I have looked at a few of the deals in Vubridge where there were big swings.  Hamman is one of my bridge heroes and rarely makes an obvious mistake.  This is one such.

To see the actual board as it was recorded on BBO with running commentaries (both rooms) click here: Vu-graph 19443 Board 7.

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From the play after two tricks it is clear that South started with ♠A 10 8 4. Hamman played ♥5 and lost 13 IMPs.

It’s difficult to see why. It only wins if South (Zia) has ♥J but loses a trick and tempo if not. I think the play of ♦9, 5 or 2 is clear-cut and tried to see why Hamman did not.

It’s only the third time I’ve seen him do something wrong that seems obvious. Perhaps he thought that a low diamond would confuse partner and ♦9 might (correctly) make partner think he had ♦8. That is the only explanation I can find.

If South had ♦Q 7 x x he can afford to cover ♦10 only if North has ♦9 8. In the ending, to add insult to injury, South was squeezed in diamonds and spades for an overtrick.

In the open room Helness switched to ♦2 which travelled round ♦10, ♦J, ♦K. The contract can still be made double dummy against best defence but it is counter-intuitive.

Declarer finesses ♣J, cashes ♣A and ♦A and comes to hand with ♣K. That forces North to discard a heart otherwise either ♦6 makes a trick or a spade can be established by ducking.

West then cashes ♦Q and can finesse ♥Q. Then he ducks a low heart to ♥J and ♥K.

North can cash ♣Q but has to lead a heart from ♥ 10 6 into East’s ♥A 8 at the end. [For the technically minded, North is three suit strip squeezed and the heart threat is a mole.]

At the table declarer (Katz) played ♠J to South’s ♠A. Helgemo then found the only losing switch to a heart. Any other suit defeats the contract, including cashing his ♠A.

Katz again found the “losing” play of ♥J rather than ♥4. North covered and East won ♥A. Declarer subsequently went two off.

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