Round 6 - Hungary vs Estonia

By Peter Gill

The team of four from Estonia were coming 2nd after five rounds, and Hungary had just won their previous match 25-0, so both teams were in good form. Gai Hegedus played in the Hungarian Open Team recently at Salsomaggiore, but the Estonians youths did not have the same opportunity as their country did not take part in Salsomaggiore. Estonia's only previous appearance at the European Junior Teams Championship was a last placing in 1992.

Board 1. Dealer North. None Vul.
	ª J © J 6 ¨ A Q J 8 7 § A Q 10 3 2
ª 10 8 4 3 © 10 7 3 ¨ 6 5 2 § J 7 6		ª A K Q 7 © Q 5 4 2 ¨ K 10 9 4 § 4
	ª 9 6 5 2 © A K 9 8 ¨ 3 § K 9 8 5

West	North	East	South
Tihane	Hegedus	Naber	Marjai
	1¨	Pass	1©
Pass	2§	Pass	2ª
Pass	3§	Pass	5§
All Pass

ªA was led. Gai Hegedus ruffed the spade continuation, played ©A and a spade ruff, eventually coming to 11 tricks on a safe cross-ruff.

West	North	East	South
Minarik	Rubins	Suranyi	Matisons
	1¨	Dble	Rdbl
Pass	Pass	1©	Pass
Pass	3§	Pass	5§
All Pass

Presumably Double of 1© by South would have been for take-out. ªA was cashed and ªK ruffed. Karlis Rubins played ¨A then ¨Q, which Marcell Suranyi correctly ducked. Declarer cashed ©A, ©K, ruffed a spade and led ¨7, eventually coming to 11 tricks. In other matches, optimal bidding and play was not so common. On vugraph, 6§ was made by Daniel Sivelind of Sweden, because ¨Q was covered, allowing declarer to ruff two diamond losers in dummy without the danger of an over-ruff. A duck of ¨Q means that by the time the fourth round of diamonds is being ruffed, West has no more diamonds, forcing declarer to ruff high and try to guess the trump position.

MARJAI Peter, Hungary

If the duck of ¨K seems to you to be a tough play to find at the table, there is a general principle to help find such plays, namely "in general, try to have the major tenace". This means that if LHO leads a king from KQ into dummy's AJx, it is usually best to duck, retaining the major tenace of the AJ over the Qx. This approach leads to your side having better control of the suit. Board 1 is not the best example, but the same principle applies: by retaining ¨K10 over declarer's ¨J8, you leave declarer not in control of the diamond suit.

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

West	North	East	South
Tihane	Hegedus	Naber	Marjai
		Pass	1NT
Pass	2¨	Pass	2©
Pass	2ª	Pass	3ª
Pass	4ª	All Pass

2¨ was Game-Forcing Stayman. §K was led, and ducked, which looks like the best play. Hegedus won the club continuation, ruffed a club, drew trumps and had a choice of lines, all of which succeed as the cards lie. At the other table against 4ª, Marcell Suranyi switched to a diamond after §K was ducked. This does not defeat 4ª. Some declarers went down, mostly after they had won the first club. Bas Drijver from the Dutch team pointed out that in a youth bridge game where light opening bids are commonplace, a dealer who leads §K having passed earlier is less likely to hold ¨A than his partner, and as this makes the threatening diamond switch more likely, perhaps one should win the first club. Any further analysis is best left to the deep thinkers out there.

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

West	North	East	South
Tihane	Hegedus	Naber	Marjai
		1©	Pass
1ª	Pass	4¨	Pass
6ª	All Pass

It seems that the splinter promised at least two aces. Hegedus promptly cashed ¨A and switched to §8 to dummy's king. After a spade to the king, Tihane didn't even bother with the play one does at club level of tempting a cover by playing ªJ, because Hegedus is such a classy card player that there was no point trying that. When he led ª3 and Hegedus played low, Tihane thought it through. It felt like the opening leader was cashing an ace and waiting for his trump trick. Also, the Hungarians are aggressive weak jump overcallers, so Hegedus's failure to try 3¨ over 1ª made North more likely to have shorter diamonds than his partner and thus longer spades. Furthermore, Hegedus had risked picking up his partner's §Q with the club switch - did this make North more likely to have ªQ? Tihane had the courage to back his judgement by taking the slightly anti-percentage play of finessing; 17 IMPs to Hungary because 6NT made at the other table.

