In the first knockout round of the Open Teams, two American squads went head to head – Welland and Jacobs. Both have made their marks in high-level competition in the USA, and Roy Welland is still basking in the glow of his team’s victory in the Mixed Teams last week. He took a different team to the wars in the Open, and in the first half of their match, George Jacobs and his squad had the better of it by a score of 22-15.
In the second half of the match, the lineups were Zia Mahmood and Michael Rosenberg for Welland against Polish stars Cezary Balicki and Adam Zmudzinski in the closed room – Robert Levin and Steve Weinstein for Welland against Eric Greco and Geoff Hampson, one of the hottest pairs in North America.

Board 15, the first of the second half, was a push. Only one IMP changed hands on the second deal, but it was fun to watch Rosenberg play it.

Board 16. Dealer West. E/W Vul.
	ª A K 2 © K Q J 7 ¨ 9 7 6 § A 9 5
ª 7 6 © A 3 2 ¨ K 10 8 2 § K J 6 3		ª Q 10 9 8 5 4 © 9 8 6 ¨ Q § 10 4 2
	ª J 3 © 10 5 4 ¨ A J 5 4 3 § Q 8 7

West	North	East	South
Levin	Hampson	Weinstein	Greco
Pass	1§*	Pass	1¨
Pass	1NT	Pass	3NT
All Pass

Weinstein started with the ª10, and Hampson put up the jack, which held. He played a heart to his king and another heart to the 10, which also held. Hampson played a low diamond off dummy and Levin played the 2. Weinstein took the ¨Q and got out with the §10, helping declarer to two tricks in that suit. The §10 was covered with the king and ace, and Hampson got out of his hand with the ©Q to Levin’s ace. Levin played a low club from his jack, but Hampson put up the 9 and was home with his game. Plus 400. Rosenberg, at the other table, did better, even without the helpful club switch.

West	North	East	South
Balicki	Rosenberg	Zmudzinski	Zia
Pass	1§	Pass	1¨
Pass	1NT	Pass	2NT
Pass	3NT	All Pass

Zia and Rosenberg play 1NT openers as 12-14, so the 1NT rebid in the above sequence showed 15-17.
Zmudzinski started with the ª10, taken in dummy with the jack. Rosenberg played a heart to his queen and a heart to the 10, also ducked. Rosenberg continued with a heart and Balicki won the ace perforce. He got out with a low diamond to the 6 and queen, ducked by Rosenberg. Zmudzinski exited with the ª9 to Rosenberg’s king. Rosenberg cashed the ©K, then played the ¨9 and rode it to Balicki’s 10. He was endplayed at that point, and when he exited with a low club, Rosenberg played low. Zmudzinski had to put in the 10 to keep dummy’s 7 or 8 from winning, transferring control of both minors to Balicki. Rosenberg won dummy’s §Q and played a low club to West’s jack and his ace. When he cashed the ªA, his hand was the §9 and a low diamond. Dummy had the §8, which was discarded, and the ¨A J. Balicki had to make a discard from the ¨K 8 and the §K. When he threw the latter, Rosenberg cashed his good §9. That was plus 430 and a well-earned IMP for the Welland team.
The Jacobs team earned an 8-IMP swing on the third board of the set.

Board 17. Dealer North. None Vul.
	ª A Q 7 4 2 © A 5 2 ¨ 8 3 § K Q 9
ª J 9 8 5 3 © 9 4 ¨ Q 10 4 § A 6 2		ª K © J 10 8 6 3 ¨ A 9 2 § 10 8 7 3
	ª 10 6 © K Q 7 ¨ K J 7 6 5 § J 5 4

West	North	East	South
Balicki	Rosenberg	Zmudzinski	Zia
	1ª	Pass	1NT
Pass	2§	Pass	2ª

1NT was described as semi-forcing. With trumps splitting so badly, Rosenberg had to scramble to fulfill his contract, but it was plus 110 to Welland. Hampson and Greco did much better.

