Schools Round 5
For the Saturday morning match we visit each Schools match in turn
for just one board, starting with Austria v Sweden.
Board 1. Dealer North. None Vul.
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ª 6 2
© Q 5 4
¨ A J 6 5
§ 9 8 5 3 |
ª A Q 8 4 3
© 9 6 2
¨ Q 7 3
§ A 4 |
|
ª 9 5
© A K 8 3
¨ K 2
§ K J 10 6 2 |
|
ª K J 10 7
© J 10 7
¨ 10 9 8 4
§ Q 7 |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Ryman |
Anzengruber |
Thalen |
Eglseer |
|
Pass |
2§ |
Pass |
2ª |
Pass |
3© |
Pass |
4§ |
Pass |
4ª |
All Pass |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Gruber |
Salomonsson |
Duy |
Sivelind |
|
Pass |
1© |
Pass |
1ª |
Pass |
2§ |
Pass |
2ª |
Pass |
4ª |
All Pass |
RYMAN Jenny, Sweden
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|
For Sweden, Bjorn Thalen opened a Precision-style
2§ and jenny
Ryman responded 2ª,
forcing. When Thalen now showed his hearts, Ryman gave preference
to clubs rather than risk 3NT with ¨Q73,
and Thalen corrected to 4ª.
The lead was the nine of clubs for the ten, queen and ace. Ryman
crossed to the ©A
to play a spade to her queen, followed by two more rounds of
spades. Back came the ¨10
and North erred by winning and returning the suit to dummy's
king. Ryman played two winning clubs now and that took care
of her heart loser; ten tricks for +420.
For Austria, Johannes Duy opened 1©
in normal Austrian canapé style. When Christian Gruber
bid and rebid his spades, Duy raised to 4ª.
Daniel Salomonsson led the ª6
to the ten and queen and Gruber played ace and another club,
finessing the jack. When that lost, the contract was always
going to fail. A diamond switch went to the jack and king, and,
though the §K
could draw one of South's trumps, the contract was two down
for -100 and 11 IMPs to Sweden. The Swedes won the match by
78-37 IMPs, 23-7 VPs.
We move along to the match between Wales and Israel. |
Board 2. Dealer East. North/South Vul.
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ª K 3
© Q 8 7 5 3
¨ 9 7 6 4
§ 10 3 |
ª 10 8 6
© J 10 6 4 2
¨ K Q 10 3
§ 2 |
|
ª A Q J 4 2
© K
¨ J 5 2
§ Q J 9 8 |
|
ª 9 7 5
© A 9
¨ A 8
§ A K 7 6 5 4 |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Sharp |
Fisher |
Ca. Evans |
Argelazi |
|
|
1ª |
2§ |
2ª |
Pass |
Pass |
3§ |
Pass |
Pass |
3ª |
All Pass |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Ofir |
Cl. Evans |
Assaraf |
Reed |
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|
1ª |
2§ |
Dble |
All Pass |
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Both Souths made a very sound 2§
overcall. Johnny Sharp raised to 2ª
on the West cards, as did the majority of Wests in this position.
When Eliran Argelazi competed to 3§,
Catherine Evans had an opportunity to teach him a lesson by doubling,
but instead bid a safe 3ª.
With everything fitting nicely for East/West and the spades behaving
kindly, Evans managed ten tricks easily enough for +170.
In the other room, Gilad Ofir made a negative double on the West
cards and Ory Assaraf looked at his chunky four-card club holding
and passed. Ofir led the king of diamonds and Lauralee Reed took
the ace immediately and tried a sneaky nine of hearts to the queen,
hoping that this would be her best opportunity to slip past the
king on her left. But the king was not on her left, and perhaps
it was odds against that it would be so after the ¨K
lead. Worse, the king was singleton on the right and, far from sneaking
a trick, Reed had developed an extra loser for herself. The defence
could always prevent a spade ruff in dummy so Reed had just six
tricks now for -500 and 8 IMPs to Israel. Wales are having a hard
time of it so far in these Championships and this match ended in
a 109-18 win for Israel, 25-0 VPs.
