              Marlboro Bermuda and Venice Cup
                       Beijing, China
                  October 8th - 21st, 1995
            Issue 13, Friday, October 20th, 1995
           Editor: Henry Francis and Brian Senior
***********************************************************
                     Bermuda Bowl Final

Boards   16   32   48   64   CUM   80   96   Result
Canada   25   23   29   36   113    9   35    157
USA II   34   31   35   14   114   58   34    206

Boards  112   128   Cum   144   160   Result
Canada   22    42   221
USA II   56    34   296

Appeal pending that might give 19 Imps to Canada
**********************************************************
                      Venice Cup Final

Boards    16   32   48   64   Cum    80   96   Cum
USA I     29   35   36   18   118    57   36   211
Germany   24   12   65   18   119    23   45   187
Germany   24   12   65   18   119    23   45   187

Boards   112   128    Final
USA I     28     9    248
Germany   55    70    312

(Chyah's comment:
It was learned that Karen McCallum was sick in bed but
dragged out to play the final 16 boards anyway; her partner
is Kerri Sanborn. There was a lot of publicity concerning
this decision. Later I learned that the USA pair playing at
the other table was suffering from
the same illness.)

*******************************************************
             Germany v USA The Final Countdown

Sixteen boards to go in the final of the 1995 Marlboro
Venice Cup. 1993 runners-up, Germany lead the holders, USA
by 3 IMPs, 242-239.

The Germans have to be hungrier than the Americans,
whatever the Americans, most of whom have won before, might
say, but will that hunger give them the extra edge to take
them to victory or will it drag them down in nervous
tension?

This final session will be a test more of character and
nerve than of bridge ability. Both teams are dead tired
after eleven days of hard toil; who will find that extra
something when it really matters?  As always, the Vugraph
starts with the last two boards of the set in the Open
Room.
             Board 127. N/S Vul. Dealer South.
                            S K72
                            H 9
                            D KQ762
                            C KQ73
                   S 986             S Q4
                   H J6543           H QT872
                   D 985             D J3
                   C 82              C T954
                            S AJT53
                            H AK
                            D AT4
                            C AJ6

Auken/von Arnim have a long involved relay sequence which
even the German captain doesn't understand, and he has
their system file in front of him. The end result is 7D;
+1440. In the Closed Room, Sanborn opens 2NT and McCallum
asks for aces and kings then jumps to 7NT; +2220 and 2 IMPs
to USA. The German lead is down to 1 IMP.  Board 128 is a
dull 6NT for East/West and both pairs get there very
comfortably; no swing.  Both North/Souths go down in 4S on
Board 113 when the CA is badly placed; no swing. Then
Germany makes a move.
------------------------------------------------------
              Board 114. N/S Vul. Dealer East.

                           S 953
                           H KJT8
                           D Q853
                           C J2
                   S AKT8          S QJ74
                   H A93           H Q76
                   D AK7           D 642
                   C A95           C 874
                           S 62
                           H 542
                           D JT9
                           C KQT63

In the Closed Room, Andrea Rauscheid shows her strong
balanced hand and Pony Nehmert raises to 3NT. That contract
comes home when the HK is onside; +400 to Germany.  In the
Open Room, Kitty Munson chooses to check for a spade fit
and, on finding one, bids 4S. This time, declarer roots for
the heart to be offside, holding her loss to just 2 IMPs,
but of course things are not as Simon hopes. She plays the
hand out but there is no miracle endplay and she is one
down; -50 and 10 IMPs to Germany who lead 252-241.
--------------------------------------------------------
             Board 115. E/W Vul. Dealer South.

                           S AKQ
                           H KT965
                           D A
                           C A953
                  S 8                S 7532
                  H A742             H Q
                  D KJ964            D 8752
                  C 876              C QJT2
                           S JT964
                           H J83
                           D QT3
                           C K4

Open Room
               West    North    East    South
              Simon    Auken   Munson  von Arnim
                                         Pass
               Pass     1C (1)  Pass     1D (2)
               Pass     1H      Pass     1NT (3)
               Pass     2C      Pass     3H
               Pass     4H    All Pass

              (1) Strong
              (2) Negative
              (3) Spades

Closed Room
               West     North     East     South
            Rauscheid  McCallum  Nehmert  Sanborn
                                            2S
               Pass      2NT      Pass      3C
               Pass       3D      Pass      3S
               Pass       4S     All Pass

It is not clear during the auction which major suit game
will play better. In 4S, the defense led clubs and more
clubs and eventually declarer drifted one down, though it
appears that taking two diamond ruffs in dummy and not
worrying too much about the hearts should see the contract
home.

