarer could safely  play on spades and use the fourth
club later as an entry to play a heart to the 9.  However,
Priday correctly threw another heart, and as declarer had
only one heart he could not yet begin the suit. On the
fourth club East threw another heart, but on the last he
gave up a spade.

Now the Minister led the S9 and let it run. East ducked,
and declarer followed with a LOW spade, fetching the queen,
king and ace. Priday cleared the spades, but declarer was
now back in hand with the jack to lead a heart. It made no
difference whether I played high or low. Priday could win
only two hearts and the established spade (on which
declarer threw his diamond) and then East had to concede
the ninth trick to dummy's heart. Well played indeed!

Double-dummy analysts might spot that, apart from the lead
at trick one, we had another chance to beat the game.

On the run of the clubs East must keep all five of his
spades, throwing four hearts. If declarer leads the S9
next, West must cover with the queen! This forces declarer
to put on the king, and East ducks. Stuck in the wrong
hand, declarer has to play another spade.  East clears the
suit and makes the rest when declarer plays a heart.

But as, on the clubs, East discards four hearts, declarer
will probably start on that suit first. The defense must
now be even more agile. On a heart to the 9, East must try
to avoid being endplayed by winning the ACE and exiting
with the jack.

Declarer may counter by letting the jack hold, so WEST MUST
OVERTAKE EAST'S JACK WITH THE QUEEN!  Declarer can make TWO
heart tricks, but is stuck in dummy to lead away from the
spades when West obtains the lead to cash his diamonds!

If Priday and Jourdain had found that defense we would
titled this article Defense of the Year.

Our hosts won the 32-board  match, 104-59.

Hosts: Ding Guengang, Ding Yu Cheng, Patrick Huang, C. H.
Kuo.  Press: Patrick Jourdain, Tony Priday, Alan Truscott,
Phillip Alder, Barry Rigal.
********************************************************
                   A LESSON FOR THE PRESS
                  By Patrick Jourdain (GB)

"Ding Guangen, a senior member of the Politburo, would like
a game of bridge against the Press after the quarterfinals
finish," said Jose Damiani, taking my arm.  "Ding will
partner his son, Yu Cheng. They are both fine players, and
their team-mates will be the two Chinese-speaking
commentators, Patrick Huang and C.H. Kuo, so select a good
team to represent IBPA."

My team was a five-man one: Alan Truscott, Tony Priday,
Barry Rigal, Phillip Alder, and myself. You will note a
bias: all are British, though the team is half what ought
to be called British-American (in the same way that Michael
Chang is Chinese-American), for Truscott and Alder have
been adopted by New York, and Rigal is half-way there.

The 32-board match was to follow an excellent dinner given
for the Press by the Chinese Bridge Association. It crossed
my mind that this might be a disadvantage for the IBPA
team, but realized later it was of no consequence. My team
would have been well beaten even if it had been stone-cold
sober and wide-awake. The final margin was 104-59 in favor
of our hosts.

A feature of the first half was Jourdain failing to find
the right lead against the Minister's contracts. Here are
two tests before you hear about the match.

(a)  Board 6:  Dealer East: E/W Game
     As Dealer, you hold these cards:

                S Q3  H Q73  D KQJ93  C 732

               West    North   East    South
                               Pass     Pass
                1H       2C     2D     3D
               Pass     3NT   All pass

What would you lead?

(b) Board 10:  Dealer East: Game all
    You hold, as East:

                S K65  H T743  D AQ82  C 83

               West    North   East    South
                               Pass     1D
               Pass     2C     Pass     3C
               Pass     6C   All pass

What do you lead?

As  almost the only success for our team came early in the
match, I will start with that:
              Board 4. Game All. Dealer West.
                           S 9832
                           H JT
                           D T4
                           C T8752
                  S Q64               S AJ5
                  H K8543             H 96
                  D 987               D AK632
                  C A9                C K64
                           S KT7
                           H AQ72
                           D QJ5
                           C QJ3
Table 1
              West    North      East    South
             Priday   Ding Sr  Jourdain  Ding Jr
              Pass    Pass        1D      Dbl
               1H     Pass       1NT      Pass
              3NT     All pass

Table 2
              West    North    East    South
              Kuo    Truscott  Huang   Rigal
              Pass    Pass      1NT     Pass
               2D     Pass       2H     Pass
              3NT    All pass

Against my 3NT Yu Cheng led CQ. When this held he played
another. I took the spade finesse which lost, and he
cleared the clubs. Now I played D AK and another.  South
won and at once led a low heart, but I had little choice
but to rise with the king.  When this held I had my nine
tricks.

At the other table, where diamonds had not been bid, Rigal
led DQ. Huang let this hold, but Rigal found an excellent
switch to a low heart. Declarer ducked to Truscott's 10 and
the heart continuation was won by dummy's king.

Huang realized there was no point in taking the spade
finesse, because if it loses, West has five tricks, and if
the king is with East he can play a spade later without
West being able to gain the lead. So Huang played off his
diamonds. (This is a the me which  also occurs in a later
deal.)  Rigal threw a spade on the fourth diamond, but the
last diamond squeezed him in three suits. If he throws a
heart, declarer can safely set up a spade; if he throws a
club, he can be endplayed. So Rigal smoothly bared his SK.

Huang was misled into believing South's shape was 4-4-3-2.
He cashed the C A-K and threw South in with a heart. Rigal
was able to claim the two hearts and the unexpected club to
defeat the game.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Board 6 was the first of the lead problems, but the deal is
such a good one that I have decided to enter it for the
BOLS BRIDGE PRESS PRIZE, and it occurs as a separate
feature in the bulletin.

To digress, the BOLS TIPS Competitions are now over, and
all members of IBPA are invited to submit their best
article published in 1995 to reach Evelyn Senn by 10th
December. The article must not exceed 800 words, and there
can be at most two bridge diagrams. It must provide
suitable material for other members' columns.

On the second lead problem, against 6C, I recalled the Tip
about aggressive leads and chose a spade. The Tip was
right, but the choice was wrong, as you can see from the
full diagram:
              Board 10. Game All. Dealer East.
                           S A972
                           H KQ
                           D T
                           C AQJT65
                  S QJ84             S K65
                  H J965             H T743
                  D 9653             D AQ82
                  C 9                C 83
                           S T3
                           H A82
                           D KJ74
                           C K742

On a spade lead the play was over in double-quick time. Mr.
Ding won the lead, drew ONE round of trumps only with the
ace, unblocked the hearts, crossed to dummy with the second
trump, threw his losing diamond on HA, and gave up a spade.
He still had two trumps in dummy to take care of his
spades. Note that if declarer had erred by drawing a second
trump before unblocking the hearts, the contract would have
been defeated.

