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Information Seeking Blackwood
Lior Zivan of the England team found an
imaginative use of Blackwood, he used it to ask the opponents
what their holding was in a critical suit.
| Round 17- Board 20. Dealer North. E/W Vul.
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| |
ª
10 3
© 5 4 3
¨ A Q 8 4
© K 9 8
4 |
ª
Q J 5 4
© A Q 8
¨ J 5
§ Q 7 5 3 |
 |
ª
A K 6 2
© K 10 7
¨ K 7 6 3 2
§ A |
| |
ª
9 8 7
© J 9 6
2
¨ 10 9
§ J 10 6
2 |
| §
J 10 6 2 |
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Rachel |
|
Lior |
Wade Zivan |
| 1NT *1 |
Pass |
2NT *2 |
Pass |
| 3¨ *3 |
Pass |
3ª |
Pass |
| ª |
Pass |
4NT *4 |
Pass |
| 5¨ *5 |
Pass *6 |
5© *7 |
Pass |
| 5ª *8 |
Pass |
Pass |
Pass |
*1 12-14
*2 Transfer to diamonds
*3 Denies diamond support
*4 Roman Key Card Blackwood
*5 1 or 4 key cards
*6 After questions about the diamond holdings
*7 Asking about ªQ
*8 Shows ªQ and no kings |
In response to his partner’s 1NT opening
bid 2NT transfer to diamonds, got a 3¨ response denying good
diamond support, then bid 3ª his second suit. When his partner
raised to 4ª he started thinking about slam. What did he need
to know? Well, in all likelihood partner would have one ace,
most likely the ace of hearts, and what he really wanted to
know was which of his opponents had the diamonds, in particular
the diamond ace. So rather than cuebid he decided to use Roman
Key Card Blackwood, expecting a 5¨ response from partner. Sure
enough, his partner responded 5¨ and North, his screen-mate,
started asking a lot of questions about the diamond holding.
Being fairly sure now that the ace of diamonds was with North,
he asked partner to bid the slam if she held the queen of spades
and partner duly obliged. On paper this is a poor slam but,
one you know the ace of diamonds is with North, it becomes a
very good slam. Well bid Lior.
Act in Haste
By Patrick Jourdain (Wales)
We have seen some high standard play during
these championships, but six declarers have nothing to be proud
of on this deal from Round 18 of the Juniors
ª
9 7 3 2
© A 10 9
¨ K Q 6
§ K 8 3 |
|
ª
K
© K Q J 6
4 3
¨ J 2
§ A 7 5 2 |
Almost every table reached Four Hearts
by East and South led the queen of clubs. How do you play?
They put on the king of clubs and started
thinking. Too late! There was no recovery. Count your tricks:
six hearts, two clubs and two diamonds. But to make the diamonds
you need an entry in dummy AFTER you have drawn trumps, and
that means you must preserve the club king. Here is the full
layout:
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Spanish Team Profile
Everybody thought that
the Spanish team was the perfect candidate to the wooden spoon,
but just for a while, since the match against Estonia in the
VuGraph, we were trying to convince you that we are not. It
is something to do with the Latin way: We love being watched.
(Now we are waiting for another VuGraph appearance to win at
least one match more)
This terrific team is composed
of:
Gonzalo Goded
20 years old and a student
of computer Engineering. He is working hard in the very World
language that he had named "Bresafasssafer". (Imposible to understand).
He is also the most experienced player, he has been in the Spanish
Junior Team since 1996 (Cardiff), when he was only 16!.
Loreto Romero de Tejada
She is 23 years old and
is studying Mines Engineering. She partners Gonzalo and she
is tired to hear him practising his language. If you notice
that she has "PD" written in her hand, it means "Think! Slowly!".
Claudia Anglada
Degree in Humanities and
Journalism, and she is only 23!! She arrived to Antalya with
a fabulous tan but she is red since she read the bulletin where
the Italian Biondo declared his love for her.
Tania de Villalonga
She is studying Business
and Law, but in the evenings she works as a Tanqueray's tester.
If you don't know her yet, she is the one who counts her tricks
with her hands as if she she were dancing.
Jorge Antonio Perez
He has just been degreed
in Mathematics, he is trying to find a job as a teacher, and
he will do it fine as he is used to standing his partner Santi.
Santiago Masia
22 years old. He is studying
Psychology and he needs it to understand his partner's bridge.
He is the very gentleman of the team.
Nuria Almirall
Her identification card
named her the non playing captain, but... She only speaks in
Spanish, and people understand her!, We wish that that it could
be the same with Gonzalo.
Ana Gari (Coach)
She is the always-smiling
student of Business who wastes her time scoring for us. She
is happy as "unas castañuelas".
Marta Almirall
She came thinking that
she was on holiday, but the day she arrived was the beginning
of some days of hard work. Nuria thinks Marta is doing well.
Both of them are partners, and used to be in the top ten of
the European Ladies Butler.
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