dec4

English 57 Horror Corner (9) – Keep It Simple Ram Soffer This series describes some big disasters in high-level bridge, then and now. We shall turn our attention to the 1997 Bermuda Bowl Final between two great teams: USA (Nickell- Freeman; Hamman-Wolff; Meckstroth-Rodwell) and France (Mari-Levy; Multon-Mouiel; Chemla- Perron). Some of these players are still there 21 years later, fighting for the big titles. That match was neatly summed up by Matthew Granovetter (Bridge Today, Jan/Feb 1998): “… both The Frenchmen and the Americans use light opening bids, but theAmericans, in general, seem to play the game of ‘put the pressure on – do something to create a swing’, while the French play a more traditional ‘sit there and wait for the opponents to make an error’ game. This is not to say the French don’t apply pressure by bidding aggressively. It’s just that they do it less intentionally”. Do these words have any basis in reality? How about the following deal? Dealer West, Vul N/S ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ J87 AT6 T9863 J7 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ 643 KQ8 754 8643 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ KQT2 J732 Q2 QT2 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ A95 954 AKJ AK95 The French East/West pair just sat there and made a normal lead against their opponents’ game contract. West North East South Mari Rodwell Levy Meckstroth Pass Pass Pass 2NT Pass 3NT All Pass Any advanced player knows that leading top-of- sequence from a three-card major is far superior to a small club. The ♥ K lead took out dummy’s sole entry prematurely. As a result, declarer was restricted to three diamond tricks and seven tricks in total. East/West +200 – surely a banal result which should be duplicated everywhere, but… West North East South Hamman Mouiel Wolff Multon Pass Pass 1♠!! Dbl Pass 2 ♦ Pass 2♠ Pass 3 ♥ Pass 3NT Pass Pass Pass “Help your partner with his lead during the auction”, is the universal advice of all experts. On the other hand, when your partner is as good as Bob Hamman, perhaps he doesn’t need any special help… Bobby Wolff concocted a special opening bid in 3 rd seat with a clear emphasis on lead-direction (by the way, they played four-card majors, but still 1♠ is not standard with this shape). The French duly reached their normal 3NT contract, and of course Hamman led a spade. Declarer Franck Multon was also fooled as he ducked trick one, catering for the possibility of