Ovest	Nord	Est	Sud
P	1	2	X
2	4	5	X

Al posto di quale dei due Nord avreste voluto trovarvi?

Lo scenario era il seguente:

Board 12			AKQT97643	Dealer  O
			-
			97
			T8
	J2				85
	KJ984				AQ6
	QJT652				K3
	-				KJ9732
NS in 2ª			-
			T7532
			A84
			AQ654

Vi sarebbe convenuta la sedia del primo Nord, ma solo perché avreste incassato 230 punti anziché 100 !!

Infatti, il primo Nord collezionò dodici prese facili, mentre il secondo, penalizzò di una sola presa il 5♥.

Se è pur vero che queste gare di tipo BAM condizionano non poco i giocatori, è anche vero che raggiungere lo slam a picche non è facile se non si usa un sistema particolare per presentare queste mani eccezionali dotate di un lungo colore autonomo.

Questa smazzata, ha davvero delle tipicità straordinarie:

    -    Se lo slam a picche lo gioca Sud, nessuno può batterlo

    -     Se, invece, è Nord a giocarlo, per batterlo Est deve inventarsi di esordire con un onore a fiori (non con una piccola!)

    -    Se 5© le gioca Est, se la cava con una presa down in meno del suo partner

    -    Il par della mano è dato da 6SA! giocati da Est (2 down), laddove, se li giocasse Ovest, farebbe una sola presa!! un vero record.

Infine c'è da considerare che con i suoi 18 atout, questa smazzata consente di arrivare a collezionare fino a 22 prese, un altro record!

One oddity, to most of us, is that the Buffett Cup apes the scoring system of the Ryder Cup in that each board is won, lost, or drawn. So normal IMP scoring goes out of the window; it  doesn’t matter how much you win (or lose) by, just as long as your score on the board beats that of your counterparts at the match table. This leads to what might appear to be some odd decision-making (for example, choosing to play in a risky 6NTrather than a much safer suit contract at the same level, simply in an attempt to win the board). This was reflected in the players’ actions on the following hand, particularly the course followed by former Bermuda Bowl winner Tor Helness of Norway, in the North seat, which has been  much commented upon. If you haven’t come across it before, it might surprise you.

Board 12			AKQT97643	Dealer  W
			-
			97
			T8
	J2				85
	KJ984				AQ6
	QJT652				K3
	-				KJ9732
Vulnerable NS			-
			T7532
			A84
			AQ654

With North South vulnerable, the bidding went as follows:

West	North	East	South
P	1	2	X
2	2

The opening lead by South was ♠J, North overtaking with her Q but now made a miscalculated switch to ♥4, making life easier for declarer.

A club switch  instead would have meant certain defeat. Still P. Wang had her work cut out for her. She took her ace and finessed dummy’s ♦9 successfully, returning to her hand and continued a trump finesse, the ♥J in dummy was overtaken by ♥Q in hand, then played her 13th ♥ and ditched dummy’s remaining spade when South refused to ruff in front of dummy’s trumps. The ♣A was off but that was only academic as Sun now had nine tricks and her doubled contract. In the Closed Room the NS Japanese ladies reached 3♣ but the route to nine tricks proved too difficult, - 1.

Only the first deal but China now 9 imps in front.

Those of us who teach beginners may feel that we are familiar with North’s hand evaluation, but since Helness is one of the world’s great players we can be confident that he had looked more deeply into the hand. His ultraconservative approach, sometimes known as ‘walking the dog’, was designed to mislead his non-vulnerable opponents as to his real playing strength so that they would misjudge the appropriate level to sacrifice. In the event, because Helgemo in the South seat had shown a heart suit by means of his double, they opted to leave Helness to his own devices. It is likely that he was not too enamored of his final contract, made with four overtricks, scoring +230 for North-South, but his judgment was vindicated in the end.

At the corresponding table North also opened 1♠, but South passed East’s 2♣ overcall, hoping for a penalty. East-West then located their heart fit, and over North’s 4♠ rebid they competed to 5♥, doubled by South. 5♥ doubled was just one down, for 100 to North- South, so Helness’s modest 2♠ contract was more than sufficient to win the board. In fact the optimal result for North-South on this hand is 6♠ played by South – not easy to get to, I think you’ll agree. And absolute par on the board is not, as you might imagine, 7♥X down three for 500 to North-South. No indeed: they can do better than that by playing in 6NT from the East hand. That’s only down two, for 300 to North-South. 6NT played by West, on the other hand, fares rather less well since North-South take the first 13 tricks.