Contract Bridge

This deal occurred at the 1987 world team championship in the semifinal match between Sweden and the United States.

At one of the two tables, this was the first deal of the match. As can be seen, it did not take the U.S. pair seated East-West very long to warm up. In fact, it took them just two bids to reach a laydown grand slam!

East’s opening four-club bid announced a strong fourheart opener, whereupon West leaped directly to seven hearts. But Tjolpe Flodqvist of Sweden was not asleep at the switch. When seven hearts came around to him, he bid seven spades, hoping to go down less than the value of the grand slam.

West doubled, and Flodqvist went down seven for a loss of 2,000 points. Since West would have scored 2,210 for making the grand slam, this represented a potential savings of 210 points for the Swedes.

When the deal was played at the second table, Hugh

Ross of the U.S. held the South cards. At this table, the deal was the last of the 16-board set, and Ross had yet to play a hand as declarer. After the Swedes arrived at seven hearts on similar bidding, Ross also bid seven spades, partly due to the frustration of not yet having declared a hand.

Here, though, his Swedish opponents would not allow him the dubious distinction of going down seven, doubled and vulnerable. They bid seven notrump instead, giving them a score of 2,220 points. This, combined with the result at the other table, netted them a gain of 6 IMPs on the deal.

Thus concluded the strange episode of a player who willingly lost 2,000 points on his very first deal of a world championship semifinal and came out ahead, and another who tried to do exactly the same thing only to be denied that satisfaction by his opponents.