6NT? Gabor Minarik checked for aces after the 4¨ splinter, found ªQ was missing, and, realising that this made his partner almost certain to hold §AQx, he had the presence of mind to select 6NT in case there were 12 winners without having to guess ªQ. North misjudged, thinking that perhaps the 6NT contract meant that spades were declarer's weakness, and chose ª4 as his lead. A triumphant result for Minarik, except that he presumably would have taken the percentage play and made 6NT anyway.

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

West	North	East	South
Tihane	Hegedus	Naber	Marjai
2¨	Pass	2©	Dble
2ª	Pass	3§	Dble
Pass	4©	4NT	Dble
Pass	Pass	5§	Dble
All Pass

South had to borrow his last Double Card from his screen-mate. Perhaps East might have passed at one of his turns to call, but many good players have learnt from experience that an aggressive approach to bidding 6/5 shapes yields dividends. The cost was only 2 IMPs, as 4© is cold and 5§ Doubled went for 500. In order to prevent diamond ruffs, §6 was led on which North played the two, retaining §J to over-ruff a diamond, which he did shortly thereafter. On the double dummy lead of a low spade for a trump switch, declarer might run ¨10 to hold the loss to 500, so the best defence happens to be a simple heart lead, allowing a trump switch after the diamond over-ruff. West's Pass of 4NT, surely denying a singleton diamond, means that working all that out at the table is not totally impossible. Simpler folk would get it right by simply seeing an AK holding and leading it.

TIHANE Aivar, Estonia

Playing against Norway's revolting contract of 5¨ Doubled on Board 8, Bas Drijver for Netherlands led ¨3 to the ¨8, ¨Q and ¨K. Later he over-ruffed a club with his carefully preserved ¨6, to score plus 1400. Now we know why it's recommended to lead low from a doubleton trump. How does one reach such contracts? West opened a Multi 2¨, East chose to Pass (suggesting a diamond suit, one would think), South doubled, North found the pressure bid of 4©, East tried 5§, and West naturally enough (if bidding diamonds twice with a doubleton can be called natural) converted to 5¨. That's enough of the match between the two pre-tournament favourites, which Norway won narrowly.

At another table, West restrained himself enough to Pass as dealer, but that was the end of any restraint. North opened 2¨ Multi, East bid 3§, South bounced to 4© (a good pressure bid), West ventured 4ª, North doubled for penalty, East rescued to 4NT, South doubled, West called 5§, passed to South who "knew" that partner had spades for his Double of 4ª. It may have seemed to him that West was fooling around with club support, as a 4ª call by a passed hand didn't seem to make much sense. 5¨ (pick a major) would have been safer, but 5ª was his actual call! This was passed to East, who doubled, forcing a retreat by North to 6©, which failed by only one trick. Passing out 5ª would have scored well too.

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

West	North	East	South
Tihane	Hegedus	Naber	Marjai
	1§	1ª	4¨
Dble	All Pass

Returning to our sane foursome, Aivar Tihane selected an unlucky heart lead, to declarer's jack. On a diamond to the ace, West dropped the five. Declarer was watching, so he immediately crossed back to ©A and put ¨4 on the table. This cute play minimised the danger of a club ruff, and declarer emerged with minus 100, not too bad, but losing 5 IMPs when 4ª by East failed by a trick at the other table.

On vugraph, Turkey made 3¨ Doubled. South bid 2¨ over the 1ª overcall, West raised to 2ª then doubled South's 3¨ re-bid. At the other table, Turkey's East/West pair bid to 4©, over which South decided to save in 5¨, Turkey extracting the maximum penalty of 500, contributing 14 IMPs to Turkey's 18-12 win.

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

West	North	East	South
Tihane	Hegedus	Naber	Marjai
			Pass
1NT	Pass	2§	Pass
2¨	Pass	2©	All Pass

Naber wrapped up 11 tricks very quickly. West's decision to downgrade his hand to open a 15-17 NT with his 4333 shape and a dismal four card suit seems sensible, and East's non-forcing 2© call is automatic, as a singleton king is a dubious asset. However, it seems that West should have re-evaluated his hand and raised to 3©. His original assessment of his hand as poor has to be modified in the light of the bidding; his hand having become monstrously huge if partner has short diamonds which is not just possible but quite likely. to Hungary survived in 3NT at the other table after a club lead and subsequent club continuation, to pick up 5IMPs.

