When
Polish Seniors Meet
In the first round of the senior event final,
the clash between Jezioro Klukowski and Pochron Omernik was eventful
After the excursion to Pompeii , I was very
tired and I did not see my ace of heart on board 13.
So I passed initially playing East.
Board 13. Dealer North.
All Vul.
|
|
ª A 10 3
© K J 8 4
¨ 7 6 5 4
§ 7 3 |
ª K Q J
© 10 9 7 2
¨ 8 3
§ A Q 8 6 |
|
ª 8 5 4 2
© A Q 5 3
¨ A 9 2
§ K 10 |
|
ª 9 7 6
© 6
¨ K Q J 10
§ J 9 5 4 2 |
|
My partner opened one Club, I answered one
Heart and then jumped to four Hearts after my partner raised me.
The lead was the king of diamonds, ducked,
and the queen of diamonds followed to the ace and a diamond was
ruffed before playing the ten of hearts, king from North and the
ace took the trick. Having seen the 6 played by South I hoped that
he had begun with doubleton 86. So a spade went to the ace and a
spade went back to the dummy. I tried the nine of hearts covered
by jack and queen, South discarding a spade. Then the trouble began!
A third round of spades, a club to the king and then ace and queen
of clubs. North with ©84
had no good answer. Ten tricks were duly scored .
Board 14. Dealer East.
None Vul.
|
|
ª A J 10
© K 10 5 4 3
¨ A Q 8 5
§ 3 |
ª 5 2
© Q J 6
¨ K J 3
§ A K J 10 4 |
|
ª 8 7 3
© 9 8 7 2
¨ 6
§ Q 9 6 5 2 |
|
ª K Q 9 6 4
© A
¨ 10 9 7 4 2
§ 8 7 |
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
Pochron |
Klukowski |
Omernik |
Jezioro |
|
|
Pass |
Pass |
1 NT |
Dble* |
2 §** |
Pass |
2 ¨ |
Pass |
2 © |
All Pass |
* Multi-meaning
** Stayman !
The lead was the king of spades followed by
the ¨10 to the jack
and queen. Next came the ¨A
ruffed by East, a club was played to the dummy and a spade was discarded
on the ¨K. A Spade
was played from dummy won by North who then played the king of hearts
crashing his partner's ace. Eventually I finished two down undoubled,
not a good result for N/S as game or slam can be made in either
clubs or spades. A multiple meaning double of 1 NT is not always
efficient!
How
good are you to lead?
You're hand is:
ª 10 4 3 © 9 8 6 ¨ K 10 5 2 § 9 3 2
What do you lead after listening to the following
bidding?
West |
North |
East |
South |
|
Pass |
Pass |
1ª |
Pass |
1NT |
Pass |
2NT |
Pass |
3NT |
All pass |
|
The killing one was to lead a heart to your
partner's ace, then he lead back a diamond through the dummy and
the contract was doomed to go down. Declarer could only get eight
tricks. Birman - Zeligman who we reported about earlier on having
a nice ride through to the finals now has a harder time in the finals,
since this happened against them!
Board 9. Dealer North.
All Vuln.
|
|
ª J 6
© Q J 7 2
¨ Q 8
§ K 8 7 6 5 |
ª Q 5 2
© A K 10
¨ J 7 6 4 3
§ 10 4 |
|
ª 10 4 3
© 9 8 6
¨ K 10 5 2
§ 9 3 2 |
|
ª A K 9 8 7
© 5 4 3
¨ A 9
§ A Q J |
|
Presidential
Lead
As a start, try this problem. You hold:
ª Q J 10
6 5
© A J 9 7
¨ A
§ A 4 2
The bidding, at love all, goes One Spade on your left, Two
Diamonds on your right, Two Spades on your left, Two Notrumps
on your right, All Pass. What do you lead?
