China v Egypt |
Orbis Venice Cup -
Round 15 |
With two days
to go in the round robin stage, the Chinese women, one of the favourites,
were lying eighth, just a point clear of ninth-placed Canada. Round
15 saw them face Egypt, a dangerous team even if not in contention themselves.
China had gained a couple of small swings when an opportunity for something
bigger came along.
Board
4. Dealer West. Game All |
|
ª |
J 9 3 |
|
© |
A Q J 8 7 |
¨ |
J 2 |
§ |
9 8 3 |
ª |
K Q 10 6 5 |
|
ª |
7 |
© |
5 4 |
© |
K 9 6 3 2 |
¨ |
8 7 6 5 |
¨ |
10 4 3 |
§ |
10 5 |
§ |
A Q 7 2 |
|
ª |
A 8 4 2 |
|
© |
10 |
¨ |
A K Q 9 |
§ |
K J 6 4 |
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
Shatila |
Sun |
Homsey |
Wang |
Pass
|
Pass |
Pass |
1§ |
Pass
|
1© |
Pass |
1NT |
Pass
|
3NT |
Pass |
|
|
One Club was
strong and One Heart a natural positive. The One No Trump rebid was
natural - presumably Hongli Wang likes to have a five-card suit to bid
it here. Samia Shatila led the king of spades to declarer's ace. Wang
passed the ©10, which scored, then played a spade towards the jack.
Shatila won her queen and returned a spade. Wang won and led the nine
of clubs to the queen and king then ran for home; +600.
West |
North |
East |
South |
Zhang |
Maud |
Gu |
Lily |
|
|
Pass |
Pass |
Pass
|
1© |
Pass |
1ª |
Pass
|
2§ |
Pass |
2© |
All Pass
|
|
|
|
|
The natural
auction did not get to game and made only eight tricks on a passive
lead; +120 but 10 IMPs to China.
Board
6. Dealer East. EW Game |
|
ª |
K |
|
© |
A J 10 5 4 2 |
¨ |
Q 7 |
§ |
K 10 6 2 |
ª |
Q J 10 5 |
|
ª |
A 7 2 |
© |
K 8 |
© |
7 6 3 |
¨ |
K J 10 9 5 |
¨ |
A 6 4 3 |
§ |
9 3 |
§ |
J 8 4 |
|
ª |
9 8 6 4 3 |
|
© |
Q 9 |
¨ |
8 2 |
§ |
A Q 7 5 |
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
Shatila |
Sun |
Homsey |
Wang |
|
Two Spades
was weak and two-suited. These bids can be very effective on the right
deal, but this was not the right deal. Shatila led the queen of trumps
and Margaret Homsey won and switched to a diamond to the king. A second
diamond was won by dummy's queen when Homsey had the misfortune to pull
the wrong card, but declarer still lost control on repeated diamond
leads and had to go one down; -50.
West |
North |
East |
South |
Zhang |
Maud |
Gu |
Lily |
|
|
Pass |
Pass |
Pass
|
1© |
Pass |
1ª |
Pass
|
2§ |
Pass |
2© |
All Pass
|
|
|
|
|
South
passed and Lily Khalil and Maud Khouri had a straightforward auction
to Two Hearts.
Game makes courtesy
of the heart finesse and even breaks in the key suits, and the
Egyptians must have been mildly worried that +170 would not prove
to be sufficient.
Not to worry, it was
actually a 6 IMP pick-up.
|
Board
8. Dealer West. Love All |
|
ª |
K 9 |
|
© |
J 7 6 3 |
¨ |
Q 7 |
§ |
J 8 6 5 3 |
ª |
A 8 7 6 |
|
ª |
10 5 4 |
© |
A |
© |
10 9 4 |
¨ |
A K J 8 4 3 |
¨ |
10 9 6 5 2 |
§ |
7 4 |
§ |
A 9 |
|
ª |
Q J 3 2 |
|
© |
K Q 8 5 2 |
¨ |
— |
§ |
K Q 10 2 |
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
Shatila |
Sun |
Homsey |
Wang |
1¨
|
Pass |
3¨ |
Dble |
Rdble
|
3© |
Pass |
Pass |
4¨
|
All Pass |
|
|
|
Three Diamonds
was a pre-emptive raise and Shatila first redoubled to show a good hand
then bid on to Four Diamonds. With Four Hearts looking to have only
three losers on the North/South cards, playing Four Diamonds for +130
looked OK, however:
West |
North |
East |
South |
Zhang |
Maud |
Gu |
Lily |
1§
|
Dble |
Pass |
3© |
Dble
|
Pass |
5¨ |
All Pass |
|
One Club was
strong and Ling Gu did well to jump to game when Yalan Zhang doubled
Three Hearts for take-out on the next round. The lead was a club to
the ace. Gu unblocked the heart and proceeded to draw trumps and eliminate
the hearts. When at a late stage she played the ace of spades, she found
Maud dozing peacefully and failing to unblock the king. A club exit
meant that North was endplayed with the king of spades to give a ruff
and discard and the contract; +400 and 7 IMPs to China.
