In August the 43rd edition Bermuda Bowl will be played (in Lyon, France). That means that the 20 participating countries have to finalize their line-ups. The US has always selected those teams by means of trials and this year is not different. 
The event is called the “2017 Open United States Bridge Championship”, a double knock-out between 17 eligible teams, with the winners representing the USA in Lyon later this year. Later in the week, a women’s event will start as well. Obviously, the event is broadcasted on BBO and, with the time differences, that means that in Europe one can kibitz high level bridge daily between 5pm and 3am. That is obviously a lot better way to spend your evening than any other TV channel. Here are a few random hands that I saw over the last days.
First 2 bidding problems:
1♣ was Precision (16+, any distribution), east’s first pass showed 0-4 or long diamonds, double for take out, east’s second pass confirmed the long diamonds. Your bid.
Not much to say about the auction, 5♠ is “standard expert practice”, your turn to bid.
And finally a lead problem.
The auction was mainly artificial. East opened a strong 1♣ (16+), west then showed 5♣, 4♠, 5 total controls (A=2, K=1, so 2 aces and 1 king, or 1 aces and 3 kings) and finally extra values with his 4♣ bid, with all east’s bids artificial relays. East contributed with a 4♦ cuebid, west denied a heart control with 4NT (which was quantitative). Your lead please.
Time to go for a coffee and think about the hands.
Now that you are back…
Problem 1: This looked rather standard to me. 1♦x doesn’t look like the right contract, so redouble to ask partner to find another spot. That leads to 1♠, presumably down 1, for -200. 4♥ in the other direction can be made if it is played by west but not by east, so you’ll either win 9 or lose 8. At the table, north didn’t remember this deal from the world juniors final half a year ago, and passed as well. He misplayed the hand by a trick. I’m not sure what he was thinking: a penalty pass from east and a partner who couldn’t bid anything earlier, surely this cannot be for business. Declarer then went on to misplay the hand, finishing down 1600, for a 13 imp loss against 2♦x at the other table, Clearly one for the next system discussion and not a misunderstanding I’d expect at this level.
Problem 2: One of the most confusing bids is probably the jump to 5 of a major in competitive auctions. There are 2 generally accepted meanings for this bid: either it asks partner for good trumps, or it asks for a control in an unbid suit that cannot be discovered in another way. The problem is, of course, which of the two applies when. Lots of pairs play “partner can figure it out” but over the years, I have seen many cases where expert pairs got it wrong.
This is another example. If north is really looking for a heart control, then he must have 2 small hearts. EW have then bid up to the 4 level wilth only 8 trumps missing the ♥AQT and little to no values. That is very unlikely. Give EW a 9th or 10th trump, and north will have a singleton or void, thus a heart control, and he must have been asking for good spades.
South thought about this for a full 5 minutes, then decided for the latter, and passed. Making 7♠ (though that is not a good contract, as it requires spades to split and the heart finesse to be on), 13 away as the other table bid slam with no interference from the opponents. Meckwell held the EW cards there, and for them, passing throughout while the opponents bid to the 4♥-level with the same cards must have been new to them. The solution for this is simple: simply play it as one of the two options, and find something else for the other case: cuebids or RKC.
Problem 3. With east having denied a heart control, and assuming that EW don’t bid slam off an AK in a suit, west must have the ♥A and you immediately cross off that suit. Right? Wrong, this was the full hand.
This is another strange hand in my book. West knows that partner has denied the ♥AK, yet he bids slam. He is lucky that he got the right lead, but next time, the opponents simply take the first 2 tricks.
And if you think that this is a one-off, look at 2 of the 3 other tables that played the hand:
Again a strong club auction, with an artificial 1♠ positive, relay, club showing rebid, and east showing ♣Axxxx and ♠AKxx. 4♠ again denied a heart control. West correctly signed off but east found some reason to raise. This time it was easier for the defence, as both sides had denied the ♥AK.
And then this auction:
All natural, up to 4♣, 4♠ cuebid denying the ♥A or K and now west tried 6♣ knowing that he is off the ♥AK? I know that cuebids are less popular amongst US experts then their European counterparts, but I must have missed something here.
The event will continue until the 10th or so, for the vuegraph schedule, bulletins, and results, go to the event site at http://usbf.org/2017-open-usbc/2017-open-usbc/index.php.
The final thing for today: if you are between (approximately) 10 and 17 and interested in playing bridge, you don’t have to play it yet, or have (grand-) children in that age group, you might be interested in the junior bridge camp organized by the junior committee of the NBB this summer. 5 days of bridge, other games, outdoor activities and fun. For more, go to the site or mail the NBB.