Henri Szwarc and José Damiani of France are having
an excellent run in the Seniors, lying 17th after the first
session of the final. Szwarc is celebrating 47 years of representing
France. Damiani, a quarterfinalist in the Albuquerque Rosenblum
and bronze medallist in the Aachen European Mixed Pairs, is,
in his spare moments, President of the World Bridge Federation.
|
|
José
Damiani |
Damiani had the problem above and found the
well thought out and spectacularly successful shot of a low spade!
This was the layout:
Board 1. Dealer/North.
None Vul.
|
|
ª A K 9 4 2
© 4 3
¨ 9 2
§ K 10 9 6 |
ª Q J 10 6 5
© A J 9 7
¨ A
§ A 4 2 |
|
ª 8 7
© 8 6 2
¨ Q 5 4 3
§ 8 7 5 3 |
|
ª 3
© K Q 10 5
¨ K J 10 8 7 6
§ Q J |
|
Declarer could not risk losing his best chance
of setting up the diamonds, so he put on the ace of spades, and
took the diamond finesse. Damiani won and followed up his original
success by leading another low spade! Declarer duly fell into the
trap for a second time, rising to take another diamond finesse.
When West showed out declarer abandoned diamonds, but West had five
winners to cash to defeat the contract.
Swzarc's skills have not diminished, as is
shown by this deal from the first session of the championships:
Board 21. Dealer North.
North/South Vul.
|
|
ª K 10
© K Q J 6 4
¨ Q 7 6 5
§ A 3 |
ª 6 5 4
© A 2
¨ A J 10 4 3
§ Q 9 6 |
|
ª Q 8 3 2
© 9 7 5 3
¨ K 2
§ 10 4 2 |
|
ª A J 9 7
© 10 8
¨ 9 8
§ K J 8 7 5 |
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
|
Szwarc |
|
Damiani |
|
1© |
Pass |
1ª |
2¨ |
Pass |
Pass |
3§ |
Pass |
3¨ |
Pass |
3© |
Pass |
4© |
All Pass |
|
Three Clubs showed longer clubs than spades.
The defence have three top winners in the
red suits, and declarer has to worry about the diamonds, and the
danger of a second trump loser.
Henri
Szwarc |
|
East led ¨K,
and continued the suit to Wests ace. West now led the jack
of diamonds. Szwarc played low from hand, East discarded a
club, and dummy had to ruff with the eight of trumps.
If declarer plays a trump now he suffers a diamond ruff.
Even if he discards his diamond on a spade, West can win the
first trump and another diamond will promote Easts heart nine.
So Szwarc, without relying on a black suit finesse, set about
a crossruff that neutralised the danger in the trump suit.
It went king of spades, ace of spades, spade ruff, ace of
clubs, king of clubs, and a fourth spade. What can West do?
|
West's options are to ruff low, high, or not
all. If he ruffs high there are only four cards left, and North
and East are all trumps, so the trump promotion is no longer possible.
If West ruffed low (or, as at the table, discarded) declarer overruffs
with his last small trump, and then ruffs the master diamond with
the ten of trumps.
The same boards were played in the Open giving
Christian Mari and Albert Faigenbaum a chance to show the correct
defence against the same contract and lead. At trick two Mari switched
to a low trump, and Faigenbaum ducked! Even if declarer guesses
spades to dispose of one diamond, when he leads the diamonds from
dummy, West can win, draw dummys last trump, and give East a diamond
ruff.
Fall
of Eagles
When the last session of the A semi-final
started, Paul Chemla and Alain Levy were in need of a reasonable
score in order to be able to continue the defence of their title.
They were faced by a series of testing deals right from the start.
Board 1. Dealer North.
None Vul
|
|
ª K 7 2
© 9 6 4 3 2
¨ 10 5
§ A J 6 |
ª 8 3
© A
¨ Q J 9 2
§ Q 10 7 5 4 3 |
|
ª A 10 9 5 4
© Q J 10
¨ A K 4 3
§ 2 |
|
ª Q J 6
© K 8 7 5
¨ 8 7 6
§ K 9 8 |
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
Witek |
Levy |
Kowaczyk |
Chemla |
|
Pass |
1ª |
Pass |
1NT |
Pass |
2¨ |
Pass |
3¨ |
Pass |
3© |
Pass |
3ª |
Pass |
4¨ |
Pass |
5¨ |
All Pass |
|
|
South led the eight of clubs and North took
the ace and switched to a spade. Declarer put up the ace, crossed
to the ace of hearts, ruffed a club and took the ruffing heart finesse,
discarding dummy's losing spade. He then cross ruffed his way to
eleven tricks and a very good score, as the game was missed as several
tables.
