RUSSIA
vs ITALY
Round 15, Open Series
It would have been a good idea to sell tickets for the last match
on Rama on Friday evening. The room was completely filled by all
those who wanted to see the match between the two leaders at that
stage. The defending champions, Italy, in full gear after a slow
start against Russia, a team already having drawn the attention
and esteem from the cognoscenti, but also surprising all of us
by its constant flow of positive results. It was the right moment
to create a gap. But which team would take the upper hand on its
opponent? The first three boards saw only two IMP´s exchange
hands, in favour of Russia, but the third board certainly deserves
attention:
Board 3. Dealer South.
E/W Vul.
|
|
ª K Q J
© K Q 9
¨ 10 8 6 2
§ J 5 2 |
ª 7
© 10 8 2
¨ A K Q J 9 7 4
§ Q 9 |
![Bridge deal](../../../graphics/Hand/board3.gif) |
ª A 10 8 6 5 4 3 2
© 6 4
¨ -
§ 8 6 3 |
|
ª 9
© A J 7 5 3
¨ 5 3
§ A K 10 7 4 |
Rama |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Duboin |
Gromov |
Bocchi |
Petrunin |
|
|
|
1© |
2¨ |
3¨ |
3ª |
4§ |
4¨ |
4© |
All Pass |
|
From 3ª onwards, the Italians were already beyond their safety
level, but the shortest and most natural road on this board would
be the one to game in hearts. On the two top diamond honours led
by Duboin, Bocchi threw two clubs, thus making declarer´s
task much easier, but that´s not yet the end of the story.
Duboin continued his singleton spade to partner´s ace, and
Bocchi returned the suit. Petrunin took the §4 in his hands for
a moment, thus causing the Russian supporters to hold their breath,
but then he regained his composure and started to take the auction
into account. The §4 quickly went back into his hand and was replaced
by a safer-looking ©J. Russia +420.
Closed Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Kholomeev |
Lauria |
Zlotov |
Versace |
|
|
|
1© |
3¨ |
Dble |
Pass |
4§ |
Pass |
4© |
All Pass |
|
The horizontals in this room stayed more quiet, as they are playing
safe during the auction a little more, and the final contract
was the same as N/S had less options to choose from. In defence,
however, something strange happened. Kholomeev led the ¨K, probably
intending to stay on lead, but Zlotov did not allow this, taking
the trick by ruffing it and continuing the ªA and ª8. Do you remember?
They had not mentioned spades in this room and usually it´s
not so easy to hide away an eight-card suit. So, for Versace it
was pretty natural to discard hid second diamond and pretty natural
to be astonished when Kholomeev ruffed this trick. So the problem
of locating the §Q had come back. West continued the ¨A, ruffed
by Versace who next played two rounds of hearts ending in his
hand. After cashing the §A and noting the fall of the nine, Versace
crossed to dummy with a trump, played the ªK throwing a club and,
with a perfect idea of the distribution of the hand in his mind,
called for the §J which he overtook with the §K in his hand to
halve the board. Please note that Zlotov, contrary to what had
happened on Rama, had held on to all the small clubs in his hand
not to give away any vital indication to declarer.
The real first blood in the encounter went in the direction of
the Azzurri:
Board 4. Dealer West.
All Vul.
|
|
ª A 5
© Q 10 9 2
¨ J 6 3
§ K 8 5 2 |
ª K Q 6 4
© A J 5 4
¨ A K Q 10
§ 7 |
![Bridge deal](../../../graphics/Hand/board3.gif) |
ª J 10 9 2
© K 8 6
¨ 5 4 2
§ J 10 9 |
|
ª 8 7 3
© 7 3
¨ 9 8 7
§ A Q 6 4 3 |
Rama |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Duboin |
Gromov |
Bocchi |
Petrunin |
1¨ |
Pass |
1© |
Pass |
2NT |
Pass |
3¨ |
Pass |
4ª |
All Pass |
|
|
1© was a transfer to spades, of course, as we all know by now.
After 2NT, a strong raise in spades, by Duboin, the Italian pair
easily reached the proper game contract and made 11 tricks. Italy
+650.
Things went wrong in the other room:
Closed Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Kholomeev |
Lauria |
Zlotov |
Versace |
1§ |
Pass |
1¨ |
Pass |
1© |
All Pass |
|
|
The Russian mechanism came to a premature halt in the first major
suit available. Eight tricks, but only +110 to Russia and 11 IMP´s
to Italy.
Board 6, though being another flat board, was another worthwhile
example of counting a hand:
Board 6. Dealer East.
