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43rd GENERALI EUROPEAN BRIDGE CHAMPIONSHIPS DAILY BULLETIN Editor: J.-P. Meyer • Co-Editor: M. Horton • Web Editor: Th. Matziaris No.: 10 • Monday, 23 June 1997 |
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43rd GENERALI EUROPEAN BRIDGE CHAMPIONSHIPS DAILY BULLETIN Editor: J.-P. Meyer • Co-Editor: M. Horton • Web Editor: Th. Matziaris No.: 10 • Monday, 23 June 1997 |
| Results | Contents |
OPEN Round 20, Round
21, Round 22 LADIES
Round 12, Round 13
SENIORS Round 4, Round
5
BUTLER scoring, Open Round 21
BUTLER scoring, Ladies Round 13
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Match of the Day, by Brian
Senior
Open,Great Britain v Russia
by Henry Francis
Banco in Monaco
Litle cards play major roles
The New Laws of Bridge by Ton
Koijman |
| Italy slows the pace but keeps the lead |
The leaders did not enjoy a very good day but the rankings did not change much, with Italy staying ahead of Norway, but with a reduced margin of 6.5VP. Iceland shares third place, now with Spain, whilst only one point further behind we find Poland. France is, of course, in the race being only 4 points away from the bronze medals. The players will face some tense days in the very near future. This is the beauty of the European championship.
Lucky 13, but for whom?
Thirteen matches have been played in the ladies event. There are ten more battles to come. The figure 13 seems to be a happy one for the trio of France, Great Britain and Israel, who gained some ground over their main rivals, Poland, Spain, Austria, Italy and Germany. Three other teams have gone past the 200 victory point total, Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden and it looks as if the struggle for the five places in the Venice cup will be limited to that short list.
Italian seniors take the lead
We have had new leaders in the seniors every day. First France, then Netherlands and now Italy are in front - but for how long? Note that it is Italy C who is leading but they should beware of Italy A, not far behind in fourth place.
| Match of the day |
| Denmark vs France |
by Brian Senior
France jumped out to an early lead, gaining points on each of the first two boards.
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Sorin Christiansen opened a multi and Lars Blakset used his
forcing enquiry bid. When the French pair competed up to 4
, Blakset
bid 4
, pass or
correct. The defence was easy -
A,
10 to king and
ace, king and another diamond, ruffed. That was one down for +100 to France.
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A very different auction left East on lead, making the killing defence much
harder to find. Dennis Koch-Palmund led
A and now there
was no way to beat the game; +420 and 10 IMPs to France.
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Both Wests opened 1
and were raised to
2. Levy
made a try with 3
and Mari accepted. Christiansen led a low club and Levy
won the ace and led
K then low to
the ten; +420. In the other room, Jens Auken did not make a try over 2 but Mouiel
balanced with 2NT for the minors. Now Auken bid 3 over Multon's
3 but game was
no longer in the picture. Auken also got the trumps right for +170 but 6
IMPs to France.
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Christiansen opened 1NT in second seat and the Danes had a
free run to 4.
Mari led his diamond and Levy won and played two more rounds,
Mari ruffing. Mari switched to a club and Christiansen
played a spade to the ace and a second spade; +620.
In the other room, Mouiel opened 1, allowing
Koch-Palmund to make a weak jump overcall of 2. Mouiel
ended up in 4
and the defence again started with three rounds of diamonds. But here East's
known heart length made it quite possible that he had only a doubleton trump and
declarer played to the
K and finessed
on the way back; one down for -100 and 12 IMPs to
Denmark.
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2 was weak
with both majors, possibly only 4-4, and enabled Blakset to bid game
without revealing anything about his hand. Levy led a diamond to
declarer's jack and Blakset played his low heart to the queen, ducked,
then ran 8 to
Levy's jack. Levy played his remaining heart but Mari
knew that he could not over-ruff declarer so switched to a club for the king and
ace. Blakset won the next club and led
Q and Levy
covered, speeding things up considerably; +420.
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Auken led
10 and Koch-Palmund
won the ace and switched to a club. Auken won and played a second club
and now declarer played ace then nine of spades. When he guessed to play dummy's
queen he was one down; -50 and 10 IMPs for
Denmark who had moved into the lead.
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Christian Mari (Photo by Mark Horton) |
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The East hand did not meet Christian Mari's standards for a weak two bid so
Alain Levy got to open his side's big bid. 2 showed a major-suit
ace and the rest of the auction was natural.
Mari might have gone on over 3NT but it was possible he was facing a singleton heart and slam is only moderate anyway. Levy won the spade lead and showed good technique by testing the clubs before playing on hearts.
