Netherlands vs Italy – Open Round 14

by Jos Jacobs

On Thursday evening, the vugraph match was to be Netherlands v Italy. This happened to be an excellent choice, as the Netherlands for sure were very much in a winning mood, having earlier in the day added two successive blitzes to their tally. Of course, playing the Czechs or the Faroe Islands might be slightly easier than having to face those who have been reigning champions for the last decade or so, but it can only be a moral advantage to enter into such a match with 50 VPs behind your name for the day so far.

For Italy, on the other hand, it was going to be business as usual. So far, they have shown the form everybody expects from them and thus it’s no surprise to see them in the lead again for the last three days.

The match started very quietly, the Netherlands taking a lead on extra over- and undertricks of 5-0 over the first five boards. From Board 6 onwards, things started to happen in quick succession.

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

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
De Wijs	Fantoni	Muller	Nunes
		1ª	Pass
2©	Pass	2ª	Pass
2NT	Pass	3ª	Pass
3NT	All Pass

Fulvio Fantoni, Italy

A perfectly normal contract and a perfectly normal club lead by North. South won the king and returned the suit, North ducking his ace when declarer played the queen. De Wijs then went on to unblock his ªK and play a low heart to the king. Fantoni elected to rise with his ace, apparently thinking his clubs would be all good but, when he next cashed the §A to find out that this was not the case, the contract could no longer be beaten. In fact, when North next exited with a heart, declarer could even afford the luxury of a diamond finesse and thus ended up with an overtrick for a score of +630 to the Netherlands and good prospects of a favourable game swing.

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Duboin	Verhees	Bocchi	Jansma
		1ª	Pass
2¨(i)	Pass	2NT	Pass
3§	Pass	3©	Pass
3NT	All Pass

(i) Transfer to hearts

And so it turned out when the Dutch defenders made no mistake. South led a diamond, won by dummy’s jack, the ªK was unblocked and a heart was led. This time, North ducked, so the king won and declarer continued with two rounds of spades, establishing the suit. South, on lead with the ªQ, first played the ©J, which held the trick, before switching to the §K and another. With the ©A still to lose, declarer was down one and the Netherlands had got their first major swing of 12 IMPs in the match to lead by 17-0.

It should be noted that playing a heart to the king at trick three cannot be the winning play, as in many situations it will set up five tricks for the defence before declarer has time to enjoy the spades. So it should be correct to play a diamond to the ace first, hoping for the spades to break and for the ©A (as well as, possibly, the ¨Q) to be right.

There was more to come:

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

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
De Wijs	Fantoni	Muller	Nunes
Pass	1NT	2©	3ª
4©	Pass	Pass	4ª
Pass	4NT	Pass	5§
Pass	5¨	Pass	5ª
Dble	All Pass

In the Closed Room, North/South had a bidding mix-up. 3ª by Nunes showed spades, as he himself explained, but it was (correctly) explained as minors at the other side of the screen. At the table East/West thus were no longer in a position to judge clearly what was going on. So they did not double the final contract at first attempt. When play was over, it came to light that two different explanations of 3ª had been given at either side of the screen, so the TD ruled that a double should be added to the final contract after all. Thus, the Netherlands scored +300 in stead of +100.

Not that it mattered too much:

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Duboin	Verhees	Bocchi	Jansma
Pass	1§	1©	Dble
4©	Pass	Pass	4ª
Pass	Pass	5©	Pass
Pass	Dble	All Pass

Well, 4ª would probably have gone down as well, but how could Bocchi know when Duboin could not double this? South led the ªK, ruffed by declarer who went on by leading two high trumps, both ducked. Sort of locked in his hand now, Bocchi next led the §J which ran to North’s queen. Verhees now cashed the ©A and played another spade, ruffed by declarer with his last trump. Bocchi then ruffed a club and played a diamond to the jack which held. When the king dropped under the ¨A there were no diamond losers, but there also was no way to dispose of the last two clubs. Down two for (another) +300 to the Netherlands or 12 IMPs again. It stood at 29-0 now and a sensation was in the air.

