43rd GENERALI EUROPEAN BRIDGE CHAMPIONSHIPS DAILY BULLETIN Editor: J.-P. Meyer • Co-Editor: M. Horton • Web Editor: Th. Matziaris No.: 3 • Monday, 16 June 1997

Results	Contents
OPEN TEAMS, Round 3 OPEN TEAMS, Round 4 OPEN TEAMS, Round 5 LADIES PAIRS, Final 1st Session LADIES PAIRS, consolation 1st Session	Match of the Day Deflected Ladies Pairs: 1st Qual. Session by Tony Gordon Action With Not Quite a Yarborough

In the Open Teams event, a red and white flag flies highest!

Denmark surged to the top of the ranking, coming up from sixteenth place after scoring a massive 73 Victory Points out of a possible 75. Yesterday's leaders, Sweden, had a bad day, collecting only 37 VP and dropping to 10th place. Behind Denmark we find two fancied teams, Italy on 100, and Norway with 96.

7th Generali European Bridge Ladies Pairs Championship

Twenty-eight pairs are contesting the final. 53.81% was the score needed to progress through the three session qualifying stage. Fifteen nations are represented in the final, with pride of place going to the host country, Italy, with nine pairs. France, with three pairs, and Poland, Chech Rep., Netherlands and Germany, with two each, are the other countries to have multiple representation.

This match would be a pointer to the qualification chances of the new look British squad - no Forrester-Robson or Kirby-Armstrong - as they took on the formidable Danes, winners of the bronze medals in Rhodes. After a couple of quiet boards, Denmark struck the first significant blow:

Board 3. Dealer South. E/W Game Q J 7 4 3 A 6 Q 10 5 3 A 6 2 A K 10 9 5 K Q J 9 4 5 2 A 8 7 2 J 6 4 K 10 8 5 3 2 8 6 10 8 7 3 K 9 Q J 9 7 4 Open Room West North East South Auken Tredinnick Koch-Palmund Tredinnick Pass 1 1 Pass Pass Dble All Pass (1) Nebulous diamond - could be as few as two. (2) Shows five hearts.

Closed Room West North East South Calderwood Schaeffer Shek Andersen 2 3 Pass 3 Pass 3NT All Pass

The Open Room auction was duplicated in many other matches.

East led the five of hearts, to the three, nine and ace. Not being blessed with second sight, Gerald Tredinnick played a diamond to the king and ace. Jens Auken switched to his singleton trump and when Dennis Koch-Palmund captured declarer's queen with the king, he returned the ten of spades, retaining trump control.

Gerald found the best play of his remaining heart, and when West won and continued the suit, he ruffed and was overruffed. East was endplayed, either now or later, so the contract was one down, +100.

In the Closed Room the British pair were hit by the Danish pair's methods. The opening bid of Two Diamonds promised 0-7 points with any shape. West's strange looking bid of Three Diamonds promised a heart suit, Two Hearts being unavailable as it would have been a transfer to spades. The auction now got out of control and the ugly final contract drifted three down. At least North wasn't able to double, but it was still a swing of 9 IMPs to Denmark.

There was soon another major swing in the same direction:

Board 5. Dealer North. N/S Game 9 7 4 2 4 2 10 8 5 4 3 2 10 A K Q 3 A K J 8 3 10 7 5 Q 9 A J 7 A Q J 8 2 K 7 6 3 J 10 8 6 5 Q 9 6 K 6 9 5 4 Open Room West North East South Auken Tredinnick Koch-Palmund Tredinnick Pass 1NT Pass 2 Pass 2 Pass 3 Pass 4 Pass 4(1) Pass 4NT(2) Pass 5 Pass 5(3) Pass 5 Pass 6(4) Pass 7 All Pass (1) Asking bid (2) Diamond control and two of the 'five' aces (3) No diamond king (4) The king of spades

Closed Room West North East South Calderwood Schaeffer Shek Andersen Pass 1NT Pass 2 Pass 2 Pass 3 Pass 4 Pass 4NT Pass 5 Pass 5 Pass 6 All Pass

There was nothing wrong with the British auction, but the excellent system of asking bids used by Auken-Koch-Palmund gave them a significant edge. When he took the decision to bid the grand slam, Jens knew that the contract could not be worse than a finesse and might be laydown.

Culbertson was the first to promulgate the rule that you should always bid a slam under such circumstances, and here his theory was worth 14 IMPs.

