43rd GENERALI EUROPEAN BRIDGE CHAMPIONSHIPS DAILY BULLETIN Editor: J.-P. Meyer • Co-Editor: M. Horton • Web Editor: Th. Matziaris No.: 15 • Saturday, 28 June 1997

Results	Contents
OPEN Round 34 OPEN Final Rankings BUTLER scoring, Final Rankings	Open, France v Netherlands by Brian Senior The route to Gold by Patrick Jourdain The Propability Principle by Ib Axelsen Northern Dcientific by Fredrik Bjerregaard An Irish Slam by Herman De Wael Unblock of the Tournament by Svend Novrup

Denmark and France will also represent Europe in Hammamet The Generali Trophy goes to France

We had run out of ways to report that Italy was leading! The Azzuri were in front after seven matches and never allowed anyone to occupy this enviable placing.

They had already won the Championship before the last round started. There was a tremendous battle for the remaining medals and Poland just had the edge on Norway in the race for second place.

Denmark was a comfortable fourth, but there was a titinic struggle for the last qualifying place between France and Netherlands. Both had to meet strong opposition from teams with nothing to win and nothing to lose but honour.

Champions Italy fought France till the last board and although France won 16-14VP, Jean Louis Stoppa and his players had to rely on Tony Priday's players, in Great Britain's match against Netherlands. When it became clear Great Britain had scored a decisive victory, the sporting nature of the European Championships was evidenced when Paul Chemla embraced the Hackett twins. So fifth place went to France instead of the unlucky Dutch players. A French official told the British players 'Now Trafalgar and Waterloo are forgiven!'

Only two rounds to go and fourth-placed France have two tough matches against Nehterlands, who are currently outside the qualifying positions, and Italy, who are chasing gold. The French would probably settle for a draw while Netherlands need a serious win. The first half was fairly dull with only three swings of any note.

Board 5. Dealer North. N/S Game J 10 5 2 K Q J 7 3 9 2 Q 2 6 3 7 4 9 8 6 A 4 8 6 4 A Q J 10 7 8 7 6 5 3 A 10 9 4 A K Q 9 8 10 5 2 K 5 3 K J West North East South Verhees Perron Hoogenkamp Chemla Pass 1 1 Pass 3 Pass 4 All Pass

West North East South Levy Jansen Mari Westerhof 2 Dble 4 Pass Pass Dble All Pass

There was nothing to the play, of course, both declarers taking ten tricks; 5 IMPs to Netherlands. A triumph for the Dutch 2 opening, showing a weak hand with both majors, as Mari hadn't finished showing his hand by the time 4 was reached so he felt obliged to double again.

Board 8. Dealer West. Love All K Q 8 7 6 5 10 7 3 8 4 A 7 4 2 J 3 A 8 5 K Q 6 A Q 7 6 2 K 5 3 6 5 3 J 10 9 4 2 A 10 9 J 9 4 2 J 10 9 K Q 8

Both Norths opened 2, natural and weak. Chemla passed that and the club lead gave Perron nine easy tricks; +140. Westerhof raised pre-emptively to 3 and Mari found the killing lead of K. He continued with Q then switched to a low diamond to the ace. Levy cashed A before returning a diamond; -50 and 5 IMPs to France.

Board 9. Dealer North. E/W Game Q 5 K A K Q J 8 6 K 9 8 5 3 10 8 7 6 4 A J 9 7 6 3 2 8 5 4 9 5 3 2 7 2 A Q J 4 A K J 9 2 Q 10 10 4 10 7 6 3 West North East South Verhees Perron Hoogenkamp Chemla 1 Pass 1 3 Pass 4 Pass Pass 4NT Pass 5 Pass Pass Dble All Pass

Perron did not bid immediately over 3 but when 4 came round to him he was not prepared to defend. 4NT showed long diamonds and secondary clubs and Chemla chose clubs, of course. The lead was the singleton spade and Chemla played low from dummy, winning the ten with his jack. He tried the K next, hoping for a miracle which would allow him to pitch dummy's heart on the third round. But Verhees ruffed, cashed A and switched to a diamond. Chemla won in hand and led a club to the jack. Back came a heart to his queen. He ran a second club to the queen and Hoogenkamp cashed A. Chemla unblocked the king but now a third heart forced him to ruff in dummy while pitching his diamond. Hoogenkamp ruffed the next diamond and though Chemla could over-ruff he had to concede a spade. A rather painful -800.

