| 48th European Bridge Team Championships | Page 3 | Bulletin 2 - Monday 14 August 2006 |
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Open TEams - France v Denmark (Round 1) by Mark Horton Ask any player competing in a major championship what he hopes for at the beginning of the competition and I am sure they will tell you a couple of easy deals so they can get their eye in. Well, anyone hoping for time in the comfort zone before the real action started was disappointed by the arrival of the first deal.
Open Room
The merits of preempting with a four card major on the side have been debated for years – the jury is still out – but the modernists are not inhibited at all. You can’t blame East for going on to Six Clubs – it would not be difficult to construct a deal where it was lay down. South led the king of diamonds and declarer took dummy’s ace, cashed the ace of spades and ruffed a spade. When he advanced the eight of clubs South did not cover, so it held the trick. That meant declarer could play a diamond, unblocking the jack when South won with the queen. He took the club return with dummy’s ace, crossed to the ten of diamonds, cashed the top hearts and exited with a trump, endplaying South for a well played one down, -50. Closed Room
I doubt you could find a living Frenchman who would open Three Spades with the North cards, but once South had opened with a strong notrump it was automatic to advance to game. At the risk of being called old fashioned I would have risked a second double with the West cards – which is why writing is so much more enjoyable than playing. East led the three of hearts and West took the king and ace and then played ace of spades and a spade. Declarer had to lose a diamond, so that was another +50 for Denmark and an early lead that was immediately increased.
Open Room
The key to this deal was the degree of club support West could deliver. Clearly East was not confident West’s preference to clubs promised more than two, although his subsequent bid of 4NT was perhaps an additional indication as he had rejected a possible 3NT bid earlier in the auction. With clubs 1-1 declarer was soon claiming an overtrick. Closed Room
The Danish pairs version of relay Precision came into its own on this deal, and with West known to be 3-5-2-3 it was clear to bid the slam – 11 IMPs for Denmark, ahead 14-0. France picked up an IMP when both sides missed a fair game on the next deal, but immediately followed that by getting onto the scoreboard in a more significant way.
Open Room
The singleton queens meant thirteen tricks were a formality – how expensive would that be for France? Closed Room
The answer was not at all! West had a gadget, but East was not in the least bit interested – after all, he had no great fit and his partner could easily have been much weaker. +170, but 10 IMPs for France.
Open Room
For the second time in the match we were able to see the different bidding philosophies that prevail in Denmark and France. 2-2-7-2 is a rotten distribution for a preempt, and the suit quality is nothing special, so it was a routine pass for East, especially second in hand. However, he was not afraid to come in on the next round. When North/South bid it was routine for West to bid Five Clubs as insurance. There were three aces to lose, -100. Closed Room
Here East was happy to use a conventional aid to describe his hand. With both majors North was happy to get in on the act, despite his modest values. West had more reason to pass, as there was every chance his partner would be short in spades. He cashed the ace and king and gave East a ruff. There was still a diamond to come, another +100 and 5 IMPs.
Open Room
I’m not exactly sure what went wrong here, but when West led the six of spades declarer was in with a chance. He won with dummy’s ace, drew trumps (being careful to preserve a trump entry to dummy) and cashed a spade to discard a club. Now he played a low club off dummy and East took the ace and returned a club. (It looks better to return a spade to kill any possible threat that might be caused by dummy’s ten.) Declarer ruffed and cashed a heart before playing the ace of diamonds. Had he played off some of his remaining trumps instead West would have been forced to release a diamond and then a backward finesse would have brought home the slam. That’s not exactly obvious, and declarer took the simple view, finessing in diamonds to go one down, -50. Closed Room
It was clear to North that a club control was missing. That was also true for West, who led the six of clubs. The defenders cashed two tricks and declarer claimed – no doubt a little surprised to discover it was worth 11 IMPs. France led for the first time, 22-19 IMPs.
Open Room
North led the five of hearts and declarer took South’s jack with the ace, played a heart to the ten and ran the eight of clubs to North’s queen. The heart return was taken by dummy’s king and he took a second club finesse, cashing three rounds of the suit before playing the queen of spades, covered by the king and ace. The nine of spades ran to North’s jack and after cashing the queen of hearts North, who had discarded a spade, had to lead away from the king of diamonds, +150 for France. Closed Room
The same heart lead – okay this time it was the four – saw declarer win in hand and play a diamond. North went in with the king and switched to the king of spades. Declarer won in dummy and ran the eight of clubs. North won and went back to hearts, but declarer put in the ten and could claim his contract when the clubs came in. That aggressive piece of bidding gave Denmark 7 IMPs and put them back in the lead, 29-26 IMPs.
Open Room
The North hand is of the type that caused me to abandon Rubber Bridge and it looked as if declarer was going to go for a big number. However it is quite easy to drop a trick or two in this sort of situation. East led the eight of spades and declarer took dummy’s ace and returned the suit – that should be four down – West winning and cashing a third spade. However, on this trick East discarded the nine of diamonds, and that cost his side two tricks. West continued with ace of diamonds and a diamond and East ruffed and switched to a heart. Declarer finessed, cashed the ace of hearts and played a winning diamond discarding her last heart. East tried a heart, but declarer discarded dummy’s remaining diamond, ruffed in hand and played a club – only two down, -300. Closed Room
On the evidence of this match West had was not wearing his doubling boots, although his singleton club was hardly ideal. West led a diamond and declarer took East’s queen with the jack and played on spades. West won the second round and played another diamond. Next time he was in he switched to a heart for the king and ace. Declarer cashed his spade and heart winners and exited with a low club, eventually scoring a seventh trick with the king of clubs, -50 and 6 IMPs for France, back in the lead at 33-29 IMPs.
Open Room
South led the two of clubs and declarer won with dummy’s jack and played the ten of hearts. North won, cashed another heart and switched to a spade. The defenders had established five tricks, +120. Closed Room
North led the three of hearts, surely indicative of a strong holding when dummy had bid the suit, but when South followed with the two declarer won with the ten and simply played the jack of clubs. There was no way to prevent nine tricks, +400 and 7 IMPs to Denmark, once more ahead, 38-33 IMPs.
Open Room
I cannot tell you why East did not support spades – maybe West had not promised a five card suit? It allowed the Danish pair to steal the partscore. The play record is incomplete (I know South won the first trick with the ace of spades) but declarer was +110, which looks about right. Closed Room
No, I don’t believe that was West’s opening bid either, but as we go to press that is all the information we have. It looks as if declarer must lose a trick in every suit, but according to the record North led the five of hearts. Clearly the defenders now need to score a heart ruff, but the result is posted as +650, a whopping 13 IMPs for Denmark, who had won 51-33 IMPs, 19-11 VP. |
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