Netherlands
v England – Juniors Round 20
With only a few matches left England and the Netherlands were two
teams in need of VPs for a qualification spot to Australia. Despite
that fact there was a friendly atmosphere at both tables.
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Board 1. Dealer North. None Vul.
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ª 6
© J 10 4 2
¨ A 6 4 3
§ 9 8 7 4 |
ª Q 10 9 8 7 2
© 3
¨ J 2
§ K Q 10 5 |
 |
ª K J 3
© A Q 9
¨ K 10 9 5
§ J 6 2 |
| |
ª A 5 4
© K 8 7 6 5
¨ Q 8 7
§ A 3 |
| Open Room |
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Groenenboom |
Byrne |
V Munnen |
Morris |
| - |
Pass |
1NT |
Pass |
| 4© |
Pass |
4ª |
All Pass |
| Closed Room |
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Happer |
Brink |
Green |
Buijs |
| - |
Pass |
1NT |
2© |
| 4ª |
5© |
All Pass |
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One should expect a better suit than Ruben Buijs had when he overcalled
2© in the Closed Room. This time it led to a nice sacrifice that
was left undoubled; -100 and a likely swing for the Netherlands.
But Alex Morris wanted otherwise. Against 4ª he led §A followed
by another club. The declarer played ª10, won by South's ace. Morris
played a diamond to partner's ace and got his club ruff. Well done
by the English defender; -50 and that was 4 IMPs to England.
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Board 4. Dealer West. All Vul.
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ª 8 7
© 10 8 5
¨ 10 4 3 2
§ A J 9 4 |
ª K 6 4 3
© Q 9 4
¨ 5
§ 10 8 7 5 2 |
|
ª A 9 5
© A 7 6 3 2
¨ J 9 8
§ Q 3 |
| |
ª Q J 10 2
© K J
¨ A K Q 7 6
§ K 6 |
| Open Room |
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Groenenboom |
Byrne |
V Munnen |
Morris |
| Pass |
Pass |
1© |
Dble |
| 2© |
Pass |
Pass |
Dble |
| Pass |
2NT |
Pass |
3§ |
| All Pass |
|
|
|
| Closed Room |
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Happer |
Brink |
Green |
Buijs |
| Pass |
Pass |
Pass |
1¨ |
| Pass |
Pass |
1© |
1ª |
| Pass |
3¨ |
All Pass |
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| |
 |
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Duncan Happer, England |
Byrne and Morris' Lebensohl sequence did not work out well. What
is more, one might learn from this embarrassing result that it's
better to play on a 5-4 split in one minor than on a 4-2 fit in
the other. Three Clubs had to go down, but three undertricks was
perhaps one or two too many; -300.
Niek Brink's immediate 3¨ kept his opponents quiet. If he had bid
just 2¨, Duncan Happer surely would have reopened with 2©. North/South
would probably buy it in 3¨ anyway but, on a different day, East/West
could have bid and made 3©, so I think to bid 3¨ is wise. West led
a heart and declarer had an easy way to ten tricks; +130 and 10
IMPs to the Netherlands.
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Board 14. Dealer East. None Vul.
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ª 9 3 2
© J 10 3
¨ A K J
§ J 9 7 5 |
ª Q
© Q 2
¨ 10 7 6 4 3 2
§ A 10 6 2 |
|
ª A K 7 5
© A 9 8 7 5 4
¨ 9
§ K 8 |
| |
ª J 10 8 6 4
© K 6
¨ Q 8 5
§ Q 4 3 |
| Open Room |
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Groenenboom |
Byrne |
V Munnen |
Morris |
| - |
- |
1© |
Pass |
| 1NT |
Pass |
2© |
All Pass |
| Closed Room |
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Happer |
Brink |
Green |
Buijs |
| - |
- |
1© |
Pass |
| 1NT |
Pass |
2¨ |
Pass |
| 2© |
Pass |
Pass |
2ª |
| Pass |
Pass |
Dble |
All Pass |
There are ten tricks in a heart contract but, as you can see, there
can be some difficulties in reaching game. Andor van Munnen opened
1©, showing five cards, and after 1NT (6-11 HCPs), East, playing
a natural system, wanted to have a couple of HCPs extra to jump
to the three-level. West had done his job on the board, but there
was only a trick in each suit except clubs for the defence; +170.
When Ruben Buijs gambled with 2ª, Ben Green was not slow to double
for penalties. West led ©Q to ace and the declarer won the heart
continuation. Declarer played a spade to West's queen then came
a nice switch to a diamond, which gave East a ruff later on. East/West
scored +300 and that was worth 4 IMPs to England.
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Board 15. Dealer South. N/S Vul.
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| |
ª 9 4 3 2
© 7 5 4 2
¨ A K
§ K 3 2 |
ª 8 5
© K 3
¨ Q 10 9 8 5 3
§ 8 5 4 |
|
ª K 10 6
© A Q 8 6
¨ 6 4 2
§ A Q J |
| |
ª A Q J 7
© J 10 9
¨ J 7
§ 10 9 7 6 |
| Open Room |
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Groenenboom |
Byrne |
V Munnen |
Morris |
| - |
- |
- |
Pass |
| 2§ |
Pass |
2NT |
Pass |
| 3¨ |
Pass |
3NT |
All Pass |
| Closed Room |
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Happer |
Brink |
Green |
Buijs |
| - |
- |
- |
Pass |
| Pass |
Pass |
1© |
Pass |
| 1NT |
All Pass |
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|
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| Merijn Groenenboom, Netherlands |
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Happer and Green were in 1NT in the Closed Room, a highly sensible
contract. North led a spade and the defence got their four tricks
in spades. Declarer could, as the cards lay, have made an overtrick,
but the contract was just made for +90.
West's hand matched a convention the Dutch in the Open Room are
using. And if a convention matches the hand it will surely be used,
at least if you are a junior. One of three options for 2§ is to
show a weak diamond opening. 2NT was a strong relay and, since the
explanation of 3¨ is “a strong weak opening”, van Munnen
took a chance on game. A spade lead will defeat the game but South
led ©J to queen in hand. Van Munnen wanted to establish his diamond
suit, so next came a diamond to the ten and ace. Michael Byrne had
a last chance to defeat the contract, but when he played a heart
it was all over. When Byrne later on found a spade switch it was
to late; +400 and 7 lucky IMPs to the Netherlands.
This set of board was quiet boring and not that many IMPs were
exchanged. The Netherlands managed to win the major swings and also
the match by 48 to 25 IMPs and that was 19 important VPs to the
Netherlands and 11 VPs to England.
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