West North East South Levy Jansen Mari Westerhof 1 Pass 1 Pass 3 Pass 3 Pass 4 Dble Pass Pass 4 Pass 4 All Pass

Here there was no 3 overcall and the Dutch got to their best spot, 4. The lead was a club to the jack and when Mari switched to a heart and a second heart came back Westerhof must have thought for a moment that he was going to make his contract. He won the second heart and played a spade to the queen and a second spade to the ace, getting the bad news. Now he tried to run the diamonds but Mari could ruff the second round and there were two clubs to lose; -100 but still 12 IMPs to Netherlands.

If Westerhof believes that the defence has not erred, perhaps there is a case for finessing the 9 on the second round to cater for the actual layout, though it does seem unlikely that East has nine black cards given West's silence in the auction. The assumption is, of course, that the line of defence chosen means West does not have a second club to lead if he wins the 10.

Netherlands led 19-9 after a fairly dull set but the second half was much more dramatic.

Board 17. Dealer North. Love All J 10 7 3 K J 6 3 2 A 7 6 3 A 6 5 4 2 K 9 3 5 A K Q 10 A 10 8 Q 9 7 K Q J 10 9 4 2 Q 8 7 J 9 8 6 4 2 5 4 8 5 West North East South Westerhof Perron Jansen Chemla Pass 1 Pass 1 Dble Pass 1NT Dble Pass Pass Redble Pass 2 Pass Pass Dble All Pass

This didn't look very exciting in the Closed Room where Levy/Mari bid to 4, making eleven for +450. However, there was more action in the Open Room. This was not the time for Perron to come into the auction. Jansen led a top heart against 2 doubled and accurately switched to a trump. Westerhof won the ace and played a second round to the jack and queen. Jansen cashed a second heart then exited with his last trump. Perron played a spade but Jansen shot in with the king and played a second spade to the ace and declarer could only take the A and his trump tricks; four down for -800 and 8 IMPs to Netherlands.

Board 20. Dealer West. Game All K Q 9 8 A 10 Q 8 2 10 9 8 6 A 7 6 4 5 2 J 7 6 5 3 2 Q 8 4 K A J 10 9 6 5 3 7 5 4 J 10 3 K 9 7 4 A K Q J 3 2

Both Easts opened 3 in third seat. Everybody passed in the Open Room and Jansen lost the obvious five tricks; -100. In the Closed Room, Jan van Cleef made one of the bids of the tournament when he protected with 3NT on the North cards! It is hard to imagine a more perfect dummy than the one he was presented with by Jan Jansma. Despite the heart lead, nine tricks were easy - van Cleef ran the clubs and only established a spade trick at trick eight, so no overtricks; +600 and 11 IMPs to Netherlands, building up a useful lead.

The last three boards turned a solid win into a huge one.

Board 22. Dealer East. E/W Game Q J 10 7 3 8 7 2 A 10 4 A K A K 9 6 8 2 — J 9 6 5 J 9 7 6 Q 5 3 J 9 8 5 2 Q 10 7 4 5 4 A K Q 10 4 3 K 8 2 6 3 West North East South Westerhof Perron Jansen Chemla Pass 1 Pass 1 Pass 2 Pass 3 Pass 3 Pass 4 Pass 4NT Pass 5 Pass 6 All Pass

West North East South Levy van Cleef Mari Jansma Pass 1 Pass 1 Pass 2 Pass 4 All Pass

Westerhof cashed the two spade tricks so that was 11 IMPs to Netherlands.

