'Easy' Grand

There was a grand slam available to the North/South pairs in the Junior round 3 match, but very few pairs got there. England defeated Denmark but it was the Danes who picked up 11 IMPs on this deal by having a nice smooth auction to the excellent grand, England stopping in six at the other table.

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

West	North	East	South
	Marquardsen		Schaltz
-	1©	1ª	Dble
Pass	4§	Pass	4ª
Pass	4NT	Pass	5©
Pass	7§	All Pass

Martin Schaltz's negative double promised both minors and Andreas Marquardsen's jump to 4§, setting clubs as trumps in a forcing situation without having to waste space by cuebidding spades was the key to the successful auction. When Schaltz could cuebid 4ª, Marquardsen asked for key cards and knew that the second one was the §K as South had bypassed diamonds for his cuebid. It was easy to bid the grand slam now.

The ace of diamonds lead was ruffed and Marquardsen cashed the ace of clubs then played ace of hearts and ruffed a heart with the §9. When the hearts behaved it was a simple matter to draw trumps and claim.

Good Judgement

Many pairs had problems in getting to a making game on Board 19 of the Sunday evening match. One pair who showed how it could be done was Israel's Eldad Ginossar and Ophir Reshef.

Board 19. Dealer South. East/West Vul.
	ª K 10 5 © Q 10 4 ¨ K 10 8 7 3 § K 5
ª A J 9 7 6 © 8 7 3 ¨ - § Q J 7 6 3		ª Q 2 © A 5 ¨ A Q J 9 2 § A 10 9 2
	ª 8 4 3 © K J 9 6 2 ¨ 6 5 4 § 8 4

West	North	East	South
Reshef		Ginossar
-	-	-	2©
Pass	3©	3NT	Pass
4©	Pass	4ª	All Pass

The 2© opening was weak and the Hungarian North made a pre-emptive raise to 3©. Ginossar had to do something with his 17-count and could hardly double when holding only a doubleton spade. He bid 3NT and the spotlight turned to his partner. Reshef did very well to judge to transfer to spades, perhaps imagining that the heart raise on his left marked his partner with something like ©Kx or ©Ax. Four Spades was always going to be comfortable as the cards lay, but the diamond opening lead made life still easier and Ginossar did not have to lose a heart trick. With Hungary playing 3NT down one at the other table, Israel picked up a very useful 13 IMP swing on the way to their 24.5-1.5 VP win.

A Taste of Turkey

I am sure that many of us remember with pleasure the Junior European Championships of two years ago which were held in Antalya, Turkey - none of this English weather for a start. The Turkish team has started slowly in Torquay but they had a 17-13 win over Norway in Round 3, perhaps suggesting better things to come. Erke Suicmez enjoyed himself as declarer on this deal:

Board 16. Dealer West. East/West Vul.
	ª K 8 7 5 © K 8 3 ¨ 9 § Q 10 8 7 3
ª A 6 © J 9 6 ¨ A Q 8 § A J 6 4 2		ª 10 9 3 2 © A Q 7 4 2 ¨ 2 § K 9 5
	ª Q J 4 © 10 5 ¨ K J 10 7 6 5 4 3 § -

West	North	East	South
Sakrak	Harr	Suicmez	Hakkebo
1NT	Pass	2§	4¨
Dble	Pass	4©	All Pass

Stig Roar Hakkebo led the ¨3, suit preference for a club return, and Suicmez put in dummy's queen. He led the ª6 off the table and Gunnar Harr correctly played low, permitting his partner to win the jack. The ¨K was covered by the ace and ruffed low. Suicmez over-ruffed, cashed the ªA and ruffed dummy's last diamond to get to hand. Next, he ruffed a spade low then played the §J to the queen, king and ruff. Hakkebo exited with his remaining heart. Harr did not cover the jack with the king but it did not matter. Suicmez overtook with the ©Q and cashed the ace, drawing the last trump. He continued by cashing the ©7 and exiting with the ª10. Harr won the spade but had to lead a club at trick twelve and that meant no club loser for Suicmez and, more importantly, ten winners.