Next up are Ireland and Poland. You can see an Irish triumph from
this match in a separate article in today's Bulletin. The match
generally went the way of the Poles, however, and this next board
helped them to their 84-33 IMP, 25-5 VP win.
Board 6. Dealer East. East/West Vul.
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ª 6
© Q J 8 6
¨ K 10 7 3
§ A 10 5 2 |
ª A J 10 9 8 7 3
© 5 4 3
¨ A J
§ 6 |
|
ª 5 4 2
© A K 2
¨ Q 9 6 5 4 2
§ J |
|
ª K Q
© 10 9 7
¨ 8
§ K Q 9 8 7 4 3 |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Flynn |
Zielinski |
Carrigan |
Karlowicz |
|
|
Pass |
2§ |
3ª |
Dble |
4ª |
All Pass |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Kalita |
Davis |
Sikora |
O'Muicheartaigh |
|
|
Pass |
3§ |
3ª |
4§ |
4ª |
5§ |
Pass |
Pass |
5ª |
All Pass |
For Wlodzimierz Karlowicz the South hand was a Precision-style
2§ opening. Adam
Flynn jumped to 3ª
and Andrew Carrigan went on to 4ª
over Piotr Zielinski's negative double. Meanwhile, Cian O'Muicheartaigh
did not have a 2§
opening available to him and preferred 3§
to 1§. That put
extra momentum into the auction and Jan Sikora eventually took the
push to 5ª. You
would think that this gave prospects of an Irish gain with their
opponents playing a level higher but the Poles both outplayed and
outdefended them so that the swing went the other way.
In 4ª, Flynn received
the lead of a spade to the queen and ace. All he had to do was to
play out ace and another diamond to establish a discard for his
third heart, but he did not see the need for hurry. Instead, Flynn
played back his lowest spade and Karlowicz won and switched to a
heart to dummy's ace. Still, two rounds of diamonds is good enough
but Flynn took the diamond finesse. When that lost the heart was
knocked out. He could unblock the diamond and cross to dummy's five
of spades but - wait a minute! - he had squandered the ª4
at trick two and all his remaining trumps were bigger than those
in dummy. There was no way to avoid the heart loser now for an embarrassing
one down; -100.
In 5ª Jacek Kalita
received the lead of the ace of clubs, on which O'Muicheartaigh
deposited the three. Perhaps the club play was just intended to
confirm an odd number of clubs, but it looked to Emmett Davis like
a suit preference signal and he switched to a low diamond away from
his king. The ¨J
scored and Kalita cashed the ace of trumps then played the ¨A,
on which south discarded, followed by the ªJ.
There were three entries to dummy to establish a long diamond and
to cash it; +650 and 13 IMPs to Poland.
You'll like this one. It comes from the match between Germany and
Italy. The Germans won the match by 79-58 IMPs, 19-11 VPs, with
most of the margin of victory coming on this deal.
Board 7. Dealer South. All Vul.
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ª Q J 5
© A 6
¨ Q J 8 4
§ K Q 5 4 |
ª 8 6 4
© J 9 7 3
¨ 6 3 2
§ A J 3 |
|
ª K 10 9 3
© K 10 4
¨ K 10 5
§ 10 7 6 |
|
ª A 7 2
© Q 8 5 2
¨ A 9 7
§ 9 8 2 |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Wurmseer |
Sangiorgio |
Katerbau |
Boldrini |
|
|
|
Pass |
Pass |
1NT |
Pass |
2§ |
Pass |
2¨ |
Pass |
3NT |
All Pass |
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|
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
Mistretta |
Smirnov |
Piasini |
Kraemer |
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|
|
Pass |
Pass |
1NT |
Pass |
2§ |
Dble |
Rdbl |
Pass |
Pass |
2¨ |
Dble |
Pass |
Pass |
Rdbl |
All Pass |
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First, we should take a passing glance at the normal table, where
the Italian pair had a Stayman auction to 3NT, an eminently sensible
contract in which Alberto Sangiorgio came to ten tricks after a
spade lead; +630.
