[ilink url=”http://csbnews.org/new/category/biblioteca/nabc-1/”]CsbNews.org will be reporting each day all the news[/ilink]
Daily Bulletins and Results |
The victory by Richard Coren and Bobby Levin in the Kay Platinum Pairs was impressive in many ways, not the least of which was the margin of victory – nearly three boards. They literally ran away from their closest pursuers with a 68% game in the second final session. The two are longtime friends, meeting as teenagers. Coren taught Levin how to drive and Levin played with Coren’s father early on in his career. “He is truly more than my brother,’” Levin said. Here are three deals from their killer session.
Dealer North, Vul: E/W
 J 10 A J 10 7 J 9 8 4 3 J 8 |
||
| 9 8 7 6 K 8 6 4 2 Q 6 10 7 |
A Q 5 4 3 2 Q 5 A 5 A 6 4 |
|
| K 9 3 K 10 7 2 K Q 9 5 3 2 |
| West | North | East | South |
| Levin | Coren | ||
| Pass | 1 |
2 |
|
| 3 |
Pass | 4 |
All Pass |
South led the K, ducked by Coren, North playing the jack. Coren won the club continuation and thought about how he should play trumps. If North had a doubleton or singleton K, a simple finesse would work, provided Coren could get to dummy. With South’s overcall in mind, Coren decided he needed more information, so at trick three he played the 5 to dummy’s king. When North won the ace and returned a diamond, Coren was certain South had the trump king. Accordingly, he won the A and played the A. When the K fell, Coren was able to claim plus 620 for most of the matchpoints.
Four deals later in an external movement, the two were playing North-South. On this one, Levin took center stage to take advantage of a less-than-optimum opening lead by a world champion.
Dealer North, Vul: Both
| Q 10 2 A 9 Q 9 2 A J 6 5 2 |
||
| 9 8 7 4 3 K A 8 7 5 4 Q 10 |
K J 6 J 6 5 3 2 K J 9 8 3 |
|
| A 5 Q 10 8 7 4 10 6 3 K 7 4 |
| West | North | East | South |
| Levin | Coren | ||
| 1 |
Pass | 1 |
|
| Pass | 1NT | All Pass | |
The East hand is hard to lead from. The ultimate choice, the 6, did not work out well for his side. Levin ducked the lead to his 10 and played on clubs. On the run of the suit, East was triple squeezed. He could not discard a spade without giving declarer an extra trick there. Nor could he let go of more than one heart. Finally, he discarded a
heart and the J, blocking the suit. Now Levin cashed the A, dropping the king, played the 9 to dummy’s 10, cashed the Q and played another round, establishing dummy’s fifth heart. Levin took four hearts, five clubs and two
spades for plus 210 and all of the matchpoints.
The winners were East-West on this deal, which produced another huge score.
Dealer North, Vul: N-S
| 6 Q J 9 K 7 4 3 2 J 10 7 2 |
||
| A 10 4 10 8 3 10 6 5 A 5 4 3 |
7 A K 6 2 A Q J 9 8 K 9 8 |
|
| K Q J 9 8 5 3 2 7 5 4 Q 6 |
| West | North | East | South |
| Levin | Coren | ||
| Pass | 1 |
3 |
|
| Pass | Pass | Double | Pass |
| 3NT | All Pass | ||
Double dummy, East-West can achieve plus 500 in 3 doubled. Levin got a score nearly as good with brilliant play.
North led his partner’s suit and when South inserted the Levin falsecarded with the 10, hoping to induce South to continue the suit. He didn’t want South switching to a suit that might mess up his communications. South took the bait, continuing spades. Levin won and ran the 10, getting the news about the 5-0 break. He played a diamond to dummy, cashed the top hearts, followed by the K and a club to the ace and a third diamond finesse.
This was the four-card ending:
| Q K 7 J |
||
| 4 10 5 4 |
6 2 A Q |
|
| Q 9 8 7 Q 6 |
Levin exited with a low heart to North’s queen. North could cash the J but had to lead into dummy’s diamond tenace at the end. That was plus 430 for the winners. Note that North could not unblock his heart honors to avoid the endplay without setting up Levin’s 10 for another trick.