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Yesterday, we saw how a team that was losing by 53 IMPs with 16 deals to go in the 2004 Vanderbilt semifinal managed to tie the match on the very last board when a close double gained an extra IMP to produce the deadlock. Without the double, Richard Schwartz's team would have lost the 64-deal match to Nick Nickell's squad by a single IMP.
The tie necessitated an eight-board playoff, and as the players began the last deal, Nickell led — by 1 IMP!
The bidding shown took place when Peter Boyd and Steve Robinson of the Schwartz team held the North-South cards. Robinson won the heart lead with the king and concluded that East was very likely to hold the diamond king for his vulnerable overcall. Robinson therefore decided to try to develop the club suit. If he could guess which opponent had the queen and the suit broke 3-2, he would score 10 tricks.
Robinson guessed wrong, though, leading a club to the ace and finessing the jack on the way back. West won with the queen and continued hearts to score a one-trick set, +100 for East-West. Since Robinson could have made the contract, and also because five diamonds would make, this was not an encouraging result for Schwartz.
At the other table, Jeff Meckstroth and Eric Rodwell also got to three notrump after Rodwell opened one notrump as South. Rodwell won West's jack of hearts with the king and, since there had been no opposing bidding, considered the diamond finesse viable. But before attempting the finesse, he correctly opted to add to his chances by first cashing the A-K of clubs, hoping to drop the doubleton queen.
When the queen failed to appear, Rodwell tried the diamond finesse, losing to East's king. East returned a heart to West's nine, and West cashed the club queen before returning a heart. Declarer thus finished down two, -200, giving the Schwartz team a 100-point pickup on the deal --- worth 3 IMPs -- and a 2-IMP overtime victory in the match.
Tomorrow: An optical illusion.
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