Board 23. Dealer South. Game All A K 7 5 4 3 8 4 2 A K J 4 8 4 2 Q A Q 7 5 10 8 6 10 J 7 6 5 3 Q 10 9 6 2 8 7 5 3 J 10 9 6 3 K J 9 2 A K Q 9 — West North East South Westerhof Perron Jansen Chemla Pass 1 Pass 2NT Pass 3 Pass 3 Pass 4 Pass 4 All Pass

West North East South Levy van Cleef Mari Jansma 1 Pass 3NT Pass 5 Pass 5 Pass 6 All Pass

3NT was a balanced raise and 5 showed the void. In the Open Room, 2NT was a forcing raise, 3 showed a shortage somewhere and 4 said it was in clubs. With the Q falling and the diamond position showing up (both Wests led the 10), twelve tricks were easy; 13 IMPs to Netherlands.

Lest the last two boards show Chemla/Perron's slam bidding in an unfairly bad light, I should point out that they had bid a grand and a small slam earlier in the set, both of which were cold. Those contracts were matched by van Cleef/Jansma, however, so had no effect on the result of the match.

Board 24. Dealer West. Love All K Q 10 9 4 3 2 K 3 — 9 8 5 3 J A 8 6 A Q 7 5 4 J 10 9 4 3 2 Q J 7 5 7 4 A K Q 6 2 7 5 10 9 8 6 2 A K 8 6 10

van Cleef and Perron both opened 4. Mari went quietly and led two top clubs then switched to his heart. He ruffed the second heart and led a low club, ruffed and over-ruffed, over0ruffed the next heart and played a spade. There was still a club to come for four down; -200.

In the other room, Jansen overcalled 4NT and Westerhof converted to 5, doubled by Chemla. Perron led K and Westerhof won the ace and led a low diamond off the dummy. It seems that if Chemla goes in with an honour and plays three rounds of the suit declarer will be a trick short, but he ducked and Westerhof's nine scored. There was no second chance for the defence. Westerhof played three top clubs, the last being ruffed and over-ruffed, then ace and ruffed a heart, bringing down the king. He ruffed a club, establishing a trick there also, and Chemla could only take his top trumps; +550 and 8 more IMPs to Netherlands, who had won by 78-14, or 25-4 VPs.

Suddenly, the Dutch were favourites to qualify and the French were in disarray, needing a big win over Italy in the final round to have a chance of a top five place.

The British Ladies started the day with a five-point advantage over France, the holders. Britain had to play Hungary and Greece; France was to meet Poland and Iceland. These were the key deals from the second half:

Board 19. Dealer South. E/W Game A 7 6 4 2 J 7 A Q J 7 6 5 Q 5 3 J 10 8 K 9 3 10 8 6 5 4 2 8 2 9 3 K J 7 6 3 Q 10 K 9 A Q K 10 5 4 A 9 8 4 2 West North East South Welker McGowan Welker Dhondy Pass 1 Pass 1 Pass 2 Pass 3 Pass 3NT Pass 4 Pass 4 Pass 4NT Pass 5 Pass 5NT Pass 6 Pass 7 All Pass

In the bidding, 4 was a cue. Once diamonds were agreed North asked about controls and learned that South held three "aces", counting the K, and a king outside.

Heather Dhondy's grand slam proved unbeatable when she set up the spades for a heart discard. West led a trump won in dummy, and declarer began with a club ruff.

The Hungarians at the other table reached only Three Notrumps, for a vital 14 imps to Britain.

Board 20. Dealer West. Game All 9 8 5 3 10 2 J 6 4 K 7 4 2 A K Q 6 10 Q J 9 7 6 5 4 3 A 3 2 Q 9 5 J 10 9 3 A Q 5 J 7 4 2 A K 8 K 10 8 7 8 6 West North East South Handley Landy 1 Pass 2 Pass 2NT Pass 3NT All Pass

Two Notrumps from West was game-forcing.

With the ten of hearts falling and the club finesse succeeding, Four Hearts proves quite easy, and the Hungarians scored 11 tricks in this game.