Thirteen is a cardinal number in bridge and
those of you who are of a superstitious disposition will have your
belief reinforced by this deal:
Board 13. Dealer North.
All Vul
|
|
ª K Q 6 3
© Q 7 5 4 2
¨ J 8 7 3
§ - |
ª A 2
© A J 10 3
¨ 10 6 5 4
§ J 3 2 |
|
ª 8 5
© K 9 6
¨ A K Q 9 2
§ 10 8 4 |
|
ª J 10 9 7 4
© 8
¨ -
§ A K Q 9 7 6 5 |
|
Alain
Levy |
|
The French pair actually faced this deal in the last round
and we know that East opened a 10-12 notrump. We are uncertain
as to how the auction developed from that point - perhaps
South bid 3§
and when North tried 3©
he introduced his spades - but what we do know is that South
was the declarer in Four Spades.
West led a diamond and declarer ruffed, ruffed a club and
played a top spade. West won and played a second diamond.
|
Declarer was now in a position to take all
the remaining tricks and ensure a place in the final, but after
ruffing he ruffed another club high and could only make eleven tricks.
Of course he would have been right if clubs had been 5-1, but the
bidding and the lead appear to rule out that possibility.
Board 16. Dealer West.
East/West Vul
|
|
ª Q 7 6 2
© 8 5 3
¨ 10 6 3
§ 9 8 6 |
ª A K 5 4
© A Q J 10
¨ 8 7
§ A K 5 |
|
ª 8 3
© 6
¨ Q 9 2
§ Q J 10 7 4 3 2 |
|
ª J 10 9
© K 9 7 4 2
¨ A K J 5 4
§ - |
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
Lara |
Levy |
Capucho |
Chemla |
2NT |
Pass |
3NT |
All Pass |
This deal was also reported in yesterday's
bulletin. North led a regulation spade and declarer won and rattled
off the clubs. South, convinced that West would not risk the heart
finesse came down to two hearts and two diamonds. That proved to
be a false hope, and when declarer played a heart to the queen all
thirteen tricks were in the bag.
At another table the bidding did not end with
East's 3NT.
West |
North |
East |
South |
Auken |
|
Schäffer |
|
2NT |
Pass |
3NT |
4¨ |
Pass |
Pass |
Dbl |
All Pass |
There is no way to wring more than +500 from
Four Diamonds - not exactly what you need if you are desperately
trying to qualify.
This was one of the best defences of the Championship.
Board 18. Dealer East.
North/South Vul
|
|
ª J 9 5 3 2
© J 9 7
¨ 3 2
§ K Q 9 |
ª K 8 7 4
© Q 10 8 5 3
¨ A 8
§ 7 4 |
|
ª Q 10 6
© 4 2
¨ Q 10 9 7 6 5
§ 8 2 |
|
ª A
© A K 6
¨ K J 4
§ A J 10 6 5 3 |
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
Mari |
Levy |
Faigenbaum |
Chemla |
|
|
Pass |
1§ |
1© |
1ª |
Pass |
2¨ |
Pass |
3§ |
Pass |
3NT |
All Pass |
|
|
|
West found the excellent lead of the four
of spades and East played his part by contributing the two. After
taking the ace of spades declarer played six rounds of clubs. West
was under pressure, but solved his problem by discarding two hearts
and the seven and king of spades. That meant that declarer could
manage no more than nine tricks.
A slightly better result on any one of these
four deals would have been enough for us to see a continuation of
the French Defence, as they missed qualifying by only 0.05%.
Tout est perdue fors l'honneur.
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