Must confess I don't use openquery that much, but from what it looks like, openquery doesn't support four part naming..?

-- snip BOL --

Syntax

OPENQUERY ( linked_server , 'query' )

Arguments

linked_server

Is an identifier representing the name of the linked server.

'query'

Is the query string executed in the linked server.

-- end BOL --

Looks to me the expected format is like the working example you have on top - linked server and the query referencing 'the table' as is...

/Kenneth