Kees Tammens Reports

The GOOD

D.Bilde of Denmark proved that also in the Schools series you can expect some fine bridge. He was cool at the first trick and found a neat play to land his vulnerable 4ª contract.

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

West	North	East	South
-	-	-	2ª
Dble	Pass	3©	Pass
4©	All Pass

South put the §K on the table. Instead of taking this trick right away with the ace, the Danish declarer took stock. In the vugraph everybody realized that taking this trick would lead to the contract going down because North will get a club ruff. So declarer ducked this trick, the first right move. South switched to ¨Q for ¨A. Now the second necessary play was to prevent South from getting a ruff. Heart ace and a heart for ©K from North, who played back a club. Declarer took §A, drew the last trump and claimed, telling his opponents that the club loser went away on the fourth diamond.

More From Kees

Catherine Gerrard, npc of Scotland, was very happy with the performance of her team against Russia. She gave two very nice hands.

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

West	North	East	South
	David		Hugh
Pass	Pass	1©	Dble
2©	Pass	Pass	3§
3©	4§	4©	Dble
All Pass

It is certainly not easy to let opponents play 4© when you have a 6-5 fit. Why would you save when you can defeat the opponents' game. In the match between Russia and Scotland, David McCrossan and Hugh Bergson put up a nice defence to defeat 4©. South led ¨A and then underled his AK of clubs. North won the trick and played a diamond, ruffed in South, together with ªA good for down one.

Generously Catherine praised one of the Russian girls for her play in a difficult Five Diamond contract.

N/S Vul. Dealer East.
	ª K Q 3 © 8 6 2 ¨ Q J 9 3 § A Q J
ª 2 © A ¨ A 10 7 5 4 2 § 10 9 7 4 2		ª A 9 7 6 4 © K Q 4 ¨ K 8 6 § K 3
	ª J 10 8 6 © J 10 9 7 5 3 ¨ - § 8 6 5

East declared Five Diamonds, doubled by North. The lead was the heart jack for the bare ace. From dummy came ¨10, covered with the jack and king. Next came ªA and a spade ruff. A club from West for North's ace, and a second club for East's king. A second spade ruff was followed by a club, ruffed in hand and the ©K and ©Q to dispose of two clubs from West. In the three-card ending, declarer ruffed a spade with ¨5, over ruffed by North with ¨9, but the last two tricks were for ¨A4 in West.

The UGLY

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

West	North	East	South
	Tim		Danny
-	-	-	1ª
Pass	2§	Pass	2¨
Pass	2©	Pass	3§
Pass	5¨	Pass	6§
All Pass

Tim Verbeek told the story about the way his partner Danny Molenaar handled an ‘Exlusion Blackwood’ sequence.

After the Two Club response, Danny refused to support straight away to Three Clubs because that would show extra values. So the Dutch Schools' player invented Two Diamonds. But when partner raised to game in diamonds he became afraid of his three-card diamond suit. So he took 5¨ to be the so dreadful Exclusion asking and bid slam in clubs. Down two, but a push; at the other table five clubs went down one, and doubled!

All That Glitters is not Gold

By Chris Dixon

Large penalties are often a feature of the junior game but sometimes a player expecting to reap a sizeable penalty can be brought down to earth with a nasty bump. Comsider this hand from the Round 15 Scandinavian clash between Norway and Denmark in the Junior Series.

Board 18. N/S Vul. Dealer East.
	ª K Q 3 © 8 6 2 ¨ Q J 9 3 § A Q J
ª 2 © A ¨ A 10 7 5 4 2 § 10 9 7 4 2		ª A 9 7 6 4 © K Q 4 ¨ K 8 6 § K 3
	ª J 10 8 5 © J 10 9 7 5 3 ¨ - § 8 6 5

Closed Room
West	North	East	South
Ringseth	Houmoller	Kippe	Jensen
-	1NT	Pass	Pass
2NT	Pass	3¨	Pass
5¨	Dble	All Pass

Hakon Kippe, Norway

Jonas Houmoller for Denmark must have been hoping for a telephone number penalty here but, when his partner led the ©J, he was disappointed not to see the §K in dummy. Still, the position of the ¨10 at least assured that the contract would be defeated. Or so he thought!

Hakon Kippe led a club at trick two, taken by North who continued with the ªK. Declarer cashed the §K, ruffed a spade then a club. Now a diamond to the nine and king was followed by two winning hearts and a second spade ruff. In the three-card ending, declarer just had to throw North in with a trump to be able to claim the last two tricks and +550.

In the Open Room the contract was 1NT making eight tricks, giving Norway 10 IMPs.