Denmark were scoring points almost at will and it was only on Board 9 that the British team were able to open their account, collecting 4 IMPs by going plus in both rooms. That made the score 36-4, but the points were immediately recovered with interest.

Board 10. Dealer East. Game All Q 8 Q J 9 2 K 6 J 7 6 5 4 K 7 6 5 A 4 3 2 K 4 A 8 5 3 A Q J 9 5 3 K Q 10 9 8 A J 10 9 10 7 6 10 8 7 4 2 3 2 Open Room West North East South Auken Tredinnick Koch-Palmund Tredinnick 1 Pass 2 Pass 2NT Pass 3 Pass 4 Pass 4NT Pass 5 Pass 5 Pass 6 All Pass

Closed Room West North East South Calderwood Schaeffer Shek Andersen Pass 2(1) Pass 2NT(2) Pass 3(3) Pass 3(4) Pass 3(5) Pass 4 All Pass (1) Three suiter, various distributions (2) Relay (3) 4-4-4-1 (4) Relay (5) Minimum

(1) (2) (3) 4-4-4-1 (4) (5) Minimum

Not unreasonably, Gus Calderwood did not think his hand was worth a slam try opposite a singleton club and a minimum.

As soon as his partner cue-bid in support of spades, Jens Auken was off to the races. The fortunate position in both black suits meant he was soon able to claim his contract.

It had been an impressive performance by both Danish pairs, and at half time they fully deserved their 50-6 IMP lead.

The Danish captain brought in Christiansen and Blakset; the British captain kept the same line-up.

The second half continued as the first with Denmark picking up another 30 i.m.p.s in bits and pieces without reply. This was a fine defence by the Danes:

Board 13. Dealer North. Game All Q 9 5 K Q 10 5 8 6 A 7 6 3 A 6 2 10 7 3 7 4 2 A J 9 6 3 K 5 Q 7 4 3 2 Q 10 9 5 2 — K J 8 4 8 A J 10 9 K J 8 4 Open Room West North East South Mortensen G. Tredinnick Schaeffer S. Tredinnick Pass Pass 1 Pass 1 Pass 1 Pass 2 Pass 2 Pass 2 All Pass (1) Nebulous diamond - could be as few as two. (2) Shows five hearts.

Closed Room West North East South Calderwood Christiansen Shek Blakset Pass 2NT Pass 3 All Pass

The opening Two Notrumps by Dick Shek as East showed a two suited hand with hearts and a minor.

The contract of Three Hearts went two down for 200 to Denmark.

OnVugraph the Tredinnick twins stopped in what looked to be a safe Two Spades. Mortensen made a good start by leading a club which was ruffed by Schaeffer. East returned a diamond. Declarer gave this some thought but, worried about further ruffs, put on the ace. However, he now led a heart, and was given no further chance to make his partscore. East won the heart, put West in with a diamond to the king, received a club ruff, and then led a third diamond. West smartly ruffed this with the ace of trumps, and a third club ruff sunk the contract.

Declarer can survive if he takes the diamond finesse, provided he plays a trump before East gets to play the third diamond. Then East can obtain only two ruffs to go with the defence's three side suit tricks. The swing was 7 i.m.p.s to Denmark.

The next board was a double partscore swing to Denmark when at one table Schaeffer, as dealer, opened 1086 K9 A3K108652 with a Precision Two Clubs, and at the other table, this hand passed and Christiansen opened last in hand with KQ953 J103 K108 93 One Spade and managed to stop in a making contract of Three Hearts, for 6 i.m.p.s to Denmark.

Then came a deal which both teams bid very well, and which should go into the record books. At one table hearts were bid at every level from One to Five, whilst at the other they were bid at every level from One to Seven!

Board 15. Dealer North. Game All A Q 10 7 6 2 8 7 6 Q A 6 2 3 9 8 A Q J 10 5 4 K 9 3 K J 10 3 9 7 4 2 J 10 9 8 4 3 K J 5 4 2 A 8 6 5 K Q 7 5 Open Room West North East South Mortensen G. Tredinnick Schaeffer S. Tredinnick 1 1 1 2 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 Pass Pass 7 Dble All Pass

Closed Room West North East South Calderwood Christiansen Shek Blakset 1 1 1 2 3 4 5 Pass 6 All Pass

In the Closed Room the final contract was Six Spades by Denmark. This provided an easy twelve tricks and 1430 to Denmark.

