The team Vienna has defeated in final Manchester and has won the forty edition, autumn 2023, of the BBO Tonci Radelja Memorial, previously called “BBO Intercity League”. In this edition have played fifty-four teams from twenty-three countries of Europa, Middle East, Africa, and North America.
The site (by Paul Gipson): https://sites.google.com/view/bbo-intercity-league/home
Winners and runner up:
Vienna: Sylvia Terraneo, Franz Terraneo, Tino Terraneo, Kurt Feichtinger, Arno Lindermann, Hans-Richard Grümm, Robert Franzel, Heinrich Berger.
Manchester: Jeffrey Smith, Leslie Klein, Davie Barton, Royce Alexander, Alec Smalley.
This is the third straight win by Vienna (autumn 2022 and 2023; spring 2023), who also won the spring 2021 edition. The record, however, is still by Ascoli Piceno, who won five straight edition and eight overall, a team in which also played several Italian champions, a future Venice Cup champion, and two Bermuda Bowl runner up.
The hand. Somebody has reported that during the last hand of this final, at least three cardiologists were called by kibitzers, but it is probably an exaggeration; what’s sure is that there were a physician and a pharmacist.
The match was played in 24 deals. After the 23rd, Manchester was lagging 5 IMPs. This was the 24th:
In Sylvie and Kurt’s room, the contract was 6♣ by North after that both opponents had overcalled spades; in Jeffrey and Royce’s, opponents also overcalled spades, but the contract was 7♣, still by North.
Kurt, declarer at 6♣ contract, could afford to lose a trick, therefore he cleared the trumps and made a safety play, the finesse by ruff at diamonds, making 6+1. Royce, instead, has chosen another plan which didn’t need the finesse (there wasn’t longer a safety play): he tried to establish the diamonds by ruff. The drawback of this plan is that declarer’s trumps also needed as entries, and he couldn’t beforehand clear the trump, undergoing the over-ruff.
The spring 2024 edition of the the Tonci Radelja Memorial – Intercity League will start on Wednesday 6 March. The registration are already opened; write to: turbinazione@gmail.com
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Paolo Enrico Garrisi