| 48th European Bridge Team Championships | Page 5 | Bulletin 6 - Friday 18 August 2006 |
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Open Teams - Germany v Sweden (Round 11) by Jos Jacobs With four days of these Championships gone it is becoming a little clearer which teams are in the hunt for the Shanghai berths. On Thursday morning there was even a sort of gap between the nos. 6 and 7. Two teams from the first six had to meet in the morning round, so it was not difficult to decide which match to follow. Right on the first board of the morning you could win many IMPs by trusting your opponents.
Open Room
Once North removes partner’s double he will probably be void in clubs, so one of your aces won’t survive. As the bidding had not revealed anything East could not be at all sure of the diamond position, so his decision not to take the save seems quite reasonable. Germany +980. Closed Room
Here Bertheau had shown a heart control and thus implicitly denied a diamond control. Wladow thus was in a good position to judge what to do. Taking the save proved correct and the loss of only 500 gave his team their first 10 IMPs. On the next board, the Swedes were perhaps a little lucky:
Open Room
A nice example of “the wrong bid at the right moment.” 3NT is definitely not the best contract in the world, but why argue with success? Sweden +400. Closed Room
A well-controlled checkback auction led to an excellent contract and a loss of 7 IMPs when Elinescu made 10 tricks. Sweden had struck back immediately. Sweden were leading 24-19 when board 10 arrived:
Open Room
A sensible auction to a sensible contract. Sweden +650. Closed Room
Once Wladow had rebid 3♠ Elinescu had enough to drive towards slam. The interesting problem is of course how to play the hand. Most declarers in slam went down, probably because they played for the ♥Q being well-placed rather than trumps 2-2 and hearts behaving. On the lead of the ♣A Wladow was one of the only two successful declarers, the other one being a Dutchman: Huub Bertens. Anyway, 13 IMPs for Germany and a new leader in the match. Not for long, however, as two boards later Elinescu misjudged
Open Room
It can easily be understood why Gotard refrained from overcalling: N/S were vulnerable against not. Sweden thus were allowed to score a quiet +420. Closed Room
As they say: “ The cards do not know they are vulnerable…” Fredrik Nystrom’s daring 4♠ interference paid rich dividends when Elinescu immediately took what he must have thought was a save. This way, a possible +800 for Germany became a sad -50 and 10 IMPs to Sweden. They had regained the lead: 34-33. A few boards later, they increased their lead in curious fashion:
Open Room
This auction really speaks for itself. Closed Room
Contrary to what had happened in the Open Room, every single player found a bid once Nystrom had opened his nice little major two-suiter. Though a possible save in spades was there for EW, they wisely let their opponents play their game. The nasty 4-1 break in spades would certainly have given West a rough time… So Sweden scored +620 here and gained 12 IMPs more. With two boards to go, Germany were 18 down but as we all remember from their football teams, Germans never give up. On the last two boards they pulled 11 IMPs back. This was the first of these two:
Open Room
When Fredin could not find an opening bid on the West hand, in 2nd position, Piekarek’s “tactical” 1NT bid opened and closed the auction. The blocked diamond position made it difficult for the defence to defeat this though, double dummy, there is a way: ♥K after the first three rounds of diamonds. At the table North made just 7 tricks for +90 to Germany. Closed Room
Elinescu’s choice to open this rubbish West hand immediately located the fit so Wladow had no trouble at all in competing once more. On the lead of the ♣A West even made an overtrick for a score of +170 to Germany and 6 IMPs. Germany scored 5 more IMPs on the last board so the final score read: 54-47 or 16-14 in VP to Sweden. Both teams had consolidated their good position in the standings. |
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