Contract Bridge

The United States scored the most lopsided victory in the 70-year history of the Bermuda Bowl, routing Brazil 506-288 in the final of the 2000 world team championship. The margin (in International Match Points) and the winning team’s IMP total were both records for the event.

The 16-day competition, which started with 20 teams, came down to a showdown between the U.S. squad, composed of Bob Hamman, Paul Soloway, Jeff Meckstroth, Eric Rodwell, Nick Nickell and Richard Freeman, and Brazil’s Gabriel Chagas, Marcelo Branco, Ricardo Janz, Miguel Villas-Boas, Joao-Paulo Campos and Roberto de Mello.

The final was a virtual runaway for the Americans from the very outset. Today’s deal resulted in a 12-IMP pickup for the winners.

At the first table, Meckstroth, playing in four hearts, won the king-of-diamonds lead with the ace and led the spade four to dummy’s king. East won and returned a club to West’s ace, whereupon West cashed the queen of diamonds and continued with the deuce.

Meckstroth trumped the diamond with dummy’s king and ruffed a spade, felling West’s queen. Declarer then drew trump, crossed to the club queen and discarded his remaining diamond on the spade jack to make his game.

At the other table, Chagas, one of the world’s great players, became declarer at the same contract. He had played nearly every deal for two weeks and showed signs of his fatigue by making the fatal mistake of drawing three rounds of trump after taking the diamond ace at trick one. He then guessed the spade position correctly, playing the jack after West followed low. But East took the ace and returned a club to his partner’s ace, and West’s Q-10 of diamonds set the contract one trick.