| 48th European Bridge Team Championships | Page 2 | Bulletin 11 - Wednesday 23 August 2006 |
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Open Teams Italy v Iceland, Germany v Norway, Ireland v Hungary (Round 17) by Jos Jacobs In the morning round on Saturday no less than three matches between teams among the top eight of the Open Series were scheduled: Italy-Iceland, Germany-Norway and Ireland-Hungary. Below, I will try to report some highlights from all three these matches. On board 1, looking at the scores in the Ireland-Hungary match, one might think they were not playing the same boards at the two tables:
Open Room
The ambiguity arose when McGann showed his spades over 3♥, as 1♦ was either 0-7 HCP or a game force without any of the major suits. McGann apparently took 5♦ as a strong one-suiter in the suit so he raised to slam only to discover that this was not quite the case. When the Hungarians were kind enough not to double this he quietly went two down for +100 to Hungary. Closed Room
Though a forcing defence in hearts will make it difficult to make 4♠ at the table unless you are allowed to peek a little here and there, making eight tricks in 2♠ was easy going. In fact declarer made two overtricks when the defence switched to clubs early on. Hungary +170 and 7 IMPs. In the Germany-Norway match there was more at stake: Open Room
Declarer ruffed the ♥A and led a spade to the king and ace. A heart came back and a low diamond went to the jack and queen. Another heart was ruffed by declarer and West won the next diamond. East duly got his diamond ruff next but then could not effectively return anything but a trump. This meant down two, +300 for Norway which rated to be a very good result. Closed Room
And so it proved when Brogeland, playing in just 3♠, went after the diamonds first. He ruffed the ♥A and lost a diamond to the queen. He then ruffed the heart return and led another diamond. West won the ace and gave his partner a ruff, but when Brogeland ruffed the third heart and ran the ♠J, the ♠A was the defenders’ last trick. Contract made, Norway +140 and 10 IMPs to open their account. Norway scored another 9 IMPs on the next board and then, two boards later, we saw this:
Open Room
Szalay’s quiet approach might still have inspired Macskasy to jump to 4♦ but when the latter just gave preference, the Hungarians, leading 18-0 after three boards, sold out to 4♥ and Ireland scored an easy +620. The classic approach would probably have worked better. Suppose West opens 1♣ (natural) and rebids 2♦. Now, no matter what the opponents do, East is in a position to raise diamonds voluntarily, which clarifies the situation for his partner. It could have been a double game swing but Dumbovich’s Grosvenor Gambit saved a few IMPs for Hungary: Closed Room
As trumps are 2-2 making 11 tricks is not so difficult but look at what happened: Dumbovich led top hearts, Mesbur throwing dummy’s losing spade on the second round. He next ruffed the third heart high, crossed to the ♦J and led the ♣K and another, playing for the more likely clubs 3-2 and trumps 3-1. Had Dumbovich simply ruffed the second club the contract would have been beaten, but he elected to discard a heart. At this point, if trumps really are 3-1 and clubs 4-1, both with North, you have to ruff a club next and then use one of your high trumps as the entry to dummy to ruff out the last club. A spade ruff brings you back in dummy to draw the last trump and enjoy the good clubs. Mesbur played accordingly only to see Dumbovich overruff the third round of clubs… How could he know that playing off one more top trump would have brought him the contract? Hungary +100 but still 11 IMPs to Ireland. In the Germany-Norway match we saw another big swing to Norway: Open Room
* shows hearts One off, Norway +100. Closed Room
It is difficult to understand why Marsal did not retreat to diamonds again after Fritsche’s 2NT opening bid had shown both minors. Norway +500 and 12 IMPs where they might have lost the same amount… This match looked almost over now after just four boards as the score stood at 32-0 to Norway. More bidding and play problems on the next board:
Open Room
On the actual trump break this was not a success. Hungary +200. Closed Room
On a trump lead by West, ducked to East’s jack by declarer and a trump back to dummy’s queen - Dumbovich was always in control. He simply cashed his top clubs and ruffed the third round of the suit with dummy’s ace. When they broke, he led a diamond and played trumps to drive out the king and enjoy the clubs. Just made, Hungary +790 and 14 IMPs to lead 32-11 now. This board earned Germany a swing when Brogeland went down in 4♠ undoubled: Open Room
This went down two for +100 to Germany. Closed Room
The defence got off to the best lead: a diamond to the ace and a diamond back. Once Brogeland began by setting up his side suit (a sound principle) he was in trouble when the trumps broke 4-1. Continuous diamond leads fatally shortened his trumps and thus he had to go down two. A combination of the chances would have worked better. Try the effect of a trump to the queen first. East can win but what can he do? A diamond will be ruffed in dummy followed by the ♠A and a heart to the ace. A trick is given to the ♠K and declarer has the balance. If East leads a heart declarer wins and proceeds to ruff the third club with the ace. When he next plays a trump from dummy, East can win his king but declarer once again has the rest. A most peculiar swing occurred on board 11 in the Italy-Iceland match. Meanwhile, Ireland and Hungary were playing safe:
Open Room
Not exciting when the diamonds never came into the picture. Three overtricks, Hungary +490. Closed Room