West	North	East	South
Levin	Hampson	Weinstein	Greco
	1NT	Pass	3§*
Pass	3ª	Pass	3NT
All Pass

Greco’s 3§ was Stayman and 3ª showed five. Weinstein started with the ©10 to Hampson’s ace, and a low diamond went to the 9, jack and queen. A heart was returned to dummy, and Hampson played a low club to his king and another diamond. Weinstein rose with the ¨A and cleared the heart suit, but after running diamonds, declarer played a second low club from dummy. Levin went up with the ace and returned a spade. Hampson, looking at nine tricks, did not consider the finesse, and he had an overtrick when the ªK fell under his ace.
Jacobs was looking good at that point, but a reversal of fortune was right around the corner.

Board 19. Dealer South. E/W Vul.
	ª Q 9 4 © 9 6 2 ¨ Q 10 6 5 2 § K 10
ª 6 3 © 7 5 3 ¨ 8 7 4 3 § Q 6 5 2		ª K 10 8 7 2 © A K Q 8 ¨ A K § J 8
	ª A J 5 © J 10 4 ¨ J 9 § A 9 7 4 3

West	North	East	South
Balicki	Rosenberg	Zmudzinski	Zia
			Pass
Pass	Pass	1§*	Pass
1¨	Pass	1ª	All Pass

1§ was of the Polish variety – minimum balanced or any strong hand. Balicki didn’t care which. He had nothing to say over 1ª. Zia and Rosenberg did well to stay out of the auction.

Zmudzinski had the power to make seven tricks even in a 4-2 fit with a useless dummy, and he ended play at plus 80.

At the other table, the auction got away from Greco and Hampson, who are playing a strong club system.

West	North	East	South
Levin	Hampson	Weinstein	Greco
			1¨*
Pass	1©	Dble	Redbl
Pass	1NT	Dble	Pass
Pass	2¨	Dble	2©
Pass	Pass	Dble	Pass
Pass	2ª	Dble	All Pass

North-South went from playing a 5-2 fit to a 3-3 fit with a 4-3 break , then to a 3-3 fit with a 5-2 break. This was not a happy contract. Weinstein led trumps at every opportunity, and Hampson finished with three spade tricks and two clubs for down three and minus 500. That was 9 IMPs to Welland.

Board 23 was another small gain for Welland, but it could have been much more.

Board 23. Dealer South. All Vul.
	ª K 6 © A Q J 7 3 ¨ K 10 8 5 § A 5
ª A 10 9 © 10 ¨ Q J 7 4 2 § Q J 10 9		ª Q 8 5 © K 9 8 6 4 ¨ A 6 § 8 6 2
	ª J 7 4 3 2 © 5 2 ¨ 9 3 § K 7 4 3

West	North	East	South
Balicki	Rosenberg	Zmudzinski	Zia
			Pass
Pass	1©	Pass	1ª
Dble	Redbl	Pass	Pass
1NT	Dble	Pass	Pass
2¨	Dble	All Pass

Rosenberg started with a trump to the 6, 9 and queen. The §J was next, taken by Rosenberg with the ace to continue playing trumps. Balicki led a low club from dummy, and Zia erred by ducking. Balicki won the §Q and pondered his next move for some time before playing the ©10. Rosenberg won the ©A and got out with the ©Q, but Balicki won the ©K, discarding a club, and played the ©9, pitching his other club. Rosenberg’s choices then were to give up his second trump trick by cashing the ¨K and exiting with the 10 – or to let Balicki into dummy with a heart or a spade. Eventually, Rosenberg played a spade, but Balicki went up with the queen and discarded his other spade loser on the ©8. He lost two diamonds, one club and two hearts for plus 180.

As you can see, Zia must rise with the §K and return either black suit to keep North from being endplayed. Rosenberg could ruff a club, cash the ¨A, then the ©A and exit with the ©Q. Declarer would still have to lose a spade and would be down one.

Obviously this is not a great result – but it was not a loss.

