ENGLAND vs AUSTRIA

Laies Series - Round 17 - By Tony Gordon

England led Austria by 6 VPs going into this crucial top-of-the-table clash, and were doubtless hoping to consolidate their advantage as the race for the title entered its closing stages.

Board 2. Dealer East. N/S Vul.
	ª A 10 5 © J 6 ¨ 9 7 6 5 3 § K 10 2
ª 9 8 © K Q 10 9 7 ¨ K 8 § Q 8 7 4		ª K Q 4 3 2 © A 5 ¨ J 2 § A J 9 6
	ª J 7 6 © 8 4 3 2 ¨ A Q 10 4 § 5 3

West	North	East	South
Brunner	Erhart	Goldenfield	Smederevac
		1ª	Pass
2©	Pass	3§	Pass
3¨	Pass	3©	Pass
4©	All Pass

Her chunky heart suit and club fit persuaded Michelle Brunner to settle for 4© at her third turn, and Maria Erhart led the ¨3. Jovi Smederevac won the ace and returned the queen and Brunner played a spade to the king. When that held, she drew trumps and played a low club. Erhart made the textbook play of rising with the §K, and then gave an amused laugh when Brunner won the ace and crossed back to her hand with the queen. There was only the ªA to come for the defence and England scored +450.

West	North	East	South
Weigkricht	Smith	Fischer	Dhondy
		1NT	Pass
2¨	Pass	2©	Pass
3§	Pass	3ª	Pass
3NT	All Pass

When Doris Fischer decided to open 1NT with the East hand the auction proceeded almost inevitably to 3NT. Heather Dhondy led the ¨Q and Fischer won dummy's king and finessed the §J. When that held, five rounds of hearts followed. Nicola Smith could afford to discard two spades, but the last heart squeezed her in the other three suits. She discarded a diamond, but Fischer read the hand accurately and continued with a spade to establish her ninth trick. +400 to Austria, but 2 IMPs to England.

Board 4. Dealer West. All Vul.
	ª 10 7 2 © K Q J 4 ¨ A § K J 10 8 4
ª A Q © 10 9 8 6 5 2 ¨ A Q J 3 2 § 8 4		ª J 9 8 4 © A 7 3 ¨ J 10 9 8 4 3 § -
	ª K 6 5 3 © - ¨ K 7 5 2 § A Q 9 3 2

West	North	East	South
Brunner	Erhart	Goldenfield	Smederevac
Pass	1©	Pass	1ª
Pass	2§	Pass	2¨
Pass	2ª	Pass	3§
Pass	3¨	Pass	3©
Pass	4¨	Pass	4NT
Pass	6§	All Pass

Erhart and Smederevac use a canapé-style approach, hence the early bidding. Clubs were then agreed and cue bids followed. 4NT was ace-asking, but Erhart closed proceedings by jumping to 6§. Rhona Goldenfield led the ¨J and declarer won in hand, perforce. As a trump had not been led, the slam depended on the ªA being onside, but declarer quickly knew her fate when she played a spade to the king at trick two and it lost to the ace. Brunner then cashed the ªQ, but Erhart had the rest when Brunner did not have another spade to play. +100 to England.

West	North	East	South
Weigkricht	Smith	Fischer	Dhondy
Pass	1§	Pass	2§
Pass	2©	Pass	2ª
Pass	3§	Pass	5§
All Pass

Michelle Brunner, England

Dhondy's 2§ was game forcing, but as the hands did not seem to fit too well the English pair stopped in 5§. Fischer led the ¨J and Smith ruffed her low heart in dummy at trick two and cashed the ¨K discarding a spade. Now she ruffed a diamond and led a spade to the king. Terry Weigkricht took the ace and switched to a trump, so declarer won cheaply in hand and ruffed another heart. She now played dummy's last diamond and when Weigkricht did not ruff she carefully discarded her last spade. Now she could safely cross-ruff the last five tricks for +600 and 12 IMPs to England. If Weigkricht had ruffed the last diamond, Smith would have to over-ruff and fall back on the ruffing heart finesse, but her loser-on-loser play meant she did not have to rely on the whereabouts of the ©A.

Board 9. Dealer North. E/W Vul.
	ª 10 4 3 © A K Q J 9 5 4 3 ¨ - § 8 2
ª K 9 © - ¨ K J 9 8 7 § A Q J 9 7 6		ª Q J 8 7 6 2 © 7 2 ¨ A 10 4 § 10 3
	ª A 5 © 10 8 6 ¨ Q 6 5 3 2 § K 5 4

West	North	East	South
Brunner	Erhart	Goldenfield	Smederevac
	Pass (!)	2ª	Pass
3§	5© (!)	Pass	Pass
Dble	All Pass

A typical effort by Maria Erhart that barely caused a raised eyebrow when the bidding tray was returned to the other side of the screen. Goldenfield led the §10 against 5© doubled and when it held the trick she switched to the ªQ. There was no way for declarer to avoid going one down and England scored +100.

West	North	East	South
Weigkricht	Smith	Fischer	Dhondy
	4§	Pass	4©
4NT	5©	All Pass

Smith began with a Namyats 4§ with her solid heart suit and when Weigkricht showed the minors with her 4NT overcall she persevered with 5©. No one saw fit to disturb that contract which at least had the merit of being played by South so the defence had no quick route to success. Weigkricht led a diamond and Dhondy ruffed in dummy and immediately led the ª3 and ducked the trick to Weigkricht´s ª9. It must have seemed to Weigkricht that declarer's spade suit was a potential source of tricks as she went into a long huddle before playing the §A and presenting declarer with her contract. +450 and 11 IMPs to England.

Board 11. Dealer South. None Vul.
	ª K 8 6 2 © K Q J 7 5 ¨ A K 9 § 9
ª J 9 7 5 © A 8 4 3 ¨ J 7 5 3 § 3		ª A Q 3 © 6 ¨ 8 4 2 § K Q 7 6 4 2
	ª 10 4 © 10 9 2 ¨ Q 10 6 § A J 10 8 5

West	North	East	South
Brunner	Erhart	Goldenfield	Smederevac
			Pass
Pass	1ª (1)	2§	Pass
Pass	Dble	All Pass
(1) Canapé-style

Smederevac was no doubt pleased with the final contract, but less pleased when her opening lead of the ª10 was covered in turn by the jack, king and ace. Goldenfield cashed the ªQ and continued with the ª3. To defeat the contract by two tricks Smederevac needed to ruff the spade and switch to a diamond, but she discarded a heart instead so dummy's ª9 won the trick. Declarer now cashed the ©A, ruffed a heart and exited with a diamond. Smederevac won her queen and continued diamonds and Erhart won the next diamond and played her trump. The §K was taken by the ace and Smederevac continued with the §J. However, declarer could win with the queen and play her last diamond, and as she had §764 remaining compared with South's §1085, she could ruff the next trick with the §7 and make the §6 at trick thirteen for just one down and -100.

West	North	East	South
Weigkricht	Smith	Fischer	Dhondy
Pass	1©	2§	Pass
Pass	Dble	All Pass

The same contract was reached here as well, but as Smith had been able to open her longer and stronger suit, Dhondy led the ©2 and Fischer was not as well placed as Goldenfield had been at the other table. She won the ©A at trick one and led dummy's trump; however, that route led to three down when she eventually played spades from her own hand. +500 and 9 IMPs to England.

That result put England ahead by 44-3 and the final score was England 54 Austria 4. England's 25-5 VPs win pushed Austria down to third and left England 25 VPs ahead of the Netherlands.