At the other table Rigal and Truscott took four rounds of
relay bidding to reach 3NT, so our hosts gained 13 IMPs.
---------------------------------------------------------
The half-time score was 58-31 against us. Drastic measures
were required. So I rested the captain, and changed every
partnership in my team. This was the best deal from the
second half:     Board 20: Game All.  Dealer West.

                          S KJT82
                          H Q984
                          D T87
                          C 7
                S 64              S A953
                H T763            H A52
                D KJ92            D AQ4
                C AK5             C T83
                          S Q7
                          H KJ
                          D 653
                          C QJ9642
Table 1
               West    North    East    South
               Rigal   Ding Sr  Alder  Ding Jr
               Pass    Pass     1NT      Pass
                2C     Pass      2S      Pass
               2NT     Pass     3NT     All pass

Table 2
               West   North     East    South
               Kuo   Truscott  Huang   Priday
               Pass    Pass      1D     Pass
                1H     Pass      1S     Pass
               2NT     Pass     3NT    All pass

At the table where Alder declared as East, Yu Cheng  led
CQ. Alder won and led a heart. North put up the 8, Alder
ducked and South's jack won.  Yu Cheng did well to exit
passively with a diamond. At this point, watching, I
thought declarer, realizing the hearts were not breaking,
might duck a spade. If the defense do not find the heart
switch, South can be endplayed.

However, Alder ducked a second heart. Again, Yu Cheng
exited with a diamond. Alder cashed the diamonds, throwing
a spade from his hand, and now led a spade off dummy. North
put up the 10, and Alder ducked. Yu Cheng gave this a brief
look and then showed his class by overtaking with the queen
and returning the suit. Declarer had no further chance. One
down.

At the other table Kuo was declarer as West. Truscott led
SJ which held, and another spade which Kuo ducked to the
queen. Priday actually switched to a low club but Kuo
naturally put up the ace and ducked a heart. Priday led CQ,
which Kuo allowed to hold. When South continued with
another club, it was all over. Kuo rattled off the
diamonds, and the bridge correspondent of  The New York
Times found himself squeezed in the majors to concede
declarer's ninth trick.  Well played  C.H.! And a further
12 IMPs to our hosts who won the match 104-59.
********************************************************
     China vs. United States, Venice Cup, Boards 17-32

Television viewers and the Vugraph audience saw some
exciting bridge on boards 17 to 32 during the China-United
States match. However, the set was not a happy one for
China. The Americans carried a 27-14 lead into the set, but
their lead was much larger at the close.

America got off to a fast start on the very first board
when the Chinese checked for a slam and then found
themselves too high at the five level.

             Board 17. Love All. Dealer North.
                           S 9432
                           H 8754
                           D KJ97
                           C 2
                 S AKQ75            S JT8
                 H J                H AT2
                 D AT82             D Q64
                 C KT8              C A953
                           S 6
                           H KQ963
                           D 53
                           C QJ764
Open Room
               West    North    East     South
             Sanborn   Zhang   McCallum   Gu
                        Pass     1C       1H
                1S       3H     Pass     Pass
                4H      Pass     4S     All Pass

Some Vugraph spectators were surprised that Sanborn didn't
make a try for slam, but as the commentators pointed out,
Sanborn has seen McCallum's opening bids before. Sanborn
took exactly 10 tricks. At the other table:

Closed Room
               West    North    East    South
               Wang    Munson   Sun     Simon
                       Pass     Pass    Pass
                1C     Pass     1NT     Pass
                2S     Pass      3D     Pass
                3S     Pass      4C     Pass
                4D     Pass      4H     Dbl
               Pass    Pass     Dbl     Pass
                5C     Pass      5S    All Pass

Sun passed at her first turn, but Wang still thought there
was a chance for slam. But she had to lose the same three
tricks as in the other room, and the result was a 10-IMP
gain for the Americans.
---------------------------------------------------------
China gained on of the biggest swings of the tournament on
the next deal -- a swing of 2040 points.

              Board 18. N/S Vul. Dealer East.
                          S Q
                          H 6532
                          D 8
                          C AKQ9432
                S 98742              S J3
                H AT4                H KQJ987
                D KQ2                D AJ976
                C T8                 C --
                          S AKT65
                          H --
                          D T543
                          C J765
Closed Room
               West    North    East    South
               Wang    Munson   Sun     Simon
                                 1H      1S
                2H       3C      3D      4C
                4H       5C      5H      Dbl
              All Pass

Simon cashed her top spades, Munson discarding her
singleton diamond. If Simon had realized that her partner
was now void of diamonds, she could have defeated the
contract by shooting a diamond back. But she switched to a
club and Sun wrapped up her doubled contract -- plus 650.

Open Room
               West    North     East    South
             Sanborn   Zhang   McCallum    Gu
                                  4H      Pass
               Pass     5C       Pass      6C
             All Pass

On the HK opening lead and with the SJ falling, Zhang
quickly wrapped up 13 tricks -- plus 1390. That was a
welcome 19 IMPs for China.
-----------------------------------------------------
Three consecutive pushes followed, but the last one
featured an excellent defense by Zhang and Gu.

              Board 21. N/S Vul. Dealer North.
                           S 52
                           H T84
                           D KJ954
                           C AT3
                  S K986            S AQJ3
                  H 972             H AQ53
                  D Q               D A72
                  C QJ76            C 92
                           S T74
                           H KJ6
                           D T863
                           C K84

               West    North     East    South
             Sanborn   Zhang   McCallum    Gu
                        Pass      1NT     Pass
                2C      Pass       2H     Pass
               2NT      Pass       3S     Pass
                4S     All Pass

Gu got off to the best opening lead -- a diamond to the
queen, king and ace. McCallum immediately went after the
clubs, the queen losing to the ace. Zhang led a heart,
ducked to the jack, and Gu accurately shot back a diamond.
This was ruffed and McCallum crossed to her hand with a
trump. She led another club, and Gu rose with the king.
When she returned still another club, McCallum ruffed --
but now the good clubs were of no use to her. She cashed
the SK and finessed a heart for down one and a push.
------------------------------------------------------
There followed a series of boards of little swings and
pushes, but America got a batch of IMPs on Board 26.

              Board 26. Game All. Dealer East.
                           S A6
                           H 984
                           D Q872
                           C AQT5
                  S KQT87           S 942
                  H 3               H KT765
                  D AK              D J54
                  C KJ982           C 76
                           S J53
                           H AQJ2
                           D T963
                           C 43

Sanborn bought the contract for 1S after opening 1C and
hearing her partner respond 1H. The contract could have
been set, but the defense slipped, and Sanborn actually
scored an overtrick. At the other table, the Chinese
arrived in 2C. The first three bids were the same, but Sun
decided to bid 1NT over 1S, and Wang carried back to 2C.
This was not a happy contract --repeated heart leads forced
Wang to lose control and she managed only six tricks for
a 7-IMP loss.
-------------------------------------------------------
Board 29 also was an unhappy one for China.

