Another Bid For The Title

EAST
(Kaplan)

PASS
PASS
PASS
PASS
PASS

SOUTH
(Rubens)

1 [Heart]
2 [Club]
3 [Club]
4 [Heart]
PASS

WEST
( Kay)

PASS
PASS
PASS
PASS
PASS

Opening lead: ace of diamonds

In contrast with Mathe, Rubens bid conservatively, but Becker's bidding was intrepid. And right! After leading the ace of diamonds, West shifted to a spade. Rubens ruffed, cashed his two top clubs, leaving the trump queen outstanding, then ruffed a diamond and a heart in dummy to make his game for a 600-point score and a net swing of 10 IMPs.

So we'll have two good teams in the world championship for '73. The Aces, without Paul Soloway, will be in there as defenders, and their top competition could come from Becker & Co. But let's not forget those pesky Italians. Although the Blue Team, as such, will be absent, Italy will be represented by a team that includes Giorgio Belladonna and Benito Garozzo, and any squad that stars these two Blues will be hard to beat.