43rd GENERALI EUROPEAN BRIDGE CHAMPIONSHIPS DAILY BULLETIN Editor: J.-P. Meyer • Co-Editor: M. Horton • Web Editor: Th. Matziaris No.: 4 • Tuesday, 17 June 1997

Results	Contents
OPEN TEAMS, Round 6 OPEN TEAMS, Round 7 LADIES PAIRS, Final Results LADIES PAIRS, Consolation results	Ladies Pairs by Brian Senior Les Tricolores by Patrick Jourdain Casa Nostra by Jos Jacobs No Way to squeeze a Lady by Herman de Wael

By winning their big encounter against Denmark - revenge for their defeat in the Rhodes quarter-final - Italy took over the Championship lead. The European title holders had a good day, scoring 41/50 VP, but some countries did even better. By scoring 47VP, Yugoslavia moved into sixth place, and France's 44VP puts them in the vital fifth spot. Croatia, who collected 43VP, leaving them in fourth position, are the surprise team of the tournament so far. We are all hoping they will be able to hang on. The happiest team of the day maybe San Marino following their surprising victory over Great Britain by 20-10VP.

7th Generali European Bridge Ladies Pairs Championship

Sabine AUKEN and Daniela von ARNIM

The winners of this event in Vilamoura two years ago retained their title - an outstanding achievement!

No wonder they are considered by many to be the best women's pair in the world.

The silver medals go to Italy's Cristina Golin & Gabriella Olivieri.

The bronze to the French pair, Nadine Cohen & Helene Zuccarelli.

There was a modest carry-over from the qualifying stage of the Ladies Pairs to the 54-board all-play-all Barometer final. Third going into the first session of the final were the Irish pair, Teresa Rigney and Hilary Dowling-Long, and we start with their first two boards, against Faller/Viotto of the host nation.

Board 1. Dealer North. Love All 10 7 5 10 8 6 2 A 8 7 5 3 6 J Q 6 4 3 2 K Q 4 3 J 9 K 6 2 J 4 Q J 7 3 2 A K 9 5 A K 9 8 A 7 5 Q 10 9 10 8 4

After two passes, Rigney opened the South hand with 1, Viotto doubled and Dowling-Long raised to 2. At a different vulnerability, Faller's decision to pass with the East hand might be a plausible option but here, with the contract only going down in 50s at best, it must surely be wrong.

The lead against 2 was K and Rigney won the ace and led a low club to Faller's nine. She cashed J then switched to a low trump and Rigney won the ace, ruffed a club and continued with ace and another diamond to the king. Viotto tried to cash Q but Faller ruffed to lead a second trump. Rigney got that right, running it to the ten, then played the winning 10 off the table. Faller discarded and also discarded when a low diamond was led to declarer's ten. There was a trump trick to come for the defense but that was still +110 for the Irish pair and an excellent start to the final.

Board 2. Dealer East. N/S Game 10 8 3 10 7 2 Q 10 K 10 5 3 2 J 7 4 A K 2 K 6 4 A 8 3 J 7 5 4 3 A 9 8 6 8 7 Q J 4 Q 9 6 5 Q J 9 5 K 2 A 9 6

The Italians got their money back on the other board. Faller opened 1NT (16-18) and played there on the lead of the Q. Faller won on table, Dowling-Long showing count with the two. Faller played a diamond to the ace and a second diamond to the king. Unsure of the heart position, Rigney switched to a low spade. When the jack scored Faller was on her way to nine tricks; +150 and a very useful matchpoint score.

The defense could have saved the ninth trick by continuing hearts, of course. Count signals fail to do the job here and North needed to play the ten at trick one, given that attitude was not a systemic option. But South also had a chance. The first round of diamonds seems to indicate that North has the queen as declarer would surely have finessed if holding that card. So South can drop the king and get a heart lead through declarer's holding.