             Board 29. Game All. Dealer North.
                          S T7642
                          H 93
                          D 9765
                          C A6
                S A98             S J
                H T54             H KQJ872
                D QJT8            D K3
                C K85             C JT93
                          S KQ53
                          H A6
                          D A42
                          C Q742

Both sides arrived in 4H, and everything came down to the
club guess -- it was an out-and-out guess because two of
West's club were discarded on the diamonds. McCallum
guessed it right and Sun guessed it wrong -- 12 IMPs to
the United States.
-----------------------------------------------------
There's only one word to describe Board 31 -- disaster.

              Board 31. N/S Vul. Dealer South.
                          S T8653
                          H AJT95432
                          D --
                          C --
               S --                  S J974
               H K8                  H Q6
               D JT97654             D KQ32
               C Q642                C K83
                          S AKQ2
                          H 7
                          D A8
                          C AJT975
Closed Room
               West    North   East    South
               Sun     Munson  Wang    Simon
                                        1C
                3D      4H      5D      6C
               Pass     6H     Pass    Pass
               Dbl     Pass     7D      Dbl
              All Pass

Since 6H would make on a likely minor suit lead, 7D doubled
down five for 1100 actually should have been a good save.
But it wasn't -- look at what happened in the Open Room.

Open Room
               West    North    East     South
             Sanborn   Zhang   McCallum   Gu
                                          1C
                4D      4H       5H      Pass
                5S      6H      Pass     6NT!!!
              All Pass

Gu started with six tricks, and that's all she could take -
- down 600. So minus 1700 cost the Chinese 17 IMPs.

Board 32 was an anticlimactic 1 IMP to the U.S., so after
16 deals the Americans led, 79-38.
********************************************************
                      A MISSED CHANCE
                     By Barnet Shenkin

Board 22 was interesting in that both countries had a
chance to defeat different game contracts in each room

              Board 22. E/W Vul. Dealer East.
                          S KT864
                          H K942
                          D A5
                          C Q9
               S 732                S AQ9
               H J5                 H QT3
               D T96                D J432
               C T6543              C AJ8
                          S J5
                          H A876
                          D KQ87
                          C K72

               West    North   East    South
               Perron  Wolff   Chemla  Hamman
                                1C       1D
               Pass      1S    Pass     1NT
               Pass     3NT   All Pass

Hamman - Wolff  carefully avoided the risky 4H contract to
play an equally difficult 3NT. Perron led the C3 and Hamman
tried  the 9, hoping that Perron may have had JTxxx.  When
Chemla played the jack, Hamman ducked. Chemla now played
very quickly the ace and another club.

Hamman was now able to set up three spade tricks along with
his three diamonds and two hearts. "Only nine," Hamman said
as he claimed his contract.

It appears that Chemla could defeat the contract by
shifting to diamonds before cashing the CA to set up his
fourth diamond as the setting trick. However, when Hamman
cashes his fourth and fifth spades. Chemla cannot find two
spare cards to throw. He can part with a club, but the
second discard in any of three suits will give declarer his
ninth. In fact to defeat the contract at either trick two
or trick three Chemla must return a heart, playing his
partner for the jack. He now has the tempo to make one
heart along with his two spades and two clubs.

               West     North     East    South
             Nickell  Replinger  Freeman  Soulet
                                   1D      Pass
               Pass     Dbl       Pass       2D
               Pass      2S       Pass      2NT
               Pass      3H       Pass       4H
             All Pass

Dick Freeman led the D2 and Robert Replinger won in hand to
lead the C 9. Freeman rose with the ace to play a second
diamond.  Declarer won this and cashed his CQ before
taking his HK and crossing to dummy with the HA to cash
dummy's CK. He now took dummy's DQ before ruffing the last
diamond and exiting with his last trump to endplay East

Very well played, but if East does not rise with the CA
declarer would have to play another club . A second diamond
would then break the communications as after taking the
club ruff and diamond ruff in his hand, he could not get
back to dummy to play a heart to throw in Freeman. The end
result was 1 IMP to France, but both sides missed a chance.
********************************************************
                  Watching on the Internet
                   by Matthew Granovetter

I noticed a deal that would have been candidate for best-
played hand of the tournament -- if declarer had attempted
it.
         Round 11. Board 7. Game All. Dealer South.
                           S 9742
                           H --
                           D AQ76
                           C A8754
                  S QJ63             S T85
                  H KT83             H AJ952
                  D K32              D T4
                  C J9               C QT6
                           S AK
                           H Q764
                           D J985
                           C K32

Soulet, for France vs. Argentina, played in 5D against a
heart opening lead. Soulet ruffed and apparently led a
spade to his hand, then a diamond to the queen followed by
a duck in clubs. Back came a second heart, forcing dummy to
ruff and guaranteeing West's trump trick. Soulet cashed the
DA, played a club to hand and gave up a diamond. The
defense now cashed two heart tricks for down two.

I'm not sure what I am about to propose is a better line,
but what about a crossruff? Four black winners, four heart
ruffs in dummy and two spade ruffs in hand = 10 tricks.
This works against reasonable splits and requires West to
hold the long spade or East to hold the D10.

On the actual hand, if East hasn't already given the show
away by ruffing the fourth spade with the D10, the end game
leaves everyone with three cards, declarer needing one more
trick.  South holds the D J9 and a club and now leads the
club. West may be forced to ruff and win the trick,
endplayed. However, if East has discarded his third club on
the fourth spade, he can over ruff with the D4,and lead a
heart to force a guess from declarer.

It would be a nice defense, but if declarer inserts the D9,
he wins the prize.
********************************************************
                       NICK AND DICK
                      By Alan Truscott

Or perhaps it should be Dick and Nick, since Dick Freeman

is the senior, in age and in bridge. He was born in 1933 in
the Washington, D.C., area, and was a celebrity at the age
of 10 as a child prodigy. He appeared repeatedly, with
great success, as a Quiz Kid on radio, answering strings of
mathematical questions that stumped nearly all adults.

He then entered the University of Chicago, began playing
bridge, and graduated at the age of 15. ( Yes, FIFTEEN). He
then returned to the United States capital and became the
pride and sorrow of the tournament directors: In the days
of manual scoring he could matchpoint and add a recap sheet
far faster than anyone else, and far less legibly. He now
lives in Atlanta, Georgia, is a senior vice-president of
the brokerage house of Oppenheimer and Company, has been
married to Louise for 32 years, and works out in an
exercise room.

More than a quarter of a century ago, a tall young student
from Greensboro, N.C., started showing up at tournaments in
the Atlanta area and became a Freeman disciple. His name
was, and is, Nick Nickell, and he is as effervescent as
Freeman is serious. But they both take the game seriously.

Nickell is 48, has been married to Carol for two years,
plays golf, and is the president of Kelso and Company in
Raleigh, N.C. He specializes in leveraged buy-outs, which
are incomprehensible to the man in the street but certainly
involve vast sums of money.