Board 14. Dealer East. None Vul.
	ª 10 8 © Q J ¨ Q 8 4 3 § J 10 8 5 3
ª A K 4 © A K 7 5 ¨ J 2 § A 9 4 2		ª Q J 9 5 3 © 10 3 2 ¨ A 9 § Q 7 6
	ª 7 6 2 © 9 8 6 4 ¨ K 10 7 6 5 § K

West	North	East	South
Tihane	Hegedus	Naber	Marjai
		Pass	Pass
1§	1©	Dble	1ª
Pass	Pass	Dble	Pass
2©	Pass	4©	All Pass

Against the strong (17+) 1§, 1© showed either spades or both minors. East/West appear not to have done their homework on how to defend against this defence, with some doubt surrounding the meaning of the Double of 1ª. After §J was led to the queen, king and ace, declarer thought for a long time about the best way to play this awkward contract. Eventually he cashed ©A and ©K, and, much relieved to see the friendly lie, he simply played a heart to the ten and claimed ten tricks. At the other table, Hungary had a free run to 6ª but even the friendly club and heart lies were not enough to allow that contract to make.

Board 17. Dealer North. None Vul.
	ª 8 5 © A Q 7 6 ¨ A K Q 8 4 3 § 9
ª Q J 6 3 2 © 3 ¨ 6 2 § A 8 6 5 2		ª A K © J 8 5 ¨ 10 7 5 § Q J 10 7 4
	ª 10 9 7 4 © K 10 9 4 2 ¨ J 9 § K 3

West	North	East	South
Tihane	Hegedus	Naber	Marjai
	1¨	Pass	1©
1ª	4§	Pass	4©
All Pass

ªQ was led to the ace, followed by ªK. The abnormal (high low) sequence of spade plays by East showed a doubleton. Thus, after a club to the ace, a third spade was played. Peter Marjai got it right, ruffing with the ace, cashing the queen and finessing the jack, plus 420.

The logic is that as West has more spades than East, East is likely to have more hearts then West. Tihane, who thought for a while before selecting 1ª, would have regretted his choice of bid.

West	North	East	South
Minarik	Rubins	Suranyi	Matisons
	1¨	Pass	1©
1NT	4§	5§	Dble
Pass	Pass	Pass

Minarik's more traditional 1NT overcall to show 5/5 in the other suits hit the jackpot. Playing 1NT as 15-18 in this position is becoming out-of date. The lead of ¨J went to the queen, and ¨K was cashed. The best explanation for §9 being led next is that Estonia have only four players, a disadvantage as it introduces tiredness as a factor. It was the third long match of the day. Fortunately for the Estonians, there are not three matches every day, and the presence of two byes due to Romania's late withdrawal caused by visa problems, might help their chances. Actually, after ©A at Trick 3, North might try a third diamond at Trick 4, as it would have promoted a trump trick if partner had have had §K10. 550 plus 420 was 14 IMPs to Hungary.

Board 18. Dealer East. North/South Vul.
	ª K 6 5 4 © 9 7 ¨ Q 10 7 § A Q J 7
ª Q 10 © A J 10 5 4 ¨ A J § K 10 3 2		ª J 9 8 7 3 © 3 ¨ K 8 6 3 § 9 6 5
	ª A 2 © K Q 8 6 2 ¨ 9 5 4 2 § 8 4

West	North	East	South
Tihane	Hegedus	Naber	Marjai
		2¨	Pass
2©	Dble	2ª	3©
Dble	All Pass

At the vulnerability, North's Double looks risky. If it was intended as take-out, then South would not have voluntarily bid hearts, so it appears that the Hungarian pair had not done their homework against a Multi 2¨. Peter Marjai played skilfully to hold the loss to 500. At the other table, South bought the hand by opening 2©, an animalistic bid at the vulnerability. He was defeated by two tricks but Hungary gained 7 IMPs. The two Hungarian players who opened the bidding on their respective five card majors can take the credit.

Estonia certainly are much too good at bridge to have any chance of repeating their last placing at their only previous appearance in this event If they had six players, they might even be serious contenders for the title, as the extreme mental demands of world class bridge make it difficult for one pair to play every board, let alone two pairs. The match, full of the fast thoughtful card play that is typical of Eastern Europeans, ended with Hungary winning 17-13.