When one of the Editors is a retired International Chess Master it hardly comes as a surprise that at the start of the Schools Championship we should turn our attention to the match between Israel and Great Britain.

The reason partly lies in the composition of the Israeli team. It includes sisters with a famous surname, Dana and Noga Tal. Perhaps not yet a well-known name in bridge, but famous in the game involving 64 squares as that of the daredevil Russian ex-World Champion Mikhail Tal.

He was renowned for his imagination, flights of fancy and bold attacking style of play so off our reporter went to the Closed Room to see if there was any similarity.

You can read elsewhere about an excellent result for the sisters on board 6.

This board caught the eye, but it was one of the British players who produced something out of the ordinary.

Dealer South. NS Game ª Q J 10 2 © A K J ¨ J 10 § 10 7 3 2 ª A ª 8 6 5 4 © 10 9 8 7 6 3 © Q 5 4 ¨ K Q 9 6 5 2 ¨ 8 3 § — § A K Q 8 ª K 9 7 3 © 2 ¨ A 7 4 § J 9 6 5 4 Closed Room West North East South Probst D. Tal Jones N. Tal Pass Pass 1§ Pass 1ª 4NT Pass 5© Pass Pass Dble All Pass

Richard Probst decided to adopt a waiting game with the West cards. There is nothing wrong with that, but you have to bear in mind partner will usually have a hard time visualizing the exact nature of your hand. His delayed entry into the auction was simply a level too high and the cost was -200.

Do you have some sympathy for South, who doubled having seen his left hand opponent bid up to Four Hearts on his own after failing to open the bidding? Perhaps, but we would also be inclined to be cautious when anyone called Hoffman is at the table. In reality South should leave any further action to his partner, but we doubt the result would have been any different. +790 and 14 IMPs to Israel.

As the match progressed Great Britain tended to get the better of the little boards while the odd big swing went to Israel.

Having just turned thirteen, we suspect Dana is the youngest competitor in the Championships, but she has already acquired quite a feel for the game. She produced a bid reminiscent of the style of her chess namesake on this board.

Dealer South. NS Game ª 5 © A Q 10 7 4 3 2 ¨ 6 3 § A K 6 ª Q 10 8 6 2 ª A 9 7 © K 8 5 © 6 ¨ Q 10 ¨ A K J 9 8 4 § Q 6 3 § J 9 5 ª K J 4 3 © J 9 ¨ 7 5 2 § 10 7 4 2 Closed Room West North East South Probst D. Tal Jones N. Tal Pass Pass 4© All Pass

In the Open Room North opened One Heart allowing East an easy route into the auction. The final contract was Four Spades by West that failed by one trick.

East started out with the ace, king and jack of diamonds, West discarding a spade. Declarer ruffed and played the five of spades. We can see East has to take his ace but we can see all four hands. He ducked and Dana put up the king to collect 11 IMPs when the heart finesse proved to be onside.

At this point Israel led 43-37, but Great Britain rallied, outscoring their opponents 28-1 on the last five boards. This was their biggest gain:

Dealer South. EW Game ª A 6 © 7 5 3 ¨ A K J 8 5 § A K J ª 10 9 8 5 4 ª J 7 © K © Q J 10 9 6 4 ¨ 6 3 2 ¨ 10 9 § 10 6 5 3 § Q 8 2 ª K Q 3 2 © A 8 2 ¨ Q 7 4 § 9 7 4

In the Closed Room Israel made no move towards a slam, stopping in 3NT and making 11 tricks for +660.

West led the ten of spades and Mark Teltscher won in dummy and came to hand with the queen of diamonds, He played a low heart and on winning with the king West continued with another spade. Declarer won and took his diamond winners and should have reached this ending:

Dealer South. EW Game ª — © 7 5 ¨ — § A K J ª 9 8 ª — © — © Q J ¨ — ¨ — § 10 6 5 § Q 8 2 ª Q 3 © A 8 ¨ — § 9

He would still have the club finesse in reserve, but when you cross to the ace of hearts West has to part with a club. Now you cash the queen of spades and East is in a similar situation.

A non-simultaneous double squeeze! Just the sort of move Tal would have been proud of!

Mark didn't quite appreciate this possibility, keeping an extra club instead of a spade, so he had to guess he had squeezed East in the round suits and drop the queen of clubs, a play he managed to find.

Great Britain won this well played encounter 55-44 IMPs. 17-13VP, but watch out for both teams.