| Belladonna finds it hard to evaluate his hand ** |
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Monte Carlo 1976: the final of the World Teams Championship (contesting the Bermuda Bowl). Slowly the era of the famous Italian Blue Team was coming to an end. During twenty years the Italians had been totally superior to their opponents but their lead was getting smaller and in the end disappeared completely.
Belladonna peers in his hand. He doesn't know and in the end hands you his cards. What would you bid? Solution Belladonna saw strengths and weaknesses in his hand. The four-card heart support suggested a raise to 4♥. On the other hand, the value of the ♣K was questionable, to say the least, in view of its position before the 3♣ opener.
East, Rubin, had chosen this moment to open 3♣ on an absolute shambles. Nowadays an opening on this kind of thrash is not too uncommon (though first in hand it still is far from normal), but in those days it was almost unheard of. Almost, since it was precisely Ira Rubin who had built up some sort of a reputation for just this kind of action. This puts the spotlight on Belladonna's very uncharacteristic lack of table presence. And table presence was always one of his strengths — in combination with his flawless technique of course.
NS thus got an easy ride, ending up in 4♥, after this uneventful bidding. As mentioned: South easily collected 11 tricks. |
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