It was 2019 seniors match between Netherlands and India for the Bronze medal play-off. It was anybody’s game till the final set and then this deal came up.
This board reflects an impact of an opening bid style of the players and of right siding the contract. Here is what happened at both tables.
Indian East decided to open 1S after three passes, because his style was to open one of a major suit with such a strong suit. However, it is quite common at modern bridge that East hand opens 1NT with requisite strength (15-17 HCPs here) even with five card major and 5332 hand pattern. This is exactly what the Dutch East did – he opened 1N.
As a result, while Indian EW pair landed in 3N played by West (see the bidding), in the other room, Netherlands EW landed in same 3N but played by East.
Now check the N -S cards. From either hand, Diamond was a natural lead. When Indian South led D J, it swallowed the D Q in dummy, to pave the way for beating the contract eventually. As you can see, declarer had no quick 9th trick despite spades breaking 3-3. However, when the Dutch North led a Diamond from Kxxx, West let it ride to his Q, for the crucial 9th trick. This made all the difference creating a game swing for India. This board, in all probabilities, helped team India in securing the bronze medal.
Right siding the contract is sometimes achieved purposely in a bidding sequence by arranging the bidding sequence accordingly. Or, it can just happen like in this case. But this can create a swing for sure!
(The writer is a National Championships winner, advanced Life Master rank holder, and bridge teacher. You can reach out to him on arvindv22@gmail.com)
