2017 IBPA Awards

Lyon, France
August 20, 2017
John Carruthers

1 of 16
IBPA Personality of the Year
Benito Garozzo

Benito Garozzo at 89, who is representing Italy in yet another Bermuda Bowl in 2017

 
 
Garozzo at an earlier age with some members of the Blue Team

2 of 16
Our Personality of the Year award rarely goes to players because of their bridge playing skills, but
rather for some other element of their personality or achievements. This year is the exception.

The oldest player present at these championships is not playing in the Seniors, since he was selected
to play for the Italian Open team. Benito Garozzo, who will celebrate his 90th birthday next month,
split his early years between Cairo and Naples and started to play bridge in the early 1940s. He ran a
jewelry business in Naples, but became a member of the Blue Team, starting in 1961, when he was
added as a last-minute substitute in Italy’s Bermuda Bowl team. On the Blue Team, he played in
regular partnerships with Pietro Forquet until 1972 and with Giorgio Belladonna thereafter. He won
13 world championship titles and is considered by many experts to be the world's best-ever bridge
player.

Forquet and Garozzo, as part of the Blue Team, won nine consecutive world team championships
from 1961 to 1969: all seven Bermuda Bowls and both quadrennial World Team Olympiads.
Garozzo then retired for two years, but returned to win the 1972 Olympiad. After 1972,
Belladonna—Garozzo established a partnership and co-created their advanced version of the
Precision Club system called "Super Precision", winning three more consecutive Bermuda Bowls
from 1973 to 1975.

In total, in his incredible career, Benito won ten Bermuda Bowls, three Olympiads, five European
Championships, two European Open Championships (one Open Teams and one Mixed Teams), one
Cap Gemini, one Wernher Trophy at the American NABCs, twelve Italian Team Championships,
five Coppe Italia (the last in 2016 at age 89) and countless other major national and international
championships.

During the championship years, Garozzo came to be considered the best defender of all time. As
such, he was nicknamed il sottomarino (the submarine) as a metaphor for his ability to "see under the
water". As of September 5, 2011, when he turned 84, he was proud of being able to play as many as
ten different bidding systems.

Garozzo lived in the United States for 25 years, from 1987, and became a U.S. citizen in January of
1994. His other pastimes include golf and horse racing. "I play golf almost every day," he says, "and I
go to the races when I have no bridge game."

After the death of Lea DuPont in the spring of 2012, Benito Garozzo returned to live in Italy and
started to play again at the top level. In June 2013, he was runner-up in the European Transnational
Open Team Championships with Roman Zaleski's team. In Montecatini, this year, he and Franco
Masoero finished second in the Senior Teams at Montecatini with Jeff Wolfson and Neil Silverman.
And here he is, 56 years after his first Bermuda Bowl appearance, still going strong.

3 of 16
 Master Point Press Book of the Year
Battling the Best
My Journey through the 2014 Reisinger
(Bridge Winners Press)
by Sartaj Hans, Australia

This book is a personal memoir with loads of fascinating deals. Here’s a sample:

Our opponents for the first two boards are the familiar faces of Sjoert Brink and Bas Drijver. They
sit down at the table and shake our hands. In an environment where almost everyone is business-
like, these friendly and good-natured guys are a rarity. Soon, I end up declaring four spades on these
combined hands:

West Dealer. Both Vul.

[ J542
] Q6
{ AJ98
} J95

[ K 10 9 8 7
] AKJ
{ K 10 7
} K 10

4 of 16
 West North East South
Drijver Gill Brink Hans
Pass Pass Pass 1}1
2}2 Double3 Pass 2[
Pass 4[ Pass Pass
Pass
1. Precision: Strong, artificial, and forcing
2. Natural
3. Usually 6—7 HCP

The lead is the heart three (third/fifth) and I win the queen in dummy as East follows with the five. It
seems natural to draw trumps. Still somewhat groggy, I have some vague visions of retaining the jack
of spades as an entry, so I play a spade to the ten, which holds. Regretting the choice in the spade
suit, I cash the ace of hearts next and ruff the heart king. I notice that the two of hearts has not yet
been played by either defender. As I lead another spade. East wins while West discards an
encouraging club. East switches to a club, West cashes the queen and ace and plays a third one as
East ruffs with the queen of spades. I overruff and now face this position:

