Going into the fifth round of the A Swiss in the Open Teams, the Lavazza and Reps teams were sitting high on the leader board – Reps in second with 87 Victory Points, Lavazza fourth with 80. There was considerable interest when the two teams were pitted against each other.

At one table, Klaus Reps and Bernard Ludewig played against Andrea Buratti and Massimo Lanzarotti, while Giorgio Duboin and Norberto Bocchi for Lavazza faced Tomacz Gotard and Josef Piekarek.

Board 1. Dealer North. None Vul.
	ª J 8 2 © 10 ¨ K 9 6 § A K J 10 9 5
ª A 10 7 © K 9 7 5 3 ¨ Q J 8 7 2 § -		ª 6 4 © 4 2 ¨ A 10 5 4 § Q 8 7 6 3
	ª K Q 9 5 3 © A Q J 8 6 ¨ 3 § 4 2

West	North	East	South
Duboin	Gotard	Bocchi	Piekarek
	1§	Pass	1ª
2ª	3§	3¨	3©
Pass	3ª	Pass	4ª
All Pass

Duboin’s 2ª showed hearts and a minor. Piekarek took nearly half an hour to play this deal, and all the thinking didn’t produce 10 tricks.

The ¨J (Rusinow) was ducked all around, and a second diamond was ruffed by South. The ªQ was ducked by West, but he won the spade continuation with the ace and played a third round of diamonds, again ruffed. South was now down to the singleton ªK.

Piekarek played a club to the ace (West discarded) and followed with the ©10 to his ace. The ©Q was covered by the king and ruffed with the ªJ, but declarer was just about out of tricks. Indeed, he took only eight tricks for two off.

South had an easier time at the other table.

West	North	East	South
Ludewig	Buratti	Reps	Lanzarotti
	2§	Pass	2ª
3§	3ª	4¨	4ª
All Pass

Ludewig got off to the lead of the ¨2 and Reps read the significance of it. He did not, however, picture his partner with the ¨Q J. Declarer played low from dummy, and Reps put up the ace, switching accurately to a club. Ludewig ruffed, but it was too late for the defense. Ludewig got out with a low heart to dummy’s 10, which held. A spade went to the king and ace and the ¨Q came back, but declarer put up the king, pitching a heart, and played a spade to his queen. That picked up trumps and he could claim from there for plus 420 and 11 IMPs to his team.
Board 2 was a push, mainly because the declarer at both tables mishandled trumps. It was tougher for Reps, but Bocchi might have worked it out.

Board 2. Dealer East. N/S Vul.
	ª 8 5 4 3 2 © 4 ¨ 4 3 § J 10 7 5 4
ª Q 10 © K J 3 ¨ K J 6 5 2 § K 6 2		ª A K J 7 © A 9 8 5 2 ¨ Q § 9 8 3
	ª 9 6 © Q 10 7 6 ¨ A 10 9 8 7 § A Q

The contract at both tables was 4©. Against Bocchi, East, South led a low spade to the 10, which held. South won the ¨A when Bocchi played low from dummy to his queen – and South fired a diamond back. This seems to pinpoint the length in diamonds (and provided a strong inference about the location of the §A). South would play a second round of diamonds only if he believed his partner might ruff. Bocchi won, pitched a club from hand and played a heart to the ace and a heart to the king. That was it – he had three more losers for down one.
At the other table, Lanzarotti started with the ¨A and followed with the ¨7, looking a lot like a man who had started with a doubleton diamond. This made Reps fear that if he played a heart to his ace and a heart to dummy’s jack and it lost to a doubleton queen, North would then be able to play another diamond, allowing South to make his ©10. So Reps won the diamond, pitching a club from hand and played trumps as Bocchi had. Down one and a push.

Another 10 IMPs went to Lavazza when Reps and Ludewig missed a vulnerable game bid at the other table.

On this deal, the Italians fashioned a 1-IMP gain despite taking a phantom sacrifice at one table.

