An Englishman in San Francisco

BEN NORTON

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For Ben Norton, professional bridge player and writer, the game is less a pastime than a way of life. Still in his youth, he earned a place on the English open team and qualified for the Bermuda Bowl, where England advanced to the quarter‑finals. Norton has already collected an impressive list of national titles, yet his ambitions reach far beyond that — both within the UK and on the international stage.

There are three North American Bridge Championships (NABCs) held every year. These ‘Nationals’ attract top players from far and wide as well as a host of American tournament regulars of all levels. To cater for such a wide variety of abilities, many events run concurrently, some restricted to players with a certain number of American masterpoints. Different scoring methods are available too. So, whether you’re a teams enthusiast or a pairs maverick, there’s something for you. As well as organising the bridge, the ACBL (American Contract Bridge League) puts on seminars and social activities at each Nationals, while also providing some free snacks. A bookstall can often be seen outside one of the gigantic rooms where the games are held.

San Francisco played host to this year’s Fall NABC. The city itself boasts many tourist hotspots as well as a large choice of excellent restaurants; ideal for a bridge event. A mere 7526 tables were in play over the 10 days, so most bridge enthusiasts no doubt had little time for sightseeing.

Each Nationals features a major knockout teams event. In San Francisco, that was the Soloway Knockout. It began with a two-day Swiss, qualifying 32 teams for the first knockout stage. My team was in the mix until we lost our crucial penultimate match. This was a key deal. Consider it from my perspective in the East chair. Our side was non-vulnerable against vulnerable opponents:

My raise to 2︎ was constructive. Partner kicked off with the ︎A and I dropped the ︎J playing reverse carding, to discourage a continuation. Partner switched to the ︎4, my ︎Q forcing the ︎A. Declarer then led the ︎K from hand as partner followed small. Take it from there.

Partner surely has the ︎K for his opening bid and low-card shift, so you can see three tricks for the defence. A fourth might come from clubs, or diamonds. It seems as though there is nothing to be done but to return a heart and let nature take its course, but take a look at the full deal:

When I played a heart to partner, he faced a conundrum – should he cash the ︎K, or was declarer now void, in which case a diamond shift was in order, hoping declarer would finesse into my ︎K? My partner played a diamond, allowing declarer to ruff out my ︎K then throw two clubs on the diamonds. What went wrong?

I should have played back a club, not a heart. This clears the position up for partner. When declarer follows, partner can win and cash the ︎K for an easy one down. As it went, my partner was correct to shift to diamonds. He trusted my defence – I would only not return a club if I had five of them and was afraid of helping declarer to ruff down partner’s ︎K. A club was returned in the other room, so we lost a 12 IMP swing and with it our qualification hopes.

In the Autumn NABC, there is a prestigious board-a-match, also known as point-a-board, teams event available if you’re after something a bit different. At this form of scoring, one point is available on every board and is scored as a win (one point), draw (half a point) or loss (no points), regardless of the margin of difference between the two pairs’ scores.

Many of the big teams and pairs events are held over multiple days (often three) at the Nationals, and the field is mercilessly cut in half after each one until the final is reached. This is the case for the Reisinger too. Sadly, my team only lasted until the second day, but that’s nothing to be sniffed at in a field of experts using this brutal method of scoring. Our team captain, Maggie Knottenbelt, shone on this deal from that second day:

Knottenbelt took the push to the five-level with her exciting shape and Michael Byrne raised to slam as North, inferring partner’s spade void after the vigorous vulnerable spade bidding by his opponents. His high cards were thus ‘working’ in partner’s long suits.

A top spade was led to 6︎, ruffed in the South hand. Knottenbelt began, naturally enough, with a heart to dummy’s ︎K, getting the bad news. She didn’t panic, though, and played along dummy reversal lines by ruffing the rest of dummy’s spades in hand. Thus, she would make dummy the master trump hand while scoring two extra tricks compared to just drawing all the trumps. Dummy was a bit short on entries, though. South had to cash the ︎A and therefore couldn’t cross again in trumps. Two diamond entries were required: one for a third spade ruff and another to get back and draw trumps. It was therefore convenient to play West for the ︎Q and enter dummy via a finesse.

A diamond to the ︎9 held the next trick, allowing a further spade ruff. Maggie then cashed the ︎A and repeated the diamond finesse before drawing the remaining trumps and enjoying her three minor-suit tricks. She lost just a club at the end and made her slam. Just as well, since my partner and I had saved in 6︎X at the other table, going two down for -500 and a win on the board.

You might ask what happens if you fail to qualify for one of these big events. Well, there is always something worthwhile to play in. Side events, be they teams or pairs, are run daily. The Top Flight Swiss Teams even attracts some of the big sponsored teams on occasion. To finish with, here’s a deal from one of those Swiss games. Tackle it as a declarer play problem from the South seat:

You declare 4︎ on the ︎K lead. You duck that, East dropping the ︎J, then win the next heart and cash the ︎A to cater for a singleton ︎Q offside. Everyone follows low. What next?

You intend to enter your hand to finesse in spades, but given that you will need to eventually establish your long diamonds come what may, you should cross in diamonds rather than surrendering control in clubs or wasting one of your trumps. You duly finesse the ︎Q at trick three, which holds. You continue with the ︎J as planned, but West discards a club. What now?

You need diamonds 3-2 such that you’ll lose only a diamond, a heart and a spade, but this 4-1 trump split presents a problem – you will lose trump control on repeated heart forces. The way to combat this is to leave a trump in dummy, the short hand, to ruff that fourth round of hearts, but it will only work if you lose both those two tricks – the spade and the diamond – without drawing a third trump.

It follows that you must give East his ︎Q now. You will ruff the next heart then – careful – duck a diamond. To take the ︎A and another would be fatal if the defence play back a club, knocking out your only entry. By conceding the second diamond, you preserve the ︎A as an entry back.

East wins the second diamond and perseveres with a fourth heart, but you’re prepared. You ruff in dummy to preserve your trump length, then cross to the ︎A to draw trumps. The diamonds come in for contract. Here’s the full layout:

If you’re an avid bridge player who wants lots of boards played in a competitive environment, perhaps against the world’s best, I heartily recommend a trip to one of the American Nationals, be it the Fall, Spring or Summer tournament. These festivals of bridge are not to be missed.