The Germans started the same way in the
other room. Now Guiseppe Mistretta introduced a diversion when
he doubled the 2§
response. I hope that he will not be too unhappy if I nominate
him for the worst call yet made in these Championships for this
manic effort. Alexander Smirnov redoubled to show good clubs
and suggest playing there and Dennis Kraemer was happy to agree.
Mistretta ran to 2¨
and was promptly doubled. His redouble is clearly SOS but Simone
Piasini was a bit lost by now and passed it out. The details
of the play are hardly very interesting. Declarer managed a
trick in each suit for four down and -2200. If he were in my
team, Mistretta would owe me and the rest of the team a beer
for that little effort. The swing was 17 IMPs to Germany. |
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KATERBAU Janko, Germany
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Next stop, Denmark v France, and another penalty, though nothing
on the scale of the disaster we just saw from Italy.
Board 9. Dealer North. East/West Vul.
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ª 5 3
© Q J 8 2
¨ Q 9 5 3 2
© 4 2 |
ª A J 10 9 2
© A 10 9 3
¨ A 8
§ J 6 |
|
ª K 7 6 4
© K 7 5
¨ K 7 6 4
§ 7 5 |
|
ª Q 8
© 6 4
¨ J 10
§ A K Q 10 9 8 3 |
West |
North |
East |
South |
S Houlberg |
Grias |
A Houlberg |
Tembouret |
|
Pass |
Pass |
3NT |
Dble |
4§ |
4ª |
5§ |
Dble |
All Pass |
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|
West |
North |
East |
South |
Ancelin |
Nielsen |
Faure |
Moller |
|
Pass |
Pass |
3NT |
Pass |
4§ |
Pass |
Pass |
4ª |
All Pass |
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Romain Tembouret opened 3NT, gambling, and Simon Houlberg doubled.
When jean-Francois Grias removed to 4§,
pass or correct, and Anne-Sofie Houlberg tried 4ª,
Tembouret broke discipline by going on to 5§,
quickly doubled by West. There were six top losers in the side suits
and that was -800 - and deservedly so.
Lea Troels Pederson Moller also opened with a gambling 3NT but
David Ancelin did not double. However, when Lars Nielsen removed
to 4§, Ancelin tried
4ª and bought a
fairly suitable dummy. The defence cashed two top clubs then switched
to the ¨J to declarer's
ace. Ancelin cashed the ªA
then ran the ªJ
to South's queen - probably with the odds in the suit, but not perhaps
the best way to play the whole hand. South continued with a second
diamond and Ancelin won, ruffed a diamond and played a heart to
the king then a heart back to the ten and queen for down one; -100
and 14 IMPs to Denmark, who won the match by 62-33 IMPs, 21-9 VPs.
On vugraph, the French Junior declarer, Olivier Bessis, showed
how 4ª might be
made despite a trump misguess. After two rounds of clubs, the Italian
South switched to a heart for the ten, jack and king. Bessis played
a heart back to the ace then three rounds of diamonds, ruffing.
Only now did he play ªA
and run the ªJ.
Though South won the queen, he had only clubs left and had to give
a ruff and discard so that dummy's heart went away. A nice play,
I think.
The host nation, England had an awkward match against Norway. Though
Norway gained 11 IMPs on our featured deal, it was England who came
out on top in the match, winning by 57-41 IMPs, 18-12 VPs.
Board 14. Dealer East. None Vul.
