High Rollers


We conclude our coverage of the first qualifying session with a look at two of the pairs who were scoring well.

Fabienne Pigeaud and Jean-Christophe Quantin at a time during the first session looked like getting a terrific score. Over the boards 11-16, they averaged 85% though nothing special was actually happening. Still, these boards are a perfect illustration of the way things can go your way if you simply stick to the first objective of playing sensible bridge. Here is board 11:

Board 11. Dealer South. Love All
ª A 6 3
© K Q J 7 5
¨ 6 4
§ Q J 2
ª K 9 8
ª J 10 7 5 4
© A 4 3 2 © 9 6
¨ 7 ¨ A K Q 9 5 2
§ A 6 5 4 3 §
ª Q 2
© 10 8
¨ J 10 8 3
§ K 10 9 8 7

West North East South

Pass
2©
Pass
4ª
All Pass

Two Diamonds showed a three-suiter with at least 4-3 in the majors. The final contrract thus was reached quickly, but it seems too easy to go wrong on this hand. How would you play on the jack of diamonds lead?

Jean-Cristophe Quantin (France_;short description of imageProbably, the simplest way is to ruff a diamond at trick two and lead a top spade from dummy. The ª98 in dummy are looking into declarer's face as if to seduce her to finesse for the trump queen as soon as possible. But if declarer does so, she may find herself in trouble against good defence.

Against Quantin, a trump was led to dummy's eight at trick two. Noth ducked, and suddenly declarer was in an awkward position. She should go back to hand by ruffing something, ruff a diamond and continue trumps, felling the queen in the process, to finish with 12 tricks, but that was not what happened at the table. After cashing dummy's two aces and discarding the heart loser, she ruffed a heart and led another trump to the queen and king. Now North could win his ace and return a heart for declarer to ruff. As the diamonds do not break there is no way now to establish the suit by ruffing, draw the last trump and get back to hand to enjoy the long diamonds, because dummy, declarer and North still hold one trump each.

One down, 313 m.p. to NS.

When West gambled the wrong suit to play in on the next board, Pigeaud-Quantin added another 395 m.p. to finish the table with 708 out of 828. Not bad. More was to come:

Board 13. Dealer North. Love All
ª A K 7 4 2
© K 8
¨ A Q 4
§ J 10 4
ª J 10
ª 9 3
© 10 6 5 2 © Q J 9 7 4 3
¨ J 8 5 ¨ K 7 3
§ K 7 5 2 § 8 6
ª Q 8 6 5
© A
¨ 10 9 6 2
§ A Q 9 3

West North East South

1ª
Pass
2§
Pass
2NT
Pass
3ª
Pass
4¨
Pass
4©
Pass
4NT
Pass
5©
Pass
6NT
All Pass

Now slam is a pretty good contract: either well-placed minor-suit king will see declarer home if the spades break. As there are no extra ruffing tricks you may as well end up in 6 NT. As the cards lie, any slam will fail as both minor kings are behind their respective aces. The important thing is, however, that you have to cater for the possibility that an opponent on lead might consider giving away the slam. In that event, you are much better of in 6 NT than in 6ª. So full marks to Jean-Christophe Quantin for selecting the proper Christmas present to be handed to him when East led a diamond away from her king! Scoring +1440 was worth 410 m.p.

On the other board they added another 370 when EW fell overboard again. Table result: 780-48.

The first board of the next round was a pretty, routine 3 NT:

Board 15. Dealer South. NS Game
ª A J 8
© Q 7 6 5 3
¨ J 10 8
§ A J
ª 5 4
ª K Q 10 7 6 2
© A 2 © J 10 8 4
¨ A 6 2 ¨ 3
§ 10 8 7 6 5 2 § 4 3
ª 9 3
© K 9
¨ K Q 9 7 5 4
§ K Q 9

West North East South

1¨
Pass
1©
2ª
3¨
Pass
3NT
All Pass

East led the queen of spades, ducked all round. A club then went to declarer's ace and the jack of diamonds came next. West won the third round of diamonds and returned his last spade, but for declarer, the hand was an open book, certainly when East began to discard her established spades. The clubs were cashed and a heart trick established at the end to give declarer an overtrick and a score of only 275 m.p.