Board 3. Dealer South. E/W Game 6 A Q 5 4 10 7 Q 10 9 8 4 2 K J 8 2 A Q 10 4 3 K 10 8 9 7 3 2 A K Q 6 J 8 5 4 J 6 — 9 7 5 J 6 9 3 2 A K 7 5 3

For Round Two we move on to another Italian pair, Massotti/Vellutini, who were East/West against the Poles, Banaskiewicz/Krogulska.

Krogulska opened 1NT in second seat and Banaskiewicz transferred. When Krogulska broke the transfer with a jump to 3, it was easy for Banaskiewicz to raise to game.

The lead was a diamond and Jolanta Krogulska won in hand and ruffed a club. Then she drew three rounds of trumps and led a low heart off the dummy. What her intentions were we will never know, but when Vellutini rose with the jack there were no further problems; +650.

Board 4. Dealer West. Game All 6 3 9 8 7 5 4 10 8 6 5 K 8 Q 8 A 4 2 Q A K J 10 3 2 9 7 4 3 Q A Q 10 4 3 2 9 6 5 K J 10 9 7 5 6 A K J 2 J 7 West North East South Krogulska Massoti Banaskiewicz Vellutini Pass Pass 1 1 Pass Pass 2 2 3 Pass Pass 3 All Pass

As a passed hand, Krogulska might have bid 2 over 1 but she waited and competed later. 3 looks a reasonable spot but it played very poorly for declarer. Krogulska led the Q and Banaskiewicz overtook and led a second top heart. Vellutini ruffed with J and led a club to Krogulska's ace. A diamond went to the queen and ace and declarer played a club to the king then a spade up. It looks as though West has turned up with enough already that the A is surely with East but declarer chose to play her for the queen also and inserted the jack. That lost and Krogulska played a club. Declarer ruffed in dummy and played another spade to the ace. She ruffed the next heart low, over-ruffed, ruffed the next club lead in the dummy and could make only her trumps for three down, a disastrous -300.

Board 5. Dealer North. N/S Game A 7 2 8 3 A 9 5 2 A 9 6 4 K 9 6 3 J 10 8 5 Q 2 A K 10 Q 10 7 6 3 K J 8 7 3 Q 8 2 Q 4 J 9 7 6 5 4 4 K J 10 5

For Round Three we see another Polish pair, Siwek/Macieszcszak against the Germans, Nehmert/Caesar. On this board, Pony Nehmert opened a weak no trump as dealer and Karin Caesar transferred to hearts. Macieszcszak doubled the 2 response and Caesar raised to 3, ending the auction. The lead was J, covered all round, and Nehmert led a low trump. There was no crashing of the defensive trump honours so it all came down to the club guess. Nehmert led the J off the table and thought for a while before deciding to rise with the ace and finesse on the way back; +140.

Board 6. Dealer East. E/W Game Q 6 5 2 10 8 3 9 7 8 6 5 3 A 10 9 3 K J 4 Q 9 7 6 K 4 2 4 2 A K 3 J 10 9 K 7 4 2 8 7 A J 5 Q J 10 8 6 5 A Q West North East South Silwek Nehmert Macieszcsak Caesar 1NT 2 Pass 2 Pass Pass Dble Pass 3NT All Pass

2 showed any single-suiter and 2 was a relay. The pass showed that Caesar's suit was diamonds and now Siwek doubled for takeout. Macieszcszak decided to have a shot at 3NT and that was that. The opening lead was Q and declarer ducked, won the second diamond and ran the J. Nehmert took the queen and switched to a club and Caesar was able to clear the diamonds, win the next club and cash out for four down; -400.