On Vugraph Denmark sacrificed in Seven Hearts. Was Mortensen tempted by the sight of those other six heart bids on the tray? The defence can actually take the first seven tricks for a penalty of 1700 and a swing of 6 i.m.p.s to Britain. It looks perfectly normal to lead the singleton diamond, because, if Six Spades was making, you know South must hold one of the red aces and the king of spades. With good signalling North should actually obtain three ruffs to obtain the 1700.

In another match against Seven Hearts doubled the defence missed one of their diamond ruffs, and the penalty was 1400, a profit of 1 i.m.p. for the sacrificer!

However, the British North appeared intent on taking no ruffs. He cashed the ace of clubs, followed by the ace of spades and then led a second spade. West ruffed this and had a chance to get out for only four down, by drawing trumps and dropping the bare queen of diamonds. However, declarer drew only one trump before playing a club. South won and switched to ace and another diamond, and so the defence obtained one ruff. The penalty was 1100 but the swing of 8 i.m.p.s went to Denmark.

The match continued in this vein, with Britain earning a couple of swings at the end to avoid the whitewash. Denmark won 25-3, a result which took them up to 5th place in the table.

It often happens that a player can be persuaded by the bidding to go down in a contract that might perhaps have been made. Take a look at this deal from Round 2 of the Open series and the bidding from the match Belarus and Sweden in the Closed Room:

Board 16. Dealer West. E/W Game 10 7 J 4 3 10 6 5 2 K 10 9 8 K Q 2 A J 8 6 3 A Q 9 7 6 8 5 2 3 A J 7 Q J 7 6 3 2 9 5 4 K 10 K Q 9 8 4 A 5 4 Closed Room West North East South Andersson Medushevskii Gothe Feranchuk 1 Pass 1 2 Dble 2! 2 Pass 4 All Pass

The opening lead was the king of diamonds. Declarer won with the ace and played a club to the queen and North's king. He won the trump switch with the jack of spades and played his remaining club. South went up with the ace and played a second trump, taken in dummy. Declarer cashed the jack of clubs, throwing a diamond and ruffed dummy's remaining club. South overruffed with the nine of spades and played the queen of diamonds, effectively locking declarer in dummy and ensuring that the setting trick would be taken by the king of hearts.

Gennady Medushevskii's cunning Two Heart bid had convinced declarer that the heart finesse was not going to work and caused him to go down in a contract that was easily made at the other table.

In the match between Germany and Iceland the declarer was also diverted from a winning line, but by a different bid!

West North East South Thorvaldsson Holowski Jorgensen Gotard 1 Pass 1 2 Dble 3! 3 Pass 4 All Pass

Once again the opening lead was the king of diamonds. After Andreas Holowski's bid, declarer saw little point in trying to set up a club trick, so he played three rounds of hearts, taking the winning finesse on route, and North won the third round, his partner discarding a club, and played a second diamond, ruffed in dummy with the two of spades. Declarer played a low club, which North won with the eight. He continued with the ten of clubs to South's ace, and declarer was forced to win the trump exit in dummy. There was now no way to prevent the defenders from scoring another trick so declarer simply ran the queen of clubs, allowing South to ruff with the nine of spades.

Once again the contract was easily made in the other room. An early 'Bols Tip' was to 'Listen to the Opponents Bidding.' Perhaps there should be a rider - 'Don't always believe them!'

The holders of the Ladies Pairs, Sabine Auken and Daniela von Arnim of Germany, were favourites to retain their title, so I decided to watch them in the first qualifying round.

By coincidence, they began against Pony Nehmert who took the Silver medal two years ago, but this year Pony is playing with Karin Caesar instead of Andrea Rauscheid. The holders did not get off to a good start:

Board 12. Dealer West. N/S Game 7 5 4 A Q 10 9 8 6 3 Q 8 7 6 K Q J 10 8 2 J 2 — 10 9 7 6 2 A K 5 3 J 8 5 4 2 K Q 3 A 9 3 K 7 5 4 J 4 A 10 9 6 West North East South Nehmert Auken Caesar von Arnim Pass 3 4 5 Pass Pass 5 Pass Pass Dble All Pass

