Hungary vs Sweden
Open Round 15
In Round 15 the VuGraph brought us Hungary v. Sweden. In
the auditorium one could see Jan Kamras, the non-playing captain
of the Swedes. And if one looked better one could see him
wearing two different kinds of shoes. How come ? Two players
of his team accidentally lost one shoe each. This inspired
the captain to wear the remaining shoes, which in fact looked
more or less the same, except for the colours (blue and brown).
Moreover, from the moment that Kamras has been wearing his
pair of odd shoes, his team started winning all its matches.
So he is not inclined to take them off for the rest of the
championships.
We start the report with a hand which surely will be published
all over the world. In fact, Jean-Paul Meyer already bought
the rights for Le Bridgeur from us.
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KAMRAS Jan, Sweden npc
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Board 2. Dealer East. N/S Vul.
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ª K
© A Q 10 6 5 2
¨ A J 3
§ 7 4 3 |
ª A J 6
© 9 8 4 3
¨ 10 9 8 6
§ 8 6 |
![Bridge deal](../../../graphics/Hand/board3.gif) |
ª Q 9 7 5 3
© -
¨ K Q 7 2
§ A 10 9 2 |
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ª 10 8 4 2
© K J 7
¨ 5 4
§ K Q J 5 |
Four Hearts was the popular contract, but hardly anyone made it.
The 4-1 trump split was too hot to handle, since the danger of getting
shortened in trumps was always there. In fact, in the Closed Room
the Hungarian declarer didn't come any further than nine tricks
and therefore the save by Magnus Lindkvist in the Open Room in 4ª
doubled down two cost him money.
Back to the 'impossible' 4©. Impossible ? Perhaps not. With all
cards open one might find the solution. Let's say East leads a spade
to the ace of his partner who returns the suit. Declarer ruffs,
cashes the ©10 and notices the unfavourable trump split. He plays
a club to the king, and plays another three rounds of trumps. This
is the position:
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ª
-
© 6
¨ A J 3
§ 7 4 |
ª
-
© -
¨ 10 9 8 6
§ 8 |
![Bridge deal](../../../graphics/Hand/board3.gif) |
ª
Q
© -
¨ K Q 7
§ A 10 |
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ª
10
© -
¨ 5 4
§ Q J 5 |
VERHEES Louk, Netherlands
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Remember, declarer lost one trick so far. He plays a second
club and East has to duck again. Now the last spade is ruffed,
declarer exits with the third club and East is caught in a
standard Bath coup.
Is this a double dummy analysis with the help of the beautiful
bridge programme DeepFinesse?
By all means, no. It was Dutch star Louk Verhees, who in his
match against Ireland, displayed this great play!
Sweden was unlucky on this one:
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Board 6. Dealer East. E/W Vul.
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ª J
© K J 3 2
¨ K 9 6 5
§ J 8 5 4 |
ª 10 9 7 5 4
© 8 7 4
¨ 10 7 4 2
§ 6 |
![Bridge deal](../../../graphics/Hand/board3.gif) |
ª A K 6 3
© Q 10 9 5
¨ J 3
§ Q 3 2 |
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ª Q 8 2
© A 6
¨ A Q 8
§ A K 10 9 7 |
In the Closed Room, PO played in 3NT. West led a spade, East cashed
his two top spades and played another one for Sundelin's queen.
Declarer cashed first all his high cards in the minor suits and
nothing favourable happened to him. He now relied on the heart finesse,
alas, down two.
In the open room Kemény had a clue which Sundelin lacked:
East had opened the bidding. So here declarer had every reason to
finesse the §Q 11 IMPs to Hungary.
Board 14 was interesting in relation to slam bidding.
Board 14. Dealer East. None Vul.
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ª 5 4 2
© 7 5 4
¨ 10 4 3 2
§ K 9 7 |
ª K 8 7 6 3
© J 9 6
¨ A
§ J 10 4 2 |
![Bridge deal](../../../graphics/Hand/board3.gif) |
ª A 9
© A K Q 10
¨ K Q J 9 8 6
§ 5 |
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ª Q J 10
© 8 3 2
¨ 7 5
§ A Q 8 6 3 |
When you are playing a natural system it seems to be very difficult,
perhaps impossible, to reach 6¨. Though it is very understandable
that the Hungarians bid 6© it is not the right contract. On a club
lead and the trumps 4-2 or worse, you go down.
Playing a strong club system makes life sometimes easier. Jovi
Smederevac and Sascha Wernle playing for Austria against Switzerland
for example had a characteristic Blue Club sequence:
West |
East |
Wernle |
Smederevac |
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1§
(strong) |
1ª
(3 controls) |
2¨ |
2ª |
3¨ |
3NT (minimum) |
4¨ |
4ª
(cuebid) |
6¨* |
Pass |
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* knows that §A or ¨A will do
Another interesting point is that 6¨ is even a better contract
than 3NT. In one of the women's matches declarer went down in 3NT
after a club lead by South for jack and king, a club to the queen
and the eight of clubs, ducked in dummy.
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