E/W Vul.
|
|
ª K Q 10 9
© J 5 3
¨ Q 7 4 2
§ 8 7 |
ª J 6 5 4 3
© Q 2
¨ J 9 3
§ J 5 3 |
![Bridge deal](../../../graphics/Hand/board3.gif) |
ª 8 7 2
© K 9 6
¨ K 10
§ K 10 9 6 4 |
|
ª A
© A 10 8 7 4
¨ A 8 6 5
§ A Q 2 |
Let´s start with the Closed Room:
West |
North |
East |
South |
Kholomeev |
Lauria |
Zlotov |
Versace |
|
Pass |
1© |
|
Pass |
2© |
Pass |
4© |
All Pass |
|
|
|
Kholomeev led the ª3 and Versace, on lead with the ace, immediately
decided the fate of the hand: he led a low diamond from hand and
played low from dummy when West contributed the nine. Zlotov won
the ¨10 and, being thrown in already, continued the ¨K. Versace
won the ace and played two rounds of trumps. West could win his
©Q but as he had no winning move available, continued a club after
which declarer showed his cards, claiming the balance except the
©K. Italy +420.
Rama |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Duboin |
Gromov |
Bocchi |
Petrunin |
|
|
Pass |
1§* |
Pass |
1NT |
Pass |
2© |
Pass |
3§ |
Pass |
3ª |
Pass |
4© |
All Pass |
|
* strong |
Same contract, same lead, different story. After the ªA, Petrunin
too led a diamond from his hand, but put up the queen on West´s
nine. Bocchi too won the ¨K and returned the suit. Declarer won
and threw in Duboin with a third round of diamonds. On the club
return Petrunin took Bocchi´s king with the ace and led
a low heart. Duboin played low without a flicker and Bocchi took
dummy´s jack with his king. He returned another club to
South´s queen. East, who had passed in first position, had
already shown up with three kings. This Italian pair would certainly
not refrain from opening very light, so Petrunin played off the
©A, felling the queen from West, and winning his contract as well
as the applause from the Rama audience.
Halfway through the match the hand that would decisively change
the direction of the encounter came up:
Board 10. Dealer East.
All Vul.
|
|
ª A 9 6
© A 6
¨ K Q
§ A K J 10 6 3 |
ª K J 8 7
© K 7 4
¨ 10 9 5 2
§ 7 4 |
![Bridge deal](../../../graphics/Hand/board3.gif) |
ª Q 10 4 3
© J 10 9 5 3
¨ 4 3
§ 9 5 |
|
ª 5 2
© Q 8 2
¨ A J 8 7 6
§ Q 8 2 |
Rama |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Duboin |
Gromov |
Bocchi |
Petrunin |
|
|
Pass |
Pass |
Pass |
1§ |
Pass |
1NT |
Pass |
2§ |
Pass |
2© |
Pass |
2ª |
Pass |
3ª |
Pass |
4ª |
Pass |
4NT |
Pass |
5¨ |
Pass |
5ª |
Pass |
7§ |
All Pass |
|
Chapeau for the Russian pair to arrive at the highest level in
great style. 1§ was strong and 1NT showed 8-10 hcp. 2§ was a suit
and started a series of relays. 2© showed a balanced hand without
any four-card major and 3ª then showed a five-card suit in diamonds.
4ª was RKC for clubs, 4 NT showing 1 keycard. 5¨ simply asked
for the queen of trumps and 5ª confirmed it. The only uncertain
factor in the auction thus was the ¨J which proved to be a wonderful
card. Even if the grand slam would have been impossible to make,
it was a great auction, worth a shot at the maximum playing level.
Gromov showed his hand at trick three after winning the heart
lead and drawing two rounds of trumps.
Closed Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Kholomeev |
Lauria |
Zlotov |
Versace |
|
|
Pass |
Pass |
Pass |
1§ |
Pass |
1¨ |
Pass |
3NT |
All Pass |
|
Rather lazy bidding by Lauria. There are hands on which 3NT might
be the right contract, but not this one. Lauria paid the price
for it when Versace brought a prefect fit and the Russians began
to run away with this 16-IMP swing in their favour.
Board 12. Dealer West.
N/S Vul.
|
|
ª A 7 5 3
© 10 2
¨ Q 10 3
§ A Q 5 4 |
ª Q 6
© 9 8 5 4
¨ J
§ J 10 8 6 3 2 |
![Bridge deal](../../../graphics/Hand/board3.gif) |
ª J 8 4
© K Q J 6 3
¨ K 9 5 4
§ 9 |
|
ª K 10 9 2
© A 7
¨ A 8 7 6 2
§ K 7 |
Rama |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Duboin |
Gromov |
Bocchi |
Petrunin |
Pass |
Pass |
1© |
Dble |
4© |
Dble |
Pass |
4ª |
All Pass |
|
|
|
In spite of the Italian acceleration the Russians easily landed
in the right contract. Duboin led the ¨J, covered all round. Petrunin
continued with the ªK and the ¨2 giving Duboin the chance to ruff
and continue hearts. On lead with the ©A, declarer drew a second
round of trumps and played on clubs. Bocchi ruffed the second
round of the suit and could cash one heart trick, but that was
the last trick for the defence. Contract just made, Russia +620.