5 would have been two down, but Caesar pressed on to 5 which Auken doubled on the way out. It was not obvious for von Arnim to lead anything other than a heart and Caesar ruffed the A and continued with the K. von Arnim ducked this, but won the second spade and was probably surprised to find that her partner indicated three trumps. This obviously brought the possibility of a club ruff into focus, but one has only to reverse North's minor suit holdings to appreciate the danger in that approach. von Arnim decided instead to hope that her partner had a working minor suit honour and played safe by continuing hearts. Caesar ruffed this and was home and dry when diamonds behaved. +650 gave E/W 116 MPs out of 128. Two boards later, Auken-von Arnim reached a well-bid 6:

Board 14. Dealer East. Love All Q 6 4 2 K 7 A Q 9 6 4 3 2 K 2 J 10 9 6 3 Q J 9 8 7 5 3 10 8 6 5 3 A J 4 8 10 7 5 A 8 7 5 4 A K 10 Q 9 2 K J West North East South Auken von Arnim Pass 1 Pass 2 Pass 2 Pass 2NT Pass 3 Pass 3 Pass 4 Pass 4 Pass 4NT Pass 5 Pass 6 All Pass

After the strong club opening, 2 was a multi-meaning positive which the subsequent 2NT clarified to be 11 plus with at least six clubs. 3 then showed a singleton spade and the reasonable slam was soon reached. With spades breaking 5-2 the slam appears doomed (however, see elsewhere in this bulletin for the double squeeze possibilities), but when West's opening lead of the 6 was ducked in the dummy, East was faced with a problem. She reasoned that if she played the J, declarer might be able to discard dummy's remaining diamond on the AK. Consequently, East went up with the A and the slam was home. +920 was worth 122 MPs. Several tops and bottoms later, Auken found herself faced with playing in a 3-3 fit:

Board 24. Dealer West. Love All 9 7 3 Q 8 6 3 J 8 5 J 7 4 Q J 10 K 6 4 2 A K 7 5 2 J 10 9 9 4 K Q 6 2 9 8 6 10 3 A 8 5 4 A 10 7 3 A K Q 5 2 West North East South Auken von Arnim Pass 1 1 Pass 2 Dble Pass 2 All Pass

When von Arnim followed up her strong club opening with a takeout double of East's raise to 2, Auken found herself awkwardly placed. She bid 2 and East led the J to West's King. West switched to a trump and Auken ducked the first round but won the second. She then crossed to hand with the J and ruffed a heart. Two top clubs followed and East ruffed and quickly placed the K on the table. When this was ducked, East could have ensured a two trick defeat by continuing with the Q, but she fatally continued with a low diamond allowing Auken to win in hand with the Jack and crash the opponents trumps for one down. The difference between one down and two down was only 22 MPs, but a lot more was at stake in the second six-card trump fit a few boards later:

Board 2. Dealer East. N/S Game 7 A Q 8 2 J 7 K Q 8 4 3 2 8 6 4 A K Q 10 7 6 4 J 10 9 5 A K 9 5 2 10 6 3 J 7 A 9 J 9 5 3 2 K 3 Q 8 4 10 6 5 West North East South Auken von Arnim 1NT Pass Pass 2 All Pass

The North hand was not well suited to the German pair's defensive methods over 1NT, and the only way Auken could conveniently enter the auction was with an imaginative/risky 2. East led a top spade and then decided to switch to the J. Auken won in the dummy and led a club to the seven, King and Ace. Oblivious to the danger, East blithely continued trumps and the hand was quickly over. Auken cashed the Ace and Queen of hearts, pitching dummy's blocking 10 in the process, and then played on clubs for eight tricks and 101 MPs. However, if East had continued spades, it would have been E/W who would have garnered 80% of the matchpoints instead. At the end of an up and down first session, the holders were handily placed in 13th position with a 59.31% score.

In the Round 2 match between France and Ukraine, Michel Perron was North on Board 10. With East the dealer at Game All he held this jewel:

863 9854 74 10632

He did not expect to have to take any action with this collection, but the bidding went:

West North East South Pass 1 1 Dble Pass 2 Pass 3NT Pass Pass Dble All Pass

East's sequence was canapè-style. What do you lead?

Perron chose a heart, and the full diagram shows just how right he was:

8 6 3 9 8 5 4 7 4 10 6 3 2 Q J 9 5 7 7 3 K Q 6 2 K J 8 Q 10 9 6 2 K Q 9 8 A J 7 A K 10 4 2 A J 10 A 5 3 5 4

This lead helped France to win the match 19-11.

Return to Top of page

To List of Bulletins