However, Michele Handley had the task of fulfilling Three Notrumps. North led a club, won by the jack and the heart queen was taken by South who played a second club. Handley won in dummy to play a second heart. South was compelled to duck, and this appeared to kill the suit, for dummy had only one entry left. Handley's next move was to cash three top spades, the ace of clubs, on which South threw a diamond, and then Handley exited with a heart. South won, cashed the jack of spades (she would have done better to keep a small one) and then lead a diamond away from the king. This ran to the queen, giving West ten tricks.

Even if South unblocks in spades declarer can still succeed. She must exit with the fourth spade at once. North may switch to a diamond, but declarer wins the ace, crosses to the club ace, and exits with a heart as before.

Hungary still won the match 16-14, but for these two hands the British score would have much worse. France had lost by the same score. The gap was still five victory points. In the last match you can see the report elsewhere how the Italian declarer made Four Hearts on Board 22 to deny Israel the silver medal. Sandra Landy for Britain made the same play.

Board 22. Dealer East. E/W Game K J 7 A 8 6 4 Q 6 2 K J 6 Q 9 8 3 A 6 10 7 3 K J 9 5 4 A K 10 8 3 8 3 10 7 5 4 2 10 5 4 2 Q J 9 5 2 7 A Q 9 West North East South Handley Landy 1 1 Pass 4 All Pass

West led a diamond and East assisted declarer by laying down the king and ace. However, the plan that declarer followed would have worked even if East had won the first diamond with the ten. Landy ruffed, crossed to a club, took a spade discard on her diamond queen, ruffed a diamond and led a trump to the ACE. It was a bonus when the king came down, but even if it had not, she planned simply to take her clubs and then exit with a trump. If East held Kx she would be endplayed.

Brian Senior reported on declarer's problem in the match between France and Denmark with these cards:

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

North plays Four Spades and East leads his singleton diamond to the queen and ace followed by a diamond ruff. How should you play the trumps?

Christiansen from Denmark had no problems: ace of spades followed by a small one and East showed up with the queen. The singleton diamond in the East hand favours length in trumps, and with the ten dropping from the West hand, he would probably have finessed.

The French declarer Mouiel opened the North hand One Club and got a weak Two Heart overcall from East, so he was in a different position. He took the king of spades and played small towards the AJ, West following. Finesse or not? East's heart suit is weak, so it is probably a seven card suit. He has shown up with two small trumps and a singleton diamond, so he has 3 'empty spots' for the queen of spades. A similar count of the West hand shows the same number of empty spots in that hand. So odds 3 to 3 and a 50-50 choice. If we consider a six card heart suit in the East hand, the odds become 4 to 2 for dropping the queen of spades.

In the vugraph match on Thursday, between Denmark and Poland, the following board was decisive in a low scoring match.

Board 7. Dealer South. Game All 10 2 K J 9 6 4 3 J 6 2 J 9 Q J 7 5 3 A K 8 Q 2 A 10 5 A K 10 7 Q 5 4 3 6 5 A K 2 9 6 4 8 7 9 8 Q 10 8 7 4 3

The field couldn't quite agree which was the better contract, at least not during the bidding.

Afterwards everybody agreed that Seven Diamonds was the top spot. In the election for contracts, votes turned out like this:

11 Pairs voted for 7, 8 Pairs for 6, 7 Pairs for 6NT and 5 for 6. Most of these were re-elected. Out of bidding politics went 7, 3NT and 4 with one vote each. The vugraph couldn't tell much about the bidding of Denmark'sLars Blakset and Soren Christiansen, except that it took a fair amount of time!

I went to Lars to get a printout, since it looked awfully complicated. He told me they play a game forcing relay designed by themselves, but he couldn't bring a copy, since he was concerned about having to pay excess baggage on his flight to Milan.

