USA2 v Netherlands

Orbis Venice Cup - Round 18

With two rounds to go in the Orbis Venice Cup round robin, the Netherlands looked comfortable, while USA2 were up against it, with two tough matches to complete their program.

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

West North East South van der Pas Goldberg Vriend Pollack     Pass 1NT Pass 2§ Pass 2¨ Pass 2NT All Pass

West North East South Deas Pasman Palmer Simons     Pass 1NT Pass 2§ Pass 2¨ Pass 2NT Pass 3NT All Pass

A minor variation in no trump range created a swing on this deal. Marijke van der Pas had shown a good 14 to 17, while Lynn Deas had shown 14-16. When their partners followed an invitational Stayman sequence, van der Pas was close to a minimum while Deas was nearer to a maximum.

A low spade lead meant that the defense had five tricks established immediately against Two No Trump. Van der Pas set about the clubs to establish her eighth winner; +120.

Jet Pasman preferred to lead a low heart against Three No Trump. Deas won the queen and led a club to the king, ducked. A diamond to the king was followed by the jack of clubs, Pasman winning the ace. Pasman might have switched to a spade now, but she could not quite be certain about the position of the club and diamond queens, so this was not certain to be correct. She exited passively with a heart and declarer won and played another club. Pasman pitched the two of spades, encouraging, and Anneke Simons duly switched to the nine of spades on winning the club queen; one down for -100 and 6 IMPs to the Netherlands.

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

West North East South van der Pas Goldberg Vriend Pollack Pass 1NT Pass 2§ Pass 2¨ Pass 2NT Pass 3NT All Pass

West North East South Deas Pasman Palmer Simons Pass 1NT Pass 2§ Pass 2¨ Pass 3NT All Pass

In the Closed Room, Three No Trump went two down, but declarer in the Open Room got much closer.

Beth Palmer led the king of clubs and Pasman ducked, Palmer continued with the club jack to declarer's ace. West was already coming under some pressure and threw the low diamond. Pasman played back the nine of clubs to the queen, pitching a heart from dummy. Deas also threw a heart so Palmer switched to the eight of diamonds, ducked to the jack. Deas was endplayed and chose to lead a low heart. Pasman ran this to the jack and seemed to be on the way to making her contract. She cashed the king of spades and played a second spade to her ace. Now, cashing the club winner followed by the hearts would appear to give a pretty good idea of the opposing distribution. Come down to the bare king of diamonds and two spades in dummy and exit with a diamond if West does not pitch a spade and you are home. Alas, Pasman tried a third spade without cashing any more winners and was one down; -100 but 3 IMPs to the Netherlands.

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

West North East South van der Pas Goldberg Vriend Pollack Pass Pass 1§ Pass 2§ Pass 3§ Pass 3¨ Pass 3© Pass 4§ Pass 5§ All Pass

One Club was strong and Two Clubs a natural positive. After Connie Goldberg showed her club support, Rozanne Pollack showed her diamond stopper, Goldberg showed her hearts top, and Pollack knew that there was a gap in the spade suit. Nicely bid. Five Clubs was a good spot, merely requiring that trumps play for no loser; +600.

West North East South Deas Pasman Palmer Simons     Pass Pass 1§ Pass 1NT Pass 3NT All Pass

You might end up in Three No Trump after a start of 1© - 1NT, but natural bidders who start with a One Club opening might hope to get a club raise and follow a similar auction to that of the Americans. However, while inverted raises are a sound idea in general, this was a bad time to be playing them as the south hand fits comfortably into neither a strong Two Club raise nor a pre-emptive Three Club raise. All of which left Simons pretty well forced to respond One No Trump. There was no escaping a no trump contract now, and the card Gods had randomly placed the five-card spade suit on opening lead. Three No Trump lost the first five tricks for down one and 12 IMPs to USA2.

