Zimmermann vs Meltzer

Two teams that had done well on Saturday were scheduled to meet in the second round of Sunday’s Swiss. The Zimmermann team from France were to play Meltzer from the USA. A good and tight match could be expected and so it proved. Half the boards were pushes and there were only two sizeable swings. We have selected three boards to look closer at:

Board 13. Dealer North. All Vul.

On what looked no more than a simple partscore hand, we saw two quite contrasting bidding sequences.

	ª 7 6 © K 8 5 2 ¨ Q 10 8 2 § K 8 7
ª A K 9 8 © 10 3 ¨ 7 6 4 § A 5 3 2		ª 5 4 3 © A J 9 7 ¨ K J 3 § 10 9 6
	ª Q J 10 2 © Q 6 4 ¨ A 9 5 § Q J 4

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Larsen	Saporta	Meltzer	Moretti
	Pass	Pass	1ª
Pass	1©	Pass	Pass
Dble	Pass	1NT	All Pass

South made a normal enough opening bid in third position, passing her partner.s response. West then balanced and East’s 1NT became the logical final contract.

With her normal enough opening lead of the ªQ South was just unlucky to give away the show. It cost a vital tempo and it also clarified the spade position for declarer. The ªQ held and so did the switch to the §Q. Now, a diamond went to the queen and king, but declarer was in control. A spade went to the 10 and ace and the ©10 ran to the queen. Back came a low club won in dummy and the next heart went to the jack in declarer’s hand. Time now to cash out with the help of the marked spade finesse: three spades, two hearts when the king did not drop, a diamond and a club. Meltzer +90.

In the other room, an off-shape third-hand opening did not work out well:

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Bessis	Weichsel	Bessis	Sanborn
	Pass	Pass	1ª
Pass	1NT	All Pass

Well, this auction too looks fair enough, but with the cards and the intermediates lying well for the defence, Weichsel could never avoid down two after the good lead of the §10 by Véronique Bessis, as the defence now was a tempo ahead when Michel ducked his ace. Zimmermann + 200 and 3 IMP’s to them.

There was more to come for them when we saw quite different hand evaluations in either room:

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

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Larsen	Saporta	Meltzer	Moretti
1©	Dble	2§	4ª
All Pass

2§ was a diamond transfer, duly alerted. Moretti’s 4ª definitely has the advantage of simplicity and saw her at the helm in a very good contract. She won the ¨J lead with the ace and immediately went after the side suit, clubs. When East unblocked her king it was West who won the second round of the suit and returned a heart. Another club went to the queen and the heart return was ruffed in dummy. The ªQ went to the king and yet another heart was ruffed by dummy’s nine which held. When everybody followed to the ªJ the hand was over. Zimmermann +420.

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Bessis	Weichsel	Bessis	Sanborn
1©	Dble	2"	2©
Pass	2ª	All Pass

Though Kerri Sanborn apologised for a possible underbid when putting down her hand, we will never know what might have happened if she had raised her partner to game. The lead may well have made the difference again: Bessis led the ©Q, her partner’s suit. Looking at his good diamond intermediates and no doubt realising he was playing only 2ª, Peter Weichsel went after the diamonds, playing the ace and queen, covered by the king, ruffed in dummy and drawing the jack. East returned a spade, but Weichsel could ruff out the ¨10 and settle for a solid enough nine tricks. Meltzer +140 but still another 7-IMP loss.

Three overtricks had brought their deficit back to 10-3 when the last board came up.

Board 20. Dealer West. All Vul.
	ª 8 © 10 4 ¨ A Q 8 § A Q 7 6 5 4 3
ª A 9 7 3 2 © 6 5 ¨ 9 6 2 § K 10 8		ª J 6 5 © A K Q 9 8 ¨ K J 5 4 § 2
	ª K Q 10 4 © J 7 3 2 ¨ 10 7 3 § J 9

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Larsen	Saporta	Meltzer	Moretti
Pass	1§	1©	1ª
Pass	2§	2"	Pass
ass	3§	All Pass

Though 2¨ might not have been a tremendous success it definitely made the opponents’ life difficult. When Saporta elected to bid one more, his side were overboard. One down, Meltzer +100. Well done by East.

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Bessis	Weichsel	Bessis	Sanborn
Pass	1§	1©	Dble
Pass	2§	All Pass

Here, East did not show the same aggression as her American counterpart. She sold out peacefully to 2§ which might have been defeated as well on perfect defence. When East switched to a diamond after cashing two top hearts, dummy’s ¨10 suddenly held and the eighth trick was born. On a spade switch and diamond return, East can exit with the ©Q as dummy is dead and the contract has to go down. As it was, Weichsel scored 90 and his team another 5 IMP’s to make it 10-8 to Zimmermann or 16-14 V.P. They both had consolidated their positions.