The Chairman’s Cup – the flagship teams’ event of the Swedish Bridge Festival held in Orebro at the end of July – set a new record for the number of teams entering: up 19 to 157 in total. This despite it clashing with the American Summer Nationals, which attracts a lot of the European Pros. It’s now so large that they are considering a different format, as qualifying only the top 32 teams out of nearly 160 is too narrow a window.
The final was contested by two Swedish teams – actually a rarity in itself – and featured, as is the norm these days, some hyper-aggressive bidding from both sides.
South was a bit squeezed for bids at his turn; both 2♣ and 2NT would have shown support for Hearts, so 3NT it was, and West annoyingly found the best lead of the ♦3 to East’s Queen.
South won and went after Hearts, but he had to try to keep East off lead, or a Diamond through would kill him. A heart to the Queen went well, and South carefully came back to hand with a Spade to play another Heart up. Again West played low, so the Ace won and luckily both defenders followed to the third round. Had West played his King at any earlier stage, South was of course ready to let him hold the trick.
West had an exit in Spades, but it did not help him; declarer simply cashed his two good Hearts and the last Spade, and could then throw West on lead with either minor to receive his ninth trick.
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