Swedish Senior Pairs final

Entering the second day of the final, Bertil Arvidsson – Roland Axelsson had moved to the top spot, but during the early morning rounds Hans Bogeskär – Stefan climbed steadily.

Board 68 was a swingy one..

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

Bertil Arvidsson opened 3¨ and Roland Axelsson decided, after due consideration, to respect his partner’s vulnerable preempt, and passed. Maybe this paus influenced South’s decision not to reopen with a double. North would undoubtedly have bid 3NT and if E/W sacrifices over this, N/S are best advised not to double, since that contract cannot be beaten. 130 to E/W was worth 36, out of 46, MPs.

In the next round the leaders scored a healthy 62 MPs, out of 92, but Bogeskär – Lund climbed to second place via 76 MPs. On board 69 the leaders were surprised to get as much many as 20 MPs.

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

West	North	East	South
	1§	pass	1ª
4©	pass	pass	pass

North led the ace of spades and continued with the eight to the king. Declarer played trumps, South won with the ace and returned a club. Declarer ruffed and ran his trumps for a double sided squeeze that did not depend on the diamond position. Since North has both diamond honours, there is a simple minor suit squeeze. It is worth to note that the eight of diamonds is a key card for declarer. If North returns the diamond queen after the ace of spades, declarer wins the ace and plays a trump. South can not continue the diamond attack from his nine. Obviously, declarer will win the ace of diamonds if South plays diamonds after the queen of spades.

On board 70 the leaders possessed the tools required to collect a big score.

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

East opened 2©, five hearts plus a minor and less than a normal opening. When this was passed to North he could double for penalties (!) and South then doubled West in two spades.

North did well by leading the ace of spades and should have switched to a low diamond after seeing the dummy. He did, however, continue trumps and when South also refused to attack the diamond entry in dummy declarer got off for a mere 500 instead of 1100, but that was anyway 42 out of 46 MPs for the leaders, now 90 MPs clear.
The gap closed to 54 MPs in the next round and then to 33 MPs when the leaders bid a tough three no trumps.

Dealer North. E/W Vul.
	ª 10 7 4 © J 5 ¨ A 9 8 4 2 § Q 8 2
ª J 9 3 © Q 4 3 ¨ 3 § A K 10 7 4 3		ª A 6 2 © K 10 2 ¨ Q J 7 § J 9 6 5
	ª K Q 8 5 © A 9 8 7 6 ¨ K 10 6 5 § -

South opened 1©, West bid 2§ and East jumped to 3NT. South lead the king of spades and North encouraged, but East gave the show away by pausing before ducking. Now he got a diamond shift to the ace and another spade through. When the clubs misbehaved themselves he went three of for 6, out of, 46 MPs.

I think that a reasonable line is to win the spades ace at trick one and cross to the ace of clubs. If the suit behaves, you play a heart to the king and hope that the opponents do not find that correct defense, if there is any.

On board 76 two pairs made six no trumps.

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

I can only assume that West picked a bad moment to lead §9, which picks up East’s club holding for twelve tricks.

The next round was decisive for the final results, when Bogeskär – Lundh scored 65 whilst Arvidsson – Axelsson got 0!

Board 77. Dealer North. All Vul.
	ª A J © 10 7 5 2 ¨ J 7 5 § 10 7 5 2
ª K Q 10 9 4 3 © J 9 8 4 ¨ 9 4 § Q		ª 8 6 5 © Q 6 3 ¨ A K Q 6 § 8 6 4
	ª 7 2 © A K ¨ 10 8 3 2 § A K J 9 3

West	North	East	South
	pass	pass	1§
2ª	3§	3ª	4§
pass	pass	pass

N/S can beat three spades if South wins the club lead and unblock his hearts to score a ruff after the ace of spades. That would have been worth 24 MPs, but when South carried on to four clubs and reasonable enough finessed in clubs after the ace of spades, he went two off for a mere 4 MPs, compared with 14 MPs for dropping the club queen.

On the next board South was too aggressive.

Board 78. Dealer East. None Vul.
	ª 10 9 8 © K Q 10 7 ¨ A 8 5 2 § A 10
ª A K J 2 © 4 3 2 ¨ 7 6 3 § 6 5 3		ª Q 7 6 5 4 3 © A ¨ K 9 § K Q 8 4
	ª - © J 9 8 6 5 ¨ Q J 10 4 § J 9 7 2

West	North	East	South
		1ª	Pass
2ª	Dbl	3ª	4©
Pass!	Pass	4ª	Pass
Pass	Dbl	All pass

That was -690 for another zero. I think that if South bids 4© he has to avoid ending up defending four spades doubled. Since North tought for quite a while before he doubled, it would have been wise to bid directly 4NT over 4ª and avoid the unauthorized information from the huddle-double. But then again, West might wake up and raise to 5ª?

Anyway, now it was Bogeskär – Lundh in the lead with 2014 MPs and Arvidsson – Axelsson on second place with 1982 MPs. Both pairs scored poorly in the next round, 18 and 21 MPs respectively. The round after that the new leaders scored 56 MPs as and runners-up 80 MPs which closed the gap to 3 MPs. Then 81 MPs for Arvidsson – Axelsson and 35 MPs for Bogeskär – Lundh meant that the lead switched again, Arvidsson – Axelsson ahead by 43 MPs.

73 MPs versus 21 MPs for Bogeskär – Lundh meant that they regained the lead by 9 MPs. On board 89 Stefan Lundh made a very lucky decision.

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

North opened 1NT, like almost everybody else, and South raised to 3NT. 4ª, vulnerable against not, by Lundh was nothing but lucky, but we cannot argue with success, can we? That beautiful K-9-6 of diamonds was worth two tricks and 200 to N/S meant 39, out of 46, MPs for E/W.

The runners-up wasted time with a 2§ response, and when spades had been mentioned by West, N/S ended up in four hearts down two with the unlucky 5-1 break, for 1 MP. Bogeskär – Lundh were now 54 MPs clear at the top. 60 and 61 MPs in the penultimate rounds brought them beyond reach. Another 61 MPs concluded a comfortable win. Arvidsson – Axelsson finished with another bad round of 21 MPs and dropped to third place.