West	North	East	South
Levin	Hampson	Weinstein	Greco
			Pass
Pass	1§*	Pass	1¨
1NT*	Pass	2§	Pass
Pass	2©	All Pass

Hampson’s 1§ was strong and artificial – and Levin’s 1NT showed the majors or the minors. Hampson had a great hand, but he also had a warning that the suits were probably breaking badly – Levin was not likely to enter the auction at that vulnerability, even with a two-suiter, if he didn’t have some shape. Hampson took only five tricks for minus 300. What looked like a loss at Zia’s table had turned into a 3-IMP gain for Welland.

Another major swing came Welland’s way on the following deal.

Board 26. Dealer East. All Vul.
	ª 10 9 5 2 © 8 4 ¨ 8 3 § K Q 10 6 5
ª A Q J © A Q 9 5 3 ¨ K 7 § A 7 3		ª 8 4 © K 10 6 ¨ Q 10 9 6 4 2 § 9 4
	ª K 7 6 3 © J 7 2 ¨ A J 5 § J 8 2

Levin as West opened 2NT and quickly found himself in the notrump game.

Hampson led a low club to the jack, ducked by Levin. Hampson overtook the club return and cleared the suit. In with the §A, Levin played the ¨K, ducked all around. Greco won the jack and returned a low spade. Levin had no real option but to finesse, and when the ªQ held, he played the ©A and a heart to the king, followed by a second spade finesse to finish with 10 tricks for plus 630.

West	North	East	South
Balicki	Rosenberg	Zmudzinski	Zia
		Pass	Pass
1§*	Pass	1¨	Pass
1NT*	Pass	3NT	All Pass

1NT showed a balanced hand with 18-21 high-card points. Rosenberg started with the §K, ducked, but Zia signaled encouragement and Rosenberg continued with a low club to the jack. Balicki ducked again. On winning the §A at trick three, he played the ¨K. Zia took the ace right away and made things much more difficult for Balicki by returning a spade. With the possibility of the diamond finesse or a doubleton ¨J still out there, Balicki did not want to put all his eggs in the basket of the spade finesse, so he rose with the ace and ran his five heart winners.

Balicki could still have made the contract by playing a spade because Zia had come down to the doubleton ¨J and singleton ªK. A spade to Zia would have left him on play at trick 12 with the ¨J 5, looking at the ¨Q 10 in dummy.
Balicki did not read the position, however, playing a diamond from hand. The ¨Q was the eighth trick, but there would not be a ninth. Minus 100 was a 12-IMP swing for Welland.

As you can see, 4© is a much better contract, apparently unreachable by the two East-West pairs.
On the next deal, Jacobs earned 7 IMPs when Balicki and Zmudzinski bid an aggressive 3NT that could not be defeated. The following deal put the icing on the cake for Welland.

Board 28. Dealer West. N/S Vul.
	ª K Q J 6 4 2 © 8 7 5 3 ¨ A § 3 2
ª A 8 7 3 © K Q 10 6 ¨ J 10 § Q 8 6		ª 10 © 9 2 ¨ Q 9 8 7 6 3 2 § K J 10
	ª 9 5 © A J 4 ¨ K 5 4 § A 9 7 5 4

West	North	East	South
Balicki	Rosenberg	Zmudzinski	Zia
1§*	1ª	2¨*	2NT
Pass	3¨	Pass	3ª
Pass	4ª	All Pass

Zmudzinski’s 2¨ was not forcing. He started with a diamond to Rosenberg’s bare ace. The ªK was played a trick two, and Rosenberg began liking his contract even more when the 10 appeared from East. Balicki won the ªA and returned a diamond. Rosenberg discarded a club, played the §A and ruffed a club, followed by a spade to the 9 and a second club ruff. When the suit broke 3-3, he could pick up trumps and claim 11 tricks.
The board was a disaster for Jacobs at the other table.

West	North	East	South
Levin	Hampson	Weinstein	Greco
1§	1ª	3¨	3NT
All Pass

This forlorn contract had no play at all, and Greco managed only six tricks for minus 300. It was a 14-IMP swing to Welland, winners by the score of 57-37.