| 1st European Open Bridge Championships | Page 4 | Bulletin 3 - Tuesday, 17 June 2003 |
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The Round Of
32
On Monday morning the remaining 32 mixed teams started the knock-out part of their job. Each team would play two segments of 14 boards against the same opposing team. As the final rankings in the Swiss had been decisive for the pairings, developments in each match had to be awaited before choosing which match to focus on. At half time, when part of the smoke had cleared, a number of matches were close, so it was decided to have a look at the second half of the match between the Brogeland team from Norway and the Holt team from Canada and the U.S. The half time score stood at 50-45 to Brogeland. Their lead was not to survive the first board:
A simple, straightforward auction with each player just holding a little in reserve. Brogeland +690. In the other room, an off-shape 1NT-opening worked very well:
2¨ was forcing Stayman and 3¨ showed the heart of the matter. As this unorthodox reply apparently was enough to provoke Blackwood from North, holding two aces should definitely be enough for another successful unorthodox action by South. And so it proved. Even a club lead through the queen would not have beaten the contract as the spades are very well placed, but a beautiful further detail of this auction certainly was that it placed the declaration in the correct hand. Holt +1370, 12 IMP’s to them to take the lead by 7 and make their presence felt in the Closed Room at once. After losing 4 more IMP’s on overtricks and all that, the Norwegians struck back:
As 1¨ could be a short suit, Kokish was in an awkward position after the overcall. He did his best by passing first and jumping in diamonds later, but Cronier could not possibly imagine that nine tricks might be there for the taking at notrumps as well. Holt +110 as two clubs and two trumps had to be lost. In the other room, a different basic approach brought its rewards:
When Aasand could open 1© (the partnership not playing the popular fivecard majors), Brogeland was happy to raise to 2© after the overcall. Now Aasand had an easy game try available, on which Brogeland offered a choice of games. On the lead of the §A and another, all declarer had to do was to solve the spade problem. When North discarded a spade on the third club, the hand was quickly over. Brogeland +600 and 10 IMP’s back to trail by 1. On the next board, the Closed Room once again was the place to be:
When Kokish refrained from opening the West hand (and who would not?) but showed his major twosuiter later on, another quiet enough partscore emerged. Holt +140.
Brogeland showed much more aggression here, opening this weakish hand with the promising 5-4-3-1 pattern. This proved a well-timed action. North ventured a risky double and East stood her ground firmly. South, holding a fair hand, tried to crowd things with a jump in spades, but Brogeland showed no mercy. He could double this for penalties, and he did not hesitate later to sit his partner’s double of 3¨and lead a trump. With the club finesse wrong declarer could muster only six tricks for –800 and a loss of 12 IMP’s. Would this cost the Holt team the match? A few boards later, once again a big board did not come to real life in the Open Room.
4© showed a splinter in a hand with good minors, and 5© confirmed a void. With this approach, it was virtually impossible to get anywhere near to the grand. With any other approach, it would not have been easy either, as partner must have all the good cards – and he usually does not! Holt +940.
Aasand found a different solution. She started off with a Puppet Stayman sequence, but when partner confirmed a four-card in spades she surprised the world with a bold jump in diamonds. This way, she had managed to launch her partner into an ideal position, as Boye Brogeland now could see he held all the good cards. Not worrying about spades or notrumps Boye simply raised diamonds. Partner would correct to spades if that would make her feel happy, but of course it rested in 7¨. When the clubs broke, there were more than 13 tricks. Brogeland +1440 and 11 more IMP’s to lead by 18 with 4 to play.
During this auction, something happened. East explained her 2ª to North as a weak jump, whereas West explained it to South as a fit-showing jump. As it was North who had the correct info available to him when having to make a decision over 4§, it seems that no damage resulted from the irregularity. So the question whether or not there was an infraction became academical and the director was not called. The contract, however, was not the optimum spot and Sælensminde only collected nine tricks. Holt +50.
Without a weak jump to deal with, NS had ample room to make all the necessary bids to the correct final contract. Molson played the hand carefully on the lead of the ªQ ducked and a spade continuation, by going after the hearts - just in case the diamonds would not break. He thus emerged with nine nice tricks and his well-deserved contract, but this 10-IMP gain was not enough to change the outcome of the match. Brogeland went on into the last 16, winning by 5 IMP’s. |
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