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 |
|
In
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.