Europe v America - Buffett Cup
I know there were some fairly pleased followers of golf on this side of the Atlantic last weekend but personally, the European victory in the Ryder Cup was poor consolation for the continent's defeat in the Buffett Cup. This was America versus Europe at bridge, played in Dublin in the days immediately before the golf. It was a close run thing and there was ebb and flow in the scoring, Europe pulling ahead and being pegged back. With five rounds of the individual left, Europe were thirteen up, the highest margin of the match. Then disaster struck. They never even tied another round and were even whitewashed in two consecutive. A spectacular collapse left the Americans winners by twenty three.
I'm not sure what to say. It was terrible to watch – albeit at distance, on the Internet. I suspect golfers and bridge players alike will recognise that inability to stop the slide, as everything slips from your grasp. The event was separated into pairs, teams and an individual. Now, if we're allowed some complaining without it sounding like sour grapes, the scoring system (and how it was presented) was a tad eccentric. In the golf – basically an individual game – that form of play naturally has significant say. In the bridge, the team section was worth less than the individual, which were shorter as well. The most random and least regarded form of play was out of proportion.
One thing about an individual event though, it certainly makes for interesting play when everyone is outside the comfort of their usual partnerships:
| EW Vul. Dealer South | ♠ KQ108532 | ||
| ♥ 5 | |||
| ♦ 8 | |||
| ♣ K1032 | |||
| ♠ A96 | ♠ --- | ||
| ♥ QJ2 | ♥ AK1096 | ||
| ♦ QJ10952 | ♦ AK3 | ||
| ♣ 8 | ♣ AQJ74 | ||
| ♠ J74 | |||
| ♥ 8743 | |||
| ♦ 764 | |||
| ♣ 965 | |||
| West | North | East | South | |
| Ju Hackett | B. Levin | v Arnim | Hamman | |
| Pass | ||||
| Pass | 4♠ | 4NT | Pass | |
| 5♦ | Pass | 5♠ | 6♠ | |
| 7♦ | 7♠ | X | All Pass |
Normally it's enough to bid a grand slam but when the opponents sacrificed and lost 'only' 1400, Europe must have been worried. They were right to be concerned:
| West | North | East | South | |
| J. Levin | Auken | Soloway | Verhees | |
| Pass | ||||
| Pass | 4♠ | 5♠ | 6♠ | |
| Pass | Pass | 7♣ | Pass | |
| 7NT | All Pass | |||
Jill Levin was on solid enough ground with Paul Soloway despite the unusual pairing to both encourage him to bid by passing 6♠ and when he did, convert 7♣ to the top spot. No-one else reached it, Europe winning one with 6♥ over 6♦ and losing the other, 7♠ doubled to 7♦.
Published Saturday 30.Sep.2006