7♠ Doubled And Made – Three Aces Missing!
This modern stuff, to show multiple aces in response to Blackwood may from time to time confuse the players of today. See what happened on this board from Round 2 in the Schools (and Round 11 in the Juniors).
| Board 18. Dealer East. N/S Vul. |
| |
♠ K J
♥ 10 8 6 5 4
♦ 6 5
♣ A 10 9 7 |
♠ 7 5 4
♥ A K J 7 2
♦ -
♣ Q J 6 4 2 |
 |
♠ A Q 10 9 3 2
♥ 3
♦ K Q J 10 4
♣ K |
| |
♠ 8 6
♥ Q 9
♦ A 9 8 7 3 2
♣ 8 5 3 |
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Johansen |
Katerbau |
Bogen |
Rehder |
| |
|
1♠ |
Pass |
| 2♥ |
Pass |
3♦ |
Pass |
| 4♣ |
Pass |
4♠ |
Pass |
| 4NT |
Pass |
5♦ |
Pass |
| 5♥ |
Pass |
6♠ |
Pass |
| 7♠ |
Dble |
All Pass |
|
In the Schools, Germany was playing Norway. Haakon Bogen opened 1♠, then showed his second-best suit. 4♣ from Lars Arthur Johansen was either natural or a cuebid, Johansen then wanted more than a mere game bonus so he asked for aces. Five Diamonds showed one or four aces out of five. One must take an optimistic view in this world, Johansen thought, and asked for the queen of trumps as he realized (hoped) that all the aces were under control. Bogen was happy to show the trump queen, thus he bid the small slam. Well, since East is holding at least five to the ace, king and queen in trumps and the two minor-suit aces, the grand must have a decent play reflected Johansen as he nearly emptied his bidding box. Janko Katerbau knew there was something fishy in this auction, so he doubled by instinct, or it might have been the fact that he held the trump king and another ace besides.
Martin Rehder wondered what was going on, although he didn’t complain as his partner had doubled the grand while he was holding an ace. However, the ace of diamonds, while it would not have been my choice, was Rehder’s selection for the opening lead. He might have thought it didn’t matter, as his partner must have a secure trick somewhere to dare to double. Bogen was quite happy to have avoided the club lead. He ruffed the diamond ace then finessed the queen of trumps. When it held he crossed to dummy in hearts, ditching his singleton club on a second top heart. A spade to the ace followed and declarer claimed 13 tricks. 7♠ doubled made without three aces – and that was +1770 and 16 powerful IMPs to Norway when the comparison score was +450 from the other table. Thanks to this board Norway won the match by 34-20 IMPs; 18-12 VPs.
This astonishing score of1770 actually appeared in one other match. In the Juniors, Marius Korkevicius/Rokas Blazevicius also managed to put themselves into this horrifying grand but, when a respectable Polish player also found the ace of diamonds as his lead, the Lithuanians collected all thirteen tricks. That was worth 15 IMPs to Lithuania as the Poles at the other table were playing in 4♠+2. Nevertheless, Poland managed to win the match by 19 to 11.
Five tables reached 6♠; all the rest 4♠ or 5♠. One other score stood out – 7NT doubled down three by the Belgians in the Juniors. No champagne from the captain for that, we presume.
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