When South showed out on the second club, Levy switched his attention to
hearts. After cashing the hearts he took the view that the
A was with
North so bared the
K, played a
spade to hand and exited with the diamond, hoping to endplay North to lead into
the Q 9 at
trick twelve. In practice, that meant only ten tricks as South had the
remainder; +630.
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The East hand was a routine Danish weak two and Auken
enquired, heard of a decent suit opposite and launched into RKCB. He chose 6, risking a possible
diamond lead through the king, to allow the clubs to be ruffed out if necessary.
They were not ruffing out quickly enough after a spade lead had knocked out one
of dummy's entries but the slam was still cold thanks to the favourable diamond
position; +1430 and 13 more IMPs to Denmark who led by 37-16 at the
half. France started the second set as they had started the first.
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Paul Chemla passed as dealer and there was no danger of the French pair getting overboard. The lead was the singleton club and Chemla won the queen, cashed two top spades and played on diamonds, throwing dummy's heart on the fourth round. He had only to lose a spade; +480.
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The Danes open a lot lighter than the French and here
Andersen didn't let Schaeffer off the hook after his thin 1 call. 6 needs a big slice
of luck, though 6
is a quite playable spot. But today no slam was making and Mari doubled
6 for a diamond
lead. Schaeffer ran to 6NT but that was also doubled and the bad breaks
meant he was two down even after having
Q established
at the start; -300 and 13 IMPs to France.
Denmark kept their small lead for the next few boards then extended it on Board 20.
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Mari/Levy reached the normal game but the automatic heart lead and badly placed black suits gave Mari no chance; -100.
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Michel Perron overcalled 1 and, despite the
natural 2NT call,
Paul Chemla had enough to compete to 3. Blakset
doubled to show a good hand and
Christiansen converted to 3NT. But Perron had a distributional
hand and thought that 3NT might easily make while 4 would be a cheap
save or even, on a very good day, make. The scorer had keyed in Christiansen's
double before he had made it, so obvious was it. Less obvious was the opening
lead. 4 gets
quite expensive on ace and queen of spades but Christiansen led a normal
enough club.
Perron pitched a diamond from dummy, ruffed the diamond switch and
played on hearts, Blakset winning the second round. Now came the spade
switch but it was too late. Perron had only two spades to lose for one
down. -200 was hardly a triumph for the French pair but it was a lot
better than it might have been; 7 IMPs to Denmark.
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Schaeffer opened a loose diamond and the Danes had a free
run to 1NT by West which drifted one off despite a favourable
Q lead.
In the other room, Chemla opened 1 and Christiansen
doubled
Perron's 1 response. Blakset
responded 1 and
competed with 2
when Perron tried 1NT. Perhaps 2 would have been
more advisable than 2, but it seems that
Blakset was expecting a bit more playing strength for the takeout
double. Anyway, 2
it was. Perron led a club and Chemla won the ace and continued
the suit. If he never touches trumps, declarer can get quite close to 2 but at trick three
Blakset tried a spade to the ten. That was not a success, losing to the
jack. Perron switched to a low heart for the ten and jack and Chemla
played his last club, ruffed and over-ruffed. Chemla now had trump
control. Blakset played a spade to the ace and a diamond to the queen
and ace. Chemla drew the opposing trumps and led a heart to the ace.
Perron played another heart and Blakset could make only the two
red kings; three down for -150 and 6 IMPs to France.
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4 was
making comfortably enough so the fact that the save cost 500, losing two spades
and one trick in each of the other suits, was of no great consequence; at worst
a couple of IMPs away, it seemed. But things went badly wrong for the Danes
in the other room. After a long and tortured artificial sequence, Christiansen
found himself in 5, awkwardly high.
Chemla led ace and another diamond. Christiansen cashed
A then took a
club finesse. A spade came back to the ace and he drew the missing trumps then
led a second club. The 4-1 break left him with no chance of establishing clubs.
His last chance was ten to three spades with West and he duly took the ruffing
finesse; one off for -50 and 11 IMPs to France.
It looks as though the best line when the
Q falls is to
play ace and another club. Now it appears that declarer prevails despite the
awkward break.
The late French recovery brought the scores level at 49-49, a 15-15 VP tie.
| OPEN TEAMS | Great Britain v Russia |
| by Henry Francis (USA) | |
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Justin Hackett liked his hearts, and his brother Jason
had shown some cards with his 3 bid, so he doubled.
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Justin Hackett (Photo by Mark Horton) |
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On a different opening lead, like the
J for instance,
the double would have earned a small payoff. But not surprisingly Justin
led the K. Now
Kholomeev had a chance, and he used it well. He ruffed and ducked a
trump to North. Justin realized his problem and returned the
K. But declarer
won this and played two top diamonds. Justin refused to ruff, but he was
forced to win his
Q when Kholomeev
led another heart. Justin thought long and hard, but he was thoroughly
endplayed with only black cards to lead. He finally tried a club, but declarer
got rid of his losing spade while ruffing in dummy. He still had to lose to the
Q, but that
still was plus 590. In the other room Gerald
Tredinnick didn't find the endplay and went down one for a 12-IMP loss.