In the past four years, playing together with Bob Hamman,
Bobby Wolff, Jeff Meckstroth and Eric Rodwell as teammates,
they have won five major North American team titles: the
Spingold Knockout Teams three times and the Reisinger
Board-a-Match Teams twice. Nickell has won the Blue Ribbon
Pairs playing with Hamman, and Freeman owns five other
titles including the Vanderbilt Knockout Teams.

In Beijing they are finding their first Bermuda Bowl
experience invigorating and exciting -- sometimes too
exciting. They barely qualified for the playoffs, with some
help from the Canadians who beat Brazil in the last round
to give the Americans a margin of 2 Victory Points in
fourth position. And their quarterfinal match with
Indonesia was close for the first 80 boards. Now they
are battling France in the semifinal.

They have had many deals they enjoy recalling. Freeman,
indeed, remembers virtually every spot card. This was a
bidding success against China in Round 13:
              Board 12. N/S Vul. Dealer West.
                            S T642
                            H J3
                            D 3
                            C AT7653
                  S 3                   S AKJ9875
                  H K87542              H A
                  D K65                 D QT972
                  C 942                 C --
                            S Q
                            H QT96
                            D AJ84
                            C KQJ8

               West    North   East     South
               2D (1)  Pass    2NT (2)  Pass
               3C (3)  Dbl      4S      5C (4)
               Pass    Pass     5D      Dbl
               5S      Dbl     All Pass

(1) Multi.
(2) Clarify please.
(3) Minimum with hearts.
(4) I have the strength, so partner must have club length.

This is an accurate save against the vulnerability. East
was not content to defend and played five spades doubled
with no chance. In the replay four spades succeeded, for a
large swing.

Nick-Dick are specialists in pushing the opponents one
level too high. This is Deal 7 from Round 7 against Canada:
              Board 7. Game All. Dealer South.
                           S KT4
                           H 54
                           D KQ42
                           C A762
                  S 983              S A6
                  H AQJ93            H K72
                  D A8               D T95
                  C Q94              C KJT53
                           S QJ752
                           H T86
                           D J763
                           C 8

               West     North   East    South
                        Nick             Dick
                                         Pass
               1H       Dbl     1NT (1)   2S
               3C (2)   Pass    4H        4S (3)
               Pass     Pass    4NT (4)   Pass
               5H (5)  All Pass

(1) An artificial bid, showing either club length, or heart
    support with club strength.
(2) If you have clubs, I can help you.
(3) An accurate save, costing 500 whether the defense
    chooses to score a diamond ruff or prevent a heart
    ruff.  This is made possible by Nick's aggressive
    takeout double, made at few tables.
(4) A request to choose a contract.  This gives the game
    away: Nick now knows that East has club length plus a
    heart fit.
(5) Perhaps the wrong choice.  With equal fits, there is an
    advantage in choosing as a trump suit the one missing
    the ace. West is looking at the heart ace.

Nick had listened to the bidding with considerable interest
and now knew exactly  what to do. He led the CA and gave
his partner a ruff. West had to lose either a diamond or a
spade for down one. The field was in 4H making an overtrick
against opponents who were less active in the bidding and
less well-informed about the winning lead.

On the following deal the defense to a partscore against
Canada had to be perfect:
        Round 11. Board 11. Love All. Dealer South.
                           S JT52
                           H A2
                           D KJ2
                           C Q532
                  S 9743            S A
                  H T53             H KJ74
                  D A543            D 987
                  C 64              C AKJ87
                           S KQ86
                           H Q986
                           D QT6
                           C T9

               West    North   East    South
                       Dick            Nick
                                       Pass
               Pass    Pass     1C     Pass
                1D     Pass     1H     Pass
               Pass    Dbl      2D      2S
              All Pass

Nick won the club lead with the jack, cashed the ace and
led the 8. South ruffed with the SK and Dick gave up a
diamond. A diamond was led to the king and a diamond was
returned to the ace. A heart lead was now the obvious move,
but would have been wrong: South would have won in dummy
and been able to cash a diamond winner. Dick worked out
that his partner was likely to have the SA and gave him the
lead with that card. The CK was led, and when South ruffed
with the SQ, Dick was able to shed his last diamond.

The S8 was led and covered with the 9 and 10. The ending
was:
                            S T5
                            H A2
                            D K
                            C --
                    S 74           S --
                    H T53          H KJ7
                    D --           D 9
                    C --           C 7
                            S 6
                            H Q986
                            D --
                            C --

South needed four tricks but had no way to get more than
three. One down, and 5 IMPs to the U.S. In the replay E-W
failed by two tricks in 2NT.

Will Nick-Dick be world champions by the end of the week?
We'll have to wait and see. They are are certainly playing
well enough to deserve the title.
********************************************************
   US and Canada lead in open; German, US women far ahead

The featured matches on Vugraph at 10.30 this morning will
be the two Marlboro Bermuda Bowl battles -- Canada vs.
Sweden and United States vs. France. The selection for the
second segment will be made based on the relative standings
in the various matches.

The finalists in the Marlboro Venice Cup are all but
settled. Germany has what appears to be an insurmountable
lead -- 141 IMPs -- against France. And the United States
has a comfortable lead -- 58 IMPs -- against host China.
Note that the lead is comfortable, not insurmountable --
there have been many comebacks over the years where a team
has come back from deficits greater than 58. Nevertheless,
there is an excellent chance that the final will be a
replay of the 1993 Venice Cup final in Chile --Germany vs.
United States. In 1993 the winner was the United States.

In contrast, neither Marlboro Bermuda Bowl match is
settled, although the two North American teams, Canada and
the United States, both have good leads. The Canadians, who
have played consistently well throughout the tournament,
are in front of Sweden by 45 IMPs. And the Americans, who
have had their problems throughout the round-robin and the
quarterfinals, apparently have found their stride -- they
lead France by 35.

Bob Hamman already has gone on record that he wants to
forge a turnabout from the 1980 and 1992 Olympiads, in both
of which France topped an American team spearheaded by
Hamman and Bobby Wolff.