[ J
] –
{ AJ98
} –

[ 10 9
] –
{ K 10 7
} –

With three tricks already lost, we need to guess the diamonds for our contract. What information
do we have? Counting the shape, West has shown up with six clubs, one spade, and three or four
hearts (depending on whether or not he has the two), giving him two or three diamonds. Twelve of
his cards are accounted for; the last one is either the two of hearts or a diamond. His shape must be
either 1=3=3=6 or 1=4=2=6. The former shape would mean diamonds are 3-3 and finding the queen
is a total guess. The latter shape would mark East with four diamonds. In that case, the diamond
queen is a favorite to be held by him because the person with length is odds-on to hold any specific
card in a suit. The combined percentages thus clearly favor finessing through East, breaking even
when the suit splits 3-3 and gaining mathematically when the suit is split 4-2.

Before committing to the diamond play, I play an extra round of spades. West discards a club and
East the two of hearts. Great! Now the defenders’ shapes are known as 1=3=3=6 West and
3=5=3=2 East. This is a 50—50 guess after all. Which way would you go?

Just my luck, I recall thinking. The whole board could swing on a blind guess that is totally random.
The first board can set the momentum for the whole session so I scrupulously check the shape and
high cards again. And then suddenly I have a breakthrough.

I was not entitled to the information that East held the heart two! He could easily have concealed
that spot when I cashed the last trump. Had the heart two not appeared, I would have gone with my
original assessment of playing with the odds and finessing through East. It was only after he
volunteered this information that the situation became a 50—50 guess.

I eye East to size him up. This is Sjoert Brink, a world champion. A player who concealed the two of
hearts on the second and third rounds of hearts. Should I trust him to be making a lazy play now?

5 of 16
No way! He is “helping me out” in my information gathering. I decide that the important information
to take away from the heart two discard is not that diamonds are 3—3, but that East wants me to
know they are 3—3. My despondence at the blind guess swinging a full board has switched to
optimism. I confidently finesse through East and unsurprisingly, I’m right.

It was cunning play by Sjoert Brink. He may well have anticipated my likely problem, as the shape of
hands round the table was known. He tried to help me along with the count of the hand. It was a
devious deflective way to tempt me into a losing line of play. I’m glad I woke up in time! The full
hand was:

[ J542
] Q6
{ AJ98
} J95
[ 6 [ AQ3
] 873 ] 10 9 5 4 2
{ 654 { Q32
} AQ7632 } 84
[ K 10 9 8 7
] AKJ
{ K 10 7
} K 10

Other Shortlisted Candidates

Adamson, Alex and Smith, Harry: If I Only Had a Heart: Bridge Over the Rainbow
(Master Point Press)
Bird, David: Famous Bridge Swings (Master Point Press)
MacKinnon, Robert F.: Never a Dull Deal: Faith, Hope and Probability in Bridge (Master Point Press)
Stewart, Frank: Keys to Winning Bridge (Frank R. Stewart)

6 of 16
 Alan Truscott Memorial Award

Alan Truscott, circa 1964, The New York Times

The Alan Truscott Award is presented periodically to an individual or organisation that, in the
opinion of the IBPA Executive, has done something in the world of bridge that Alan would have
approved of and appreciated. Alan was an IBPA Executive member, serving as its president from
1981 to 1985 and was the long-time bridge editor of the New York Times. Alan was also a fine
player: before leaving Great Britain for the United States, Alan represented Great Britain
internationally, earning a first and second in the European Team Championships and a third in the
Bermuda Bowl. Before such things were forbidden, he served as the NPC for Bermuda and Brazil in
World Championships.

Recipient: Bridge Winners

Bridge Winners and its website, www.bridgewinners.com, has enlivened and enriched the lives of
bridge players worldwide since its inception. According to the website …

Bridge Winners connects bridge players from around the world through our social network
and provides a venue to learn, share, and talk about the game we love. Bridge Winners also
offers daily articles, tournament reports, an online convention card editor, and player
profiles. For many of us, being a bridge player is more than just a casual hobby, it envelops
our lives. You don't need to be obsessed with bridge to enjoy Bridge Winners but, if you
are, we've got you covered too.