West North East South Blackset Christiansen Pass 1 Pass 2 Pass 2 Pass 2 Pass 2 Pass 2NT Pass 3 Pass 3 Pass 3NT Pass 4 Pass 4 Pass 4 Pass 4 Pass 4NT Pass 6 Pass 6 Pass 6NT Pass 7 All Pass

After the opening bid of One Spade East's response of 2 was game forcing, and the first of a series of relays. This is what the replies meant:

I suggest that this must be the longest (and one of the best) sequences in this tournament. The very precise bidding of Lars and Soren has gained a lot of VP's but if you are thinking of learning a system like this, I have to apply two warnings:

1 If anything in the auction goes wrong, deduct 2-3 VP per sequence.

If you are slow in declarer play, deduct 1/2-1 VP per auction. By the way, Lars and Soren have promised that if they go to Tunisia, they will know about the location of the J and J in a similar sequence!

Many people noticed that Ireland were the only team who managed to bid a grand slam on the following deal, where the high card points were distributed 30-4 from Round 33 (Ireland v Liechtenstein)

Board 8. Dealer West. Love All J 10 7 5 3 9 3 2 K 8 3 J 4 4 A K Q 2 K J 7 5 A Q 8 10 7 6 5 4 A Q 10 9 5 A K Q 2 9 8 6 10 6 4 J 9 2 8 7 6 3

Most bidding problems would start to focus on the East hand, which after some recounting of calculations turns out to hold 30 HCP. But do remark that West is dealer, and Hugh McGann was feeling in a good mood:

West North East South McGann Hanlon 2(1) Pass 2NT(2) Pass 3(3) Pass 4NT(4) Pass 5(5) Pass 7NT All Pass (1) Multi (2) Relay (3) Weak in hearts (1), minimum (4) RKCB (5) One 'ace'

Hugh opened the West hand with a Multi. He did intend this to be a weak Two in Hearts, and in their system, that does not normally get done on a five card suit, nor does it include a four card minor. He did not put two Diamonds among his Hearts, nor had he visited the Piccolo Bar in the last 12 hours.

Of course Tom could not be stopped before he had emptied his entire bidding box. After Hugh in the bidding, Tom on play:

A club lead set up the twelfth trick, and Tom first cleared that suit. North had to part with a heart and one of his spades. Next he ran the hearts, and on the fourth one, North had to part with a second spade. Tom then made the thirteenth trick with the spade deuce. So instead of going for the diamond finesse, Hanlon made the grand slam on a positional squeeze that relied on the same position. 'Of course,' he said, 'we never bid grands on finesses!'.

The high standard of play in these championships can be proved in many ways. One is to take the results board and see how every day several of the top teams are turned over by the underdogs. Another to take a close look at the play and realize how all players are capable of making the most beautiful things.

Take, for example, this brilliant defence by Silvana Rojko of Slovenia against Denmark in round 33, board 9. I doubt that many players would copy it but she found it logically and diligently and was aptly rewarded.

Dealer North. E/W Game J 10 7 2 A 7 3 2 A K 10 9 8 — A 9 8 6 9 4 2 K Q J 8 3 A Q J 8 5 4 K 6 J 7 4 3 Q 6 K Q 5 4 3 10 7 6 5 10 9 6 2 West North East South Pavlin Andersen Rojka Schaeffer 1 Dble 1 2 3 Dble 4 All Pass

In the other room Soren Christiansen - Lars Blakset as East-West for Denmark believed to have won the board by declaring 4 down one. They expected the Danish pair to bid 4 winning at the other table. And Morten Andersen - Lauge Schaefer did indeed bit their 4 but that was not the end of the story.

When Milan Pavlin chose to lead the A Silvana Rojko unblocked the K. So obvious - once you have seen it. Silvana Rojko saw a cross-ruff coming, and she had no effective means against it if she won the second trick. If, however her partner held the remaining diamond honours, then...

He did, and he continued with two more diamond tricks while East got rid of a club. After that declarer had no chance. Silvana Rojko was able to ruff the second round of clubs as the fourth defensive trick. No, Denmark did not steal the contract in 4 in one room, they were allowed to play there but I wonder of the Slovenian North-South pair were certain that they had done the right thing.

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