Over the field in general, there were many saves in 5. When 4 was allowed to
play, it usually went down, most of the time after a spade opening lead. Board 4
provided an interesting push.
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Justin gave his brother the choice over 5, and Jason
decided not to double. Instead he made a transfer bid - 5 - leading to the 5 final contract.
This contract has some chances, especially if the defense starts with two
diamonds. Now there will be an endplay eventually. The opening lead actually was
a diamond, but Kholomeev quickly switched to a club, and now Justin
had no chance.
One of the commentators did not think much of the 5 bid. "With
three small clubs South should know that there is trouble ahead. And don't
forget - the five level belongs to the opponents." So true this time.
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Here West settled the issue quickly - he led the
K, and the
contract was down one for a push.
Both teams got to a club game on our next offering, but only Russia scored the plus.
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The opening diamond lead went to the ace, and declarer immediately led a
heart. West rose with the jack and switched to a trump - the 4. It appears that
declarer has far better chances if he lets this ride to his hand, but Jason
went up with the king and passed to
J to the queen.
But Khiouppenen accurately returned another trump. Now declarer was one
trump - and one trick - short, minus 50.
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Stuart Tredinnick got off the best lead - the
10 - but Gerald
went up with the ace when declarer called for dummy's singleton heart. Gerald
did not return his other trump - instead he led a spade. Now Zlotov was
able to crossruff his way to 11 tricks and a 10-IMP pickup. Russia now
led, 22-0.
Russia had a chance to pick up another bundle of IMPs on Board 8, but they wound up in their 5-2 fit instead of their 5-3.
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This certainly was not an impossible contract - it could make with the
opposition's clubs reversed or with trumps 3-3. But neither condition existed -
minus 50. In 5,
however, chances would have been much better. Even with the unhappy lie of the
club honors, 5
still was a possible winner.
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This contract came down to the club guess after Petrounine found the
inspired lead of the
10. Stuart
of course finessed for the queen and as a result lost two clubs and three hearts
for a push board.
When the result from the Closed Room came up for Board 9, everyone assumed
it was going to be a ho-hum board. Not so! Justin found an opening 1 bid on that 7-point
North hand.
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The Closed Room result looked totally normal, except for the overtrick, and indeed a spade game making either four or five was the result at most tables in both the Open and the Women's. But as you can see things were different here.
Jason had heard his partner's opening bid, and he decided to go for a big one by doubling, even though most of his points were in queens and jacks. This gave Justin plenty to think about, and he spent several minutes studying his cards. But finally he pulled out the green card.
After a trump opening lead, Kholomeev drove out the
A. The defense
took a club, but declarer ruffed the next club and guessed the hearts correctly,
making a doubled overtrick for an 8-IMP gain. The Russians picked up 1
more point over the last three boards and shut out the British, 31-0, in
the first half. Great Britain got on the scoreboard in the second half, but Russia
actually extended their winning margin by 8 IMPs, 64-25. That translates into 22
Victory Points for Russia to 8 for Great Britain.
| Banco in Monaco |
Some jewels are played in matches that are not under the spotlight, but we are able to track them down and bring them to you. Let us consider board 17 of Round 5 of the Ladies competition and see what happened when the much improving team from Monaco played Turkey.
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Perhaps you have the impression declarer is bound to lose three trump tricks and one or two clubs but wait and see....
The lead was the two of hearts, taken by the Queen, and declarer ducked a spade all round. A spade was returned to declarer's ace. Then the jack of diamonds was finessed and two clubs discarded on the ace and king of diamonds. Then a diamond was ruffed in hand, followed by a heart to dummy s king and the last diamond ruffed in hand.
Declarer was home safe and dry, with 3 heart tricks, 3 diamonds, the 2 black aces and two ruffs. A big swing? Not at all, the points went to Turkey when they managed to score 12 tricks in the other room on the queen of clubs lead. Finally the match went to Monaco 22-8VP.
| Litle cards play major roles |
In the drama of card play the honour cards, aces, kings and queens, do not always play the leading roles. Take, for example, Hand 23 from Round 18, Ireland v. Estonia.
The play had a tragic hero, the humble
7, destined for
sacrifice in a typical Tom Hanlon squeeze and endplay. His twin, the
7, became a
Prince at the end and inherited the Kingdom. The play had a fool too, East's
8, who put his
head on the block all too early.
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A brief auction, during which West bid Clubs on the second round, resulted in Tom Hanlon, North, being Declarer in 3NT.