The France-Germany match has everyone confounded. France
topped their group in the round-robin and were strong in
the quarterfinals. But their match was over almost before
it started -- Germany had a 64-5 second quarter and a 65-13
third quarter to lead by 117 at the halfway mark.
********************************************************
                      Press Conference

World Bridge Federation President Jose Damiani will
conduct a press conference Thursday at noon in Room 3008.
Immediately following the conference there will be a
cocktail party  in Room 2206 in celebration of Panos
Gerontopoulos of Greece being named IBPA Bridge
Personality of the Year.
********************************************************
                  The Semi-finals - Set 1

The Vugraph show started with two  matches, France v USA 11
(BB) and China v USA 1 (VC). While showing two matches may
or may not be good for the audience, it is completely
hopeless as far as trying to put together a comprehensive
match report is concerned. Hopefully, however, I have
managed to pick out the highlights of what was generally a
pretty quiet set of boards.
               Board 2. N/S Vul. Dealer East.
                            S T8765
                            H AQ86
                            D T4
                            C QJ
                  S J3               S A92
                  H 95               H 742
                  D K93              D AQJ8
                  C KT9743           C A62
                            S KQ4
                            H KJT3
                            D 7652
                            C 85

In France v USA 11, both Easts opened 1NT. Perron was
facing a strong no trump and transferred to clubs then
converted to 3C over what I imagine was a discouraging 2NT
response. He made eleven tricks; +150.  Wolff was facing
13-17 and he jumped to 3C, invitational. Hamman bid 3NT
and Michel Lebel led the HJ. The French cashed four hearts
ending with North and Cronier switched to the D10. Hamman
won, cashed CA, then carefully cashed out the diamonds to
get a clue how to play the next round of clubs. When
Cronier showed up with shorter diamonds, the odds were to
play for clubs 2-2 and Hamman duly did so to make his game
and chalk up 6 IMPs for his team.
---------------------------------------------------------
              Board 3. E/W Vul. Dealer South.
                          S AT7
                          H 7
                          D 7632
                          C AK985
                 S Q932              S K854
                 H JT                H KQ853
                 D A854              D T9
                 C J74               C Q2
                          S J6
                          H A9642
                          D KQJ
                          C T63

USA 11 picked up a further 6 IMPs on the next board.  In
the Closed Room, Rodwell opened the South hand and
Meckstroth eventually played 2NT on a low spade lead to his
ten. That start put Meckstroth ahead of the game and he
ended up with nine tricks; + 150.

In the Open Room, Lebel did not open the South hand.
Cronier opened 1C in third seat and Hamman overcalled 1H.
Lebel passed that, waiting for the reopening double, but
with Cronier holding such a bare opening and facing a
passed hand, the double never came. Lebel led DK against 1H
and continued with the queen when Hamman ducked. Hamman won
the second diamond and played a spade to his king, Lebel
following with the six, then switched his attention to the
trump suit. Lebel ducked two rounds of trumps and Hamman
led a low club off the dummy, Cronier winning to play a
diamond, ruffed by Hamman and establishing dummy's eight.
Hamman played CQ and Cronier was trapped. He won and cashed
the SA but the defense just had two trumps to come; +80.

Suppose Cronier cashes the second club before exiting with
a diamond. Declarer ruffs the diamond and plays either a
heart or a spade. It doesn't matter which so long as Lebel
gets the blocking SJ out of the way before putting him back
in with his last trump, using declarer as a stepping stone
to the SA for one down.
---------------------------------------------------------
               Board 6. E/W Vul. Dealer East.
                            S 42
                            H 8
                            D 62
                            C QT987532
                  S 8                    S T976
                  H AJ5432               H T
                  D T743                 D AKJ98
                  C AJ                   C K64
                            S AKQJ53
                            H KQ976
                            D Q5
                            C --

It's time to look in on the Venice Cup match now. In the
Closed Room, Pollack doubled East's 1D opening with her
shapely hand, heard a free 2C bid from Picus over West's 1H
response, and leaped to 4S. That was doubled and there was
just too much work to do. She lost two diamonds, two hearts
and a spade; -300.

In the Open Room, Gu Ling preferred a 3C Ghestem bid.
Sanborn doubled to show values and Zhang Yalan passed,
suggesting a place to play. But Gu could hardly pass 3C
doubled and converted to 3S. Zhang passed that but, when
McCallum doubled, changed her mind and, after considerable
thought, ran to her eight card suit. 4C was promptly
doubled and that was three down; -500 and 5 IMPs to USA 1
when it might have been 5 IMPs to China had Zhang been
willing to pass 3S doubled.
---------------------------------------------------------
              Board 9. E/W Vul. Dealer North.

                           S AT8
                           H K874
                           D K63
                           C J42
                 S --              S KQ9764
                 H AT652           H Q3
                 D AQ4             D J75
                 C KT965           C A8
                           S J532
                           H J9
                           D T982
                           C Q73


This was probably the most interesting deal in the set.  In
the Venice Cup match, Sun Ming declared 3NT as West. She
received a low heart lead to the jack and ace and returned
a heart. Now the defense switched to clubs and, with only
one trick in each suit, could not find a way to beat the
contract. +600 looked a pretty good score for China but
they were destined to lose 1 IMP on the board.

In the other room, Kerri Sanborn played 4H. The lead was a
diamond to her queen. She led a heart to the queen and,
when that held, played on clubs, ruffing the third round.
Now she crossed to the DA, cashed the HA, and had to lose
only two trumps and a diamond; +620.

In the Bermuda Bowl, France played in 2S, by West!
Meckstroth opened 1NT as North and Michel Perron made a
transfer overcall to clubs with the West hand. Paul Chemla
decided that 2S suited him very nicely and he presented
Perron with the dummy.  Perron had three trump losers but
no real problem in coming home with eight tricks; +110.

In the other room, North did not open and Bobby Wolff found
himself at the helm in the rather more normal contract of
3NT, also from the West seat. Cronier led a low diamond and
Wolff won the queen and played a heart to the queen.
Declarer rates to get home now as the cards lie if he
switches his attention to clubs. He seems to be a trick
short but the defender is likely to have to give him a
ninth trick in the endgame.

Wolff continued hearts, playing ace and another. Cronier
switched to a club and Wolff won the ace and played a
second club to the ten and jack. Now Cronier took some time
but eventually worked it out, cashing the SA to squeeze
declarer. If Wolff pitched a diamond, Cronier could lead
the suit to establish a fifth defensive trick while he
still controlled the hearts, while a club or a heart
discard would allow North to cash the HK and exit with his
last club, coming to the DK at trick thirteen. Well
defended; -100 and 5 IMPs to France.
----------------------------------------------------------
              Board 12. N/S Vul. Dealer West.
                           S AQT
                           H Q954
                           D JT7
                           C 765
                 S 9763             S KJ852
                 H 3                H 76
                 D K96              D AQ54
                 C AQ984            C J2
                           S 4
                           H AKJT82
                           D 832
                           C KT3

This one was flat in 4S+1 in France v USA 11, but there was
a swing in the Venice Cup match.  Wang opened 1S as East
and Pollack overcalled 2H. Now Sun simply jumped to 4S,
ending the auction. Wang made +450.

