Argentina v Brazil |
Orbis Venice Cup -
Round 13 |
Though neither
Argentine not Brazil looked likely to make the top eight in the Venice
Cup round robin, matches between these long-time South American rivals
are always fiercely contested. Their Round 13 match started with a bang
with 42 IMPs changing hands in the first four boards.
Board
1. Dealer North. Love All |
|
ª |
8 6 4 |
|
© |
10 3 2 |
¨ |
A K 6 |
§ |
Q 10 9 8 |
ª |
A K 9 |
|
ª |
J 5 |
© |
K 4 |
© |
A Q J 8 6 5 |
¨ |
Q J 9 8 3 2 |
¨ |
10 |
§ |
A J |
§ |
K 7 3 2 |
|
ª |
Q 10 7 3 2 |
|
© |
9 7 |
¨ |
7 5 4 |
§ |
6 5 4 |
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
Tajtelbaum |
Esp.-Paz |
Amaral |
Safra |
|
Pass |
1© |
Pass |
2¨
|
Pass |
2© |
Pass |
3¨
|
Pass |
3NT |
Pass |
4§
|
Pass |
4© |
All Pass |
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
Iacarpato |
Gomes |
Garateguy |
Sampaio |
|
Pass |
1© |
Pass |
2¨
|
Pass |
2© |
Pass |
4NT
|
Pass |
5§ |
Pass |
6©
|
All Pass |
|
|
|
For
Brazil, Lia Tajtelbaum was prepared to leave the final decision about
slam to her partner.
She showed
a good hand by bidding round the houses but Marina Amaral was not sufficiently
excited to go past game; +480.
In the other
room, Malena Iacaprato simply too control with RKCB and bid the slam
on finding that her partner had one key card.
On a club lead,
Charo Garateguy could have played to ruff two clubs in dummy, but preferred
to play on diamonds. The opening lead went to the jack, queen and king,
and Garateguy played her diamond at trick two. Irene Gomes won the ace
and returned a club to the ace.
When declarer
played the diamond queen, she covered and Garateguy could ruff, draw
trumps and claim; +980 and 11 IMPs to Argentina.
Board
2. Dealer East. NS Game |
|
ª |
K J 10 2 |
|
© |
J 9 6 |
¨ |
A Q J |
§ |
9 3 2 |
ª |
8 6 |
|
ª |
A Q 5 |
© |
K Q 10 |
© |
A 7 4 |
¨ |
K 8 6 |
¨ |
5 3 2 |
§ |
K Q 10 8 5 |
§ |
A J 7 6 |
|
ª |
9 7 4 3 |
|
© |
8 5 3 2 |
¨ |
10 9 7 4 |
§ |
4 |
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
Iacarpato |
Gomes |
Garateguy |
Sampaio |
|
|
1§ |
Pass |
3§
|
Pass |
4NT |
Pass |
5§
|
All Pass |
|
|
|
Three Clubs
was a forcing raise and Garateguy asked for key cards but then settled
for game on finding that a key card was missing. The opening lead was
a heart to dummy's king. Declarer drew three rounds of clubs, eliminated
the hearts and took the spade finesse. Then she played a diamond to
the king and lost three diamond tricks for down one; -50.
There is a
small extra chance which comes in. After drawing trumps, take the spade
finesse and eliminate the spades then hearts before leading a diamond
towards the king. South can play the ten, which seems from declarer's
point of view to be good enough to avoid the endplay. However, it costs
nothing to duck the first diamond anyway, and when North has her actual
holding she has to overtake and is endplayed to let the contract make.
In the other
room, the Brazilians bid 1NT - 3NT. After a diamond lead and spade switch,
declarer made an overtrick; +430 and 10 IMPs to Brazil.
Board
3. Dealer South. EW Game |
|
ª |
A 7 4 |
|
© |
K 10 9 4 |
¨ |
A 10 8 6 |
§ |
10 8 |
ª |
J 8 6 3 2 |
|
ª |
9 5 |
© |
A J 8 5 3 |
© |
Q 2 |
¨ |
K Q 4 |
¨ |
9 7 3 2 |
§ |
— |
§ |
J 7 5 4 2 |
|
ª |
K Q 10 |
|
© |
7 6 |
¨ |
J 5 |
§ |
A K Q 9 6 3 |
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
Iacarpato |
Gomes |
Garateguy |
Sampaio |
|
|
|
1§ |
2¨
|
Dble |
Pass |
3NT |
All Pass
|
|
|
|
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
Tajtelbaum |
Esp.-Paz |
Amaral |
Safra |
|
|
|
1§ |
2NT
|
Dble |
Pass |
Pass |
3©
|
Dble |
All Pass |
|
|
Showing both
majors via a 2¨ overcall proved to be much safer than showing them by
bidding an unusual Two No Trump. Where Iacaprato overcalled Two Diamonds,
Gomes made a negative double and Marta Sampaio jumped to Three No Trump.
She made that easily enough after a spade lead, but +430 was not enough
to cover the action at the other table.
