Winners of the 2009 Bermuda Bowl
Zia Mahmood, Bob Hamman, Eric Rodwell,Eric Kokish, Jeff Meckstroth, Donna Compton, Nick Nickell, Ralph Katz (photo courtesy daily bulletin)
USA2 took home the trophy with a convincing 36 IMP win over Italy. Having watched almost all of the final and the rest via the vugraph archives, I can say with certainty that Meckstroth and Rodwell, who played throughout during the knockouts, were the standout best pair in the tournament.
They demonstrated exemplary technique, tremendous mental toughness and a solid system to show their worth. On the other hand, the Italians played in a weak manner with (to my mind) obvious psychological weaknesses in their camp.
Lauria mis-saw his partner's bid, Sementa revoked as declarer, Versace made a zero percent play, Nunes failed to count his tricks, Duboin played a winner on a loser....
Bridge, as usual, was all about delivery.
The chief reason the match was not a blowout was because the other USA2 pairs were not exceptional either. Perhaps I am being unfair to the rest of the USA2 team but the truth of competitive bridge is that "Winning absolves you of all your sins."