On Board 10, Italy opened their account with an overtrick to trail by 29-1, but then came:

Board 11. Dealer South. None Vul.
	ª 10 3 © K J 9 5 4 ¨ K J 7 2 § 8 2
ª 8 4 © A 3 2 ¨ A 10 9 4 3 § 10 9 4		ª Q 7 6 5 © Q 10 8 ¨ Q 8 6 5 § 6 3
	ª A K J 9 2 © 7 6 ¨ - § A K Q J 7 5

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
De Wijs	Fantoni	Muller	Nunes
			1§
1¨	1©	3¨	3ª
Pass	3NT	Pass	4§
Pass	4ª	Pass	5§
All Pass

When West led the ©A the play was quickly over, the ªQ becoming the defence’s only other trick; Italy +400.

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Duboin	Verhees	Bocchi	Jansma
			1§
1¨	Dble	3¨	4§
Pass	4©	Pass	4ª
Pass	5§	Pass	6§
All Pass

Double dummy, 6§ can be made by guessing the hearts and finessing the ªQ but, after the pleasant lead of the ©A, declarer adopted another line – he cashed the top spades and tried to ruff the third round. When West could ruff in front of dummy he was down two for +100 again to Italy and their first substantial swing; 11 IMPs.

Then:

Board 12. Dealer West. N/S Vul.
	ª Q 3 2 © Q J 10 9 3 2 ¨ 6 3 § 9 6
ª J 10 7 © A 8 6 ¨ Q J 10 7 § A Q 2		ª A K 9 8 6 5 © 7 ¨ A 5 § K J 4 3
	ª 4 © K 5 4 ¨ K 9 8 4 2 § 10 8 7 5

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
De Wijs	Fantoni	Muller	Nunes
1¨	Pass	1ª	Pass
1NT	Pass	2¨	Pass
2ª	Pass	3§	Pass
4§	Pass	4¨	Pass
4©	Pass	4NT	Pass
5ª	Pass	6ª	All Pass

Another perfectly normal contract. You need either the ¨K onside or a good guess/favourable split in trumps. Muller won the lead of a low heart with dummy’s ace, cashed two top trumps, crossed in clubs and took the diamond finesse. Alas, that was one down for Italy +50.

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Duboin	Verhees	Bocchi	Jansma
1NT	Pass	2©	Pass
2ª	Pass	3§	Pass
3ª	Pass	4§	Pass
4©	Pass	4NT	Pass
5©	Pass	6ª	All Pass

Here too, South led a heart to dummy’s ace, but declarer took a different line, maybe playing for a swing or just following his nose. He cashed one top trump, crossed in clubs and ran the ª10. He lost a diamond later on but had gained a huge swing for his team of 14 IMPs. Well played!

The complexion of the game had changed dramatically as the scores now were almost level again. Would the Netherlands be the umpteenth team to lose an early advantage when playing Italy?
Not really, as these were the two boards to follow.

Board 13. Dealer North. All Vul.
	ª J 10 9 © A J 8 7 6 ¨ 8 7 § 9 4 3
ª K 7 3 2 © 4 ¨ K J 10 6 3 2 § K 7		ª 5 4 © K 9 5 2 ¨ A 5 4 § A J 10 2
	ª A Q 8 6 © Q 10 3 ¨ Q 9 § Q 8 6 5

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
De Wijs	Fantoni	Muller	Nunes
	Pass	1§	Pass
1¨	Pass	1©	Pass
1ª	Pass	1NT	Pass
3NT	All Pass

Hoping for a balanced hand with his partner, De Wijs made an aggressive shot at game, assuming that his long diamonds would come in. Right he was. South led a club into the tenace, so the Netherlands chalked up an easy +630 when the ¨Q popped up in front of the ¨KJ.