The Strong Club gave the Irish the chance to find the diamond fit and they duly did so. As you can see declarer can make 12 tricks by guessing the hearts in the end to discard his losing spade. Mesbur did not bother about all this and played very safe for 11 tricks. Ireland +400 and 3 more IMPs to Hungary. In the other match the dazzling heights the world-wide audience (well over 3,000 at a certain moment) was hoping for were reached indeed: Open Room
Once West made an opening bid it had become impossible for Iceland to stay out of slam. Well bid, but the play’s the thing. North led the ♠Q to dummy’s king and declarer drew trumps in two rounds. He then took the heart finesse, the jack losing to the king and ruffed his two losing clubs trying to find out more about the distribution. As South had returned the ♠9 to dummy’s ace after winning his ♥K he actually had no clue. In the end he guessed to take the heart finesse and thus was down two…Italy a probably unexpected +100. Was this a big swing? Not exactly! Closed Room
The only thing one can say is that Lauria had not anticipated such a weak double… One down, Iceland +50 but 2 of the strangest IMPs ever won by Italy…
Open Room
The double of 2♣ was a general game force. Macskasy then showed good technique in his declarer play. He won the diamond lead in hand with the ace and ran the ♠Q, getting the bad news. His next move was to simply duck a heart to North. Now, had he withheld the jack on North’s club return he would have ensured his contract as South has no good exit left if he decides to ruff the diamond. Declarer would have won the ♣A in dummy, ruffed out the hearts (the suit breaking 3-3) and led a diamond up. If South discards the king scores; if he ruffs he has to present declarer with a trick as he has only black cards left. At the table, declarer put in the ♣J, covered and won by the ace. Dummy’s hearts were ruffed good and a diamond was indeed led. When South did not ruff the king scored and we were back into “Plan A” described above. Just made, Hungary +420. Closed Room
Once Mesbur decided to win the diamond lead with dummy’s king, he could no longer make the contract as North will inevitably get the chance to South ruff away declarer’s ♦A. Down two, Hungary +100 and 11 IMPs more to lead by 42 now. In the other match Open Room
Jonsson was not put to a severe test when Nunes led the ♦2. He won the ace and advanced the ♠Q which was covered by Nunes. Next came a heart off dummy, Fantoni going up with the king to return a diamond. When Nunes ruffed this and returned a club the rest was easy. Iceland +420. Closed Room
Lauria got a favourable club lead into his KJ but after that, the Icemen gave him a harsh time. He ran the ♠J which held, unblocked the ♣A and led a heart off dummy, North going up with the ten (!) which held. He returned a cunning ♦J which Lauria won with the king in dummy. Next came another heart on which Magnusson contributed the queen. Upon seeing this Lauria tried to cross to his hand with the ♦A but when Magnusson could ruff this the contract had gone down one. Iceland +50 and 10 IMPs to lead by 13. The next board once again was a matter of systems. Strong Clubs certainly were of better use than the natural approach. If South opens 2NT or any strong two preparing to rebid 2NT East has the chance to bid as many spades as he wants and NS will be in trouble. If on the other hand South opens a Strong Club, North will be able to show a game forcing hand with a club suit, in which case South’s next bid should be around 6♣. The Italians ran into trouble on the spade intervention, as you can see:
Open Room
South cashed two top hearts followed by two top clubs and then exited with another heart. A low trump was led by declarer, the nine in dummy winning (!) and the ♣Q thus becoming a parking place for a diamond. Down only three, Italy +500. Closed Room
Thorvaldsson followed a not so sophisticated approach, be it a very practical one. His 5NT was “ pick a slam” and South duly obliged. Iceland a fine =1430 and 14 IMPs to lead by 27! The next board brought a swing for Ireland though it should have been a push:
Open Room
3NT was explained as showing both a stopper in spades and in diamonds. East led a low diamond to West’s ace and West continued not a spade to beat the contract out of hand, but the ♦J. Well, had East let this hold, West would have had a second chance but this was not to be: East overtook with the queen and cleared the suit, as well as declarer’s problem with the clubs. If they are 3-0 you have to maneuver carefully to avoid the blockage and this was probably what Hanlon had been thinking about as he threw the ♣8 on the ♦K to remove the blocking card. The curious thing with the clubs is that any 3-0 split will cause trouble, no matter what you do. If you lead the ♣K from hand you run into trouble when East discards, if you lead up to the ace first you have a serious problem when (as was the case here) West discards. Contract made, Ireland +400. Closed Room
Though Dumbovich went one down, he might have considered this a good result as the opponents are cold for 4♠…Ireland +50 and 10 IMPs back to trail by 35. On this same board, Italy recouped some of the IMPs lost just before: Open Room
This was made when Jonsson led the ♠A. Italy +400. Closed Room
On a diamond lead and a spade switch Thorvaldsson had to concede defeat: Italy another +50 and 10 IMPs back. It should be noted that this defence is necessary to beat 5♣. If West simply returns a diamond, declarer will win the king, play the ♣K, lead a trump to the ten, cash the ♣AK, ruff a heart high, draw the last trump and ruff the last heart. A diamond ruff will provide entry to dummy’s 13th heart on which the spade loser goes away. |
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