| 18th European Youth Team Championships | Page 5 | Bulletin 11 - Wednesday Evening, 17 July 2002 |
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Juniors Round 20 - Russia v France Going into their Round 20 face-off, France were in the thick of the fight for medals and qualification while Russia were still close enough to the leaders to hope to make it to Beijing if they could put a good late run together. The match started very well for the Russians.
When Olivier Bessis opened 1¨, Godefroy de Tessieres responded 3§, showing a limit raise in diamonds. Bessis converted to 3¨ and played there. Evgeni Rudakov led his singleton club to the jack and king and Bessis returned a club, Rudakov pitching a heart as dummy took the ace. Bessis ran the §6, pitching a heart as Rudakov ruffed. He returned a heart to the queen, king and ace and Bessis led a spade up. Rudakov took the ace of spades and exited with a spade to the king. The next club was ruffed and over-ruffed and a heart returned. When Bessis won and laid down the ¨A, he got a pleasant surprise when the king fell and a second trump meant that he had brought home his contract despite the five-one trump split. Bessis made nine tricks for +110. The Russian North/South got to the no trump game. The lead was adiamond to the jack, king and ace and Vladimir Andreev led a low heart to dummy's queen and Gaviard's king. Back came a spade to the jack and king and Andreev played a spade back. With declarer not needing to rely on the club suit, there was no hope for the defence and Andreev came to ten tricks for +430 and 8 IMPs to Russia.
Yes, 2NT can be defeated - by several tricks - but Gaviard led the ª10 and Leonid Romanovitch took eight tricks in the black suits for +120. At the other table, de Tessieres made avery dubious pass of the take-out double. He led his singleton to declarer's ten and Rudakov played a spade towards dummy. De Tessieres went in with the ªQ and switched to a diamond, which was not the defence to trouble declarer. Rudakov won the ¨Q with his ace and played a second low spade. De Tessieres correctly played low and Bessis won the ace and switched to king then a low club. Rudakov ruffed and started playing winners, coming to seven tricks for +160 and 7 IMPs to Russia. When the French North/South pair messed up a defence to 3NT on the next deal, Russia had a further 12 IMPs and were looking very dangerous indeed. After an exchange of overtrick IMPs, the next significant swing again went the way of Russia.
Would you get involved with the East cards? The problem will come if partner responds in diamonds, of course, and that worry was sufficient to keep Thomas Bessis quiet. Romanovitch made nine tricks in 2ª to score +140 for Russia. Rudakov was prepared to risk the double of 2ª and that paid off handsomely when Alexey Zaitsev's response proved to be 3§, Rudakov's favourite suit. After the lead of the king of diamonds, Zaitsev could imagine that South held the §K so cashed the ace, dropping it. Later, he could finesse against the §J to make ten tricks for +130 and 7 IMPs to Russia. The Russian lead was up to 40-1 at the half-way point in the match, then at last France gained a significant swing.
Clearly, you would rather play in 4ª, which needs little more than a favourable trump split, than 3NT, which needs a miracle. Andreev's ugly 2§ overcall worked out very badly for his side. Bessis passed the East hand, of course, looking for a reopening double which he would also pass. But Gaviard reopened with 2ª, not double. Now Bessis jumped to 3NT, revealing his penalty double of 2§ type. Having only bid his spades twice, Gaviard decided that he had to try them one more time as his hand really did not look to be at all suitable for no trump. And right he was. The spades behaved and there were eleven tricks when the defence led the §K but then never got around to cashing a club trick - which was a pity because it does look as though when North first wins a spade he can play queen and another club and, even though declarer may have pitched a club on the ¨A, is there not now a trump promotion for down one if South ruffs in with the ªQ? Anyway, that was +450 to France. Given a free auction, Zaitsev was able to bid his spades three times in the other room and, when Rudakov insisted on the no trump game, he allowed him to play there. Three No Trump was hopeless, with the defence always in control; one down for -50 and 11 IMPs to France, who needed them.
Thomas Bessis might have treated his hand as strong and balanced then broken the transfer response because of his huge heart fit. That might have seen the French pair bid to slam or it might not. When Bessis opened 1©, feeling that he was unlikely to miss anything by opening at the one level and wanting to show the five-card suit, Gaviard simply raised to game and that was that. Zaitsev had a 2© opening in his methods, hearts and a minor. Rudakov asked, heard that he was facing diamonds but a non-maximum, and blasted the small slam. The ace of diamonds was where the Russians wanted it to be and that meant twelve tricks at both tables and 11 IMPs to Russia instead of 11 to France had the ¨A been with South.
East/West had a second successive slam to bid and again the Russians came out on top. This time, however, Rudakov/Zaitsev bid to a cold grand slam which took no time at all to play, while the French stopped off in six, so the swing of 13 IMPs to Russia was entirely deserved. Gaviard's slower approach to the West hand saw hearts agreed and an exchange of cuebids but, though he eventually asked for key cards, he could not count thirteen tricks. In contrast, Zaitsev's immediate splinter bid saw Rudakov take control and bid seven when he found that he was facing the three missing key cards - all very straightforward.
Well, would you rather declare 3NT or 5§? Obviously, 3NT can be defeated by a diamond lead as the defence has the first five tricks. However, Zaitsev had doubled South's second spade bid and Rudakov showed great faith by leading a spade, despite the fact that declarer was clearly willing to play 3NT on that lead. I suspect that I would have led a diamond - I long since lost my faith in partners. Zaitsev got into a bit of a mess on the run of the clubs and let the eleventh trick through; +460. What about 5§? Double dummy, it looks to be unbeatable if played by South. The best West can do is to underlead the diamond and East switches to a spade for the ten and ace. Declarer cashes seven rounds of clubs and West has to keep three hearts and the ªK. Declarer can either keep two of each major in dummy and lead a low spade to drop the bare king, or can keep three hearts and lead towards them. West has to split but is now thrown in with the ªK to lead into the heart tenace at trick twelve. If declarer can read the hand, he will always succeed. However, in practice the transfer sequence had made North declarer. It rather looks as though even one round of diamonds is too much for the defence, as the play devolves into the same line already discussed. In practice, the ¨K followed by a spade switch might prove to be good enough if declarer is less than double dummy, but cashing the clubs will put West under great strain, and he may well give the position away. A spade lead at trick one could do the trick, but who would find that with no double from partner. In practice, the defence led three rounds of diamonds and there was simple positional squeeze against West; +400 and just 2 IMPs to France.
Zaitsev opened a heavy 16-18 no trump and was
left to play there, making nine tricks for +150. Gaviard felt that
his honour combinations made the hand too good to treat as just
an 18-count so opened 1¨
then showed 18-19 with his raise to 2NT. Bessis suggested that diamonds
might be safer but that looked improbable from Gaviard's viewpoint
and he went back to 3NT. The lead was the ©Q,
ducked, and Andreev switched to a low club. Every important card
lay perfectly for Gaviard and he was able to play safely for nine
tricks; +600 and 10 IMPs to France. |
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