In the other room, Karen McCallum preferred to open a
rather loose weak 2S. Gu overcalled 3H and Sanborn bid 4C,
spades plus good clubs.  This left room for Zhang to bid 4H
and, of course, when this came back to Sanborn, she 'saved'
in 4S.  Particularly knowing how weak a McCallum weak two
bid could be, it was awfully tempting for Zhang to double
4S and she did so.  McCallum also took eleven tricks but
that was +690 and 6 IMPs to USA 1.
---------------------------------------------------------
             Board 13. Game All. Dealer North.
                          S 932
                          H QJ972
                          D 4
                          C Q432
                 S K76              S QT85
                 H AT853            H 64
                 D A82              D K953
                 C KJ               C 875
                          S AJ4
                          H K
                          D QJT76
                          C AT96

The popular contract around the room was 1H doubled by
West, going one, two or three down. And that is what
happened in the China v USA 1 Open Room. Gu opened a
Precision diamond as South and reopened with a double
when Sanborn's 1H overcall came back round to her.
Zhang led her singleton and Sanborn won in hand and played
the SK. Gu won her ace and returned DQ and Zhang misjudged
the position, ruffing. She returned a spade to the ten and
jack and Sun played a third diamond, Zhang again ruffing.
Sanborn won the spade return and played ace and another
trump, forcing Zhang to lead clubs for her; one down for -
200.

That didn't look such a great result for the Chinese pair.
Two down looks about average on this deal. While Zhang's
ruff of the second diamond was probably an error, the
diamond return itself was inferior. If Zhang does not ruff
the diamond, declarer can win the king and play a third
round, establishing dummy's nine. The D9 effectively
becomes another trump on this line.

Best is for South to play HK when in with the spade. Not
only does this not bring the diamond pips into play, it
clarifies the situation for North. Of course, if declarer
ducks the HK, South still has to switch to clubs not
diamonds next.

In the other room, Rozanne Pollack chose a really bad time
to open an off-centre no trump (14-16) on the South cards.
Sun doubled and Sue Picus redoubled, her way of showing  a
five card suit and a desire to run.  Pollack did as
requested and Picus bid 2H , also doubled.  Unfortunately,
declarer and her screenmate had had a misunderstanding
about the last double and she did not play the hand to best
advantage, going two down when she could certainly have
made at least one more trick had she expected the actual
trump stack. That meant Picus was two down for -500 and 12
IMPs to China.  After sixteen boards, USA 1 led China by
27-14 and USA 11 led France 31-17.
********************************************************
                Canada v Sweden (Set 3 Open)

After 32 boards, Canada led Sweden by 69-55 in their
Marlboro Bermuda Bowl semi-final. Set three started with
both East/West pairs finding the good 4S save over 4H on
Board 1, each conceding -300; no swing.
              Board 34. N/S Vul. Dealer East.
                            S J4
                            H AQ
                            D KJT953
                            C 962
                  S KQ8652           S A93
                  H K63              H J9542
                  D --               D AQ82
                  C KQT8             C 4
                            S T7
                            H T87
                            D 764
                            C AJ753
Open Room
             West      North    East     South
          Bjerregard   Molson   Morath   Baran
                                 1H      Pass
              1S         2D      2S      Pass
              4D        Pass     4S     All Pass

Closed Room
               West    North   East    South
               Kokish  Wirgren Silver  Bennet
                                1H     Pass
                1S      2D      2S     Pass
                4D     Pass     4S     Pass
                5D     Pass     5S    All Pass

The two auctions were identical all the way up to West's
decision over 4S. Bjerregard decided to respect Morath's
sign-off while Kokish felt he had to make one more try.
Though Bjerregard made eleven tricks after a diamond lead,
allowing him to get two diamond discards for hearts, 5S
proved to be one too high in the other room, where Wirgren
led a safe club. There was nowhere for the two hearts
losers to go now and Kokish was one down; 11 IMPs to
Sweden, 66-69.
--------------------------------------------------------
Canada got the points back in smaller doses.
              Board 35. E/W Vul. Dealer South.
                           S T842
                           H J2
                           D 86
                           C AJ842
                 S AKQ              S 73
                 H 73               H QT98654
                 D 42               D AT7
                 C QT7653           C 9
                           S J965
                           H AK
                           D KQJ953
                           C K

Open Room
               West    North     East    South
           Bjerregard  Molson   Morath   Baran
                                           1D
                2C     Pass       2H       3D
              All Pass

Closed Room
              West     North     East    South
             Kokish   Wirgren   Silver   Bennet
                                           1D
              Pass       1S      Pass     2NT
              Pass       3C      Pass      3S
              Pass       4S     All Pass

Where Bjerregard overcalled, North/South never got their
spades into the game, playing in 3D. Bjerregard led two top
spades, discovered that his partner had an even number, and
switched to a diamond. That was the end of the defense;
+110.

Had he realized that the even number was two, Bjerregard
could have cashed his third spade, enabling Morath to pitch
his singleton club. Now a club ruff leads to one down.

In the Closed Room, Kokish did not overcall and now the
Swedes found the spade fit, but the lure of game proved too
strong and they were one too high; -50 and 4 IMPs to
Canada, 73-66.
----------------------------------------------------------
              Board 36. Game All. Dealer West.
                            S T98
                            H K32
                            D AQ
                            C A9852
                   S 54                S AKQ7
                   H 985               H QJT74
                   D 876               D JT32
                   C KT764             C --
                            S J632
                            H A6
                            D K954
                            C QJ3
Open Room
               West     North    East   South
           Bjerregard  Molson   Morath  Baran
               Pass       1C      1H     Dbl
               Pass      1NT     Pass    2NT
             All Pass

Closed Room
              West    North    East    South
             Kokish  Wirgren  Silver  Bennet
              Pass      1C      1H      Dbl
              Pass      1S     Pass     Pass
               2H     All Pass

Around the room, several North/South pairs were going down
in what is a pretty good 3NT game because of the 5-0 club
break. The Canadians did well to stop in 2NT in the Open
Room and Molson played carefully to make it, winning the
heart lead in hand to lead a low club to the queen; +120.

In the Closed Room, Wirgren's 1C was either strong or a
mini no trump and the 1S rebid consistent with the latter.
Still, Bennet's decision to defend 2H seems a trifle
conservative. This would have worked well but after leading
three rounds of trumps the defence lost its way and allowed
Silver to come home with his contract; +110 and 6 IMPs to
Canada, 79-66.
-----------------------------------------------------------
The next two boards were flat and Sweden picked up 3 IMPs
for an extra undertrick on Board 7. Then came a triumph for
the good old weak no trump.
              Board 40. Love All. Dealer West.
                          S QT7
                          H K9873
                          D A9
                          C K52
                 S 542            S K963
                 H AQ             H 5
                 D KQ3            D JT8542
                 C JT974          C 63
                          S AJ8
                          H JT642
                          D 76
                          C AQ8
Open Room
              West     North    East    South
           Bjerregard  Molson  Morath   Baran
               1C        1H     Pass     4H
             All Pass

Closed Room
             West    North   East    South
            Kokish  Wirgren Silver  Bennet
             1NT     Pass     2C     Pass
              2D     Pass    Pass    Dbl
             Pass     2H    All Pass

After the two-way Swedish club opening, it was routine for
North/South to reach their game; +450.