Board 7. Dealer South. Game All 8 6 5 K 5 10 7 6 2 8 6 5 2 Q K 7 4 2 A 2 J 10 9 8 6 K Q 9 5 4 3 A K Q 9 7 3 J 10 A J 10 9 3 Q 7 4 3 A J 8 4 West North East South Endeova Auken Batelova von Arnim 1 Dble Pass 2 Pass 2 Pass 2NT Pass 3NT All Pass

We swap German pairs this time. Daniela von Arnim opened 1 and Endeova of the Czech Republic doubled. Batelova responded 2 then showed some values and a spade stopper over the 2 cuebid. The killing lead against 3NT is the A, but it is not easy to find and von Arnim led a normal J to dummy's bare queen. Declarer can make an overtrick now by the simple expedient of using her club entries to hand to lead towards the diamond honours twice. Instead, she took both clubs then led a diamond up. von Arnim ducked so the king won and declarer rattled off the clubs. South has a series of unpleasant discards to find but did well by unguarding the hearts. She came down to two diamonds, two spades and a heart. Now there is an overtrick if declarer guesses to cash A then exit with a diamond, endplaying South. In practise, she played ace and another heart and von Arnim could pitch the J and Auken play a spade through for +600.

Board 8. Dealer West. Love All Q 8 3 J 10 7 4 A Q 5 10 9 5 6 A K J 7 4 9 6 5 K Q 3 2 J 10 9 6 4 3 2 K 8 7 2 A 8 10 9 5 2 A 8 7 K Q J 6 4 3 West North East South Endeova Auken Batelova von Arnim Pass Pass 1 3 Pass Pass 3 Pass 2 Pass 2NT Pass 4 Pass 4 All Pass

The pre-emptive overcall of the strong club did its work well here. Batelova might have reopened with a double but preferred to show her chunky five-card major. When Endeova bid her diamonds, it seemed obvious to bid 4, but this was not much of a contract. A double of 3 works better because West gets to bid and rebid diamonds and can stop in 4, one down but better than anything else. von Arnim led a club and declarer won and played ace and a low spade, ruffing, without taking the club pitch on the second top spade. Now she tried a diamond and Auken won the ace and switched to a low trump for the king and ace. von Arnim returned a heart to the ten and queen and declarer cashed K then played spades from the top. The fortunate fall of the Q meant Batelova was in some sort of control but there were still two trumps and a club to lose; two down for -100.

Board 9. Dealer North. E/W Game 10 7 6 3 — A K Q J 9 7 5 K 10 A K Q J 9 5 4 2 A J 5 K Q 10 7 8 2 4 J 6 3 A Q 9 5 2 8 9 8 6 4 3 2 10 6 3 8 7 4

We end our look at the first session with the Israelis, Barber/Barness, facing Vanuzzi/Caspani of Italy. On this one, Vanuzzi opened 1 as dealer and, after two passes, Barber doubled. Vanuzzi could see a vulnerable game for her opponents and leaped to 5 in an attempt to shut them out. Is this an auction where East should be able to make a forcing pass, turning a double into penalties? There is a case for that agreement but I doubt that it is a common one. Anyway, Barness thought she needed to double to show some values and that ended the auction, good news for the Italians. And the play also went well for Vanuzzi as she was allowed to take three spade ruffs in the dummy! Barness led K and Barber overtook, to no avail. Vanuzzi ruffed and led a low spade and Barber won and switched to J. Why the rush, where were club tricks going? The club went to king and ace and Barness cashed Q. Though the ten fell, she didn't imagine that the jack was from three cards and tried the 9 next. That was all declarer needed and she cross-ruffed her way home for just one down; -100.

Board 10. Dealer East. Game All 9 7 3 K 8 6 J 5 3 Q 10 8 3 Q 8 A K J 5 2 A J 7 5 3 9 K 10 8 2 A Q 9 7 6 J 2 A K 10 6 4 Q 10 4 2 4 9 7 6 5 4

Finally, a bidding test for East/West. Barber opened 2, her partnership's big bid, and Barness responded 2, a natural positive. Barber rebid 2 and, when Barness showed her diamonds, launched into RKCB. On hearing of two keycards, Barber bid 7. There was nothing to the play; +2140. A number of pairs bid 7NT, or occasionally 7. Perhaps West can convert 7 to 7NT, based on possession of the Q. It won't be often that partner can open 2 then use RKCB and there not be 13 tricks - not easy, though.

