Round of 32 Barel v. Gitelman by Jos Jacobs       Michael Barrel, Israel With 16 matches to choose from, the decision on Monday morning which match to follow was not easy. Of course, there was the possibility of watching another match in the second half of the round, but there were so many interesting matches around that changing tables would be a random decision too. After some consideration I went to table 10, where the Barel v. Gitelman match was scheduled. An all-Israeli team against a Canadian team with a distinct French flavour, as Philippe Cronier and Catherine D’Ovidio were also members of the side. For the first half, it would be Michael Barel and Migry Zur-Campanile against Gail and Brad Moss, a rare mother and son mixed combination, in the Open Room, whereas Fred Gitelman and Sheri Winestock would be facing Doron Yadlin and Gila Emodi in the Closed Room. The scoreboard really started moving at board 2: Board 2. Dealer East. N/S Vul.   ♠ J 8 2 ♥ Q 10 9 7 6 2 ♦ 9 7 4 ♣ A ♠ 10 5 4 3 ♥ A 3 ♦ A Q 6 5 ♣ Q 8 3 ♠ 6 ♥ K 8 4 ♦ K J 10 8 2 ♣ K 7 6 4   ♠ A K Q 9 7 ♥ J 5 ♦ 3 ♣ J 10 9 5 2 Open Room West North East South Moss Barel Moss Zur-Campanile     Pass 1♠ Pass 2♠ Pass Pass 2NT 3♥ 4♦ All Pass When Migry Zur-Campanile wisely made no further move over 2♠, Brad Moss balanced with 2NT, stressing the minors in the process. Barel showed his hearts but Gail Moss was not to be deterred, so 4♦ became the final contract. Two black aces and a club ruff was all the defence could get, so EW scored +130 here. Closed Room West North East South Yadlin Gitelman Emodi Winestock     Pass 1♠ Pass 2♠ Pass 3♣ Pass 4♠ All Pass   If North had held four spades, rather unlikely on the basis of their agreements (2♠ basically shows 8-10 h.c.p. with 3 trumps) there would have been a play for game on this hand. When trumps proved to be 4-1 declarer soon lost control and ended up down four, happily doubled by West at the table in the post-mortem, but not during the auction itself. So Barel got +400 here and registered their first substantial swing of 7 IMPs. A few boards later, Gitelman became the victim of too much routine. Board 6. Dealer East. E/W Vul.   ♠ J 9 6 5 ♥ J 6 2 ♦ 9 6 4 ♣ A Q 9 ♠ 7 4 2 ♥ A K Q 10 7 5 ♦ 7 ♣ 7 4 2 ♠ 10 3 ♥ 9 3 ♦ K 10 8 5 3 2 ♣ 10 5 3   ♠ A K Q 8 ♥ 8 4 ♦ A Q J ♣ K J 8 6 What’s the problem, you would say? With 8 h.c.p. including two jacks, raising partner’s 2NT straight to 3NT looks very much in order. Not this time, however: Doron Yadlin quickly claimed down two when he saw dummy after leading his ♥K. Needless to say that at the other table a Stayman sequence was used after which NS ended up in the proper contract of 4♠, making 11 tricks and gaining a maybe surprise 11 IMPs in the process. Two boards later, careful declarer play made a difference of two tricks: Board 8. Dealer West. None Vul.   ♠ K Q J 9 7 ♥ 8 7 ♦ J 10 ♣ Q 10 9 5 ♠ 8 5 3 ♥ J 9 4 ♦ K 8 7 ♣ A 6 3 2 ♠ A 6 2 ♥ A K 10 6 2 ♦ 9 6 2 ♣ 7 4   ♠ 10 4 ♥ Q 5 3 ♦ A Q 5 4 3 ♣ K J 8 Open Room West North East South Moss Barel Moss Zur-Campanile Pass Pass 1♥ Pass 2♥ 2♠ All Pass   Closed Room West North East South Yadlin Gitelman Emodi Winestock Pass 2♠ Pass 3♠ All Pass       In both rooms, East led a top heart and switched to the ♣7. Both declarers called for dummy’s ♣K, hoping to induce West to win his ace immediately. Both Wests duly responded and both returned a club, declarers winning the return. From here, the paths diverged. Barel in 2♠ attacked trumps immediately, but when East won her ace the second round she could return a diamond and thus obtained her club ruff after all to beat the contract by one trick. Gitelman +50. Gitelman carefully won the club return in hand and next led his remaining heart. East had to win and could play a diamond now, but it was too late. Dummy’s ace went up, the diamond loser disappeared on the ♥Q and the only other trick he lost was the inevitable ace of trumps. Contract made for a useful 5 IMPs back to cut the deficit to a mere 4 at this stage. Another useful partscore swing to Gitelman came along two boards later: Board 10. Dealer East. All Vul.   ♠ 9 8 5 ♥ 10 ♦ A K ♣ A Q 10 9 7 4 2 ♠ 10 3 ♥ K Q 5 2 ♦ J 10 7 3 2 ♣ J 8 ♠ A K J 7 4 2 ♥ A 6 4 3 ♦ 5 ♣ 6 5   ♠ Q 6 ♥ J 9 8 7 ♦ Q 9 8 6 4 ♣ K 3 Open Room West North East South Moss Barel Moss Zur-Campanile     1♠ Pass 1NT 2♣ 2♠ Pass Pass 3♣ 3♥ All Pass Nicely done by Gail Moss for nine tricks when the trumps broke 4-1. In fact, the Canadians were lucky to miss game on this one… Closed Room West North East South Yadlin Gitelman Emodi Winestock     1♠ Pass 1NT 2♣ 2♠ Pass Pass 3♣ All Pass   When Emodi did not compete any further, it came to rest in 3♣. The play was easy enough: two top spades and another, dummy ruffing with the ♣K. An immediate finesse of the ♣J then produced ten tricks for another +130 and 7 IMPs to Gitelman who thus took over the lead. Board 12. Dealer West. N/S Vul.   ♠ K ♥ 10 6 4 ♦ A K J 9 6 ♣ A K 8 3 ♠ 10 7 6 3 2 ♥ A 8 3 ♦ 10 7 ♣ 6 4 2 ♠ A Q J 9 4 ♥ K 9 5 2 ♦ 8 5 4 ♣ 5   ♠ 8 5 ♥ Q J 7 ♦ Q 3 2 ♣ Q J 10 9 7 Open Room: West North East South Moss Barel Moss Zur-Campanile Pass 1♦ 1♠ Dble 3♠ Dble Pass 4♣ Pass 5♣ All Pass   A normal enough auction to a sound enough contract that just had one little flaw: three top tricks were missing and they were duly cashed. Closed Room West North East South Yadlin Gitelman Emodi Winestock Pass 1♦ 1♠ 2♦ 3♠ 3NT All Pass   When the Gitelman team discussed this hand after the first half, it became very clear that, with a twinkle to what I said about the auction at the other table, the 3NT bid can be best described as an action that is both statistically insane and statistically winning. The number of defenders who have forgotten to lead the ♠A against such a gambling bid is already innumerable, and was augmented by one when East led a low club, obviously hoping to reach her partner somewhere. So +630 to add to the +100 and 12 IMPs more for Gitelman. Barel recouped two small swings on the last two boards, so at halftime the score was 35-26 to Gitelman. For the second half, the French would replace Gitelman-Winestock and also move over to the Open Room, whereas mother and son Moss would move to the Closed Room. As it had been a pleasure to watch this tense match, I decided to stay and once again, I did not at all feel disappointed about the bridge I saw. On the first two boards of the set, Barel cut down their deficit to just one IMP and then came: Board 17. Dealer North. None Vul.   ♠ 10 9 5 2 ♥ Q ♦ K J 6 5 2 ♣ A 9 2 ♠ A Q J 4 3 ♥ A 9 6 5 ♦ 8 3 ♣ 8 7 ♠ K ♥ 7 4 2 ♦ A 9 7 4 ♣ K J 5 4 3   ♠ 8 7 6 ♥ K J 10 8 3 ♦ Q 10 ♣ Q 10 6 In the Open Room, the French EW reached a decent contract of 2NT and just made eight tricks. Gitelman +120. In the Closed Room, something happened: Closed Room West North East South Yadlin Moss Emodi Moss   Pass 1♣ 1♥ 1♠ 2♦ Pass Pass Dble All Pass     Well judged by Gila Emodi to sit the double. She had an easy lead with the ♠K and duly shifted to a low heart. Yadlin won the ace and cashed two more top spades on which East’s remaining hearts went away. Next, he found the club switch, won by Brad Moss with his ace. Next, he played the ♠10, ruffed by East with the ♦4 (why?) and overruffed in dummy. A top heart followed on which declarer shed a club. East ruffed this and cashed the ♣K followed by another club which was ruffed by West with the ♦8 and overruffed by declarer’s♦J. As East was down to ♦A9 now declarer only lost one more trick and escaped with down two for –300, a loss of 5 IMPs nevertheless. A baby psyche by Brad Moss backfired when opponents were talked out of the game they might well not have made: Board 19. Dealer South. E/W Vul.   ♠ 10 ♥ J 7 4 2 ♦ J 10 8 7 ♣ 9 8 3 2 ♠ A K ♥ 9 6 5 3 ♦ A Q 6 2 ♣ A K 6 ♠ J 8 7 5 4 2 ♥ A 10 8 ♦ 9 5 3 ♣ 5   ♠ Q 9 6 3 ♥ K Q ♦ K 4 ♣ Q J 10 7 4 In the Open Room, the French had reached 4♠ which had gone down one, though Deep Finesse tells us, elsewhere in this issue, that it might have been makeable. In the Closed Room, there was more action from North and less action from East: Closed Room: West North East South Yadlin Moss Emodi Moss       Pass 1♣ Dble 1♠ (?!) Pass 2♠ 2NT All Pass   This contract was easy enough and was even made with an overtrick when Brad Moss inserted his ♥J in the second round of the suit, trying to deny declarer an extra entry to dummy had the layout been different. As it was, declarer won the ♥A which brought down South’s ♥Q as well… So the lead remained where it wad, with the Barel team. On board 20 Moss was lucky to be able to make 3♦ by finessing both the ♣K and the ♣10 – he needed them to be successful for his contract. Then came: Board 22. Dealer East. E/W Vul.   ♠ 9 4 3 ♥ Q ♦ A K Q 5 4 ♣ Q 9 7 5 ♠ A 6 5 ♥ K 9 8 6 5 ♦ 7 ♣ A K 6 3 ♠ J 8 2 ♥ J 2 ♦ 10 9 8 6 2 ♣ 10 8 4   ♠ K Q 10 7 ♥ A 10 7 4 3 ♦ J 3 ♣ J 2 A difference in style on this board led to two completely different final contracts. In the Open Room, South opened 1♥ and quickly found herself in 3NT, which looks quite OK in spite of the lack in high-card points. The defence was up to the occasion, however. West led a low club to the 7,8 and jack. The ♠K won the next trick and declarer continued by running four diamond tricks. A spade to the ten was won by West who cleverly returned another low club for the nine and East’s ten! The ♦10 and the ♣AK meant an unexpected one down. In the Closed Room, South passed so it was West who opened 1♥. He was left to play there and quietly went one down for another +100 to Gitelman. This little swing brought the lead back to Gitelman, but only just: by 3 IMPs. The last three boards of the set were full of drama. The score stood at +6 for Gitelman when board 26 hit the table: Board 26. Dealer East. All Vul.   ♠ J 6 ♥ - ♦ A Q 8 7 6 5 4 2 ♣ 10 8 6 ♠ Q 10 ♥ A 7 4 ♦ K 10 3 ♣ J 9 5 3 2 ♠ 9 8 5 4 2 ♥ K 9 8 6 5 2 ♦ - ♣ A K   ♠ A K 7 3 ♥ Q J 10 3 ♦ J 9 ♣ Q 7 4 Open Room West North East South Cronier Barel D'Ovidio Zur-Campanile     Pass 1♣ Pass 1♦ 1♥ Dble 2♥ 5♦ 5♥ Dble All Pass       This looked like absolute par, with 5♦ an easy make if you start trumps by leading dummy’s jack, the standard play of course (except for those who want to drop singleton kings offside). Due to the bad trump break D’Ovidio went two off, 500 for Barel. It looked like another small gain for the French, but… Closed Room West North East South Yadlin Moss Emodi Moss     1♥ Pass 2♥ 4♦ All Pass   This time, the light opening worked very well for the Israelis, as Brad Moss had absolutely no idea what to bid after 2♥. Even 3NT would have worked, but when he was left to play 4♦ he just played safe for 10 tricks, thus making it a loss of 9 IMPs for his team. With two boards to go, the lead had changed hands again: Barel were up by five now. An aggressive balancing double by Philippe Cronier, left in happily by D’Ovidio, caused another little swing on the penultimate board: Board 27. Dealer South. None Vul.   ♠ Q 10 7 5 ♥ A 10 5 4 3 ♦ - ♣ J 10 5 2 ♠ K 8 2 ♥ 7 ♦ Q J 7 6 4 3 ♣ A Q 6 ♠ A 6 3 ♥ Q J 9 6 2 ♦ 9 8 5 ♣ 4 3   ♠ J 9 4 ♥ K 8 ♦ A K 10 2 ♣ K 9 8 7 At both tables, it went, with EW passing: 1♦-1♥-1NT-2♥. When this came round to West, Yadlin passed but Cronier doubled. The result was the same at both tables: down two. The swing of 5 IMPs meant that the scores were level now. The last board would be decisive, and it proved to be a clear-cut case too: Board 28. Dealer West. N/S Vul.   ♠ A 2 ♥ K 10 9 5 2 ♦ 6 ♣ K 10 7 4 2 ♠ K 10 ♥ J ♦ K Q J 10 8 3 ♣ A Q 9 6 ♠ J 9 8 6 5 4 3 ♥ 8 6 ♦ 9 4 2 ♣ 3   ♠ Q 7 ♥ A Q 7 4 3 ♦ A 7 5 ♣ J 8 5 Open Room West North East South Cronier Barel D'Ovidio Zur-Campanile 1♦ 1♥ 2♠ 3♦ Pass 4♣ Pass 4♥ 4♠ Dble All Pass   Two diamond ruffs, one of them with the ♠A made it down two when a heart continuation forced dummy to ruff with the ♠10, thus establishing a trick for South’s ♠Q. Would this be a good compensation for the vulnerable 5♥ lost? Closed Room: West North East South Yadlin Moss Emodi Moss 1♦ 2NT 3♠ 4♥ 5♦ Pass Pass Dble All Pass       No way. Look at the difference in approach again: Moss showed his two-suiter immediately over 1♦, thus bringing his partner in a much better position to judge, whereas Barel’s approach made it more difficult for his partner to go to 5♥ over the double of 4♠. Played from the South side of the table, 5♥ cannot be defeated: even ♣A and a club ruff, followed by a spade switch will not be enough, provided declarer has not played the ♣K at trick two. So this swing of 11 IMPs all of a sudden broke the tie in favour of the transatlantics. It had been a good match with a sensational finish.

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