4H looks in more jeopardy. Munson led a diamond to the bare
ace and Auken led a low heart from hand at trick two;
obviously, the king would have been more effective.  Munson
continued diamonds, forcing declarer to ruff, and she next
played a second trump. Had Simon won that, she could have
forced declarer again but Auken would then have started on
the spades and scrambled home. Simon ducked the heart but
again Auken simply switched to spades and only lost two
more trump tricks; +420 and another 10 IMPs to Germany,
ahead 262-241.
-------------------------------------------------------
On the next board, Sanborn/McCallum bid a very poor slam
which had to go two down; -200. But Auken/von Arnim played
the wrong game so the Americans lost only 3 IMPs; 265-241.

             Board 117. N/S Vul. Dealer North.

                           S AK96
                           H J964
                           D 5
                           C K842
                  S J854              S QT732
                  H 75                H Q832
                  D KJT874            D 92
                  C 7                 C T3
                           S -
                           H AKT
                           D AQ63
                           C AQJ965
Open Room
               West    North   East    South
               Simon   Auken   Munson  von Arnim
                         1H    Pass     2C (1)
                3D      Pass   Pass     3H
               Pass      3S    Pass     4C
               Pass      5C    Pass     6C
             All Pass

             (1) Artificial game force

Closed Room
              West     North     East     South
           Rauscheid  McCallum  Nehmert  Sanborn
                        1C       Pass      3S
              Pass      3NT      Pass      4S
              Pass      5C       Pass      6C
            All Pass

The artificial game force, coupled with Simon's well-timed
pre-empt left the Germans awkwardly placed in the Open Room
and seven was never in the picture. Meanwhile, Sanborn
showed her spade shortage and club fit then checked for key
cards. It seems that her sign-off in 6C now was unduly
cautious, but perhaps I'm missing something. Anyway, that
was a flat board. Had you asked Auken/von Arnim at this
point, I think they would have been pretty happy to find
they were ahead, let alone by 24 IMPs.
--------------------------------------------------------
              Board 118. E/W Vul. Dealer East.

                           S K98
                           H J7
                           D Q96
                           C QJ872
                  S J764              S AQ532
                  H T                 H K3
                  D J52               D AT84
                  C AT954             C 63
                            S T
                            H AQ986542
                            D K73
                            C K
Open Room
               West    North    East    South
               Simon   Auken   Munson  von Arnim
                                 1S      4H
                4S      Pass    Pass     5H
                Dbl   All Pass

Closed Room
               West     North     East     South
            Rauscheid  McCallum  Nehmert  Sanborn
                                   1S       4H
                4S     All Pass

Auken/von Arnim would have felt even less secure after this
board as von Arnim took a solo phantom save over 4S. The
defense was not sparkling. Simon led a spade to the queen
and Munson continued with the SA, ruffed. Von Arnim played
CK and Simon won and returned a second club. Von Arnim had
two discards now but still had to lose one diamond; -100.

4S looks hopeless but Sanborn cashed the HA and switched to
a low diamond.  Nehmert played low from dummy and McCallum
inserted the nine! With the HK providing a discard for the
third diamond, Nehmert suddenly had no diamond loser and
was home in her hopeless game; +620 and 12 IMPs to Germany.
The lead was up to 276-241.
---------------------------------------------------------
Board 119 was a flat partscore then the Germans put the
match out of reach.
             Board 120. Love All. Dealer West.

                           S K54
                           H KQ654
                           D AK
                           C AQ7
                  S J92             S Q876
                  H J7              H A9832
                  D J952            D 3
                  C K942            C J86
                           S AT3
                           H T
                           D QT8764
                           C T53
Open Room
              West    North    East     South
              Simon   Auken   Munson   von Arnim
              Pass     1C (1)   1S (2)   Pass
              2C (3)   Dbl      2H        3D
              Pass     3NT    All Pass

              (1) Strong
              (2) Majors or minors
              (3) For correction
Closed Room
              West      North      East    South
            Rauscheid  McCallum  Nehmert  Sanborn
              Pass       2C        Pass     2H (1)
              Pass       2NT       Pass     3C
              Pass       3H        Pass     4D
              Pass       5C        Pass     5D
              Pass       6NT     All Pass

              (1) Two controls

The Americans drove to the hopeless slam in a desperate
search for points; this set had been going very badly at
their table. 6NT was three down; -150.