We encourage our users to actively participate in the community and share their passion by
joining the discussions, posting interesting bridge problems, or writing a blog. We are always
interested in your ideas and feedback, so please don't hesitate to let us know if there is
something missing in your online bridge life.

The Bridge Winners principals are Gavin Wolpert, Jason Feldman, Steve Weinstein, Eugene Hung,
Greg Humphreys, Polly Siegel and Robert Jungblut.

7 of 16
 Keri Klinger Memorial
Declarer Play of the Year
Winner: Boye Brogeland (Norway)
Journalist: Paul Linxwiler (USA)
Article: Master at the Helm
Event: 2017 Vanderbilt
Source: IBPA Bulletin 627, April 2017, p. 9

In the Round of 16 of the Vanderbilt, SCHWARTZ faced DIAMOND.

Board 30. Dealer East. Neither Vul.

[ J874
] A
{ A82
} A9852
[ K 10 6 5 2 [ AQ93
] 5 ] K97432
{ Q 10 6 3 { 9
} J63 } 10 4
[ –
] Q J 10 8 6
{ KJ754
} KQ7

West North East South

Bathurst Lindqvist Lall Brogeland
– – 1] Pass
1NT1 Pass 2[ 3{
Pass 5{ Pass Pass
Double Pass Pass Pass
1. 5+ spades

West led the two of spades (third- and fifth-best), which went to East’s ace, ruffed. Declarer
unblocked the ace of hearts, crossed to the king of diamonds and ran the queen of hearts to East’s
king, West and dummy pitching spades. On the club return (a spade is no better, as we shall see;
declarer will ruff a spade himself shortly), Brogeland won the with the king and played the jack of
diamonds to the queen and ace.

8 of 16
The count of the defenders’ hands was complete: the fifth-best lead in spades meant that West had
started with a 5=1=4=3 pattern, so Brogeland crossed to the ace of clubs, and returned to his hand
with the queen of clubs to create this ending:

[ J
] –
{ 8
} 98
[ K 10 [ Q
] – ] 974
{ 10 6 { –
} – } –
[ –
] J 10 8
{ 7
} –

This is the position that Brogeland foresaw earlier in the play, and it shows why declarer (not
dummy) needs to be on lead at this juncture. West had no answer when declarer played the jack of
hearts. If West pitches a spade, declarer does likewise from dummy. If West ruffs low, declarer
overruffs in dummy and plays the established clubs, holding West to one more trick. If West ruffs
high and plays a trump, declarer wins in dummy and runs the clubs.

Making five diamonds doubled was worth plus 550, and a 4-IMP gain when five clubs made at the
other table for plus 400. Had Brogeland failed, Schwartz would have lost 11 IMPs and the match.
This was the last board of the match, and Schwartz was ahead of Diamond by 8 IMPs.

Other Shortlisted Candidates

Reporter “Star” Bulletin.Page
Micke Melander Jerzy Skrzypczak 621.8
Barry Rigal Bob Hamman 621.17
Phillip Alder Georgi Karakolev 621.19
Stéphane Tardy Steve Weinstein 626.18
Paul Linxwiler Peter Boyd 628.11
Ron Tacchi Craig Gower 629.7

9 of 16
 Gidwani Family Trust
Defence of the Year
Winners: Cédric Lorenzini/Jean-Christophe Quantin (France)
Journalist: Mark Horton (England)
Article/Event: Copenhagen Invitational 2017
Source: IBPA Bulletin 625, February 2017, p. 3

Match 13. Board 1. Dealer North. Neither Vul.

