The Good, the Bad,
and the Truly Ugly
by Marc Smith


E/W produced performances of varying quality on this board from Friday's evening session.

Board 25. Dealer North. EW Game
spade Q J 10 8 7 5 4 2
heart J
diamond 2
club 7 4 3
spade 3 spade A 9 6
heart 8 7 heart A K Q 9 2
diamond 10 8 7 6 3 diamond A Q J 4
club K Q J 9 6 club 5
spade K
heart 10 6 5 4 3
diamond K 9 5
club A 10 8 2

At the table where Anton Maas and Bep Vriend of the Netherlands held the E/W cards, they were given a chance by a restrained North and took it gratefully.

West North East South
Mass Vriend

3spade Dble Pass
4club Pass 4heart All Pass

When South failed to find the trump lead, that was +620 to the Dutch pair. When Great Britain's Liz McGowan and Jason Hackett were E/W, North tried a slightly different approach.

West North East South
Hackett McGowan

Pass!! 1spadeheart Pass
1NT 2spade Dble Pass
3club 3spade 4diamond Pass
4spadeheart 4spade All Pass

This North clearly decided that to bid on the installment plan in the hope that he would be allowed to play the hand in some number of spades doubled. His wish was duly granted, and although N/S -100 against a Vulnerable game looks like a decent board, as we shall see it was not that easy to go plus with the E/W cards… Let's see how things developed at the table featuring the other Hackett twin.

West North East South
Hackett Smith

4spade Dble Pass
4NT Pass 5spade Pass
6club Pass 6diamond All Pass

West's 4NT showed two places to play and now East decided that with a guaranteed fit opposite her hand was worth a slam. They duly found their fit at the six-level. Obviously, Nicola Smith passed, since Dble at matchpoints would be a poor tactical move even though she expected the contract to fail. However, the bidding tray took an inordinate length of time to re-emerge after West's Pass of Six Diamonds. Smith hadn't realized that she was supposed to double to stop Jason from thninking about bidding Six Spades! All's well that ends well though. N/S a sweaty +100. Finally, a truly ugly effort from a Spanish E/W whose annonimity can be preserved by a generous donation to Bulletin refreshment funds. The beneficiaries were one of the home nation's leading pairs…

West North East South
Reps von Arnim

4spade Pass
5club Pass Dble Pass
6spade Pass 4diamond Pass
Rdble All Pass Dble All Pass

For sure, no one could accuse this East of timidity! Daniella von Arnim dutifully led her partner's suit, and declarer allowed South's King to hold. von Arnim's small club switch was won in dummy and the losing diamond finesse taken. The Ace of Clubs was cashed and declarer claimed two down. N/S +1000.

Results Contents
Pairs 3rd Qualifying Session
Pairs 1st Final/Consolation Session
Pairs Session 3 Boards 15-18
The Good, the bad and the truly ugly
by Marc Smith
Judgement Justified
by Nikolas Bausback
Catching up with Eastern Europeans
by Marc Smith



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