In the Closed Room, however, the combination of weak no
trump and Stayman response left the Swedes in a balancing
auction. Wirgren might have viewed to bid more than 2H but
it was all rather murky. Sweden scored +200 but that meant
6 IMPs to Canada; 85-69.

In the Venice Cup, the Chinese ladies gained 11 IMPs when
again the weak no trump struck.  This time East passed and
1NT became the final contract.  Even better, it was allowed
to make after a heart lead into the ace, queen and heart
continuation when in with the DA. This was, however, nearly
all the good news the Chinese had in the set as USA 1
forged ahead.
----------------------------------------------------------
              Board 41. E/W Vul. Dealer North.
                           S 92
                           H AQ76
                           D KJ
                           C AQ754
                S KQJ8543           S --
                H KJ9               H 842
                D 74                D QT953
                C T                 C KJ986
                           S AT76
                           H T53
                           D A862
                           C 32
Open Room
               West    North    East   South
           Bjerregard  Molson  Morath  Baran
                        1NT     Pass    Pass
                2S       3C      Dbl    Pass
                4S     Pass     Pass    Dbl
              All Pass

Closed Room
              West    North    East    South
             Kokish  Wirgren  Silver   Bennet
                       1NT     Pass    Pass
               2C     Pass     Pass    Dbl
               2S      Dbl    All Pass

In the Closed Room, Kokish showed an unspecified single
suiter and Silver, suspecting which the suit was, decided
to pass. When Bennet doubled for takeout, Kokish thought it
best to run to the safety of his seven card suit. But it
wasn't so safe after all.

Wirgren doubled for takeout, ending the auction, and led
the S9. Bennet ducked, of course, and Kokish lost the
obvious seven tricks; -500.  But that was as nothing
compared to the carnage in the Open Room.

Bjerregard made a natural overcall and Molson decided to
take a second bid on the North hand. His side were in
trouble when Morath made a penalty double but were saved
when Bjerregard to ok a flyer at 4S. Baran doubled that
with relish. Molson did very well, finding the best lead of
DK.

He led a second diamond to the ace and now Baran also did
well, switching to the H10 to the jack and queen.  Molson
took both his aces then played a third heart.  Bjerregard
won and tried the SJ but Baran won and played a diamond,
ruffed and overruffed. There was still S10 to come; five
down, -1400 and 14 IMPs to Canada. They now led by 99-69.
Sweden gained an overtrick IMP on Board 10, then:
---------------------------------------------------------
             Board 43. Love All. Dealer South.
                           S QJT96
                           H --
                           D QT98
                           C 8753
                  S 52             S 74
                  H Q2             H AK98764
                  D A6532          D 4
                  C KQJ9           C A64
                           S AK83
                           H JT53
                           D KJ7
                           C T2
Open Room
               West    North    East   South
           Bjerregard  Molson  Morath  Baran
                                        1H
               Pass      1S     Pass    2S
             All Pass

Closed Room
              West    North    East    South
             Kokish  Wirgren  Silver  Bennet
                                        1C
               1D     1H(i)     2H      2S
               3H     Dbl       4C     Pass
               4H    All Pass

               (i) Spades

As you can see, East/West are cold for 4H and Kokish/Silver
duly reached it in the Closed Room. But the Baran/Molson
methods shut East/West out completely in the Open Room.
Baran opened his four card heart suit and his side bid
peacefully to 2S. The defence did its best, taking two
diamond ruffs, but that was still +110 and 11 IMPs for
Canada; 110-69.
--------------------------------------------------------
              Board 44. N/S Vul. Dealer West.
                           S K854
                           H QJT3
                           D 97
                           C AJ9
                 S J96             S A32
                 H 4               H 85
                 D AKT632          D QJ84
                 C T82             C Q753
                           S QT7
                           H AK9762
                           D 5
                           C K64

The swing here was only a minor one but there was plenty of
action. Sitting West, Kokish opened with a natural weak two
in diamonds. Wirgren found a desperatyely thin takeout
double and Silver jumped to 5D. The winning action is to
double that, but Bennet can hardly be blamed for bidding
5H. The spade position meant that 5H had to go one down; -
50. A good board for the weak 2D opening? Nota bit of it.

In the Open Room, Bjerregard, who did not have that option,
opened 3D instead. Molson passed but again Morath leaped to
5D. Here, 5H is less understandable, though still tempting.
Baran bid it and Molson, expecting a better hand, raised to
six, also a little pushy. 6H lost the same three tricks as
5H so that was -100 and 2 IMPs to Sweden; 71-110.  The next
two boards were flat then Sweden moved a little closer.
---------------------------------------------------------
              Board 47. N/S Vul. Dealer South.
                           S K432
                           H Q9
                           D KT763
                           C J3
                  S QT85            S 97
                  H T85             H AKJ64
                  D 54              D J982
                  C A654            C T7
                           S AJ6
                           H 732
                           D AQ
                           C KQ982
Open Room
               West     North   East    South
            Bjerregard  Molson  Morath  Baran
                                         1NT
               Pass       2C     2H     Pass
               Pass       2S  All Pass

Closed Room
              West    North    East   South
             Kokish  Wirgren  Silver  Bennet
                                       1NT
              Pass     Pass     2H     Pass
              Pass     Dbl     Pass    3C
             All Pass

No trump range made a difference again. Baran's 1NT was
strong and Molson was worth a try for game so used Stayman.
Morath came in with a dangerous looking overcall and now
Molson could see that game was quite unlikely. His 2S
showed only four cards an d was non-forcing. With no heart
stopper, Baran judged that 2S was high enough. In fact, it
was to prove one too high.  Morath cashed two top hearts
then switched to a diamond.  Molson won the queen and led a
club to the jack and a second club to the ace. Bjerregard
led a third club and Molson discarded a diamond as Morath
ruffed. Now came a third heart. Molson ruffed but had two
trump losers to come; -100.

Bennet's no trump was 14-16 so Wirgren decided he was not
worth a move.  Silver balanced with 2H and Wirgren doubled
for takeout.  Bennet bid 3C and, with the fall of the C10,
that proved to be a very comfortable contract; +110 and 5
IMPs to Sweden, 78-110.

The set ended with a 6 IMP pick-up for Canada when
Molson/Baran bid and made a normal looking game which was
missed in the other room. That made the half-time score
116-78 to Canada who had played pretty well at both tables.
********************************************************
               Bridge on Chinese national TV

The Marlboro Bermuda Bowl and the Marlboro Venice Cup will
be featured on Chinese national TV for the rest of this
week for at least two hours a day. Not only that, but CNN
also has expressed interest in the world championships that
are being staged here in Beijing.

