Loading ...twelve pounds
Were you surprised to see George and Ralph playing Brad and Fred so many times in the match against Spector? I asked a couple of times about the lineup choices and rationale and all George had to say was that he didn’t mind playing them. During both third quarters of the two-day match, IMPS flew. On Day 1, the luck went George and Ralph’s direction. On Day 2, it was all Brad Moss.
“Feels like I just lost twelve pounds,” George told me, a few minutes after comparing yesterday’s third quarter. Look what happened to him: after a routine partscore on the first board of the set, George managed to get himself doubled in 4S while his teammates bid and made 5C in the other room and we were up sixteen after two boards.
The third board was unlucky for Jacobs. George opened 2D showing five or more hearts and four or more spades, weak (holding Txxxx / AKxxx / x / KT), Ralph bid 3D (invitational) holding x / Qx / AKQJxxxx / xx). George picked 3NT which Fred defended perfectly to beat.
It had begun. On four, George and Ralph bid to an uncontested 4H in an auction where Moss knew Gitelman was marked with four hearts. Moss made what the VuGraph commentators called “a state-of-the-match aggressive penalty double,” defended the hand perfectly and George was down two. Four hearts went quietly down one in the other room.
A board later they pushed George and Ralph too high but dropped a trick on defense, so instead of losing four, my Homeboys picked up one.
The VuGraph commentators speculated that Moss was steaming after being mis-carded by Gitelman and so took out his frustration on the next board, opening 1NT holding AQTxxx / Kx / Axx / Jx. His Partner, reduced to straight man on this deal, transferred to hearts holding Kxx / ATxxx / KJ / xxx then bid 3NT, which Moss passed. On some days defenders will cash the first half a dozen clubs when 4S is just cold, but not yesterday. “Moss loses 2 IMPS but gets his rush,” said Joey Silver.
On 99, Moss made another close double and ate it; four-imp pickup for Jacobs. The very next deal produced another swing. Moss opened 1D with his 2-4-5-2 twelve-count and George, holding a 5-4-0-4 twelve count of his own said double. Gitelman chose redouble with his twelve and poor Ralph, without twelve to call his own, bid one spade. Moss passed, George raised to a quiet 2S and Gitelman bid 3NT, making. At the other table, Joe Grue chose 1S (instead of double), Zia bid 2C and Curtis Cheek jumped to 3S. Grue bid 4S, Zia doubled and they were down only one. Ten IMPS to Spector.
Board 101, George opened 1NT holding AT / AJT8 / A6 / QJT32. The commentators agreed that he was “way too good” for 1NT; “Kaplan-Rubens hand evaluator values East hand as 17.85,” said Australian commentator Peter Gill. Ralph showed an invitational hand with five spades (KQ852 / 4 / Q875 / 974) then essentially forced to game with 3D over George’s 2NT. Moss, holding ten mediocre red cards and with a partner who never took a call, said double. Tight defense from Gitelman and Moss led to down one. “Double discombobulated Declarer,” said Joey Silver. Six more IMPS to Spector. “Sure,” said Peter Gill, “East did not do well, but North-South did very well to put declarer under pressure in a doubled 3NT on Day 6 of a tiring event.” Indeed.
Moss picked up a few more when his side stopped in 3S while Zia and Rosenberg were in 4S down one in the Open Room. On 103, Moss again doubled George in a heart game which he might have made (but didn’t). Growing weary of heart games, George bid another on 104 that went down, undoubled. Unlucky that the teammates in the Open room doubled 5H which also made, five more IMPS to Spector.
After fourteen deals, George was down about 30 pounds. The pummeling by Gitelman and Moss was thorough but not fatal. On the last board of the set, Moss opened 4H holding x / KQJ9xx / Q / QTxxx and George, with a weak two-bid of his own, said pass. Gitelman passed and Ralph doubled with KQxx / Ax / AJTxxx / x. George bid 4S, Gitelman volunteered 5H and it passed back around to George who thought long and hard before bidding 5S. Gitelman doubled with his two Aces but George had what he needed to make his contract. Teammates were plus 200 in the other room (6S doubled down one) for a massive 14 IMP pickup to end the match.
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