Italy v England – Round 12 Juniors To bid or not to bid Although many points are gained or lost by fine declarer play or excellent defence, the Italian juniors demonstrated that judging when to bid (and not to bid) could gain many points. They gained around 30 IMPs on the following three boards from this top match. Test your judgement against theirs. To bid or not to bid 1 Dealer East. N/S Vul.   ♠ K 1 0 9 8 ♥ K 8 4 ♦ A 1 0 9 5 ♣ 5 4 West North East South       ? Sitting East, do you open? To bid or not to bid 2 Dealer West. All Vul   ♠ Q 9 3 ♥ A 4 ♦ A 6 3 ♣ Q 9 8 7 2 West North East South Pass Pass   ? Sitting East, do you open? To bid or not to bid (3) Dealer South. All Vul.   ♠ Q 1 0 8 ♥ Q 9 7 ♦ A Q J 9 2 ♣ A 1 0 West North East South       Pass 1♦ ?     Sitting North, do you bid 1NT? The problems refer to Boards 2, 4 and 7. When your decisions are made, please read on to see if you were miserable or brilliant. Board 2. Dealer East. N/S Vul.   ♠ A 6 2 ♥ Q J 6 ♦ 6 ♣ A K Q 8 3 2 ♠ Q 5 4 3 ♥ 2 ♦ K Q 8 4 3 2 ♣ 9 6 ♠ K 10 9 8 ♥ K 8 4 ♦ A 10 9 5 ♣ 5 4   ♠ J 7 ♥ A 10 9 7 5 3 ♦ J 7 ♣ J 10 7 West North East South Lo Presti Burgess Di Bello Woodcock     1NT Pass 2♥* 3♣ All Pass   West North East South Happer Boldrini Green Sbarigia       2♥ Pass 2NT Pass 3♥ Pass 4♥ All Pass   On our first example Di Bello did very well to open 1NT weak. 2♥ was alerted to North, and explained as a transfer, but not by Lo Presti to Woodcock, sitting South. N/S therefore missed the cold game in hearts, and indeed a slam on a finesse. The bottom line was 10 IMPs from nowhere but Burgess/Woodcock complained and the director changed the score to 4♥ with an overtrick for N/S for a push. The right answer was to bid. Board 3. Dealer South. E/W Vul.   ♠ K 10 9 ♥ A ♦ Q 7 4 ♣ K Q 8 7 6 5 ♠ A J 8 6 5 4 ♥ 10 9 ♦ J 9 2 ♣ A 10 ♠ Q 7 2 ♥ K Q 4 2 ♦ A 10 3 ♣ 9 4 2   ♠ 3 ♥ J 8 7 6 5 3 ♦ K 8 6 5 ♣ J 3 West North East South Lo Presti Burgess Di Bello Woodcock       Pass 2♠ 3♣ 3♠ All Pass West North East South Happer Boldrini Green Sbarigia       2♥ 2♠ Pass 3NT All Pass Ben Green went one light in 3NT, so Italy had the possibility to gain their first IMPs here. On some occasions there is a very little difference in strength when Lo Presti/Di Bello open one- or two- of a major. 2♠ was natural and weak, so Di Bello didn’t have any thoughts of game. In 3♠ the defence have a heart ruff If North leads his singleton ace then switches to a diamond. When Burgess led the king of clubs, declarer only had four losers. Lo Presti won the ace and missed the opportunity of simply playing the ace of trumps and another. When declarer at trick two instead played a heart up, North could win and switch to a diamond. Of course, declarer was unlucky as hearts are not likely to be 6-1, nevertheless, South could win the trick and correctly play a heart, ruffed by North. Very well defended by Andrew Woodcock not to play a club back. N/S +100 at both tables meant that no IMPs were exchanged on this board. Board 4. Dealer West. All Vul.   ♠ J 8 5 4 ♥ 7 5 ♦ J 9 8 ♣ K J 6 3 ♠ 10 2 ♥ K 9 6 2 ♦ K 10 2 ♣ A 10 5 4 ♠ Q 9 3 ♥ A 4 ♦ A 6 3 ♣ Q 9 8 7 2   ♠ A K 7 6 ♥ Q J 10 8 3 ♦ Q 7 5 4 ♣ - West North East South Lo Presti Burgess Di Bello Woodcock Pass Pass Pass 1♥ Pass 1♠ Dble 4♠ All Pass       West North East South Happer Boldrini Green Sbarigia Pass Pass 1♣ 1♥ Dble Pass 2♣ 2♦ 3♣ All Pass     On our second exhibit, Di Bello passed. This time Woodcock bid game going off, whilst Boldrini/Sbarigia let their opponents have the final contract. Note that spades were never mentioned at all; England +110. 4♠ by Burgess was just bad judgement and off it went; down three for –300 and 5 IMPs to Italy. The right answer was not to bid Board 5. Dealer North. N/S Vul.   ♠ J 6 3 ♥ Q 10 9 7 2 ♦ 9 8 5 3 ♣ 3 ♠ A 10 8 ♥ A 8 6 4 ♦ K 7 4 ♣ 10 9 7 ♠ K 7 4 ♥ J 5 3 ♦ A Q J 2 ♣ A 6 4   ♠ Q 9 5 2 ♥ K ♦ 10 6 ♣ K Q J 8 5 2 West North East South Lo Presti Burgess Di Bello Woodcock   Pass 1♣* Pass 1♥ Pass 1NT Pass 3NT All Pass     West North East South Happer Boldrini Green Sbarigia   Pass 1♦ 2♣ Dble Pass 2NT Pass 3NT All Pass     The lead was the same at both tables: the king of clubs. Both declarers won the club continuation and from here Green didn’t find his the way to success as he ran the diamonds then cashed the two tops in spades and exited with a spade. The position he was playing for was for North to hold four to the queen and jack in spades with king and queen in hearts as well. If that had been the case North would have had to give declarer a heart trick. This was not the day, however; down one for –50. In the vugraph, the commentators suggested one option for declarer would be to play a low heart up to the jack twice, in case North is holding king and queen in hearts. What they didn’t notice was that the heart suit will become blocked as dummy will run out of entries. Di Bello took his time then judged better as he played South for one top honour singleton, thus he cashed the ace of hearts then played a heart up; +400 and 10 well-earned IMPs to Italy. What if South held a singleton heart but not an honour; can declarer still succeed? The answer is yes. After winning the ace of hearts declarer runs all the diamonds. South has to discard two cards. If he is holding on to his clubs, pitching two spades, North will have to keep three spades and come down to only three hearts. On a heart North will be thrown in. He can win his three heart tricks then has to open up the spade suit. A low spade must be played, to the queen and ace. When the ten of spade is played there is no defence. If South keeps three cards in each black suit and North keeps four hearts, a club will endplay South. In that case South can win three club tricks but then has to play a spade to the eight, jack and king, then a spade finesse with the ten will succeed. Board 7. Dealer South. All Vul.   ♠ Q 10 8 ♥ Q 9 7 ♦ A Q J 9 2 ♣ A 10 ♠ A 3 ♥ A K J 4 ♦ 10 7 6 5 4 3 ♣ 8 ♠ J 9 5 2 ♥ 10 3 2 ♦ K ♣ K Q J 5 2   ♠ K 7 6 4 ♥ 8 6 5 ♦ 8 ♣ 9 7 6 4 3 West North East South Lo Presti Burgess Di Bello Woodcock       Pass 1♦* 1NT Dble 2♣ Pass Pass Dble Pass Pass 2♦ Pass Pass Dble All Pass     West North East South Happer Boldrini Green Sbarigia       Pass 1♦ Pass 2♣ Pass 2♦ All Pass     The third hand was even more lucrative for the Italians when Boldrini passed. The English ended up playing in 2♦ at both tables! Badguess, sorry, Burgess, bid 1NT and now the English finished in the inglorious contract of 2♦ doubled by North. Although, to be fair, once he bids 1NT, not unreasonable at all, his side is destined for a poor score. When Burgess flew to 2♦, Lo Presti was happy to defeat that contract rather than 2♣. Without any hesitation he doubled. You could actually see how he licked his lips on the vugraph screen. Burgess had to struggle to avoid 800, but the Italians misdefended slightly; still two down and –500. That meant another 12 IMPs to Italy when Happer had gone one off in the Closed Room. The answer was not to bid, After 11 boards Italy was in leading position by a remarkable 37-0! From here England started to win IMPs, although in only small packages. Board 15. Dealer South. N/S Vul.   ♠ K 7 6 ♥ K 8 7 ♦ J 7 6 2 ♣ A 6 5 ♠ J 10 3 ♥ Q J 5 3 ♦ Q 10 5 ♣ 10 8 4 ♠ A Q 9 5 2 ♥ - ♦ A K 9 8 3 ♣ K J 3   ♠ 8 4 ♥ A 10 9 6 4 2 ♦ 4 ♣ Q 9 7 2 West North East South Lo Presti Burgess Di Bello Woodcock       Pass Pass Pass 1♠ Pass 1NT Pass 2♣ Pass 2♠ Pass 3♦ Pass 3♠ All Pass     West North East South Happer Boldrini Green Sbarigia       2♥ Pass Pass 4♦ Pass 4♠ All Pass     After Sbarigia’s 2♥, Green could show a two-suited hand by bidding 4♦, and that led to the goal; +420.Di Bello showed a powerful 16+ with spades and diamonds. Despite nice values in diamonds, Lo Presti went for a partscore; +170. Should East bid game anyway? We leave that to you to decide. As the cards lay, the game was cold and that was a small package of 6 IMPs to England. Italy really got everything right in this top match – very impressing! The final score was changed into 56-19 after a ruling on Board 2. Italy decided not to appeal, so we summarize it to Italy 23 England 7. We hope you liked our examples. However, they contributed to a fine win for Italy over their nearest rivals England and put them in a commanding lead after 12 rounds.

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