The final sixteen boards by Nevena Senior (GBR)

With 16 boards to go, Austria was only 12 IMPs behind Netherlands in their semifinal match in the Orbis Venice Cup. They tried as much as they could, but the Dutch Ladies played extremely well, and won the right to play in the final.

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

Open Room
West North East South
van der Pas Erhart Vriend Terraneo

Pass 1ª Pass
1NT(1)
Pass 2§(2) Pass
2ª
All Pass    

(1) Forcing, unless partner has a really bad hand
(2) Could be a two card suit

Closed Room
West North East South
Weigkricht Pasman Fischer Simons

Pass 1ª Pass
2©
Pass 2ª Pass
3©
Pass 4© All Pass

Anneke SimmonsIn the open room, Van der Pas used a Forcing no trump, and rebid 2ª over partner's 2§.

The standard way of bidding after 1© - 1NT (F) - 2§ would be, that 2© now shows a weak hand with long hearts, but perhaps, it would have been something else in the Dutch pairs system, so they stayed out of the best spot and had to concede -100, for two off in 2ª, when Terraneo led a diamond.

Weigkricht, as West in the closed room didn't want to bid 1NT, as it would have been non forcing and she chose a rather aggressive 2©, which didn't help her side to get a plus score in the board.

Had she chosen 1NT, she would have probably been left to play there without a great success, but Fischer might have rebid 2§, which would have allowed her to score +110 in 2©. Four hearts was two off for a flat board.

Board 13. Dealer North. Game All
ª 9 6 3 2
© 10 5 3
¨ K 10 8 5
§ J 8
ª K Q 5
ª A J 10
© K Q 7 © A 9 6 4 2
¨ J 4 3 2 ¨
§ 10 7 6 § A K 4 3 2
ª 8 7 4
© J 8
¨ A Q 9 7 6
§ Q 9 5

Open Room
West North East South
van der Pas Erhart Vriend Terraneo

Pass 1© Pass
1NT(1)
Pass 2§(2) Pass
3©(3)
Pass 4© All Pass

(1) and (2) as above
(3) invitational

Closed Room
West North East South
Weigkricht Pasman Fischer Simons

Pass
1§(1)
Pass
1©(2)
Pass
2©
Pass
3©
Pass
3ª
Pass
4©
Pass
4ª
Pass
5©
Pass
6©
All Pass

(1)Strong Club
(2)Positive with less then three controls

There wasn't any problem in the play, as both hearts and clubs were splitting favourably, so Austria won 13 very much needed IMPs.

Board 16. Dealer West. EW Game
ª 9 4
© K Q 10 5 3
¨ J 8 2
§ J 6 4
ª Q 6 3
ª A K 10 8 7 5
© A J 8 © 9 2
¨ K 9 4 ¨ A Q 3
§ A K 7 5 § 10 8
ª J 2
© 7 6 4
¨ 10 7 6 5
§ Q 9 3 2

Open Room
West North East South
van der Pas Erhart Vriend Terraneo

1NT
Pass
3ª
Pass
4§(1)
Pass
4©(1)
Pass
4©(1)
Dble
Pass
Pass
Rdble(2)
Pass
4NT(3)
Pass
5ª(4)
Pass
6ª
All Pass

(1)Cue bid
(2)First round control
(3)RKCB
(4)Two key cards and the Queen of trumps

Closed Room
West North East South
Weigkricht Pasman Fischer Simons

1NT
Pass 2©(1) Pass
2NT(2)
Pass 3©(3) Pass
3NT
Pass 4ª All Pass

(1) Transfer
(2) Maximum with spade support
(3) Values

This time it was Netherlands turn to be rewarded with a 13 IMP gain for their accurate bidding. The match finished with a 36 IMP victory for the Dutch Ladies, who will try to win gold for Europe in the final against USA1.

Results Contents

{short description of image}{short description of image} BB Final 1-4
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VC Final 1-4
{short description of image}{short description of image}Tran. R11, R12, R13, R14

{short description of image}{short description of image}Norway v Brazil
{short description of image}{short description of image}
USA1 v The Netherlands
{short description of image}{short description of image}Ae Fond Kiss...
{short description of image}{short description of image}The final 16 boards
{short description of image}{short description of image}Orbis Daily Column

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