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ª A
© K 7
¨ A 10 7 4 2
§ Q 10 8 5 3 |
ª J 10 8 5 2
© J 2
¨ K 8 5 3
§ K 9 |
|
ª K 7 6 4 3
© Q 9 8 6 5
¨ 6
§ A J |
|
ª Q 9
© A 10 4 3
¨ Q J 9
§ 7 6 4 2 |
West |
North |
East |
South |
E Eide |
Moss |
Lindqvist |
Brown |
|
|
Pass |
Pass |
2¨ |
Pass |
3© |
Pass |
3ª |
All Pass |
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|
West |
North |
East |
South |
Stockdale |
Livgaard |
Happer |
P Eide |
|
|
Pass |
Pass |
Pass |
1¨ |
2¨ |
Dble |
3ª |
4§ |
Pass |
5§ |
All Pass |
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Neither East scraped up an opening bid on their five-five ten-count,
disliking the two weak suits (quite right too). Erik Eide opened
a Multi in third seat and Espen Lindqvist jumped to 3©,
pass or correct. The 3ª
conversion from Eide bought the contract with neither North nor
South ever finding a way into the auction. Three Spades can be beaten,
but only by North getting a heart ruff with the bare ace so that
South gets the setting trick with the ªQ.
Not surprisingly, the defence did not try that line. They got their
four top tricks but that was all; +140.
Susan Stockdale did not open the West hand and, while many of us
would have done so, it is hard to criticise a pass with such a weak
spade suit and decent outside strength. Allan Livgaard opened the
North hand, of course, and Duncan Happer made a Michaels Cuebid.
Petter Eide doubled to show some values and when Stockdale jumped
to 3ª Livgaard found
a 4§ bid, raised
to game by Eide. Though East has a singleton diamond, there is no
way for the defence to get a third trump trick and, with clubs two-two
and the diamond finesse working, Livgaard soon had eleven tricks
stacked in front of him; +400 and 11 IMPs to Norway.
Our last match features Czech Republic and Scotland. The Scots
are another team who are finding it tough going up to now and this
result, 58-11 IMPs, 24-6 VPs to the Czechs, did not improve matters
from the Scottish point of view. Still, with such a cheerful captain
as Liz McGowan, I am sure that their spirits will stay high.
Board 20. Dealer West. All Vul.
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ª Q 4
© 7 6 3
¨ 8 6 4
§ J 8 7 6 2 |
ª J 6
© A K J 9
¨ Q 10 9 7 3
§ A 4 |
|
ª 7 5 3 2
© Q 10 8 4
¨ A J 5 2
§ 9 |
|
ª A K 10 9 8
© 5 2
¨ K
§ K Q 10 5 3 |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Sidlova |
Hodge |
Janecek |
Ellison |
1¨ |
Pass |
1© |
1ª |
2© |
Pass |
Pass |
3§ |
3© |
All Pass |
|
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
Pearson |
Falta |
Wallace |
Vlachova |
1NT |
Pass |
2§ |
Dble |
2© |
Pass |
Pass |
2ª |
All Pass |
|
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VLACHOVA Karolina
Czech Republic
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|
Around the field there most tables were in game, so this
was an unusual match in that both tables stopped at partscore
level.
In 3©, Vera
Sidlova received the lead of the ¨4
from Gregor Hodge. She decided that he would not be so eager
to lead away from a king when his partner had bid two suits,
so went up with the ace and got a pleasant surprise when the
king fell. Sidlova quickly drew trumps and claimed eleven
tricks for +200.
|
The Czechs may have had a slight concern that
Scotland would reach the heart game in the other room, but they
need not have worried. Gordon Pearson decided that the best way
to describe his hand was to open a 14-16 no trump, which seems fair
enough. Karolina Vlachova doubled David Wallace's Stayman response
and Pearson bid his hearts. It would be very pushy for East to go
on facing 14-16 and Wallace duly passed. Now Vlachova showed her
second suit by bidding 2ª.
It seems that the message about the club suit was lost somewhere
in mid-table because Lukas Falta did not give preference to 3§
but passed 2ª. Perhaps
Wallace should compete to 3©
now, as his partner is pretty well marked with a doubleton spade
if the opposition bidding is to be believed. However, he passed
and hoped that his trump length would prove to be a problem to declarer.
It might have been had the defence started a forcing game, but they
did not find that line. Pearson cashed two top hearts then switched
to ace and another club - apparently Falta was not the only one
to fail to appreciate that South had doubled 2§
to show the suit. Wallace's club ruff was followed by the ace of
diamonds but that was that for the defence; eight tricks for +110
and 7 IMPs to Czech Republic.
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