World-wide sport

Press, 27 April 1989, Page 11

World-wide sport

CONTRACT BRIDGE

J.R. Wignail

More than 84,000 contestants played in last year’s Epson Worldwide Bridge Contest, according to the Guinness Book of Records. It was biggest field in any official sporting event, but the chief organiser, Jose Damiani of Paris, is hoping for 100,000-plus when the fourth Epson is held on Friday, June 19 this year. All competitors play the same hands at the same time. With instant scoring against the whole world the over-all rankings are announced from the contest headquarters in Paris within minutes of the last returns coming in. It is expected that most New Zealand clubs will be arranging heats. Last year saw Russian players participating for the first time, with a quite sensational result. A pair from Lvov finished in second place, only fractions behind the over-all winners from Pennsylvania. Soviet players are expected to increase their contribution to "Glasnost” this year, and one can be certain of a large entry from China. For the top 50 pairs in the world there will be generous prizes of Epson or Seiko products, and all competitors will receive a souvenir booklet of the hands fully analysed by the world’s best known bridge player, Omar Sharif. He has already promised that the 1989 deals offer scope for some very attractive plays and defence. An added attraction on Epson night is a unique contest, the World Bidding Challenge, an immediate hit last year. It is a test of judgment rather than system, for all contestants must use the very basic bidding methods set out on the entry form, available only to those who have played in the main event. The solvers are shown the East-West hands and asked to state the best complete sequences. Two of the world’s best players, Bobby Wolff from America and Zia Mahmoud from Pakistan, will do the same, and in case of any difference Omar Sharif will adjudicate. Theirs will be the’ official

solution, and the closest scores will win over 100 Epson or Seiko products. This year’s Epson will be linked to the United Nations Global Project to promote the Decade of Disabled Persons, due to be launched in May. More than 500 million people are disabled as a consequence of mental, physical,. or sensory impairment, and the objective is to show them that they can enter more fully into the life of the community than most of us or them suppose. Of few activities is this more true than contract bridge. Waldemar von Zedtwitz won a world championship when nearly blind, Hermine Baron twice earned most master points in a single year in the United States when playing from a wheel-chair, and a Canadian who was born without arms plays bridge using his toes. All competitors are eligible for the Epson “Best Played Hand Award” to be judged by Omar Sharif and three top World Bridge Federation officials, with more prizes for the winners and the other top entries. The hand must be written up and both player and writer are eligible. The 1988 Epson Awardwinning deal has just been announced. It shows a rank and file club player, Joan Burgess of Nottingham, England, getting the better of one of the leading women players in the world, Salty Horton. East was the dealer with neither side vulnerable:

The auction at their table was:

W N E S No No 14 Dble INT No 24 No No 24 No 44 All Pass Despite holding five prospective trumps, South declined to allow West to play in two diamonds, and who would argue with a woman world champion? She competed with two spades, raised optimistically to game by her trusting partner. West, Joan Burgess, started with the king of diamonds, won by the ace as dummy discarded a club. To establish the North hand, the declarer led a heart to the king, which won, and a low heart back, East following with the nine and jack. Had the jack been allowed to hold, the declarer would have been able to ruff the diamond return in dummy and ruff a heart low, dropping the ace. South could then continue with the jack of spades covered by the queen, king and ace. When the 10 of spades smothers West’s nine, the North hand is high except for one club loser. The contract then would have been made for the loss of heart, a spade, and a club. West, however, on the second round of hearts made the daring play of overtaking her partner’s jack with the ace. Then she led a diamond for dummy to trump. South continued with a low heart, and, convinced that West had no more hearts, ruffed with the jack of spades. Now the contract could not be made, as, with the queen-nine over the 10-2, West had to make a second trick in trumps for the defence. This pretty piece of defensive deception earned Joan Burgess a huge score on the board and an Epsor personal computer, witt printer.