[ A K Q 10 9 8 6 2
] 86
{ –
} AJ3
[ J53 [ 4
] K5 ] J974
{ AK53 { Q 10 8 7 2
} Q854 } K76
[ 7
] A Q 10 3 2
{ J964
} 10 9 2

West North East South

Lorenzini Cullin Quantin Bertheau
– 1[ Pass 1NT
Pass 2}1 Pass 2{2
Pass 3[3 Pass 3NT
4
Pass 4} Pass 4]4
Pass 5{4 Pass 5[
Pass Pass Pass
1. 5/6 spades, 4+ clubs, 11-15, or; 16+
2. Hearts, 8(9)+, game forcing opposite the 16+ hand
3. 16+, 6+ spades, 0-2 hearts
4. Control bids

The Swedes climbed dangerously high — South’s bids seemed to fit North’s hand pretty well. Even
with the king of hearts offside, the contract might still be made by taking two heart finesses, losing
one heart and one club, but … East led the seven of hearts; declarer put in the queen. West took
the king and, after a few moments thought, returned a heart into the tenace — the only way to defeat
the contract. Declarer won and took his only shot by playing a club to the jack, hoping for the king-
queen or a doubleton honour onside. No luck, one down, minus 50. It cost 97 IMPs across the field.
 

10 of 16
 Other Shortlisted Candidates

Reporter “Stars” Bulletin.Page

Ram Soffer Alfredo Versace/Lorenzo Lauria 621.5
Allan Falk Ulf Nilsson 623.15
Bill Jacobs Fabio Lo Presti/Francesco Mazzadi 624.14
Robert Mott Tony Forrester 625.16
Barry Rigal Mike Flader/Barry Purrington 627.5
John Carruthers Jacek Pszczola 629.4

11 of 16
 Yeh Bros. Best Bid Deal of the Year
Winners: Cédric Lorenzini/Jean-Christophe Quantin (France)
Journalist: Jean-Christophe Quantin (France)
Article: Unpublished
Event: 2017 Vanderbilt
Source: Via J-C Quantin to Brent Manley

From the 2017 Vanderbilt Round of 32, #15 STREET (Bessis/Volcker, l’Ecuyer/Street,
Lorenzini/Quantin) v. #18 TULIN (Birman/Padon, Dwyer/Tulin, Kalita/Nowosadzki).

Dealer South.
[ KQJ72 [ A83
] A92 ] K 10 7 5
{ K2 { A98765
} 765 } –

West North East South

Lorenzini Kalita Quantin Nowosadzki
– – – 1}1
2
1[ Pass 2} Double
3}3 Pass 3{4 Pass
3]5 Pass 4}6 Pass
4{6 Pass 4]6 Pass
7
4NT Pass 5NT8 Pass
7[ Pass Pass Pass
1. Polish: natural; or 12-14 balanced; or any 18+
2. Cuebid, showing spade support
3. Good overcall, no club stopper or
looking for 3NT from the other side
4. Natural
5. Values in hearts
6. Control bids
7. RKCB
8. 2 key cards and a void

The contract at the other table was four spades by West. STREET won the match.

12 of 16
 Other Shortlisted Candidates:
Reporter “Stars” Bulletin.Page
=Mark Horton Liv Grude/Bodil Høygarden 621.16
=Knut Kjærnsrød Liv Grude/Bodil Høygarden 624.3
Fernando Lema Benjamin Robles/Joaquín Pacareu 629.9
David Bird Zia Mahmood/Dror Padon 629.17

13 of 16
 Richard Freeman
Junior Deal of the Year
Winner: Nabil Edgtton (Australia)
Journalist: Liam Milne (Australia)
Article: Fantasyland
Event: 16th World Youth Team Championships, Salsomaggiore
Source: IBPA Bulletin 625, February 2017, p. 17

Board 22. Dealer East. EW Vul.

[ A 10
] A8753
{ A54
} Q72
[ K654 [ Q987
] K62 ] 9
{ Q987 { K6
} K 10 } AJ9543
[ J32
] Q J 10 4
{ J 10 3 2
} 86

West North East South

– – 1}1 Pass
1]2 2] 2[ 3]
Double3 Pass 4[ Pass
Pass Pass
1. Natural or any balanced hand of 11-14/18-19
2. 4+ spades
3. Minimum opening with 4 spades

14 of 16
Some contracts look pretty good when the dummy comes down. However, four spades, from the
2016 World Youth Teams Bridge Championships, is not one of them. South leads the queen of
hearts and continues with the jack of hearts. How should you, as East, play?

