Guts and Glory

My team managed to beat Netherlands Red to claim the Bronze in pretty dramatic fashion. It was an exciting match to watch.  Needing to come back from 31 down with 13 boards to play we squeaked it out by 10IMPs. Here are a few gutsy hands, without which we would not have made the podium.

After the auction I know that Jason has 1) the King of spades at most 3 times 2) no Queen of hearts 3) the KQ of diamonds. That's 12 tricks, with the possibility of a 5th diamond or a heart finesse. I could hear Howie's voice in my head after we'd spoken about the 7NT hand from the previous day 'if you go down, you go down... don't be afraid to bid.' So I sucked it up and bid the grand. Molenaar found the incredible lead of the H10. If Jason just ducks, he can count out the hand and take a proven finesse in the endgame, but in what must be one of the most 'stick it to you' plays I've ever seen he calmly inserted the Jack, 11 IMPs to USA, one more than the margin of victory.

6C rests on the position of the club K until Marion leads a heart... 11 IMPs to USA, one more than the margin of victory.

How Minimeck found this heart lead, I'll never know. He claims it 'Just felt right' but it is the one and only lead to defeat the contract. It was one of the most incredible things I've seen on Vugraph in my life, and the excitement I felt after thinking our tournament was over and seeing the VG operator say, "He led a heart!!" to dispel any unbelief there may have been in the audience is a feeling that is so hard to describe. That was 7 IMPs to the US, instead of an 11-IMP loss and another bigtime gamble paid off, all 3 being necessary to clinch the win and every member of our team being involved.

The pairs competition started today. It's a lot less exciting than playing teams, but so far all the US pairs are doing well. Hopefully I'll be able to post a few matchpoint problems. For now I just have to say that it was a great honor for me to play on this team. I don't often get to sit down with players of this caliber, let alone play on an entire team of phenoms, so it's just a great thrill for me. They are all incredible people as well, so the whole trip to this point has just been amazing. It's unfortunate that our team only lost one match, and that match cost us a shot at the top of the podium, but I'm still ecstatic over what's happened the past few days. So... thank you guys!!