The Chinese national TV coverage began yesterday when the
second segment of the Marlboro Venice Cup match between
China and the United States was featured from 13.45 until
16.00. Today the final segment will be captured on camera,
but it will be time-delayed and shown from 23.07 until
01.12 on Channel 3.

The hours of play have been adjusted to allow for the TV
shows. The first segment still starts at 10:30, but the
second now will be at 13.45, with the third at 16:35. The
last segment still will be at 21.00.

The TV schedule for the rest of the week is as follows:

Wednesday -- 14.00 to 16.10 on Channel 3.
Thursday -- 14.15 to 16.20 on Channel 2 and 21.25 to 23.40
on Channel 3.  Friday -- 14.00 to 16.10 on Channel 2..
********************************************************
                IPBA presents annual awards
               to 3 journalists and 3 players

At a special meeting of the International Bridge Press
Association, the three major awards offered by the
organization were presented.

The Precision Award for the best defense went to Zia and
journalist Alan Truscott. On hand to make the presentation
was Chen Zalan of the China Bridge Association, standing in
for Kathie Wei-Sender, who donated the award. This was
Truscott's article:

The most brilliant defensive play at the American Contract
Bridge League's Summer North American Championships in San
Diego occurred on the diagrammed deal from an early round
of the Spingold Knockout Team Championship. The hero was
Zia Mahmood, a colorful Pakistani expert who lives in
Manhattan but is usually playing bridge somewhere else.

                           S AJT64
                           H K52
                           D AT6
                           C T7
                  S Q73            S 985
                  H J983           H 74
                  D 973            D KJ54
                  C AK9            C Q863
                           S K2
                           H AQT6
                           D Q82
                           C J542

               West    North   East    South
                1C     Pass     1S     Pass
               1NT     Pass     2D     Pass
                2H     Pass    3NT   All Pass

North's 2D bid was new minor forcing, asking South for
information about his major suit holdings. West therefore
led a diamond, since that was the only suit that had not
been genuinely bid. Zia was East.

First, consider how the play would proceed with normal
defense. South plays low from dummy and East wins the king
and returns the suit. South sees that he can make at most
eight tricks unless he brings in at least three spade
tricks, so he plays for We st to have the SQ and finds he
has ten tricks. That sequence was followed when Zia's
teammates held the North/South cards.

As East, Zia knew that spades were favorably placed for
South, so he tried to confuse the issue for declarer. When
the D6 was played from dummy he played the unexpected jack
instead of the routine king. This play was not going to
cost anything, whoever held the queen.

When South won with the queen, he was now convinced that
the DK was on his left, which meant that he could take
three diamond tricks, not two. This offered the prospect of
taking seven tricks in the red suits plus two spade
winners, so he played three top hearts. When the jack
failed to drop he confidently finessed the D10. He was
considerably deflated when Zia produced the king and
shifted to the CQ, defeating the contract.

The thoughtful queen play made no difference in this case,
though it would have paid off if West's club holding had
been A-J-9. But it was the deflection play of the DJ that
led South down the garden path to defeat.

The Romex Award for the best bidding sequence, donated by
George Rosenkranz, was won by Alfred Sheinwold, the
journalist, and Larry Cohen and David Berkowitz, the
players. Edgar Kaplan accepted the award in the absence of
the winners. This was Sheinwold's report:
----------------------------------------------------------
Bridge textbooks tell you to look for a trump suit of eight
or more cards. If you can't find one, play the hand at
notrump, they advise.

Dave Berkowitz and Larry Cohen found an exception to the
rule early in the 1994 ACBL North American Championships.:

              Board 9. E/W Vul. Dealer North.
                          S Q8
                          H J7
                          D Q9874
                          C AT73
                  S 743             S 9652
                  H KT83            H AQ962
                  D AJ              D 2
                  C J864            C 952
                          S AKJT
                          H 54
                          D KT653
                          C KQ

              West     North    East    South
            Treadwall  Cohen   Gookin  Berkowitz
                       Pass     Pass     1NT(1)
              Pass      2NT     Pass      3S (2)
              Pass      4S (3) All Pass

(1) 14-16 HCP (Precision)
(2) Looking for a fit. North probably has 9 or 10 points
    and the hand belongs in game, but North doesn't have
    four spades (no Stayman) and the two short suits look
    dangerous.
(3) He wouldn't have bid 3S on a four-card suit, would he?
    If South has only four spades, they must be headed by
    the A-K-J. Besides, Sonny Moyse became famous rooting
    for 4-3 trump fits. Maybe bridge players of the 21st
    century will celebrate the 4-2 fit.

Dave Treadwell, playing with Robert Gookin, muttered
something about 'When in doubt' as he led a trump.
Berkowitz won his jack and led the DK.

He had to set up the diamonds while he had a trump in dummy
to stop the hearts. We can all see that the defenders can
take two hearts, a diamond and a diamond ruff, but nobody
pointed this out to Treadwell and Gookin. So they took
their two hearts and got out with a second trump. Now
Berkowitz drew trumps and claimed his game.

To start the ball rolling, let's call the 4-2 fit the Larry
Cohen trump fit. Your reporter certainly doesn't want his
name on it.

The Le Bridgeur Award, donated by Le Bridgeur, the French
bridge magazine, was won by Phillippe Cronier and
journalist Patrick Jourdain. The award was presented by
Jean Paul Meyer, editor of Le Bridgeur, to Cronier and
Jourdain. This was Jourdain's presentation:

Philippe Cronier had a chance to show his skill on Board 14
of the first qualifying session of the European Open Pairs.

                   Dealer East; Vul None.
                           S J7
                           H A974
                           D 852
                           C QT42
                S AKQT53             S 98642
                H 82                 H QJT3
                D 7                  D AQ3
                C J865               C 9
                           S --
                           H K65
                           D KJT964
                           C AK73

               West    North   East    South
             Crestey Salama  Maarek  Cronier
                               Pass     1D
                2S     Pass     4S     Dbl
               Pass     4NT    Pass     5D
              All Pass

When Cronier made a consultative double over 4S, Maurice
Salama judged well to bid the competitive 4NT, suggesting
that his partner choose between the minors. With six cards
in diamonds Cronier selected the sounder spot, but he still
had to read the cards well.

West led a top spade. Cronier ruffed, crossed to HA and led
D8. East put up the best defense by going up with DA and
exiting with a heart. South won and played a third heart.
East won and exited with a fourth round of the suit. South
ruffed and took stock.

West was marked with only three cards in the red suits and
was likely to have six spades The signal from East at trick
one and the fact that West had not bid 3S both argued the
spades were 6-5. That meant West must have four clubs. But
Cronier needed to cross to dummy  for the second trump
finesse. The solution needed courage -- on the first round
of clubs he led a small one to the TEN!

The rest was plain sailing. A finesse in trumps picked up
East's queen, and South could claim.
********************************************************