Auken was only in 3NT. She won the heart lead and cashed
her diamonds, getting the bad news when Munson pitched a
club. She exited with a low heart and Munson won the eight
to switch to her CJ to the queen. Auken played a spade to
the ten, won the spade return and cashed her black winners
then exited with the last club, forcing Simon to lead into
the diamond tenace at trick twelve. A well played +400 and
another 10 IMPs to Germany.
----------------------------------------------------------
             Board 121. E/W Vul. Dealer North.

                           S QT5
                           H T543
                           D K84
                           C AT6
                  S K3               S 862
                  H K9876            H --
                  D QJ763            D T92
                  C 5                C J987432
                           S AJ974
                           H AQJ2
                           D A5
                           C KQ
Closed Room
               West    North   East    South
               Simon   Auken   Munson  von Arnim
                        Pass   Pass     1C
               Pass     1NT    Pass     2H
               Pass     3C     Pass     3D
               Dbl      3NT    Pass     4S
             All Pass

Closed Room
               West     North     East     South
            Rauscheid  McCallum  Nehmert  Sanborn
                         Pass     Pass      1S
               Pass       2S      Pass      3H
               Pass       4C      Pass      4D
               Pass       4H      Pass      6H
             All Pass

McCallum/Sanborn were willing to have a go at anything now
but this time slam was good, at least on the North/South
cards. When you add the East/West hands into the equation,
of course, slam is completely hopeless and Sanborn was
three down in 6H; -150.
---------------------------------------------------------
When things are going your way you can do nothing wrong and
the Germans not only stayed out of slam in the other room,
they picked the trump suit which divided evenly. Von Arnim
made an overtrick in 4S and Germany had 12 more IMPs.
Clearly, destiny had chosen Germany to have their day in
the sun. They led 299-241 with only seven boards to play.
---------------------------------------------------------
USA gained three modest swings, but there was one more
major swing to come and it went to Germany.

              Board 124. N/S Vul. Dealer West.

                           S 76
                           H A6
                           D AQ8
                           C KJ9865
                  S KQ92             S JT543
                  H 732              H KQ9
                  D J95              D 32
                  C 432              C AT7
                           S A8
                           H JT854
                           D KT764
                           C Q

McCallum opened the North hand 1NT and played in 3NT. A
spade lead meant she had no chance; -50.

Auken opened a limited and natural 2C, von Arnim bid her
hearts and Auken showed her diamond feature and maximum
then the heart tolerance. Von Arnim chose to play 5D. Simon
led a spade and von Arnim won and played the CQ. Munson won
and played a spade and Simon played a despairing third
spade. Declarer ruffed in hand, drew two rounds of trumps
and ruffed a club before drawing the last trump; +600 and
12 IMPs to Germany.
-------------------------------------------------------
At the end of a dynamic set, Germany looked comfortable
winners; 312-248. But any German you meet will assure you
that it was anything but comfortable. USA pushed them to
the limit and it could have gone either way right up to the
last dozen boards or so.
********************************************************
                   The French Ladies Team

The French team is composed of six very experienced players
in three new partnerships. They all live in Paris, making
the formation of effective new partnerships much easier.

Veronique Bessis, 44, has won four European Team
Championships - 1983, 1985, 1987 and 1995. With her new
partner, Catherine Saul, she missed out on the Ladies Pairs
World Championship in Albuquerque by a very small margin. A
graduate in mathematics, Veronique gave up teaching several
years ago to take care of her husband and two sons and to
teach bridge along with her husband, Michel, one of
France's top players and teachers.

Claude Blouquit, 54, has represented France at seven
international team events, starting in Lausanne in 1979.
Vilamoura 1995 was her first gold after several silver and
bronze medals. Claude first played with Colette Lise in the
French trials, only three months before winning in
Vilamoura. She is a successful bridge pro in Paris, winning
national titles with many different partners, not only in
Ladies events but also Mixed and Open.

Benedicte Cronier is, at 34, the youngest team member. Her
first international appearance was in the 1984 European
Junior Team Championship, which France won.  She has also
two European Ladies Championships to her name, in 1987 and
1995. The attention required by her husband, Philippe and
two children keeps her very busy but when she can get away
she is a highly appreciated bridge pro and teacher,
especially for beginners.