The session ended with Gromova/Volina of Russia leading from Auken/von Arnim. Third were the leading Italian pair, Golin/Olivieri, while Rigney/Dowling-Long of Ireland had held on well to be fourth.

A remarkable run of three boards on Vugraph in the Round 6 match between France & Sweden showed the Olympiad champions Alain Levy & Christian Mari in top form. A common theme was that declarer took advantage of the opponents' bidding to succeed in contracts where many others had failed.

Board 17. Dealer North. Love All 7 6 5 2 A 8 5 A J 5 2 Q 6 K Q J 3 A 9 4 K Q J 2 9 7 K 4 Q 10 8 3 8 7 5 A J 3 2 10 8 10 6 4 3 9 7 6 K 10 9 4 Closed Room West North East South Fredin Perron Eriksson Chemla Pass 1 Pass 1 Dble Pass 2 Dble All Pass

Open Room West North East South Levy Nilsland Mari Fallenius 1 Pass 1 1 Pass 2 Pass 2NT Pass 3 Pass 4 All Pass

It is not the point of our story to relate what happened to Two Diamonds Doubled. Let us just say it went 1100 light. On Vugraph Alain Levy as West was in the tricky spot of Four Spades.

North led a trump covered by the nine, ten and queen. Levy played K which was taken by the ace. North does best to continue trumps, but he switched to Q, and when this held, continued a club. Levy took the ace, and played a diamond to the king and ace. Now came the second trump to dummy's ace. Levy drew the remaining trumps and could be seen to claim. "I am relying on North to hold J, then South will be squeezed . He duly followed with a diamond finesse and on third diamond South had to unguard hearts or clubs".

Board 18. Dealer East. N/S Game 7 2 6 3 2 J 8 7 K J 6 5 3 A J 5 3 10 8 6 K 9 A 10 7 5 A 10 9 5 Q 2 A Q 10 9 8 7 2 K Q 9 4 Q J 8 4 K 6 4 3 4 Closed Room West North East South Fredin Perron Eriksson Chemla Pass 1 Dble Pass 1 Pass 1NT Pass 3NT All Pass

The bidding was identical in the Open Room.Peter Fredin failed in his 3NT after Perron led 7.

Alain Levy was also in 3NT as West. North led a club to his ten. This was revealing... if North had the clubs, then South, who had opened, must have virtually everything else. Levy led a spade to the ten and queen. Fallenius exited with a spade, taken by the jack. Now Levy made the crucial and far-sighted play of cashing the ace of clubs. What can South discard? In the end Fallenius threw a diamond. Levy made another simple-looking, yet beautiful play of running the ten of diamonds. It made no difference what the defenders did. Declarer made two clubs, three diamonds, and two tricks in each major.

Board 19. Dealer South. E/W Game 6 9 5 A K 9 8 2 Q 7 6 4 2 K 8 5 4 A J 7 8 6 A K 7 3 J 10 7 Q 5 4 J 10 8 3 A K 5 Q 10 9 3 2 Q J 10 4 2 6 3 9 Closed Room West North East South Fredin Perron Eriksson Chemla Pass Pass 1 Dble 1 Pass 2 Dble 2 All Pass

Open Room West North East South Levy Nilsland Mari Fallenius Pass Pass 2NT Dble 3 Pass Pass 3NT All Pass

Perron's contract of Two diamonds went two light. On Vugraph Nilsland's opening showed a limited hand with both minors. Mari was declarer in Three Notrumps as East. South led a diamond. Mari put up the jack (an important play) and when North ducked, ran the jack of clubs.