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Duboin	Verhees	Bocchi	Jansma
	Pass	1§	Pass
1©	Pass	1NT	Pass
3¨	All Pass

1© showed spades and 3¨ was a non-forcing canapé. Not knowing about the extra length, Bocchi could not find any reason to go on, so there it rested. With both major-suit aces well-placed, eleven tricks were there for the taking, but the Netherlands had struck back immediately, winning 10 IMPs on the deal.
On the next board, for once we saw Bocchi/Duboin overboard:

Board 14. Dealer East. None Vul.
	ª K J © Q J 5 3 ¨ Q 5 3 2 § Q 8 5
ª - © K 10 9 6 4 2 ¨ A 10 § A K 10 4 3		ª A 8 7 4 2 © A 8 ¨ J 9 8 7 4 § 9
	ª Q 10 9 6 5 3 © 7 ¨ K 6 § J 7 6 2

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
De Wijs	Fantoni	Muller	Nunes
		2ª	Pass
3©	Pass	4©	All Pass

2ª showed spades and a minor and 3© was forcing. Muller had a natural raise and even the bad trump break did not trouble the declarer; Netherlands +420.

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Duboin	Verhees	Bocchi	Jansma
		Pass	2¨
Pass	2©	Pass	2ª
3ª	Dble	4©	Pass
4ª	Pass	5§	Pass
5¨	Pass	6©	All Pass

When East had no gadget available to open the battle, Jansma introduced a well-timed very weak multi. Thus, Duboin had to wait one round before he could start bidding his suits, and the bidding got out of control once he went on over partner’s 4©. The affair ended with down two; Netherlands +100 and another 11 IMPs to go firmly into the lead again, 50-26.

One push and one Italian overbid to a game with no legitimate play had brought the score forward to 56-26 when Board 17 arrived:

Board 17. Dealer North. None Vul.
	ª Q 10 9 4 © 7 6 5 ¨ K J 7 6 § A J
ª 7 © A Q 10 2 ¨ A Q 10 8 3 § 8 6 5		ª A K 5 © K J 9 3 ¨ - § K Q 10 7 4 3
	ª J 8 6 3 2 © 8 4 ¨ 9 5 4 2 § 9 2

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
De Wijs	Fantoni	Muller	Nunes
	1NT	Dble	2©
Dble	2ª	3ª	Pass
4¨	Pass	5©	Pass
5NT	Pass	6©	All Pass

1NT was 10-12 and the double was for penalties. When De Wijs could double the 2© transfer Muller had no trouble in evaluating his hand to perfection and bid 3ª. When De Wijs made one more positive action, trump quality was the only thing that mattered. Well bid for an easy enough +980 to the Netherlands when the trumps and the clubs behaved.

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Duboin	Verhees	Bocchi	Jansma
	1§	Pass	1¨
Pass	1©	Dble	1ª
3NT	All Pass

	Jan Jansma, The Netherlands

1§ could be anything, 1¨ could be anything as well and the same applied to 1©, believe it or not. This is called Orange Club, a national football (?) variation of the Polish Club. East’s double showed an unspecified strong hand. When Jansma introduced his suit, Duboin made the practical bid of 3NT, only to find out that he had missed a slam in three possible denominations; Italy +490 but another swing to the Netherlands of 10 IMPs. The score was 66-26 now.

When the last board arrived, the Dutch lead had gone up to 68-26, which was actually converting to a sensational 24-6, but Italy recouped 12 IMPs when they made a game that went down at the other table. Still, the outcome was a fairly convincing 68-38 win, 21-9 VPs to the Netherlands or the biggest defeat suffered by Italy in these Championships so far.

The Netherlands found themselves back in a morale-boosting fifth place after a national record-breaking score of 71 VPs on a day that included a match against Italy but, for their great opponents, it would be little more than one of those things that can happen from time to time. No doubt they will continue pretty much undisturbed and qualify for Estoril with matches to go.