Closed Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Schneider |
Charlsen |
Roll |
Ellestad |
|
|
Pass |
Pass |
1ª |
Pass |
Pass |
2© |
2ª |
All Pass |
|
|
Open Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Harr |
Vax |
Kvangraven |
Amit |
|
|
Pass |
2© |
Dble |
Pass |
2NT |
Pass |
3ª |
Pass |
3NT |
All Pass |
Ran Schneider was allowed to make 11 tricks
in the Closed Room, for +200. The stakes were rather higher
in the Open Room, where Gunnar Harr showed a strong hand by
doubling the weak two opening then bidding his spades over Kvangraven’s
Lebensohl response.
It was tough for East to judge that 4ª
would be better than 3NT and his actual choice gave the Israelis
a chance to beat him. Asaf Amit led a heart to the ten and queen
and Kvangraven led a spade to the king. Best is surely for North
to duck a couple of rounds of spades.
Not only will he get a discard from his
partner, but this will also make it clear to South that the
spades are running. In practice Vax won the first spade.
To defeat the contract, he had to switch
to a low club and Amit had to appreciate the position and win
with the ace and return the queen. Vax switched to the §10 and
now there was no defence; +630 and 10 IMPs to Norway.
Vax’s defence would have been correct
had declarer held §Q9x - if he holds four clubs he is likely
to get the position right whatever North does.
Board 9. Dealer North. E/W Vul. |
|
ª
K Q J 6 4
© 2
¨ 9 8
§ A 10 9
7 6 |
ª
A 7
© Q
¨ A K J 10
6 3 2
§ K Q 3 |
![Bridge deal](../../../Graphics/Hand/board.gif) |
ª
10 8 2
© A J 8 6
4 3
¨ Q
§ 8 5 4 |
|
ª
9 5 3
© K 10 9
7 5
¨ 7 5 4
§ J 2 |
Closed Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Schneider |
Charlsen |
Roll |
Ellestad |
|
1ª |
Pass |
Pass |
Dble |
2§ |
2© |
2ª |
3NT |
Pass |
4© |
Dble |
All Pass |
|
|
|
Open Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Harr |
Vax |
Kvangraven |
Amit |
|
1ª |
Pass |
1NT |
Dble |
2§ |
2© |
Pass |
3NT |
All Pass |
|
|
One can understand every action taken
by the two East/West pairs but that does not necessarily mean
that one has to agree with them.
like Amit’s 1NT response on the South
hand more than Olav Ellestad’s pass, as it created a slightly
more difficult situation for Harr, but should not West foresee
the pressure he is putting his partner under by starting with
a double and simply overcall 3NT?
Sure, that will work out badly sometimes,
but we can see in the Closed Room what can go wrong after a
double. Actually, I think that, rather than criticise Roll too
much for correcting to his six-card major, we should be congratulating
Kvangraven for bidding only 2©
and then sitting for 3NT in the Open Room.
After a spade lead, 3NT made exactly for
+600 to Norway. Meanwhile, 4© got doubled and was completely
hopeless. After a spade lead, ducked, and a spade back, Roll
did OK to get out for two down; 500 and 15 IMPs to Norway.
Board 13. Dealer North. All Vul. |
|
ª
Q J 8 3 2
© K 9 4
¨ J 5 4
§ Q 10 |
ª
9 7
© A Q 7 3
2
¨ K 7 3 2
§ K 7 |
![Bridge deal](../../../Graphics/Hand/board.gif) |
ª
A K 5
© 10 5
¨ A Q 8 6
§ A J 8 4 |
|
ª
10 6 4
© J 8 6
¨ 10 9
§ 9 6 5
3 2 |
Closed Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Schneider |
Charlsen |
Roll |
Ellestad |
|
Pass |
1§ |
Pass |
1© |
1ª |
2NT |
Pass |
3¨ |
Pass |
3NT |
All Pass |
Open Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Harr |
Vax |
Kvangraven |
Amit |
|
Pass |
1§ |
Pass |
1© |
Pass |
2NT |
Pass |
3© |
Pass |
3NT |
Pass |
4¨ |
Pass |
4ª |
Pass |
4NT |
Pass |
5§ |
Pass |
6¨ |
All Pass |
|
|
Norway seemed to have taken a firm grip
on the match and the gold medal when Harr/Kvargraven bid to
the borderline slam. +1370 to Norway and +660 to Israel; 12
IMPs to Norway, who led by 37-6.
The Norwegian lead had increased to 41-6
but then Israel came back strongly.