There are a number of issues to consider. To start, there are three unavoidable top losers. You
can’t afford to lose a second trump trick, so you’ll need a doubleton ace somewhere. In addition,
your side suit needs a bit of love: you need clubs 3-2, and there is the small matter of locating the
club queen. Finally, you are in danger of losing trump control: the opponents have led hearts and
they’ll get in at least once more to shorten the trumps in East.

With his dubious heart holding, the overcaller is more likely to have the trump ace than his partner.
If you ruff at trick two, cross to the king of clubs, lead a spade to the queen, then duck a spade to
North’s ace, he can continue with the ace of hearts to make you ruff again. Having contributed
trumps to tricks two through five, you will be out of trumps at this point, while South still holds one
and dummy the king-low. If the club queen started life as a doubleton, you will make it home from
here by running clubs through South — a trump substitution play. You’ll over-ruff South in the
dummy and get back to hand in diamonds.

What if the clubs aren’t so generously laid out for you? If a defender holds the queen-third of clubs,
drawing trumps straight away is not going to work because of the continuing heart tap. If South
holds the protected lady, you can finesse the ten of clubs. Drawing trumps (through East) will work
fine after the clubs are set up. However, if North holds Her Majesty, things are more difficult. North
holding the queen-third of clubs is inconvenient because it seems to require too many entries to the
dummy. After ruffing at trick two and crossing to the king of clubs, if you lead trumps, you won’t be
able to take a finesse in clubs through North — there is no convenient way back to the dummy. You
could try crossing to the king of clubs and leading the club ten. If you run it and it wins, you are back
in the money by leading trumps. Your clubs are good and the trump substitute play works here as
well.

However, if North does have a doubleton queen of clubs, you will be in your hand without having
drawn any trumps and in the wrong hand to do so. South might have the doubleton spade ace
instead of North, which would allow you to succeed by drawing trumps the other way, but this can’t
be the most likely layout.

At the table, declarer was not content with guessing whether the queen of clubs was doubleton or
third and found a different line: after he ruffed the second heart, he played a club to the king, a spade
to the queen, the ace of clubs and then another club, ruffing it in the dummy (South discarding a
heart). After playing a diamond to his king, declarer was left with:

[ A
] A87
{ A5
} –
[ K6 [ 98
] K ] –
{ Q98 { 6
} – } J95
[ J3
] 10
{ J 10 3
} –

Declarer could no longer play trumps — North would win and tap out the last trump in the East
hand. Then, the hearts would be good after dummy over-ruffed South on the run of the clubs.

15 of 16
Instead, declarer started the trump substitution play by running clubs through South, being careful to
discard the same suit from dummy as South discarded, to prevent an eventual promotion of the jack
of spades. Declarer lost one spade, one heart and one diamond.

Could the defence have prevailed? Yes. The defence had two chances. East could have risen with the
ace of spades and continued the force; that would have made life too difficult for declarer, but was
not an obvious play. The real chance was missed at trick six, when declarer ruffed his third club;
South discarded a heart, but had he thrown a diamond instead, he would have been ahead in the
trump promotion race. Eventually, he’d have made a trick with the jack of spades (after following to
the king of diamonds with his second and discarding a third diamond on the fourth round of clubs as
North ruffed with his ace of spades). The ace of diamonds and another diamond from North would
then have allowed South to make his jack of spades.

Declarer’s line avoided taking a club finesse, so that as well as retaining the chance of the club queen
doubleton in either hand, he had the very real chance of coming home after the club queen turned
out to be protected. Had South held the queen-third of clubs, he would have succeeded and, with
North holding the queen-third, he needed a not-so-obvious defensive error.

Well done to Nabil Edgtton (who gently guided this deal home for 12 IMPs to Australia in the World
Juniors last year). Nabil used a bit of imagination to find the trumps lying well, a bit of intuition to
decide to ruff out the clubs, then a touch of technique at the end to watch the discards and find the
right counter.

Other Shortlisted Candidates:

Reporter “Stars” Bulletin.Page
Mikael Grönqvist Ola & Mikael Rimstedt 622.17
Knut Kjærnsrød Fredrik Helness 624.2
Mark Horton Christian Lahrmann 625.4
Erdal Sidar Ediz Akay 625.14
Erdal Sidar Ediz Akay 625.15
Kees Tammens Michael Alishaw 628.4

16 of 16