Hot team wins inaugural Soloway tournament

At the Fall NABC, the hottest team on the planet won the inaugural Soloway Knockout Teams. In the final, Josef BLASS (npc), Sjoert Brink, Bas Drijver, Jacek Kalita, Michal Nowosadzki and Jacek Pszczola overcame Nick NICKELL-Ralph Katz, Robert Levin-Steve Weinstein, Jeff Meckstroth-Eric Rodwell with a big fourth quarter. BLASS had won major events at two recent NABCs.

(Some “national championship” events aren’t what they used to be. The ACBL has instituted so many new events that fields are smaller and diluted. For example, the Women’s Pairs, once prestigious, has lost much of its luster.)

In today’s deal from the final, NICKELL’s NorthSouth reached four spades; South’s one-spade response suggested at least five spades, so North raised directly. West led a trump, and dummy played low.

When East took the queen, he could have prevailed with a diamond shift, forcing dummy to ruff. South would be unable to handle his two remaining diamonds and would lose another trick in addition to

West’s ace of trumps.

East actually led a second trump, and West won and led a third trump, which looked good for the defense but wasn’t: South took 10 tricks by setting up dummy’s fifth heart. He could always have succeeded by putting up the king on the first trump. Indeed, West was unlikely to have led from the queen.

In the replay, NorthSouth for BLASS got to four spades, but West’s opening lead was a club. South won, conceded a diamond, won East’s club return and managed 10 tricks — a tied deal — by ruffing diamonds in dummy.