Board
9. Dealer North. EW Game |
|
ª |
A K 9 7 5 |
|
© |
K |
¨ |
A K 5 4 |
§ |
J 10 7 |
ª |
10 |
|
ª |
|
© |
Q 9 7 5 3 |
© |
|
¨ |
9 3 2 |
¨ |
|
§ |
A 9 5 4 |
§ |
|
|
ª |
Q 6 4 3 2 |
|
© |
A J 6 2 |
¨ |
J 7 |
§ |
Q 3 |
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
Shatila |
Sun |
Homsey |
Wang |
|
1§
|
Pass
|
1ª
|
Pass
|
2¨
|
Pass
|
2©
|
Pass
|
2ª
|
Pass
|
2NT
|
Pass
|
3©
|
Pass
|
4ª
|
Pass
|
4NT
|
Pass
|
5§
|
Pass
|
6ª
|
All Pass
|
|
|
One Club was
strong and One Spade a natural positive. Perhaps there are inferences
of which I am unaware in the Chinese auction, but it looks as though
Ming Sun just did too much without any real encouragement from her partner.
The slam was always hopeless, but Shatila led ace and another club to
settle things immediately; -50.
West |
North |
East |
South |
Zhang |
Maud |
Gu |
Lily |
|
No danger here
of getting too high here. Played by North, a diamond lead meant 12 tricks;
+480 and 11 IMPs to Egypt.
Board
10. Dealer East. Game All |
|
ª |
A K 5 4 3 |
|
© |
8 6 |
¨ |
J 9 6 3 2 |
§ |
10 |
ª |
Q J 6 |
|
ª |
9 8 |
© |
K 9 3 2 |
© |
7 4 |
¨ |
K Q 4 |
¨ |
A 10 8 5 |
§ |
Q 4 3 |
§ |
K J 9 8 6 |
|
ª |
10 7 2 |
|
© |
A Q J 10 5 |
¨ |
7 |
§ |
A 7 5 2 |
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
Shatila |
Sun |
Homsey |
Wang |
|
|
Pass |
1© |
Pass
|
1ª |
Dble |
Rdble |
1NT
|
Dble |
2§ |
3ª |
Pass
|
4ª |
All Pass |
|
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
Zhang |
Maud |
Gu |
Lily |
|
|
Pass |
1© |
Dble
|
1ª |
2§ |
2ª |
Pass
|
4ª |
All Pass |
|
|
The Egyptian
declarer went down after a club lead when she tried to make her small
trumps by ruffing and found that the unfavourable heart position left
her a trick short; -100.
Sun received
a heart lead. She finessed and Shatila won the king and switched to
a club for the ace. Sun gave up a diamond, ruffed the club return, and
cashed the top spades. Next she ran the hearts and had a trump left
in the dummy to take care of her last diamond; +620 and 12 IMPs to China.
Board
13. Dealer North. Game All |
|
ª |
K 5 4 3 |
|
© |
A 7 |
¨ |
6 5 2 |
§ |
A K Q 5 |
ª |
8 7 |
|
ª |
A Q J 10 9 6 2 |
© |
K J 5 2 |
© |
10 8 6 |
¨ |
Q J 8 7 4 |
¨ |
A 3 |
§ |
9 4 |
§ |
J |
|
ª |
— |
|
© |
Q 9 4 3 |
¨ |
K 10 9 |
§ |
10 8 7 6 3 2 |
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
Shatila |
Sun |
Homsey |
Wang |
|
1NT |
4ª |
Pass |
Pass
|
Dble |
All Pass |
|
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
Zhang |
Maud |
Gu |
Lily |
|
1NT |
3ª |
Pass |
Pass
|
4§ |
Pass |
6§ |
All Pass
|
|
|
|
|
Lily and Maud
reached the hopeless club slam when Lily competed over the pre-emptive
overcall and Maud took her seriously. Six Clubs went three down, which
looks to be one more than was compulsory, but -300 proved to be worth
10 IMPs to Egypt!
At the other
table, Homsey went for a full-blooded overcall of Four Spades, and when
that got back to Sun she doubled. Wang led a low heart, which was not
best for the defense. Homsey played low and Sun won her ace and switched
to the ace of clubs. To beat the contract for certain, she needed to
switch to a diamond now but, not being sure of the club position after
seeing a rather vague three from Wang, continued with the club king.
