Round 15: Russia vs Belgium

by Jos Jacobs

Over the first 14 rounds, Russia had marched on steadily and well, standing in fourth place, 14 VPs behind third-placed Poland but 11 VPs ahead of the last qualifying spot, held at the time by The Netherlands. Belgium had cheered up their supporters, of which quite a number are doing much good work here as staff members during these Championships, by wandering along nicely around the qualification line. At a certain moment they were above it, at this point they were seventh but only just 4 VPs below the line.

The first board of the match was flat, a simple slam for North/South bid and made by both North/South pairs. Action started on Board 3:

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

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Kholomeev	V. Labaere	Zlotov	A. Labaere
			Pass
Pass	1©	Dble	3©
3ª	Pass	4ª	All Pass

Routine habits may well have caused the swing on this board, as both declarers and one defender probably played too quickly. North led the §J (Rusinow) which was covered by the king and ace. South, Alain Labaere, neatly returned his partner’s suit, hearts, to beat the contract; Belgium +100.

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Coenraets	Petrunin	Neve	Gromov
			Pass
Pass	2©	Dble	4©
4ª	All Pass

At the other table, the same obvious contract was reached and the lead was ‘the same’ §Q. Once again, declarer put up dummy’s king which lost to the ace, but here South was too hasty as well and forgot to revert to hearts. His club return meant that the contract could no longer be beaten as the losing heart goes on the diamonds; Belgium another +620 and a 12-IMP swing.

But what would have happened, one wonders, if declarer simply plays low from dummy to trick one?
After some more quiet deals, things livened up again when Board 7 came up:

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

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Kholomeev	V. Labaere	Zlotov	A. Labaere
			1¨
2¨	Pass	4ª	5§
Pass	Pass	5ª	Pass
Pass	6§	Dble	All Pass

In spite of, or maybe thanks to, the weak two-suited overcall from West, the Belgians finished up in an excellent slam that might have made on many occasions. Alas for Belgium, this was not one of them.

Kholomeev led his singleton diamond and duly received a ruff when Zlotov was in with the §A; Russia +200.

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Coenraets	Petrunin	Neve	Gromov
			1§
2§	Pass	4ª	5¨
All Pass

For the Russians, the club fit had got lost due to the fierce intervention. At his second turn, Gromov did not show the real nature of his hand, but simply elected to sell out in 5¨. In a sense, he was right, as slam could not be made on the actual layout; Russia another +600 and 13 IMPs back.

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

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Kholomeev	V. Labaere	Zlotov	A. Labaere
		1¨	Dble
Pass	1©	2¨	Dble
Pass	2©	Pass	2NT
All Pass

Cautious bidding this time by Belgium led to an easy game being missed; ten tricks made.

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Coenraets	Petrunin	Neve	Gromov
		1¨	Dble
Pass	1©	Pass	2§
Pass	2©	Pass	2ª
Pass	3§	Pass	3¨
Pass	3ª	Pass	3NT
All Pass

The Russians took the bull by the horns and duly reached the cold 3NT. Ten tricks were made also, but that was Russia +10 IMPs. They led by 34-12.

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

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Kholomeev	V. Labaere	Zlotov	A. Labaere
			1NT
Pass	2§	Pass	2¨
Pass	2NT	Pass	3NT
All Pass

Simple and effective bidding by the same Belgian pair saw them recoup the IMPs just lost on the next board. As West could not possibly find the spade lead, declarer ran home after the lead of the ©9; Belgium +400.

Of course, 3NT is a very good contract – if spades are 4-3 it cannot be beaten at all.

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Coenraets	Petrunin	Neve	Gromov
			1¨
Pass	1©	1ª	3¨
Pass	3ª	Pass	4¨
Pass	5¨	All Pass

Once the Russians could not open 1NT, they were in trouble. North showed his suits, but how could South ever bid 3NT without a club stopper? It was down two as the contract had no play at all, Belgium +100 and 11 IMPs back.

And:

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

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Kholomeev	V. Labaere	Zlotov	A. Labaere
Pass	Pass	1§	1ª
Pass	2©	5¨	All Pass

Once again, the artificial club did not work out too well when Zlotov elected to jump to 5¨, neglecting the clubs. He made his contract in comfort, but would the Belgians reach 6§?

Yes they did, for this is how it went:

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Coenraets	Petrunin	Neve	Gromov
Pass	2¨	Dble	2©
Pass	Pass	4¨	Pass
5§	Pass	5©	Pass
6§	All Pass

Neve was very pleased to hear 5§, though these were the only ‘values’ Coenraets was able to offer. After the grand slam try of 5©, West quickly signed off, though the grand can be made on the actual layout if a heart is led. As it was, the Belgian East/West had already done very well by reaching the correct slam. So this gave Belgium another 11 IMPs to tie the match at 34-34.

