| 19th European Youth Team Championships | Page 3 | Bulletin 5 - Friday, 6 August 2004 |
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Russia v Israel Juniors Round 9 Going into their Round 8 clash, Israel and Russia were lying seventh and eighth respectively, well in contention but needing to add just a little momentum to their challenge.
(i) Limit heart raise The auctions were effectively identical to identical contracts but the outcomes of the final contract were quite different.
At the other table, Dmitri Chelkak also led a diamond to the king and ace. Eldad Ginossar led his low club at trick two and Chelkak went in with the ace and exited with a second club to declarer's king. That play surely marked South with a trump holding of some promise so declarer's next move was to cash the ©A. From here it was possible to take a diamond ruff, throw a spade on the §Q, and lead through South to hold him to one trump trick to go with the one defensive spade trick. Ginossar had ten tricks for +420 and 11 IMPs to Israel, a good start to the match for them.
When Chelkak opened with a Precision-style 2§, Alexander Klimashin enquired with 2¨ then, when Ginossar's 2ª overcall came around to him, cuebid to ask for a stopper. Chelkak showed one, ending the auction. Ophir Reshef led the ten of spades and that was ducked by everyone. A second spade went to the queen and king and, needing to establish the clubs to have nine tricks, Chelkak was quickly one down for –50. Ofir's one-level opening allowed Dobrin to overcall 1ª at the other table then to show his second suit over Ron Hoffman's reopening double. That proved to be an error as now the doubling started and Dobrin found himself declaring 2ª doubled. With the defenders able to take a diamond ruff and lead trumps twice to nullify dummy's ruffing potential, Dobrin was held to just four trump tricks and the ace of clubs; down three for –800 and 13 IMPs to Israel.
Russia got on the scoreboard when a difference in opening bid led to two very different outcomes. Where Hoffman opened with a natural 1¨ and Dobrin overcalled 1©, Ofir did not have enough to get involved with the South cards. When 1© came back to Hoffman, he had so much length and strength in hearts that it seemed clear to defend. Dobrin was held to two aces and two trump tricks for 300, but that proved to be a winning board for his side. At the other table, Klimashin opened a Polish-style club and Chelkak showed his clubs after the overcall. It was normal now for Klimashin to jump to 3NT, looking at strong hearts and club shortage. The heart lead was won by dummy's ten and a diamond led to the king, ducked. The §10 was run to the queen and back came a heart for the queen and king. On aheart return, Klimashin won and knocked out the ¨A and eventually took the spade finesse for his ninth trick; +600 and 7 IMPs to Russia.
Both East/Wests subsided in 2¨ and both Norths balanced with 2©. Now Ginossar found the fine bid of 2NT, competitive in the minors, and got his side to 3§, while Dobrin went quietly and defended 2©. Hoffman must have been impressed with the quality of Ofir's heart support and he made nine tricks without breaking sweat, losing just a club, a diamond and two spades for +140. Three Clubs proved to be an equally comfortable contract after the lead of the ªK, ducked. Klimashin continued with the ª10 but Reshef was not to be put off the finesse and put in the jack. He played a diamond to the jack and, when that held, a second diamond to the ace. The contract was not in danger from here but a slight defensive slip gave Reshef an overtrick for +130 and 7 IMPs to Israel.
Both Wests doubled South's choice of opening bid for take-out. I don't understand why Dobrin responded only 1© and, I suspect, neither did Evgeni Rudakov, as he made a normal pass and left Dobrin to play there. When Dobrin dropped the ©Q, not too taxing after he counted the missing high cards, he had eleven tricks for an inadeqaute looking +200. At the other table Klimashin made a weak jump shift over the opposing double, Well, it certainly qualifies as weak, I suppose, but perhaps not well-advised. Ginossar doubled to show values and Reshef passed for penalties. Despite finding strong four-card spade support in dummy, Klimashin had to lose two tricks in each suit for down three and 500. I guess that would have been fairly painless had his East/West pair bid the heart game at the other table. As it was, Israel had another 7 IMPs.
Hoffman had an easy ride in 3NT as, not having bid the suit, he received a low diamond lead to his ten. He could play on clubs to establish his ninth trick; +600. Klimashin had not bid diamonds either, but was known to hold minor-suit length for his 2¨ response to Stayman. That was sufficient to persuade Ginossar to lead a passive heart and leave declarer to find his own tricks. When Klimashin's play to trick two was a low diamond to dummy's king, followed by a second diamond, he was in big trouble and there was no way to recover. Klimashin was down two for 200 and 13 IMPs to Israel. That ended the scoring at 60-16 IMPs to Israel, converting to 24-6 VPs, but there were a couple of slam hands still to come.
Both North/South pairs did well to bid the decent slam on this one. When Hoffman used RKCB, Ofir showed his key cards but then went on over the sign off, liking his void and good trumps. At the other table it was North, Klimashin, who bid the slam after getting the crucial club cuebid out of his partner. Reshef led a heart against Chelkak so declarer won and played the three top spades to discard all his clubs, after which he just gave up a heart. Two hearts were ruffed in dummy and he had twelve tricks for +920. Rudakov led the §2 against Ofir. That was an interesting idea but it proved to be no more effective. Dobrin won the §A and returned the suit but Ofir was not prepared to finesse at this point in the hand – not after a low club lead which suggested an honour on his left. He went up with the king and the fall of the queen made everything very easy, the hearts goin gaway on the top spades after drawing trumps; +920 and a flat board. Had the §Q not fallen under the king, Ofir would have required an even spade break to give four discards from his hand. I wonder what would have happened had Rudakov held, say, §Q6 instead of §Q2 – seeing a high club spot lead, would Ofir have finessed at trick two, thinking that a better chance than the four-four spade split?
This time it was the rurn of the East/West pairs to bid a very good slam. In theory, it is important to get the contract played by East. Now the §K is protected. If the defence takes its club trick then the §K and the diamonds provide three discards for West's spades. If the defence does not take the club trick, declarer simply throws West's club on the diamonds then gives up a spade and ruffs a spade. While it was purely fortuitous that the response to RKCB placed East as declarer, the Russians were therefore in the top spot, while the Israelis were in a contract that could have been failing on a different lie of the cards. Today there was no problem, of course, and both declarers made twelve tricks in comfort. So a good finish to the match with all four pairs bidding good slams and bringing them home. |
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