The queen won the jack of clubs lead. A Heart was played towards dummy and
the 8's brief
appearance on the stage did not go unnoticed by Tom Hanlon
as the king won. A Spade to the jack and king and the
J played his
part in the tragedy when he exited, felling his partner's
9 as the ace
took the trick. From here on Hanlon directed his cast superbly.
A diamond off the table followed a spade to the queen. The ace went up and
when the 10
came back the little
4 enabled
declarer to duck. West played a diamond to the king, after which this was the
position:
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The ace of clubs forced East to part with the
Q. Tom
now played the
Q and the seven
of hearts, waiting in the wings, played the part which destiny had ordained, and
put East on lead to surrender the last two tricks to the spade ace and seven. It
makes no difference if West allows declarer to win the
K at trick six.
Declarer can exit with the
9. Now
(a) If West takes all his diamond winners he automatically squeezes his partner in the majors when playing a club to the ace four tricks from the end.
(b) If West keeps a diamond winner and exits with a club five tricks from the end, declarer will execute the same endplay which he did in the first place.
West's play of the
8 at trick at
trick two and his subsequent play of the
J at trick four
were fatal errors. In effect it meant that declarer can always finesse the
7 for his ninth
trick. However had East kept the
8, now when
declarer exits with the diamond after winning the king, East can put an end to
declarers aspirations by playing a heart.
Tom Hanlon, of course, is expected to give repeat performances.
| The New Laws of bridge 1997 |
| by Ton Kooijman (Netherlands) |
Once in every ten twelve years, the laws of duplicate bridge are renewed, taking into consideration all kinds of developments in our more and more complicated world of bridge. After 1975 and 1987, this year will be another one for a new edition. As a member of the WBF laws Committee (Bill Schoder is also a member), I am involved in the critical decisions. And this seems to be a good opportunity to inform you about the main issues, which I will do in a series of articles starting today.
There are two changes of general impact in the laws, one dealing with withdrawn information given by the offending side, and one with irregularities not easily covered by specific laws.
Suppose a pair caused an infraction by making a call out of turn or an insufficient bid, or by showing a card (or cards) they were not going to play to that trick, or anything similar involving a withdrawn call or card. Up until this moment, they were allowed to use that information after having paid the penalty for the infraction, which is normally imposed when the TD applies the laws.
For example: West is the dealer but North opens Two Spades out of turn, showing 8-11 points with five spades and a five card minor. East does not accept the bid, and now West opens One Heart. The penalty under the new laws is that South must pass once.
The auction continues:
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The '87 laws allow South to bid Three Clubs with 4-4 in the minors, looking for a partscore and knowing his partner has a minor, which he did not show with his legal bid.
The '97 laws do not allow South to bid Three Clubs. He has to consider One Spade as a normal overcall and may not use extraneous information.
This example gives the impression that the change is easy to apply and a reasonable one. I think that to be true for an auction after withdrawn calls, but problems arise when we enter the play of the cards. In the example above, when West becomes the declarer in Two Hearts, there are lead penalties. However, after applying those, South may not use the information that North has a minor.
The position for the non-offending side is unchanged - they may use the information. Here is another example from an IMP event:
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South is the dealer, but East opens out of turn with one spade. South does not accept it, and the auction continues uncontested to five diamonds by South, who has shown 6-4 in the minors. South demands a spade lead, so West lays down the king. After that, he switches to the jack of hearts: one down.
South calls the TD, telling him that West used the information that East had a five card suit and therefore found the switch. West defends himself by saying that South will always make five diamonds when he has the ace of hearts, so the only way to defeat the contract was to switch to a heart.
In the '87 version, West was allowed to switch to hearts, after paying the penalty of an obliged spade lead. In the '97 laws, the TD, and probably the Appeals Committee, has to decide whether or not the switch was an obvious one. (In this example East would probably drop the jack of spades under the king, clearly a suit preference signal, but it will not always be so simple.)
The treatment of a penalty card is also influenced by this change. From now on, the only information partner may use is the fact that the penalty card has to be played at the first legal opportunity; aqll other inferences are forbidden. As a result of this change, we may expect some nice new cases for Appeals Committees in the future.
The second fundemental change deals with a principle that could be found in
some laws already on the statute books, but which now become a general approach.
If a player causing an infraction could have known at the time that he might
gain by it, the TD has to adjust the score, taking away the advantage.
Edgar Kaplan has a nice example in which dummy has
AKQJ84 without
any other possible entry, and declarer is void in that suit and still wants to
make his Six-Notrump contract. Somewhat 'confused', he plays the ace from the
table at trick two and his RHO sleepily follows suit. Now South manages to win
all thirteen tricks. There is certainly reason to adjust the score under the new
laws (as we did under the old ones, but nobody could say which law allowed
us to do so).
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