More there was to come immediately:

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

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Kholomeev	V. Labaere	Zlotov	A. Labaere
	2NT	Pass	3ª
Pass	4¨	Pass	4©
Pass	4NT	Pass	5¨
Pass	6¨	All Pass

3ª showed minors and 4¨ showed fits. After the 4© cuebid, Valérie Labaere would not stay out of slam any more, but without the help of the §Q this proved too much; one down, Russia +100.

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Coenraets	Petrunin	Neve	Gromov
	1§	Pass	2¨
Pass	2©	Pass	2ª
Pass	2NT	Pass	3©
Pass	3ª	Pass	3NT
Pass	4§	Pass	4©
Pass	4ª	Pass	4NT
Pass	5¨	All Pass

A controlled auction saw the Russians land on their feet very well in the last makeable contract. Russia scored +600 which saw them go ahead by 12 IMPs again.

Two boards later, the Russians missed a very good chance to score heavily:

Board 15. Dealer South. N/S Vul.
	ª J 7 © J 6 3 ¨ 10 5 3 § A J 9 7 5
ª Q 4 © K 8 5 2 ¨ J 7 6 4 § Q 3 2		ª K 10 6 3 © A Q 10 ¨ A 9 2 § K 10 6
	ª A 9 8 5 2 © 9 7 4 ¨ K Q 8 § 8 4

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Coenraets	Petrunin	Neve	Gromov
			Pass
Pass	Pass	1NT

In the Open Room, the Belgians stayed quietly in 1NT, West apparently not considering his hand worth a raise due to a complete lack of good intermediates; Belgium +120.

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Kholomeev	V. Labaere	Zlotov	A. Labaere
			Pass
Pass	Pass	1NT	Pass
2ª	Pass	3§	Pass
3NT	All Pass

Dmitri Zlotov, Russia

Kholomeev did make a further move, so he ended up in 3NT when Zlotov was quick to accept the invitation. The play was interesting.

The lead of the ª4 went to the jack and king. Zlotov cashed two top hearts and then led a club to the queen and North’s ace. Another spade by North was ducked to dummy’s queen. Next, declarer played a diamond to the nine and South’s queen. South then exited with a heart, dummy cashing two tricks in the suit. South discarded the ª9 on the last heart. Next declarer led a diamond to his ace and exited with a spade to South. He was obviously hoping that South would have to lead away from the §J in the end, but when South also held the ¨K Zlotov had to concede one down for +50 to Belgium and 5 IMPs to them instead of 7 IMPs to Russia. The score now stood at 46-40 to Russia.

One board later, Belgium took the lead once again:

Board 16. Dealer West. E/W Vul.
	ª J 6 5 © A K Q J 10 3 ¨ K J 9 § 10
ª A Q 10 © 7 5 2 ¨ A 8 7 6 3 § Q 9		ª K 9 4 3 2 © 9 ¨ 4 § A K J 8 5 4
	ª 8 7 © 8 6 4 ¨ Q 10 5 2 § 7 6 3 2

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Kholomeev	V. Labaere	Zlotov	A. Labaere
1¨	1©	1ª	Pass
1NT	Pass	3§	All Pass

This misunderstanding might have cost the Russians a slam swing, vulnerable, when they scored a meagre +170 here.

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Coenraets	Petrunin	Neve	Gromov
1¨	Dble	Redble	1©
Pass	3©	4§	Pass
5§	Pass	Pass	Dble
All Pass

When North doubled, it was difficult for East to show both his suits and the unusual shape of his hand.
Thus, they ended up in a very solid contract, but in such a way that it may well have induced Gromov to double the final contract opposite his partner’s take-out double.

This definitely was the wrong moment, as Neve lost little time in wrapping up the contract with an overtrick for +950 to Belgium, a swing of 13 IMPs.

On the next board, the Russians may well have been trying to force the pace a little but the Belgian defence stood firm:

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

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Kholomeev	V. Labaere	Zlotov	A. Labaere
	1§	1¨	2©
Dble	Pass	2NT	Pass
3©	Pass	3NT	Dble
Pass	Pass	5¨	Dble
Rdbl	All Pass

Well, 3NT would probably have gone off, so Zlotov made a wise move when he retreated. Jumping to game in diamonds, however, was more than Labaere could stand, so he doubled again. On a club lead and continuation, ruffed by South, declarer still had no way to execute a complete cross-ruff for 11 tricks and had to go one down; Belgium +200.

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Coenraets	Petrunin	Neve	Gromov
	2§	Pass	2©
All Pass

This quiet little partscore went one off as well, to add another +50 to the Belgian score for a useful little swing of 6 IMPs more.

The score now was 59-46 to Belgium, which would convert into an 18-12 VP victory. The 1 IMP to Belgium from an overtrick later on changed the final score to 60-46, but 18-12 VPs it remained. Belgium had done a good job on their way to cross the qualification line again in an upward direction.