Closed Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Kholomeev |
Lauria |
Zlotov |
Versace |
3§ |
Pass |
Pass |
Dble |
Pass |
3NT |
All Pass |
|
Kholomeev, first to speak non vulnerable, decided to make life
hard for his opponents by launching a bomb in clubs. This attack
turned out to be a success as it guided the Italian pair into
the wrong contract. Zlotov led the ©K and, when this lead, continued
the suit to the ace in dummy. Lauria cashed three rounds of clubs
trying to put some pressure on east, but Zlotov was having no
problems as he could safely discard a diamond and the ©J. After
the cashing the ªAK, Lauria, with his hopes already down to nearly
zero, turned his attention to diamonds, but to no avail. Down
two, Russia +200 and another 13 IMP´s. 3NT- 2, 200 per la
Russia. Even a correct view in diamonds would have brought declarer
only eight tricks.
Two more big swings sealed the Russian victory:
Board 13. Dealer North.
All Vul.
|
|
ª Q
© 9 7 6 4 3 2
¨ K Q
§ K J 4 2 |
ª K 10 9 6 4
© 5
¨ A 2
§ Q 10 9 6 5 |
![Bridge deal](../../../graphics/Hand/board3.gif) |
ª J 7 5 3 2
© K Q J
¨ 6 5 3
§ A 8 |
|
ª A 8
© A 10 8
¨ J 10 9 8 7 4
§ 7 3 |
Rama |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Duboin |
Gromov |
Bocchi |
Petrunin |
|
Pass |
Pass |
Pass |
2ª |
3© |
4ª |
All Pass |
A normal enough contract, but destined to fail on a diamond lead
or also, to make things a little more difficult, on a spade lead
to the ace and a diamond switch. Gromov made life easy by leading
the ¨K. After this lead, the hand could soon be put into the archives.
Duboin lost a trick to the ªQ, but as he had concede a trick to
the ©A and cashed the remaining hearts in dummy before, Gromov
was forced to lead away from his §K when in with the ªQ. Down
only one, Russia +100.
Closed Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Kholomeev |
Lauria |
Zlotov |
Versace |
|
Pass |
1ª |
2¨ |
4ª |
4NT |
Dble |
Pass |
Pass |
5¨ |
Dble |
All Pass |
Versace´s weak overcall made Lauria put the brakes off.
He certainly held a worthy hand opposite a stronger intervention.
It might well be that the hand belonged to the Italians, in which
case they could not run the risk of losing their own possible
game and conceding one to the opponents at the same time. As it
was, they lost 500 points with no game on for the opponents, and
the Russian lead had become even more serious.
Board 18. Dealer East.
N/S Vul.
|
|
ª J 9 6 3
© A K 9 3
¨ 7
§ 10 8 6 5 |
ª K Q 10 5 2
© 10 8 7
¨ 10 8 6
§ 7 3 |
![Bridge deal](../../../graphics/Hand/board3.gif) |
ª A 8 7 4
© 6
¨ A 9 5 4 2
§ A K 9 |
|
ª
© Q J 5 4 2
¨ K Q J 3
§ Q J 4 2 |
Rama |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Duboin |
Gromov |
Bocchi |
Petrunin |
|
|
1¨ |
1© |
Dble |
2NT |
4ª |
All Pass |
Simple bidding on Rama, but it brought E/W into a contract they
unfortunately could not make. The 4-0 trump break will cause declarer´s
undoing. The price to be paid would probably be small, however,
and the board would be flat. Or would it?
No, not quite:
Closed Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Kholomeev |
Lauria |
Zlotov |
Versace |
|
|
1¨ |
1© |
1ª |
2NT |
3© |
4¨ |
Pass |
4© |
4ª |
Pass |
Pass |
Dble |
Rdbl |
Pass |
Pass |
5© |
Dble |
All Pass |
In the Closed Room, Zlotov really thought he would make 4ª, and
even if he did not think so, his poker move came off perfectly
well as Lauria could not be sure of defeating the contract. When
Lauria took shelter, he was severely punished by Zlotov who thus
completed the success on this hand by taking a 500-points penalty.
The match ended with a 21-9 victory to Russia, a serious setback
for Italy and a convincing step forward for Russia.
|