| 1st World Bridge Games | Page 2 | Bulletin 13 - Friday 17 October 2008 |
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Women teams Final - 1st - England v China Laying Foundations by Mark Horton Would the weight of expectation sit too heavily on the shoulders of the Chinese team? Could they overcome the extremely experienced English squad? In a contest that most thought too close to call who would make the better start?
Open Room
North had no convenient way into the auction on the first round and then had to guess on the next. The singleton king of hearts was of dubious value and her main suit was hardly robust – she decided to pass. South led a trump and thereafter declarer was easily held to six tricks, -150. Closed Room
As I mentioned earlier, with no obvious way into the auction – well, clearly the word obvious has no Chinese equivalent as North was right there with a double after which South jumped to the obvious game. West led the seven of hearts and declarer won with dummy’s king. With some good guesses you can make eleven tricks, but when declarer started with a club to the queen West followed with the eight! Naturally, declarer played a club to dummy’s six and East won with the jack, played the king of spades and then went back to hearts. Declarer ducked, won the next heart, and knocked out the ace of clubs. All she needed to do now was locate the queen of diamonds – save for the fact that it was West who now produced the ace and proceeded to cash her heart tricks for +300. A brilliant start for Dhondy, giving England a 10-IMP lead.
Open Room
North led the ace of diamonds, collecting the four, three and five. (We could spend a long time debating which card declarer should play from hand – but the air conditioning has failed and as the temperature soars towards 37°C I am keen to finish it as quickly as possible.) North switched the queen of hearts, covered by the king and ace and South had to guess what to do. She tried for the heart ruff, -600. Closed Room
As before North led the ace of diamonds, four, three and five. She too switched to a heart, but she chose the nine. South took the ace and….cashed the king of diamonds to earn 12 IMPs.
Open Room
North’s pass over the first double was neutral with four clubs. When North then forgot that Two Spades was in no way invitational her side was in deep trouble. East led the three of hearts and West took the ace and returned the suit (a club switch is best, which probably results in three down). Declarer won and played a diamond. When dummy’s jack held she played a spade and West won, cashed a second spade and played a third heart, declarer winning, cashing a top diamond and exiting with a club. East put up the jack and West overtook it and exited with a heart to ensure two down, +300. Closed Room
North led the ten of clubs and declarer put up dummy’s jack. When it held she played a club to the ace and ruffed a club. South overuffed and switched to the two of spades, declarer winning and playing the ace of hearts (the ten works better as the cards lie, as it keeps control) and a heart. North won and should now cash the king of clubs. South will discard a diamond and then two rounds of diamonds enable the defenders to make their trumps separately for one down. When North exited with a spade, declarer won, exited with a heart and was +110 – holding the loss to 5 IMPs.
Open Room
South’s daring entry into the auction paid a huge dividend as North raised to the cold game, +600. Closed Room
Three Clubs looks like a fit jump, but it did not inspire North. Three spades drifted a couple down, -100, but England added another 11 IMPs to their total.
Open Room
With a slam on with East as declarer, the Chinese stopped in a part score! As an aside, South might have preferred Two Diamonds to Two Spades – sometimes that can help partner – but the English pair must have been delighted when declarer recorded +170. Closed Room
South led the ten of diamonds and declarer won in hand, cashed the ace of clubs and followed it with the queen. With the heart king onside and the suit 3-3 there are eleven tricks, but declarer delayed the heart finesse and could only take ten, +430, and 6 IMPs. Both sides missed a difficult chance on the last board of the set:
Open Room
Closed Room
Both East’s led the king of clubs. What to do next? The winning defence is to cash a second club, then either play a third club to kill the potential discard on the queen of clubs, or switch to a diamond. However, both East’s switched to the queen of hearts and there was no swing. England had survived a few adventures to secure an early lead – and China would have to work hard if they were to stay in contention. |
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