| 47th European Bridge Team Championships | Page 2 | Bulletin 10 - Wednesday, 30 June 2004 |
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Sweden v Turkey – Women Round 15 Earlier on Monday, the Swedish Women had moved into the lead in the Championship and were now looking to consolidate that position against mid-table Turkey. The first major swing went in favour of our hosts.
In the other room, Kathrine Berthau saw an opening bid in the South cards – she must have good eyesight – and that led to a quite different auction. Catarina Midskog’s raise to 4ª shut Sukriye Merze out of the auction despite her partner’s overcall. The board was already lost, of course, as East/West can no longer bid a making game, even had Merze scraped up a double. Four Spades went one down as the defence cashed three diamonds and a club; –50 but 12 IMPs to Sweden.
Midskog doubled, which is described as take-out of diamonds on their card – not a treatment I have come across before. Merze showed the minors and Berthau competed with 3©, which ended the auction. Berthau went up with the ace on the diamond lead and played ace then king of hearts then, obscurely, the ¨Q throwing a club from hand. That held her to ten tricks for +170 and cost an IMP; 7 IMPs to Turkey.
The Swedish North/South pair had a very simple auction – 1ª – 3¨ invitational – Pass. On club lead declarer rose with the ace and came to ten tricks for +130. Gronkvist’s 2© overcall put some serious momentum into the other auction. Baytok bid her diamonds then tried 4ª over 4©. That looks mildly eccentric to me and it excited Zaim sufficiently that she asked for key cards then the queen of trumps, which Baytok denied holding to cool her partner down. Gronkvist led the king of hearts to the ace and Zaim ruffed her heart loser, took the club finesse, then played a spade. Gronkvist went up with the ace and played a heart, ruffed by declarer, who cashed the king and jack of spades then tried the diamonds. The top diamonds stood up but then the ace of clubs was ruffed and East had the rest. That looks like nine tricks to me but it was scored as down one for –50 and 5 IMPs to Sweden.
Both East/Wests bid to game, the Swedes after a Precision 2§ opening. Two Diamonds enquired and Two Hearts showed a minimum with five clubs and a four-card major. Two No Trump was a shape enquiry and 3¨ showed what Forsberg had got. Baytok led a low diamond to dummy’s eight and Gronkvist led the ©Q, which Baytok won to switch to the king of spades. Gronkvist won that and played two more rounds of hearts and Baytok won the jack and played a second spade to dummy’s queen. Gronkvist had nine tricks now for +400. Four Hearts was not so easy as there was no trick given on the lead. Berthau led the queen of clubs and Merze won and cashed the second club for a spade discard before taking the diamond finesse. That lost to the king and Berthau returned a diamond to dummy’s nine. Merze ruffed a club then ruffed the queen of diamonds low, which was over-ruffed. Midskog led a heart to Berthau’s ace and received a second diamond ruff. Now she played a club through and Berthau made the jack of hearts for down two; –100 and 11 IMPs to Sweden.
The club slam looks pretty good on the East/West cards, does it not, but after a spade lead declarer cannot afford the heart over-ruff as there is then a spade ruff. And if declarer draws a round of trumps before setting about the heart ruffs? Now there is no spade ruff, but South simply over-ruffs the third heart and returns his last trump to leave declarer with a heart loser. Sweden got to clubs but, fortunately, stopped in game and chalked up +400. Turkey played in 3NT and claimed eleven tricks for +460 and 2 IMPs. Nobody got close to the unlucky slam.
Six Diamonds is an interesting spot on the North/South cards but neither of our pairs got there. The Turks reached diamonds and made a slam try along the way before settling for the safe game. Forsberg tried a low club lead which ran to the queen. Baytok drew trumps then ran the ªK, throwing a heart from dummy, then another heart on the next spade. That had the desired effect as Gronkvist returned a heart on winning the ªA on the second round of the suit, so declarer could get rid of all the clubs from dummy and had twelve tricks for +620. Midskog’s 1NT response was 6-12, so rarely passed, and the 2§ rebid showed either clubs or any 16+ hand. Now, my Swedish experts tell me that 2¨ from North would have been a game-forcing relay opposite the strong variety, while 2NT was short spades, club support, and again game-forcing facing the strong variety. Diamonds were never in the picture at this table and Berthau played 3NT on a club lead for +660 and 2 IMPs to Sweden.
Gronkvist transferred then retransferred when Forsberg broke with her excellent spade support. After a heart lead, Forsberg lost two tricks in each minor for +140. When Canan Adiguzel preferred to open 1§ with her five-four shape, Midskog could overcall in her beautiful heart suit and Berthau showed a constructive raise. Why East did not think her hand worth a spade bid I have no idea, but her failure to get involved meant that Sweden bought the contract cheaply. Merze led a club and Midskog won in dummy to lead a spade. Merze overtook her partner’s nine with the jack to switch to a trump and Adiguzel won and cashed a second round then played a spade. Midskog ruffed with the ©K and played a diamond to the jack then cashed all her hearts and the ¨A. The fall of the ¨K meant that she could cross to the §K and cash a diamond to discard the last spade from hand; +170 and 7 IMPs to Sweden. The Swedes had indeed consolidated their position at the top with a useful 51-15 IMP, 22-8 VP win. |
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