The 2nd match we faced Meltzer-Larsen while teammates faced Ron Smith-Billy Cohen. I would like to report that we continued our momentum from the round-robin and jumped out to an early lead but it didn't happen. If we did something good for our side, it was matched at the other table. If we made mistakes, they were punished. We didn't play our best, by any means, but we were still in striking range after the first two matches. This was one of our bright spots:

94 K98654 72 Q54
T873 AQ Q64 KT92	--- JT72 AKT93 8763
AKQJ652 3 J85 AJ

Me(South)	LHO	Bill	RHO
1(1)	P	2(2)	P
3(3)	P	4	All Pass

(1) Our multi-purpose club
(2) A weak 2 in hearts (5-9, 6 hearts)
(3) A 9 trick hand
Bill guessed to bid game hoping his honors would be valuable. The hands did not fit well but our opponents did not have much to go on and I got a favorable lead which gave me a chance.
9, Q, 3, J
A couple reasons for covering the trick in dummy. If RHO has the K, I want the defenders to think I have a club loser. That might give me tempo to ruff a diamond in dummy. The other reason is a layout like above. It's very difficult for RHO to duck a diamond led from dummy, and he has no trump to lead. Double-dummy they can set me but it's very hard. I continued with my plan to ruff a diamond.
2, K, 5, 4
6, A, 2, 4
J, Q, 7, 3
K, 5, 7, 2
Here I made a slight mistake, I should probably ruff a diamond, playing RHO to have no spades given the lack of a trump shift at trick 3. It might not have been clear to do so, however, and I opted to play 1 round of trumps in case a stiff T was lurking.
A, 3, 4, 8
8, 6, 9, 9
What looked like a sure thing a moment ago was now in peril. If RHO gets in, he can lead a diamond to promote a trump trick for his partner. This is why I should not have taken a round of trumps, the 4-0 trump split was more likely than 6-2 diamonds. I was pretty sure LHO held the A on the bidding. If so, I can force her to win the trick.
K, 2, 3, A
Thanks to the fortunate layout, LHO had to win the first heart regardless, but this made sure of it. I was now safe and had my 10 tricks. A nice result. At the other table, our teammate led a trump, killing any chance for declarer. A nice gain for our side. We trailed by 41 IMPs after the first 2 segments. There were 60 boards to play so we still had a chance, but time was running out. We'd need a good start in the 3rd segment.

It didn't happen. We faced Smith-Cohen in the 3rd quarter. They play very few conventions, but are extremely capable (and a lot of fun to boot).
NV vs V, I faced an early decision: JT98 75 KT842 AQ

Cohen	Bill	Smith	Me
3	P	4	P
P	4	5	5
X	All pass

I couldn't be sure who could make what. Most likely both 5 level contracts would fail. On the chance that either (or both) could make I played the odds and bid 5. Had the club finesse worked (a huge favorite on the auction), we'd have gained IMPs. It was not to be and we finished down 1. 5 would also have been down 1. We needed the bulk of the good fortune if we were to have any chance.

This was the main swing hand from the 3rd segment:

J986 T754 -- T8743
AK 3 AKQT543 KJ5	T7532 A98 9 AQ62
Q4 KQJ62 J8762 9

I stuck in a heart overcall for the lead after a strong 2 opening from Cohen. The opponents were on their way to slam when Bill threw in a wild 6 call. We needed to make something happen. Cohen bid 6N suggesting solid diamonds and Smith raised him to 7. Most times, this would be a great contract for them. The foul diamond split spoils it, fortune was on our side here.

Our 2 bids generated another swing at the end of the set but our opponents were too much for us again, adding another 20 IMPs to their lead.
The 4th segment saw us rematched with Sontag-Bates. It was time to start swinging, not crazy yet, but with close decisions, choosing actions that our opponents may not select. The 1st board of this set was the most-published hand of the KO phase. Sadly I was caught napping.

KQ2 76 AKJ832 A9
T9653 A832 6 Q74	--- Q954 5 KJT86532
AJ874 KJT QT974 ---

Bill	Sontag	Me	Bates
3N (1)	P	4(2)	4
P	6	All pass

(1) Minor suit preempt
(2) I thought our opponent might try something different so I made a conservative bid.
When Sontag bid 6, I remember hoping that Bill had a stiff heart so we could set this. The opening lead was the 4, I was convinced it was a singleton. Then dummy hit with only 3 hearts making the singleton unlikely. Rather than scrapping my initial thought, I tried to visualize a layout where Bill could have a stiff heart. I came up with one, but it did not stand up to analysis. Unable to shake my first thought, I foolishly returned a heart, allowing the contract to make.

There were wild results all around on this one, several pairs played 7!
We were not able to make any headway the rest of the segment and we were down 80 IMPs with 30 boards to play.

While still technically possible, we realized we were not going to win the match. Our teammate from Minnesota was driving back that evening and asked to withdraw with 2 segments to play. Since we were a four man team, we were unable to continue. I would liked to have played those last 30 boards, for the experience if nothing else but we acceded to his wishes.

Our team had a great time in Chicago. Next time we'll add a 3rd pair, maybe we'll be fresher in the later stages. Playing 186 boards over 2.5 days definitely takes a toll.

That leads to my final tip: the best way to improve your game is to play with and against better players. I learned a few new tricks during the tourney, and Bill/I found some improvements in some sequences, due in part at least, to watching our opponents in action. Experienced players are also more likely to punish you for your mistakes, allowing you to learn from them (if so, then I learned a lot in Chicago!). That's not to say that you should play the top bracket in every KO or the highest rated pair events all the time, but once in a while you might try playing a level higher than normal. The first few times, you'll probably take your lumps but it's good experience, and there's no rule that says you can't win. Over time, your game will be the better for it.

The Nickell team, which had a bye to the semi-finals, won the trials, though not without some nervous moments. You can read all about the trials (and the womens, seniors, and juniors as well) by clicking here.