After this held it was clear Mari could now foresee the whole play, as he next exited with a diamond. North could cash three diamonds but if he also cashed the fourth South would get squeezed in the majors. Nilsland did his best by exiting instead with a heart. Mari won and cashed the top clubs. This reduced South to two hearts and three spades. Mari then cashed the ace of spades, in case North held the singleton queen, and knowing the ending, exited with a heart to South who had to lead away from the queen of spades.

This was a high class threesome of plays. A team showing this quality will be hard to beat. France won 19-11, subject to Appeal.

In today's issue of the Bulletin, the Italian page will appear in English. If you look at the final positions of a number of Italian pairs in the European Ladies Pairs Championships, you will probably be able to imagine why. Below, we will present you a few deals from which you can see for yourself why all these Italian ladies did so well. It all started on Sunday afternoon in the first qualifying session. Near the end of it, Olivieri-Golin had to play Cohen-Zuccarelli, one of the most experienced pairs from France. This was board 27:

Board 27. Dealer South. Love All J 5 3 K 10 7 6 J 10 3 2 7 6 A Q 10 8 4 2 9 6 Q A 9 5 4 2 A Q 8 7 5 6 4 3 A K 8 5 K 7 J 8 3 K 9 Q J 10 9 4 2 West North East South Olivieri Cohen Golin Zucarelli Pass 1 Pass 2 Pass 2 Pass 2NT Pass 3 Pass 3NT All Pass

On the straightforward lead of the Q by Zuccarelli, Cristina Golin won the ace and continued the 9. Zuccarelli produced the King. Golin gave this a good look, but eventually decided to win dummy's ace and continue the suit, playing the Q and a spade to Cohen's jack.

On this, Zuccarelli had to find a discard, and after some consideration she found a clever one indeed: the Jack of Clubs. The message was by no means lost on Cohen: out came the K. Golin had to win her ace and now had a problem. If she did not cash the K immediately, she might well never get back to it. On the other hand, after giving up her last club stopper the contract was at risk if the diamond finesse would be wrong. So she decided to cash the last club and settle for nine tricks by playing a diamond to the ace. This had an enormous impact on the score: making nine tricks was worth just 35 m.p. whereas making 10 tricks would have given her 112. Full marks for the wonderful co-operation of the French pair for creating this typical pairs problem. Or, to quote the players at the table: "Well played, partner, that K," Zuccarelli said to her partner. Olivieri then commented: "Well played by you, that J!"It's only a pity that there is no prize for sportsmanship at this event...

As this hand was played in the first qualifying session, Golin-Olivieri had no reason to go all out for a top by taking the diamond finesse. They can read the cards quite well, however, as Golin certainly proved on this deal from the second session of the finals:

Board 12. Dealer West. N/S Game 3 A 10 4 3 2 A 9 7 6 9 8 3 A Q 8 4 K 9 6 5 2 7 6 K 9 J 10 5 Q Q J 10 7 A 6 5 4 2 J 10 7 Q J 8 5 K 8 4 3 2 K West North East South Olivieri Siwek Golin Macieszcsak Pass Pass 1 Pass 2 Pass 2 Pass 3 Pass 4 All Pass

With both 2 and 2 conventional and alerted, the club suit in declarer's hand had remained a secret. This proved to be very useful when South led a trump. Golin won in dummy and drew two more rounds of trumps, North discarding two small clubs! Next came the A, felling the king and securing a valuable overtrick and 23 more m.p. on the road to the silver.

Azzimonti and Gentili, in this country, before this event, were not considered a top-flight pair. Probably, this will change finally, as they did a wonderful job here in Montecatini. Right through the final, they stayed around fifth place. As they told me after the event, they missed the bronze on the last board, but we all know about more than enough boards on which we have lost (seemingly) important tournaments or medals. The board below did them a lot of good, however, on their way to this excellent performance.

