Janet de Botton

Bridge | 31 August 2017

issue 02 September 2017

The 43rd World Bridge Championships held in Lyon has just ended after two intense weeks and hundreds of boards. The first week saw 22 teams from around the world play a complete round robin, the top eight qualifying for the play-off.

The USA entered two teams, both of whom made the quarter-final, but only one made it the whole way. USA2 had an extraordinary success, particularly in the semi-final playing against Bulgaria. About halfway through they were 46 imps down, with their prospects looking bleaker by the minute. Marty Fleisher was playing with the great Chip Martel, who won his first world title in 1985. Marty decided a big swing was needed to inject some life into his ailing team. This is the hand that, IMHO, changed the momentum of both the match and the tournament.

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