| 19th European Youth Team Championships | Page 2 | Bulletin 9 - Tuesday, 10 August 2004 |
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Netherlands v Finland – Juniors Round 18 Netherlands is a country with a strong tradition in Junior bridge. Going into their Sunday match against Finland the Dutch were lying seventh, well in contention but needing to pile up the points to strengthen their challenge. After 13 deals Netherlands led a low-scoring affair by just 19-10 IMPs. Then the floodgates opened and the remaining seven deals transformed the match completely.
For Netherlands, Andor Van Munnen could open 2© to show a weak hand with both majors. Toni Backstrom's 2ª overcall was brave and caught an inevitable response of 3NT from Pia Nurmi. Van Munnen led a heart to the ace and Merijn Groenenboom returned a heart to Nurmi's king. Nurmi crossed to the ¨K to finesse the §J, losing to the queen. The play record ends there with declarer apparently having established nine winners. As he only made eight tricks for fown one, he may be grateful that we do not have further details of the play; –50. Matti Kinnunen did not have a club in his bag to allow him to open the East hand so Ruben Buijs and Niek Brink had a natural auction to 3NT, played by Buijs, South. Matti Kanervo led a diamond which Buijs won with the king then took the club finesse. That lost and a club came back, declarer winning with the jack. Buijs led a heart up and Kanervo rose with the ace. That gave declarer ten tricks and he actually managed eleven for +460 and 11 IMPs to Netherlands; 30-10.
Groenenboom raised the weak jump overcall, which looks normal to me, while Kanervo did not. Groenenboom's 4¨ bid drove Nurmi to show the club support at the five level. Now, I think Backstrom should have passed, as §AQ52 is better than it might have been and partner surely has at least four-card support, while he has not guaranteed five hearts. Five Clubs would appear to be makeable, except on an implausible ª10 opening lead. Declarer can eliminate everything and play ace and another spade for an endplay to hold his spade losers to one. But that option is not available in 5© as declarer does not have sufficient trumps for the endplay. The defence led ace and another diamond and Nurmi eventually went one down for –100. The lack of a diamond raise meant that there was less pressure in the Open Room auction. Brink doubled 3¨ for take-out then jumped to 5§, Buijs having already had an opportunity to get the heart support off his chest so that there was no temptation to go on. Now Kanervo took the last guess, generally a losing approach if at all avoidable. He was right, in the sense that 5§ was making and 5¨ doubled a cheap save, but I don't like the way he bid the hand. There were four obvious losers in the side suits but that was all; –300 for 9 IMPs to Netherlands, who now led by 39-10.
Van Munnen opened a strong no trump and was left to play there – all very peaceful. Backstrom cashed five club tricks and declarer kept the right cards to come to the last five tricks for down two; –200. Kinnunen opened in his strong five-card heart suit. I don't know why Kanervo felt obliged to show his diamonds with that weak hand, but perhaps he was making up for his failure to bid at the first opportunity on the previous deal. When 2¨ came round to him, Buijs doubled again and Brink was happy to defend. Kinnunen converted to 2© and Brink doubled that on his five low trumps. Buijs cashed three rounds of clubs, Brink pitching a spade on the third round. Now ace and another spade gave him a ruff. The contract was booke dfor three down now, either by playing three rounds of diamonds to promote a trump trick for the defence, or by crossing to the ¨A and giving North a second spade ruff. According to the hand record, the defence actually led to the ¨A and played another spade, but the outcome was only down two for 500. Something odd must have happned. Anyway, Netherlands had another 7 IMPs and led by 46-10.