Tajtelbaum
overcalled Two NO Trump and Maria-Teresa Espinosa-Paz doubled then doubled
again when Tajtelbaum removed herself to Three Hearts. Espinosa-Paz
led a club and Tajtelbaum ruffed and gave up a spade. Chantal Safra
won the spade and switched to the jack of diamonds to the king and ace.
Back came a second club. Again declarer ruffed and gave up a spade,
won by South. A third club came through and she ruffed. North over-ruffed
and returned a trump. Declarer won and took a spade ruff but had only
one more trump trick to come; three down for -800 and 9 IMPs to Argentina.
Board
4. Dealer West. Game All |
|
ª |
Q 10 9 6 5 3 |
|
© |
3 2 |
¨ |
A J 10 |
§ |
7 6 |
ª |
K J 8 7 |
|
ª |
— |
© |
J 7 6 5 |
© |
A 8 4 |
¨ |
3 |
¨ |
K Q 9 8 7 4 |
§ |
A Q 9 3 |
§ |
K 8 5 4 |
|
ª |
A 4 2 |
|
© |
K Q 10 9 |
¨ |
6 5 2 |
§ |
J 10 2 |
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
Iacarpato |
Gomes |
Garateguy |
Sampaio |
1§
|
2ª |
3¨ |
3ª |
Pass
|
Pass |
4§ |
Pass |
5§
|
All Pass |
|
|
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
Tajtelbaum |
Esp.-Paz |
Amaral |
Safra |
Pass
|
2ª |
3¨ |
Pass |
3NT
|
All Pass |
|
|
|
Iacaprato's
thin One Club opening worked well as it helped her side to reach Five
Clubs. A heart lead might have been more taxing, but on the actual spade
lead declarer could throw a heart from dummy, win the heart switch and
cross to hand with a trump to pitch the remaining heart on the king
of spades. With diamonds 3-3 onside and trumps 3-2, there was nothing
the defense could do; +600.
Tajtelbaum
did not open the West hand. Espinosa-Paz opened a weak two as North
and Amaral overcalled Three Diamonds. Tajtelbaum responded Three No
Trump, as who would not, but her lack of a second diamond meant that
she had no good source of tricks in that contract. She was one down
for -100 and 12 IMPs to Argentina, ahead by 32-10.
Board
6. Dealer East. EW Game |
|
ª |
K 9 |
|
© |
A 7 6 2 |
¨ |
A 5 |
§ |
A J 9 8 3 |
ª |
Q 6 5 2 |
|
ª |
A J 8 7 |
© |
Q 9 |
© |
10 8 4 |
¨ |
K 6 3 |
¨ |
J 10 9 4 |
§ |
10 7 5 4 |
§ |
Q 6 |
|
ª |
10 4 3 |
|
© |
K J 5 3 |
¨ |
Q 8 7 2 |
§ |
K 2 |
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
Iacarpato |
Gomes |
Garateguy |
Sampaio |
|
|
Pass |
Pass |
Pass
|
1NT |
Pass |
2§ |
Pass
|
2© |
Pass |
4© |
All Pass
|
|
|
|
|
If you do not
open One No Trump on the North hand, the auction might get messy, and
I would guess that this was a popular action around the room. The Brazilians
had a standard Stayman auction to Four Hearts and Garateguy led the
diamond jack, covered all round. Gomes played the king of clubs, a club
to the ace and ruffed a club. Next she cashed the ace of hearts and
made the key play of a heart to the king, dropping the queen. She just
lost a diamond and two spades for +420.
West |
North |
East |
South |
Tajtelbaum |
Esp.-Paz |
Amaral |
Safra |
|
|
Pass
|
Pass
|
Pass
|
1NT
|
Pass
|
2§
|
Pass
|
2¨
|
Pass
|
2ª
|
Pass
|
3§
|
Pass
|
3¨
|
Pass
|
3NT
|
All Pass
|
|
|
Espinosa-Paz
also opened One No Trump. Something went wrong with the Puppet Stayman
auction because the 4-4 heart fit was missed. Three No Trump is definitely
inferior to Four Hearts and it duly failed. By two tricks when declarer
was not up to dropping both the doubleton queens, which might have given
her a chance. -100 meant 11 IMPs to Brazil, who closed to 21-32.
Argentina had
a couple of useful gains to extend their lead to 45-21, then came something
more substantial:
Board
10. Dealer East. Game All |
|
ª |
J 2 |
|
© |
J 6 |
¨ |
8 |
§ |
A K Q J 10 7 5 2 |
ª |
10 9 5 3 |
|
ª |
Q 6 |
© |
Q 10 5 |
© |
K 9 7 3 |
¨ |
K J 10 7 2 |
¨ |
A 9 4 3 |
§ |
8 |
§ |
9 4 3 |
|
ª |
A K 8 7 4 |
|
© |
A 8 4 2 |
¨ |
Q 6 5 |
§ |
6 |
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
Iacarpato |
Gomes |
Garateguy |
Sampaio |
|
|
Pass |
1ª |
Pass
|
2§ |
Pass |
2© |
Pass
|
4NT |
Pass |
5© |
Pass
|
6§ |
All Pass |
|
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
Tajtelbaum |
Esp.-Paz |
Amaral |
Safra |
|
|
Pass |
1ª |
Pass
|
2§ |
Pass |
2© |
Pass
|
5§ |
All Pass |
|
|
Is there no
middle ground between launching into Blackwood and effectively signing-off
in game? The defense to the slam started with two rounds of diamonds,
giving declarer some hope. However, when the spades failed to divide
evenly, she Gomes had to go one down for -100 and 12 IMPs to Argentina
for stopping safely in game in the other room. It seems that Argentina
outbid their opponents on the board, but would South have gone on to
Six Clubs if she had also held the ªQ or ©K? I think not.