Board 16. Dealer West. E/W Vul. |
|
ª
Q 10 2
© Q J 7
¨ A Q 7 5
§ 10 9 6 |
ª
A K J 8 5 3
© 9 6 3 2
¨ J
§ A 3 |
![Bridge deal](../../../Graphics/Hand/board.gif) |
ª
7 4
© A K 8 5
¨ 10 9 2
§ Q J 8 7 |
|
ª
9 6
© 10 4
¨ K 8 6 4
3
§ K 5 4
2 |
Closed Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Schneider |
Charlsen |
Roll |
Ellestad |
1ª |
Pass |
1NT |
Pass |
2© |
Pass |
3© |
Pass |
4© |
All Pass |
|
|
Open Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Harr |
Vax |
Kvangraven |
Amit |
1ª |
Pass |
1NT |
Pass |
2ª |
All Pass |
|
|
What would you rebid with the West hand?
Two Hearts is more likely to get you to a good game, as here,
but 2ª may well
lead to a safer partscore and also avoid problems when East
raises hearts with a weaker four-card holding.
This time, the heart rebid was the big
winner as it enabled Roll/Schneider to get to what proved to
be an easy game. Four Hearts made +650 and 2ª
+170 - 10 IMPs to Israel.
Board 17. Dealer North. None Vul. |
|
ª
K Q 7 4
© J 8 2
¨ A K 10
7
§ 9 6 |
ª
J 10 9 8 5 3
© K 6 4
¨ 2
§ A J 7 |
![Bridge deal](../../../Graphics/Hand/board.gif) |
ª
A
© 10 5 3
¨ 9 8
§ K Q 10 8 5 4 2 |
|
ª
6 2
© A Q 9
7
¨ Q J 6 5
4 3
§ 3 |
Closed Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Schneider |
Charlsen |
Roll |
Ellestad |
|
1¨ |
3§ |
Dble |
Pass |
3ª |
Pass |
4¨ |
All Pass |
|
|
|
Open Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Harr |
Vax |
Kvangraven |
Amit |
|
1¨ |
2§ |
3§ |
3ª |
Pass |
Pass |
4¨ |
4ª |
Dble |
All Pass |
|
Four Diamonds made exactly for +130.
Who would you blame for the disaster in
the Open Room? Perhaps East could have bid 4§
over 3ª, but
his pass seems quite reasonable - after all, why get higher
with no knowledge of a real fit anywhere?
Bidding that spade suit twice looks too
much and it was severely punished - note that there is no way
to defeat 5§
if declarer reads the spade position correctly.
The defence to 4ª
doubled was just right. Vax led two rounds of diamonds and Harr
ruffed then played a trump to the ace and a club back to hand
for a second trump lead. Vax won and played a third diamond,
again ruffed.
Declarer played the §J
then his last club and Vax ruffed, cashed the king of spades
and played his fourth diamond. Declarer could only make his
last trump for four down and -800; 12 IMPs to Israel.
Board 20. Dealer West. All Vul. |
|
ª
10 9 4 2
© Q 2
¨ A
§ K 10 9
8 4 2 |
ª
7
© K 9 8 6
5 4
¨ K Q 8 5
§ 7 5 |
|
ª
A K Q 6 3
© 7
¨ J 7 6 3
§ A Q 3 |
|
ª
J 8 5
© A J 10
3
¨ 10 9 4
2
§ J 6 |
Closed Room![Bridge deal](../../../Graphics/Hand/board.gif) |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Schneider |
Charlsen |
Roll |
Ellestad |
2© |
All Pass |
|
|
Open Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Harr |
Vax |
Kvangraven |
Amit |
2¨ |
Pass |
2NT |
Pass |
3§ |
Pass |
3ª |
Pass |
4ª |
All Pass |
|
|
What would be your judgement of the East
hand opposite a weak 2© opening? I have a lot of sympathy with
Roll’s pass - game is unlikely unless the hands fit very well
or you play a very disciplined weak-two style. Here, 2© made
an overtrick for +140.
Kvangraven responded 2NT, a puppet to
3§, we believe,
then followed up by bidding his spades. I am not convinced that
it is correct to raise with a singleton, being of the school
that thinks partner could bid 4ª
himself if a small singleton is sufficient trump support.
However, one can understand Harr’s concern
about the club position. Three No Trump is not a good contract
by any means - it just happens that it will make after South
has made the normal lead of a diamond.
Four Spades is not automatically down,
but the same diamond lead to the ace and a club switch to the
queen meant that declarer needed second sight to bring home
his contract. Kvangraven played three rounds of clubs, hoping
to ruff in dummy.
Amit ruffed in with the eight of spades
and gave Vax a diamond ruff (perfection would have been to cash
the ©A first).
A fourth club allowed declarer to get his heart loser away but
Amit could ruff and give his partner another diamond ruff for
two down; -200 and 8 IMPs to Israel.
After looking in danger of suffering a
serious beating at one point, Israel had come back well to hold
their loss to 37-41 IMPs, 14-16 VPs. They would go into the
final round still in second place, 9 VPs behind Norway, and
with the Netherlands close behind.
|