Colette Lise, 51, has also won two European titles, in 1983
and 1995. She also has a number of other medals. If you
visit Paris you will find Colette working in Le Bridgeur,
one of the most well known specialist bridge shops in the
world. She is not the only member of her family to play
good bridge; her daughter is already premiere serie.

Catherine Saul, 36, is a perfect bridge character who
laughs when she wins and cries when she loses. She won the
European title in 1985 in her first international
appearance but, due to irregular partnerships, did not play
again until this year -another win! She has also won the
European Mixed Pairs with Jean-Christophe Quantin.
Catherine is in charge of Le Friedland Bridge Club in Paris
and has one daughter.

Sylvie Willard, 42, is one of the eight daughters of Irene
de Heredia, the first French international tournament
director, and is married to another international T.D.
Sylvie has won four European Team Championships , all with
Veronique Bessis, and has other medals including two in
European Mixed Pairs events with Herve Mouiel. She has two
children.

Max Coppolani, 64, first captained the team in the Santiago
Venice Cup where they failed to make the knockouts. Since
then things have gone much better - at least until they met
the Germans here in Beijing. Max has been French Open Pairs
champion and is currently executive manager of Unilever
France. He is married to Marie-Paule, one of the team's
biggest fans.
********************************************************
                      The Swedish Team

Anders Morath, known as 'Carrot', partly because of the
former color of his hair, used to be the youngest player on
the Swedish national team, but at 51 he is currently the
oldest. He works as a computer programmer. Interests
include books, classical music and New Age thinking.

Sven-Ake Bjerregard was 46 when he went to Beijing, but now
he's 47. He works with IT in a retail company in Vasteras.
In 1987 he started playing with Anders Morath, and the pair
has been on the national team since 1988. A year ago he
started with golf, and that is his greatest passion now.

Bjorn Fallenius, 38, emigrated to New York in 1989 to play
bridge professionally. Now he is married and works as an
options trader on the American Stock Exchange. He has been
on the Swedish team since 1987 and has a 'record' of losing
four semi-finals in world championships before Beijing -and
here he lost again. Next time, he'll reach the final!
Since 1990, his partner has been.....

Mats Nilsland, 45, who first played on the Swedish national
team at the age of 19 (the European Championships in
Estoril in 1969). He has since been on the team several
times, with different partners. He lives in Malmo, is
married and has two sons.  When he doesn't play bridge or
invent conventions or bidding systems (his favorite
pastime), he makes a living by importing and selling
flowers.

Anders Wirgren, 43, lives in Malmo and has worked full time
with bridge for twelve years., as a writer, author and
publisher  He is married and is the proud father of two
beautiful daughters (one and three years respectively). In
1968 he won the Swedish junior championship in chess, but
gave that up two years later when he took up tournament
bridge. In 1990, he got a new partner:

Johan Bennet, 41, the joker of the team, who is equally
famous for his odd ideas as for his great analytical skill.
He lives in Lund, is married and has two children. He is a
computer specialist and has run endless simulations to
refine his bidding system. He is also an excellent piano
player and excels at solving crossword puzzles.

Tommy Gullberg, 52, is married and has two daughters. He
has successfully served on the Swedish team as a player for
many years, but now he serves the players, being in charge
of the Open team for the last two years. Usually, he thinks
it's O.K. to be a non-playing captain, but after seeing
some of the Swedish results in the semi-final and play-off
for the bronze medal, he surely wished he were back at the
table again.
********************************************************
                SILVER'S THOUGHTS ARE GOLDEN
                      By Alan Truscott

As the Bermuda Bowl contest starts, Joey Silver is thinking
about gold medals for himself and his Canadian teammates.
If they win, it will be the first world team title for
Canada in history.

His thoughts have been golden in another way. He has been
playing with skill and imagination, sometimes disconcerting
the opposition with well-timed psychics and sometimes
finding plays that eluded those at other tables. This item
is Deal 44 from the Canada-South Africa quarterfinal:

              Board 44. N/S Vul. Dealer West.

                            S 2
                            H KQT852
                            D KT42
                            C 63
                  S AT6            S KQ954
                  H 974            H A3
                  D 876            D Q3
                  C KQ54           C AJ92
                            S J873
                            H J6
                            D AJ95
                            C T87

               West    North    East    South
               Kokish  Mansell  Silvers  Cope
               Pass     2H       2S      Pass
                3S     Pass      4S     All Pass

Cope led the HJ and Mansell overtook with the queen. At
most tables, East won and made the normal spade play of
trying to drop the jack in three rounds. Down one.