On the last board of this series, it was bingo again:

Board 16. Dealer West. EW Game
ª A 7 6 5
© A 3
¨ Q J 10 8 5
§ 8 5
ª K J 4
ª Q 9 8 3 2
© 4 © K 10 6
¨ A K 9 7 6 ¨ 4
§ J 6 4 2 § K Q 9 3
ª 10
© Q J 9 8 7 5 2
¨ 3 2
§ A 10 7

West North East South

1¨
Pass
1ª
3©
Dble
All Pass

The double was alerted as 'support,' but after some consideration, East decided to sit for it. She was to regret this idea quickly. On a trump lead, the contract has to go one down, but on the actual spade lead, South seized her chance. She won the ace and led the queen of diamonds. West won his king and again, a trump would have settled the issue. When he tried a club instead, declarer gained a vital tempo by ducking this. Back came a spade from East, but now declarer could ruff and lead her last diamond from hand. West can duck this for East to ruff, but to no avail, as one trump will remain in dummy to cater for the necessary club ruff. At the table, West took his ace and played a trump, but now declarer won the ace and simply led a high diamond. If East ruffs low, she will overruff and ruff her club loser; if east ruffs with her king of hearts, the club loser goes away immediately. Just made for another 397 m.p. and a table of only 672 points.

Time to go to another high-scoring pair.

Peter and Dorthe Schaltz keep a Danish tradition alive: for very many years we have seen a married couple with one Schaltz in it somewhere among the top-level players in Denmark as Peter's parents were a very strong pair in their days as well. Near the end of the session, some good scores helped them to over 64% overall and fifth place in the standings. It went like this:

Board 21. Dealer North. NS Game
ª 8
© A 2
¨ A K 8 5
§ K Q J 5 3 2
ª A J 10 6 4
ª K 9 7 5
© J 8 5 4 © 10 9 7
¨ J 9 2 ¨ Q 7 6 4 3
§ 4 § 10
ª Q 3 2
© K Q 6 3
¨ 10
§ A 9 8 7 6

West North East South

1§
Pass
1©
Pass
2¨
Pass
2NT
Pass
3§
Pass
4§
Pass
4¨
Pass
4©
Pass
4NT
Pass
5¨
Pass
6§
All Pass

A very natural sequence with 2NT the popular relay. For one reason or another, East did not bother to lead a spade. The overtrick meant a 132 m.p. difference (360 to 228).

At the next table:

Board 23. Dealer South. Game All
ª 6
© 9 5 2
¨ 8 7 5 2
§ A J 7 4 2
ª A K 4 3
ª 10 7 2
© K Q 10 6 3 © J 7
¨ K ¨ A J 10 4 3
§ K 8 3 § 10 9 5
ª Q J 9 8 5
© A 8 4
¨ Q 9 6
§ Q 6

West has a difficult call after South opens One Spade. When he elected to bid Two Hearts, everyone passed in respect. On a spade lead, this was down two without any problem at all. NS 350 m.p.

At their last table, Dorthe and Peter picked up a two-trick penalty, vulnerable, when East thought this was the right moment to overcall One Heart with 1NT on this hand:

ª A1054 © A106 ¨ QJ § K1085

Well, she might have been right, holding three tens for compensation, but she wasn't. -500 gave her side only 20 m.p., the balance going to Copenhagen (394).

The last board of the session saw the same EW miss a slam on this one:

Board 26. Dealer East. Game All
ª A Q 10 9 8 7 3
© 10 7
¨ 5 4
§ Q 7
ª K
ª 6 4
© Q 2 © A K J 8 5 3
¨ K J 8 7 6 ¨ A 9 3
§ K J 10 5 4 § A 8
ª J 5 2
© 9 6 4
¨ Q 10 2
§ 9 6 3 2

West North East South

1©
Pass
2¨
2ª
3©
Pass
4§
Pass
4¨
Pass
4©
All Pass

According to East, West should have cuebid Four Spades instead of signing off in Four Hearts. We have to agree with East, even though she did her best in the play to prove herself wrong. A spade went to the ace and a trump came back. Now why not win dummy's queen, cross to the ace of clubs, ruff a spade, cross to the ace of diamonds and draw trumps? No: win the trump switch in hand, ruff a spade with the queen of hearts, cross in clubs and draw trumps. How distressed would North have felt when he had to follow suit with the potential trick-taking ten to the second round of trumps?

Results Contents
;short description of image;short description of image Mixed Pairs
;short description of image3rd Qualification Session
;short description of image1st Final/Consolation Session
;short 
        description of image;short description of imageQualifying Session II
;short description of image;short description of imageHigh Rollers
;short description of image;short description of imageQualifying Session III
;short description of image;short description of imageThoughtful Bridge
;short description of image;short description of imageDutch Treat

 


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