Backstrom's 2¨ opening showed both majors, weak. When Groenenboom overcalled 2ª and Nurmi competed with 3©, it was quite impressive that the Dutch pair were on the same wavelength regarding the meaning of Van Munnen's jump to 4NT – I can imagin eplenty of players who would just assume it was asking for key cards. Groenenboom liked his controls so much that he jumped to the club slam. Able to ruff the second heart in hand, Groenenboom had 13 easy tricks for +940. Kinnunen opened 2NT to show a weak hand with both minors. Kanervo's 4ª response seems misdirected in the sense that there was no reason to believe that the hand had to be played with spades as trumps. Did the methods not include a forcing 3ª bid or equivalent, so that West could get a feel for his partner's liking (or lack of same) for spades? There were four trump losers and, in my view, justice was done when 4ª therefore had to fail by a trick; –50 and 14 IMPs to Netherlands, increasing their lead to 60-10. It is not difficult to create a structure where West can show his spades then, when East says he doesn't like them, make a forcing bid in a minor. Then even slam might be reached, just as it should be if West sets a minor as trumps from the start and forgets about spades.
The Open Room auction was quite simple, with Kanervo opening a canape 1¨ and everyone passing over Brink's 1© overcall. Kinnunen led a spade to the queen and ace and Brink returned the ªJ for Kanervo's king. He won the §Q switch and tried to cash a second club but Kanervo could ruff and switch to diamonds. Brink came to three trumps and two black aces for down two; –200. Van Munnen's two-suited weak 2ª opening made for a very different auction in the Closed Room. Groenenboom's 2NT response was an enquiry and now Nurmi overcalled in his long but weak heart suit. Groenenboom knew what to do to 3©. Nurmi won the spade lead and led a low heart, Van Munnen winning his bare nine. That did not look to be a particularly auspicious start for declarer but it didn't actually matter all that much – at the other table West had made all five of his hearts by taking two club ruffs. Nurmi also made five tricks, but that meant that he was four down doubled for –110, and that gave Netherlands another 14 IMPs and a 74-10 lead. This was getting very ugly for Finland.
Long suit first or second suit first, the two Wests were in similar positions over 2NT. Groenenboom chose to go on to the vulnerable game while Kanervo, looking at nothing much more than he had already promised, judged to pass. Van Munnen's initial 1© response convinced Backstrom to look elsewhere for his opening lead and he chose a low spade, for his partner's king. Nurmi switched to a club, ducked to the bare king, and backstrom went back to spades, Nurmi taking the ace and, in turn, switching back to clubs. Van Munnen had nine tricks now without having to worry about the diamond position; +600. Hearts had not been bid at the other table so it was natural for Buijs to lead that suit. Dummy's jack was headed by the king and a the suit wa scleared. Kinnunen tried to split the diamonds without success then tried the club finesse. When that lost he had only one more trick to come; down three for –300 and 14 IMPs to Netherlands, 88-10.
Nurmi could open a four-card major so did so. Over Van Munnen's double, Backstrom felt that he was somewhere between a constructive raise to 2© and to 3©, so solve dhis problem with a quiet single raise but then bid a third heart at his next turn. Van Munnen cashed a top spade then switched to atrump, won declarer's spade play and led a second trump. He just had to be patient and wait for declarer to open up the minor suits and, in the fullness of time came to three more tricks there for down one; –100. Brink opened 1§ as he was playing five-card majors, and Kinnunen made what he no doubt thought was a top-weight 1NT overcall, making Buijs's double slightly surprising to East. Buijs led a diamond to the king and ace and declarer would have been best advised to return the suit to establish a sixth winner for himself – who knows, maybe even the spade would divide evenly and he would have seven tricks? Instead, Kinnunen tried a low club to the nine and queen. The defnce cleare dthe diamonds and Kinnunen won dummy's ten anmd took the club finesse. perhaps this was slightly naive play on declarer's part, because when the club finesse is working it is easy enough for the defenders to prevent his getting to dummy in diamonds to take it. Anyway, when the club lost, Buijs cashed the thirteenth diamond and switched to hearts and Kinnunen was two down for –500 and 12 IMPs to Netherlands. Having scored 81 unanswered IMPs over the last seven deals, Netherlands must have been sorry the match had to stop. They won by 100-10 IMPs, 25-0 VPs, and moved into the top five. |
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