Senior Knockout Teams final at the Fall NABC

In the Senior Knockout Teams final at the Fall NABC, Mike Levine’s squad showed how to win a major event: Play well, and have something fortuitous happen at the right moment.

With four deals left, LEVINE trailed by five IMPs. Then in today’s deal, LEVINE’s North-South pair had a mix-up and landed at two hearts on a 2-3 fit. North meant his bid of two diamonds as natural; South thought it was a “transfer” to hearts. He so “Alerted” West and duly bid two hearts, and North judged to pass.

South managed five tricks for minus 150, but the North-South auction had picked off East-West’s eightcard heart fit. In the replay, the auction started the same way, but over South’s two clubs, West competed with two hearts. East bid four hearts, passed out.

North cashed his high clubs and shifted to a diamond. West won and led the king of trumps, and South took his ace and led a high club. Declarer ruffed with the jack of trumps, drew trumps and ran the diamonds. When he cashed dummy’s last trump at Trick 11, South was squeezed: He couldn’t keep a high club to beat dummy’s 10 and also the K-Q of spades. So West made his game, and LEVINE gained seven IMPs, took the lead and held on.

Could the defense beat four hearts? South could break up the simple blacksuit squeeze by leading a spade when he took the ace of trumps, but only if he had ducked the first trump; otherwise, West could succeed with a different squeeze. North could prevail with an unlikely spade shift at the third trick.