Homsey ruffed with the nine and led a heart to dummy's jack. She ran
the eight of spades then led the seven. Now she took time out to decide
who was more likely to hold the king of diamonds. If it was North, she
wanted to stay in dummy to take the diamond finesse, while if was South
a squeeze would be required and that meant overtaking. After some thought
Homsey overtook the spade and continued with ace and another. Sun won
her king and switched to a diamond, but Homsey had made up her mind
how she intended to play the hand and was not to be dissuaded from that
decision. She went up with the ace of diamonds and ran the trumps and
Wang had to surrender; +790.
Board
15. Dealer South. NS Game |
|
ª |
5 3 |
|
© |
K 10 8 6 5 2 |
¨ |
K 7 |
§ |
Q 8 6 |
ª |
K 8 2 |
|
ª |
Q J 10 9 6 |
© |
4 |
© |
Q J 7 3 |
¨ |
10 9 8 6 4 2 |
¨ |
J 3 |
§ |
9 3 2 |
§ |
10 7 |
|
ª |
A 7 4 |
|
© |
A 9 |
¨ |
A Q 5 |
§ |
A K J 5 4 |
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
Shatila |
Sun |
Homsey |
Wang |
|
|
|
2¨
|
Pass
|
2ª
|
Pass
|
2NT
|
Pass
|
3¨
|
Pass
|
3©
|
Pass
|
4¨
|
Pass
|
4ª
|
Pass
|
5©
|
Pass
|
6§
|
Pass
|
6©
|
All Pass
|
|
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
Zhang |
Maud |
Gu |
Lily |
|
|
|
2¨ |
Pass
|
2© |
Pass |
3NT |
Pass
|
4© |
All Pass |
|
|
Wang's Two
Diamond opening was a multi, while Lily's was strong and artificial.
China outbid their opponents to reach a slam which needed little more
than hearts 3-2 or a bare honour, only to find that the trumps were
4-1 offside with no bare honour. That was 13 IMPs to Egypt. Six Hearts
is a good contract but Six Clubs would have been better. Did anyone
manage to get there in the other matches?
Board
17. Dealer North. Love All |
|
ª |
Q 10 6 |
|
© |
K 9 |
¨ |
J 10 9 4 3 |
§ |
9 7 4 |
ª |
A J 9 7 2 |
|
ª |
8 5 4 3 |
© |
5 4 2 |
© |
10 8 7 3 |
¨ |
8 |
¨ |
Q 7 2 |
§ |
A 10 3 2 |
§ |
8 5 |
|
ª |
K |
|
© |
A Q J 6 |
¨ |
A K 6 5 |
§ |
K Q J 6 |
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
Shatila |
Sun |
Homsey |
Wang |
|
Pass |
Pass |
2¨ |
Pass
|
2© |
Pass |
3© |
Pass
|
3ª |
Pass |
4¨ |
Pass
|
5¨ |
All Pass |
|
|
Wang showed
a big three-suiter via her multi opening and Sun asked for controls,
discovered that her partner held six or seven, and settled for Five
Diamonds. It was all about the trump guess and Wang had no reason not
to lay down the ace and king; down one for -50.
West |
North |
East |
South |
Zhang |
Maud |
Gu |
Lily |
|
Pass |
Pass |
2§ |
2ª
|
Pass |
3ª |
4© |
Pass
|
5¨ |
All Pass |
|
|
Maud was also
in Five Diamonds, on a heart lead. She had heard sufficient opposition
bidding to suspect that there might be some unbalanced distribution
about. She won the heart ace, cashed the diamond ace, and crossed to
the king of hearts to take the diamond finesse. Well done for +400 and
10 IMPs to Egypt.
The final score
was 54-37 to Egypt, or 19-11 VPs - a serious blow to China's hopes of
qualification as they slipped to 9 VPs behind Canada in the battle for
eighth place.