Luck with Germans

Humburgh and Mattsson had a really good session yesterday evening scoring about 65% in their session; maybe the time has come for them to win the competition. They are playing a very solid bridge and don't do that many mistakes on their own. In the previous two championships they have been #1 into the last session but in The Hague 97´ they failed in the last ones and ended up in second place. In Warsaw 99´ they dropped out from the top three. What will their position be tonight?

Some luck mixed with well-played hands and good bidding is good combinations in this game. They have it all; question is if they now are enough mentally strong to keep their position?

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

West	North	East	South
	Humburgh		Mattsson
	1¨	Pass	2¨
Pass	3NT*	Pass	4¨*
Pass	4NT*	Pass	5§*
Pass	5©*	Pass	7¨
All Pass

3NT, showed some extras and stoppers in both majors
4¨ was ace asking
4NT told about two aces and no diamond queen
5§ asked about specific kings
5© told about the heart king

Göran Mattsson now thought he had enough information, he knew that his partner also needed to have the king of spades for his bidding. So the spade loser could be pitched on the king of hearts.

At worst it would be a 50% chance of making the grand slam depending on that finesse in clubs. But Mattsson thought he had a better chance than that, because West would most probably have doubled 5 clubs with the king of clubs, and when he didn't Mattsson suspected it to be onside, therefore he jumped to his grand slam. West maybe should have read something about Zia doubles and cue-bids and doubled here and kept them in six…

Board 2. Dealer East. N-S Vul.   ª 9 © Q 9 5 ¨ Q 6 § A J 9 8 6 3 2 ª Q 6 5 3 © K J 6 3 ¨ A K 4 § 10 4 ª K 10 8 4 © A 8 7 4 ¨ 10 9 8 7 § Q   ª A J 7 2 © 10 2 ¨ J 5 3 2 § K 7 5

West	North	East	South
	Humburgh		Mattsson
		Pass	Pass
1¨	3§	Dbl	All pass!!!

Here is some proof about how lucky you may be at this game. East probably thought he had the most perfect take-out double and West either didn't see the double or thought it was something else then a take-out. Three clubs was a cold game - just to score in some more points for the Germans.

In the last board of the play in that session they had more luck when playing against Juuri-Oja x2 from Finland. The Finnish pair plays a "blue team club" with canapé openings.

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

West	North	East	South
Juuri-Oja	Humburgh	Juuri-Oja	Mattsson
		1©*	Pass
2NT*	Pass	3§*	Pass
4©	All Pass

Two no-trump was a Jacoby sequence where East showed "a minimum hand", West then dropped all visions about that they maybe had a slam here, and simply jumped to game. Only counting HCP East has a minimum hand but the strength in that hand playing should be enough to show it as a maximum one.

Mattsson lead his singleton club, when the queen held the trick declarer pulled trumps and claimed for thirteen tricks.

Preemptive Theory

On the last day we have to grab what we can and in the words of the Editor, 'Type until your fingers bleed'. So don't blame us if you find a few red spots on tonight's bulletin. In former times the perceived wisdom was that after preempting you should keep quiet but today's stars frequently take a different view, as witness this deal from the third session of the Open Final.

Krysztof Martens

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

West	North	East	South
Cichocki	Lewsniewski	Zurakowski	Martens
			3¨
Pass	4¨	Dbl	Pass
4ª	Pass	Pass	5¨
Pass	Pass	5ª	All Pass

With Four Spades being cold it was very right for Martens to bid again, the more so since Five Diamonds was going to make. Of course, East was always going to go on to Five Spades. It looks as if a winning guess in hearts will allow that contract to make, but there are not enough entries to dummy for declarer to prevail.

One deal does not decide a Championship but as the contestants at the top of the two leader boards were all too well aware, every board is a potential minefield.
Our last minute dash around the two finals spotted some incidents that will be sure to influence the final outcome.

Board 2. Dealer East. North/South Vul   ª Q J 7 5 4 3 © A J 8 ¨ 10 7 4 § K ª 8 6 © 6 3 ¨ J 9 8 6 5 3 2 § 9 3 ª A 9 2 © K Q 7 ¨ A § A J 8 5 4 2   ª K 10 © 10 9 5 4 2 ¨ K Q § Q 10 7 6

West	North	East	South
Ferraro	Gawecki	De Falco	Tutka
		1§	Pass
1¨	Pass	2NT	Pass
3¨	Pass	3NT	All Pass

Two no trumps promised 18-20 points and Ferraro retreated to what he hoped would be a safer contract. Unfortunately De Falco thought it was forcing and went on to a totally hopeless spot.

He was allowed to win the opening lead of the nine of hearts and his next move was a low club to the nine. South gave it a look but when he played low declarer had three losers in that suit. The defence gave nothing away and the contract was five down, -250 and almost certainly worth next to nothing.

Our next deal involved a dash into the Senior final to check out the form of the two leading pairs.

Board 4. Dealer West. All Vul   ª K Q J 3 © K 8 6 ¨ Q 10 3 2 § A 7 ª A 7 2 © A Q 3 2 ¨ - § K J 10 8 6 3 ª 10 9 4 © 5 ¨ A K J 7 6 § 9 5 4 2   ª 8 6 5 © J 10 9 7 4 ¨ 9 8 5 4 § Q

West	North	East	South
Stanley	Dan	Rue	Saxon
1§*	1NT	2¨	2©
All Pass

This was an awkward deal for the English pair's methods, as the opening bid could have been based on a three card suit. However, East might have saved the day by bidding Three Clubs at his second turn. West led the jack of clubs and if declarer had let this run to the queen two hearts could have been made. However she went up dummy's ace and finished one down. Still, that looked to be a poor result for the second placed pair.

West	North	East	South
Mattsson	Bahnik	Humburg	Grosman
2§*	Dbl	Redbl	Pass
Pass	2ª	3§	Pass
3©	Pass	4§	Pass
4ª	Dbl	5§	All Pass

North led the king of spades and declarer won with the ace, cashed the ace of hearts and ruffed a heart. His spade losers went on the ace and king of diamonds and he then ruffed a spade and ruffed a heart, felling North's king. He now played a trump and was soon claiming twelve tricks for an excellent score for the leaders.North led the king of spades and declarer won with the ace, cashed the ace of hearts and ruffed a heart. His spade losers went on the ace and king of diamonds and he then ruffed a spade and ruffed a heart, felling North's king. He now played a trump and was soon claiming twelve tricks for an excellent score for the leaders.

North led the king of spades and declarer won with the ace, cashed the ace of hearts and ruffed a heart. His spade losers went on the ace and king of diamonds and he then ruffed a spade and ruffed a heart, felling North's king. He now played a trump and was soon claiming twelve tricks for an excellent score for the leaders.