Board 6. Dealer East. E/W Vul.
	ª 2 © Q 9 6 4 ¨ K Q 10 8 § A J 10 2
ª K J 8 7 4 3 © J 8 7 ¨ A 3 § 7 5		ª A Q 10 6 © A 10 3 2 ¨ 9 7 § Q 9 6
	ª 9 5 © K 5 ¨ J 6 5 4 2 § K 8 4 3

West	North	East	South
Ludewig	Buratti	Reps	Lanzarotti
		1©	Pass
1ª	Dble	2ª	Dble
4ª	Pass	Pass	4NT
Pass	5§	Dble	All Pass

As you can see, the defense would have to have a major breakdown for Ludewig to take 10 tricks in spades with the East-West cards. It was not so easy to tell that, however, so Lanzarotti took out some insurance. Buratti had to guess well to avoid minus 300. Reps led the ªA and continued the suit. Buratti ruffed and played the ¨10 to Ludewig’s ace. A second diamond was played, won in hand by Buratii, and he guessed the trump suit by playing the §A and running the jack through Reps. He conceded a heart from that point for one down and minus 100.

West	North	East	South
Duboin	Gotard	Bocchi	Piekarek
		1§	Pass
2ª	Pass	2NT	Pass
3ª	All Pass

Duboin’s 2ª showed a six-card suit in a limited hand. 2NT was an inquiry, and the 3ª bid indicated 8 or 9 high-card points with no shortage. Gotard’s silence seems conservative, but the auction was considerably different at his table. In any event, Duboin was in exactly the right spot. He won the opening lead of the ¨K with the ace, pulled trumps and exited with a diamond. North won and pushed the §J through dummy. This held, and two more rounds were played, Duboin ruffing. He now played the ©J, just the right card for the layout. If North covered, Duboin could win the ace and exit a heart to South’s king. With only minor suits left, South would have to give him a ruff-sluff. If South unblocked the king, Duboin would return to his hand with a spade to lead up to the ©10.
Board 7 shows that even the top players can lose focus on occasion.

Board 7. Dealer South. All Vul.
	ª Q 8 7 6 © K Q 10 9 ¨ Q 10 5 § Q 10
ª A 10 9 5 © A J 8 7 6 5 ¨ J § 9 7		ª K J 2 © 2 ¨ K 9 6 2 § A K 8 4 2
	ª 4 3 © 4 3 ¨ A 8 7 4 3 § J 6 5 3

West	North	East	South
Duboin	Gotard	Bocchi	Piekarek
			Pass
1©	Pass	2§	Pass
2©	Pass	2ª	Pass
2NT	Pass	3§	Pass
3¨	Pass	3NT	All Pass

Gotard started with the ©Q, taken by West with the ace. It’s usual to duck holding the A J, but Gotard had reason to fear a diamond switch. He played dummy’s top two clubs and exited with a low club to South’s 5. West let go of the ©5 while North discarded the ¨5. When South cashed the §J, West pitched a heart and North the ¨10. A heart through declarer’s jack produced two more tricks, and the ¨Q was covered by the king and ace. That was it for the defense. One down – plus 100 for North-South.

West	North	East	South
Ludewig	Buratti	Reps	Lanzarotti
			Pass
1©	Pass	2§	Pass
2¨	Pass	2©	Pass
2ª	Pass	3NT	All Pass

2§ was an artificial game force, 2© a relay and 2ª described a hand with four spades and five hearts.
South started with the ¨3 to the jack, queen and king (Reps thought about ducking). Reps then cashed the §A and the §K, noting the fall of North’s queen and 10. He did not notice, however, that South had played the §5 and the §6. Had he been paying attention, he would have known that his §4, insignificant as it might seem, was strong enough to knock out the jack. Instead, Reps played the §2 and could only laugh at himself when Lanzarotti played the 3 and North discarded.

Had Reps played the §4 instead of the 2, only a low diamond from South could defeat the contract, assuming Reps played spades correctly, which was likely.

In any event, one had had played the §2, there was not much Reps could do from there. He won the heart switch with the ace and guessed the location of the ªQ, but with the suit splitting badly he had to settle for seven tricks and two down. That was another 3 IMPs to Lavazza.

The Italians won the match in convincing fashion, 30-3 to move into second place, while Reps dropped to fifth in the standings after five matches.