BRIDGE NOTES: Four bidders win Dialdas tournament

All Pakistan Dialdas Bridge Tournament was held in the first week of this month at Dialdas Club in Hyderabad in which 16 bridge teams participated. Karachi was well represented by 12 teams.
It was a busy day for the Club with a bustling bridge sport and a modest ceremonial function that followed the daylong bridge competition. Sindh minister for sports and culture, Qamar Mansoor, was the chief guest, who held out assurances to promote the intellectual sport of bridge in the province in view of the popularity of the game in the country and abroad. Haji Nisar Memon, president of Dialdas Club, while welcoming the chief guest renewed his resolve to hold bridge competition every year to create more interest among the players of the city.
Mazher Jafri, the Senior Vice President of World Bridge Federation, also highlighted the bridge activity, the world over with growing interest in the game. It may be recalled that he was the prime mover of the proposal of this intellectual sport to be included in Olympic Games before the International Olympic Committee, that has been accepted sometimes back. The modalities, he said were being worked out to stage international bridge competition by the IOC as intellectual sport along with chess in the near future. The tournament was conducted by Shakeel Chandna, secretary Karachi Bridge Association.
The proceedings of the bridge competition were held in a most congenial and friendly atmosphere at the Club with keen contest among the participating teams consisting of ranking and upcoming bridge players. Finally, the experienced but less known players of Four Bidders won the top position beating the equally experienced players of Rainbow by a slender margin. Four Bidders comprised Asghar Naqvi, Taqi Raza, S.P.Jamal and Tariq Zafar and Rainbow was represented by A.K.Burgary, Mustafa, Mazher Ali and Shoaib Khan.
Right through the session, the finalists had average deals with score moving neck and neck. But one slam contract provided a swing to Four Bidders to claim the first position in the tournament getting better score over Rainbow. The deal, which made all the difference, is reproduced below:
(1) Forcing Stayman:
(2) Roman Key card Blackwood:
West Clubs 2
Seeing the dummy after the lead the declarer thanked his stars for receiving a favourable lead and played a small club from dummy and won with 9 of the suit. Then, he played a small diamond towards the dummy and inserted club 9 when the West refused to win the trick with the King. The East took the trick with the Jack and promptly returned a small diamond, which was won by the declarer with the ace. At this point, he played the King of clubs from hand and later successfully finessed Jack of club having assured the position of the Queen with the West. After cashing the club ace from the dummy, he ran the heart suit ending in dummy with the heart ace and discarded a diamond loser from hand on it. Now the stage was set to finesse the Jack of spades after playing the King of spades, which succeeded as fortune favoured. With the spade suit breaking even he ended up making all the thirteen tricks.
In the open room the opponent pair of A.K.Burgary and Mustafa reached a slam contract in No Trump on identical bidding sequences. But misplayed the hand on a heart lead and by reverse finesse of club 9 from hand in the suit losing to the Queen of clubs to the West. Later, he had to lose one diamond, which was unavoidable, thus losing a big swing to the pair of Four Bidders and the trophy.
THE BIDDING:

Dealer South: Both sides vulnerable
NORTH
S K5
H AQ106
D Q98
C AJ105
WEST
S 9752
H 85
D K43
C Q742
EAST
S Q106
H 7432
D J752
C 83
SOUTH
S AJ84
H KJ94
D A108
C K96
GOLDEN TIPS: One mistake, at times can prove too costly in bridge.