Silver was quite certain that Mansell would not have opened
with a weak two-bid holding a seven-card suit headed by the
king-queen, so he allowed the queen to win. There was a
subtle reason: he wanted to find out what Mansell would
lead if given the chance.

Mansell's choice was the HK, a neutral card. Silver took
the ace and thought it over. He was sure that Mansell would
have shifted to a minor-suit singleton if he had one. He
now placed East with six hearts and some length in each
minor suit, so the chance of a singleton spade was greatly
increased. Backing his judgment, He cashed the SK, finessed
the S10 and made his game.

Every other declarer failed. It was a golden thought by
Silver.
********************************************************
                  Almost a million Chinese
                  watch bridge on live TV

World Bridge Federation table action has been featured on
live TV for the first time here in China at this
tournament. It was learned yesterday at the press
conference hosted by WBF President Jos  Damiani that close
to a million Chinese bridge fans have tuned in to watch at
least some of the action that has been featured on Channels
2 and 3 over the past few days.  There was some televised
bridge in Geneva in 1990, but it was time-delayed.

The format for the Bermuda Bowl and the Venice Cup in
future championships will remain just about the same as it
has been here. However, the method of choosing the teams
will change. Each zone will be entitled to one team.
However, after that the results in the previous Olympiad
will be studied, and zones will be able to have additional
teams only if some team in their zone finished in the top
half of the standings.

That means there could be an odd number of teams from time
to time. If this happens, Europe will provide the swing
team to make the field an even number. Plans are also being
made to set up some additional contest so that those
eliminated from the two events will have something to play
in afterwards. "Many players already have left Beijing,"
said Damiani. "We have to find some way to keep them
interested."

Damiani expects approximately 60 teams in the open and 40
in the women's at next year's World Team Olympiad in
Rhodes, Greece. A special event has been set up to take
care of those eliminated early -- the first World Mixed
Teams since the event was discontinued after the 1974
event. "That will give all players something to do during
the second week," said Damiani.

Looking to the future, Damiani said that it is not certain
that the 1997 Championships will go to Sun City, South
Africa. The South African Council has informed the WBF that
they not be sufficiently prepared to host a tournament of
such magnitude.  The WBF wants to hold the tournament in
Zone 4, and India will be given strong consideration if
South Africa declines.

France will be the host in 1998 -- either Cannes in the
South or Lisle in the north. The WBF will celebrate the
50th anniversary of the Bermuda Bowl in 1999, and it is
only fitting that Bermuda will be the host. Bermuda also
hosted the 25th anniversary as well as the first. In 2000
the tournament may take place in Maastricht, the
Netherlands, but this is far from settled. The WBF has
received an application from Indonesia to hold the 2001
championships in Bali -- the World Junior Championships
there were a total success. Montreal will be the host for
the 2002 Games.

Canada has shown strong interest in hosting the World
Junior Championships in 1997. A committee has been
appointed to study the situation, and the WBF is hoping for
a positive answer. If Canada doesn't work out, then Zone 5,
specifically Venezuela, may be the host.

Bridge has been accepted as a sport by the International
Olympic Committee, and now bridge will be a part of the
expanded Goodwill Games. In addition the WBF is planning to
stage a Worldwide Bridge Week, with the Worldwide Pairs
being part of the program.
Damiani has been more than pleased with the help the WBF
has had from Philip Morris as the sponsor of this
tournament. "We have good relations with Philip Morris in
Europe as well, and we have high hopes that Philip Morris
may be interested in sponsoring bridge worldwide."
********************************************************
                Promotion - It is up to you!
                        Evelyn Senn
                  Treasurer/Secretary IBPA

When one of the Chinese journalists asked what was the best
way to promote Bridge, I should have said:

In my opinion, the NCBO is the most important body to do
this. Let's take my country, The Netherlands, as an
example. In just a few years, the President of the Dutch
Bridge Federation, the late Andre Boekhorst, managed to
increase the membership from 20,000 to 100,000! He achieved
this by organizing courses for bridge teachers, by
encouraging the teachers to attend follow-up courses, by
handing out prizes as numbers within the Federation grew -
to the twenty-five thousandth member, at the 30,000 point,
the 35,000 milestone and so on, by traveling through the
country visiting bridge clubs all over the Netherlands -in
short by working very, very hard. On September 24 1995,
about 800 people gathered to celebrate the one-hundred
thousandth member of the Dutch Bridge Federation - 100,000
members thanks to Andre.

Why did he not live to be there?
********************************************************