Board 13. Dealer North. Game All A K 10 5 3 6 7 6 5 A Q 4 3 Q J 9 8 4 2 A J 9 7 5 2 10 8 3 K J 8 4 3 10 9 7 5 K J 7 6 K Q 4 A Q 10 9 2 8 6 2 West North East South Gentili Azzimonti 1 Pass 2 2 3 Pass 3NT All Pass

Gentili led a low heart to the ten and king. Declarer then made the normal play of a spade to dummy (noting the appearance of the queen), to continue a low diamond to the nine (not the ten!) in hand. Gentili then showed she knows her great ancestors. We have seen Garozzo before, fooling declarers by winning a trick with the KING from KJ bare and that's exactly what she did here! She next worked out that declarer would not have the K, so she switched to the 10. Declarer then made the right play by going up with the ace, but after that, she understandably could not resist the temptation of a direct finesse against the "marked" J. When this lost, the roof nearly fell in. (If you want to see the roof coming down altogether, see next paragraph). A club went to the king and a heart came back. This way, the contract went down five. Well done.

At the table where De Lucchi and Rosetta defended this same board (in the same contract), things went even worse for declarer. The first two tricks were the same, but Rosetta won the first diamond finesse with her jack. Her club switch induced declarer to the unnecessary play of the queen in dummy. Once again, east won the K and returned a heart, but with the second diamond finesse still to be taken the defence had the tempo to establish clubs and beat the contract no less than six tricks. 600 to EW. This is the type of score that all too easy leads to mistakes in the scoring room (not this time, of course: this is Italy). As there are so many Italian pairs around here, it was not before Monday afternoon that I could enjoy watching De Lucchi-Rosetta for the first time. The first board I saw, however, immediately made me apply for their fan club:

Board 21. Dealer North. N/S Game — A J 9 2 KQ 10 7 4 3 A K J 6 4 A K 7 5 3 2 Q 8 4 K 5 3 A J 8 5 9 6 9 7 4 3 Q 10 Q J 10 9 8 10 7 6 2 8 6 5 2 West North East South Rosetta De Lucchi 1 1 Pass 1NT Dble 2 Dble All Pass

We will withhold the names of the EW pair. The contract simply went three down. The main reason for publishing this hand is that I seldom was "welcomed" at a table in such a way. And, at the next table:

Board 24. Dealer West. Love All Q 4 2 J 8 5 Q 10 3 2 J 9 7 A J 10 9 8 7 K 6 3 K Q A 10 7 8 4 7 5 10 4 3 K Q 8 6 5 5 9 6 4 3 2 A K J 9 6 A 2 West North East South Rosetta De Lucchi 2 Pass 3 Dble(?) Pass 3NT All Pass

Maybe, South should not have doubled, as she was quick to point out after the hand was over. But it is difficult to imagine that "Pass" can be the winning action. There is one more thing to consider, however: maybe east should have had the final word with a double of the final contract. Had she doubled, then no doubt west would not have put in the 7 after the lead of the 3, allowing declarer to score her Q and six more very hasty tricks. Understandably, losing only 100 kept Francesca and Annalisa on the right track to qualification and to their fifth place overall.

Do you know the one about declarer being caught in a triple squeeze ? It happened Monday night during the first session of the Ladies pairs final.

Board 8. Dealer West. Love All Q 8 3 J 10 7 4 A Q 5 10 9 5 6 A K J 7 4 9 6 5 K Q 3 2 J 10 9 6 4 3 2 K 8 7 2 A 8 10 9 5 2 A 8 7 K Q J 6 4 3

West opened 2NT, promising a preempt in a minor and played there. She took the second club and started on the spades. When the queen appeared on the third round, she thought she had a few tricks. Not so, as she soon discovered!

On the penultimate club, she could still afford to throw one of her winning spades, but on the last one, the diamond stopper had to be abandoned. When South returned that suit, the ace felled the king and the queen again squeezed her. She tried throwing her spade, but the ace of hearts was unfortunately with the now winning spade. Five down was not a good score!

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