Board
12. Dealer West. NS Game |
|
ª |
A Q 2 |
|
© |
A K 10 5 4 |
¨ |
A 7 2 |
§ |
K 8 |
ª |
K 6 5 |
|
ª |
J 7 3 |
© |
Q J |
© |
8 7 3 |
¨ |
K Q 8 6 |
¨ |
J 10 9 4 |
§ |
Q J 9 2 |
§ |
10 6 4 |
|
ª |
10 9 8 4 |
|
© |
9 6 2 |
¨ |
5 3 |
§ |
A 7 5 3 |
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
Iacarpato |
Gomes |
Garateguy |
Sampaio |
1§
|
Dble |
Pass |
1ª |
Pass
|
2© |
Pass |
3© |
Pass
|
4© |
All Pass |
|
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
Tajtelbaum |
Esp.-Paz |
Amaral |
Safra |
1§
|
Dble |
Pass |
1ª |
Pass
|
2© |
All Pass |
|
|
Sampaio outbid
Safra on this one. After an identical start to the auction, Sampaio
put more trust in her partner's combination of double then bid her suit,
by inviting game. Gomes quickly raised herself to game and that was
+650 against +200 in the other room; 10 IMPs to Brazil.
Argentina led
by 62-40 with three boards to go.
Board
18. Dealer East. NS Game |
|
ª |
7 6 5 2 |
|
© |
9 6 4 |
¨ |
Q 3 |
§ |
A J 9 5 |
ª |
8 |
|
ª |
K 3 |
© |
A Q 10 7 3 |
© |
K J 8 5 2 |
¨ |
9 7 |
¨ |
A J 8 4 2 |
§ |
Q 7 6 4 2 |
§ |
8 |
|
ª |
A Q J 10 9 4 |
|
© |
— |
¨ |
K 10 6 5 |
§ |
K 10 3 |
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
Iacarpato |
Gomes |
Garateguy |
Sampaio |
|
|
1© |
1ª |
3ª
|
4ª |
5© |
5ª |
Pass
|
Pass |
6© |
6ª |
All Pass
|
|
|
|
|
Three Spades
was a splinter in support of hearts and Gomes did well to raise to Four
Spades on the North cards given the vulnerability. That enabled Sampaio
to compete with Five Spades over Five Hearts. Garateguy went on to Six
Hearts, which is only one off and could even make on the lead of the
ace of spades. With a shrug of her shoulders, Sampaio went on to Six
Spades, ending the auction.
Six Spades
can be made double dummy, but is unlikely to be made in practice as
declarer must take a first round club finesse to get to dummy to pick
up the spade. Sampaio ruffed the heart lead and played a diamond to
the queen and ace. She ruffed the heart return and tried to get to dummy
by ruffing the third diamond. When Iacaprato could ruff in with the
eight in front of dummy, the contract had to fail. Iacaprato returned
a club, run to declarer's ten. Disappointed to have gone down, Sampaio
had taken her eye off the ball and now played a second club in an attempt
to get to dummy, so suffered a second ruff for down two; -200.
West |
North |
East |
South |
Tajtelbaum |
Esp.-Paz |
Amaral |
Safra |
|
But -200 proved
to be enough to win the board for Brazil. In the other room, Tajtelbaum
made a straightforward raise to Four Hearts and again North, Espinosa-Paz,
did well to compete with Four Spades. When Amaral bid on to Five Hearts,
Safra passed! That is a surprising decision - perhaps she assumed that
her pass was forcing, though there seems no reason why it should be.
The lead of the ace of spades meant that dummy's diamond loser could
be discarded and Amaral came home with 11 tricks for +450 and 6 IMPs
to Brazil. Both teams ended the match by bidding to a cold slam. Sampaio
made a simple One Diamond response then cuebid to force to game. She
discovered that Gomes had long clubs and four hearts but no spade stopper
or diamond tolerance. Slam did not have to be laydown, but it seemed
practical to bid it. Sampaio chose Six No Trump. She won the heart lead
in hand and played ace of clubs and a club to the ten and queen. She
had 12 tricks for +1440. Safra started with a strong jump shift. She
followed up by showing her spade controls and secondary club support,
allowing Espinosa-Paz to bid Six Clubs. That was cold for +1370 but
2 IMPs to Brazil.
The final score
was 62-48 to Argentina, converting to 18-12 VPs.