Board 11. Dealer South. Love All ª — © A 9 6 3 ¨ A K J 10 7 3 § 9 6 2 ª A 10 9 5 4 ª K J 3 2 © 5 4 © Q 7 ¨ Q 5 4 2 ¨ 9 8 § 5 4 § A K Q J 10 ª Q 8 7 6 © K J 10 8 2 ¨ 6 § 8 7 3

West North East South van der Pas Goldberg Vriend Pollack     Pass Pass 1¨ 2§ Dble Pass 3© Pass 4© All Pass

Goldberg's jump to Three Hearts was sufficient to shut the spades out of the auction. Bep Vriend cashed two top clubs then switched to a spade. Goldberg ruffed and played three rounds of diamonds, ruffing. She continued with two top hearts and another diamond ruff and had 11 tricks for +450.

West North East South Deas Pasman Palmer Simons Pass Pass 1¨ 2§ Dble Pass 2© 2ª 3© 4ª 5¨ Pass 5© Dble All Pass

Pasman only rebid Two Hearts, which looks a little cautious, though Simons had presumably not absolutely guaranteed four cards in hearts. That made it quite convenient for Palmer to get her spades into the game and Deas wasted no time in raising her to game. Simons had bid Three Hearts competitively, but it may have sounded stronger to Pasman. She went on to Five Diamonds, converted to Five Hearts by Simons and promptly doubled by Deas. Here the defense cashed three clubs before switching to a spade, after which the play followed the same line as at the other table; down one for -100 and 11 IMPs to USA2.

Board 12. Dealer West. NS Game ª 10 7 © A K Q J 8 ¨ 7 6 2 § A 5 2 ª A 6 4 ª K Q 8 5 3 © 10 7 6 5 © 9 3 ¨ Q J 4 ¨ 10 8 3 § Q 9 4 § 10 7 3 ª J 9 2 © 4 2 ¨ A K 9 5 § K J 8 6

West North East South van der Pas Goldberg Vriend Pollack Pass 1© 1ª Dble 2ª 3© Pass 4© All Pass

West North East South Deas Pasman Palmer Simons Pass 1© 1ª Dble 2ª Dble Pass 3ª Pass 4© All Pass

It looks as though Four Hearts is destined to make, whatever line declarer chooses in search of her tenth trick. Pasman ruffed the third spade and drew trumps, pitching diamonds from dummy, then took the club finesse. Though that lost, West was forced to return a minor and she had the rest for +620. Goldberg also ruffed the third spade but she ducked a diamond at trick four. That should have worked just as well as the club play at the other table, but when van der Pas returned a heart and Goldberg cashed the remainder of the suit, she convinced herself that the diamonds were not breaking. Accordingly, she pitched one club and one diamond on the run of the trumps and fell back on the club finesse for her contract. That was one down for -100 and 12 IMPs to the Netherlands, closing to only 2 IMPs behind.

Board 15. Dealer South. NS Game ª Q 9 8 4 © J 8 ¨ A 10 § K 10 9 6 2 ª A J 7 ª 10 3 © 6 © Q 9 7 4 3 ¨ K 9 7 6 5 4 3 ¨ Q J 8 § A Q § 8 7 5 ª K 6 5 2 © A K 10 5 2 ¨ 2 § J 4 3

West North East South van der Pas Goldberg Vriend Pollack     1© 2¨ Dble 3¨ 2ª 5¨ Dble All Pass

West North East South Deas Pasman Palmer Simons     1© 2¨ Dble Pass 2ª 3¨ 4ª All Pass

Would you make a pre-emptive raise to Three Diamonds with the East cards? Vriend did and that persuaded her partner to take the save against Four Spades. Right she was, as Five Diamonds Doubled lost just one trick in each suit for -300.

Palmer did not raise diamonds and neither did she save in Five Diamonds despite Deas having rebid the suit freely. Pasman won the opening diamond lead in Four Spades and crossed to the ace of hearts to lead a spade to her queen. She then ruffed her losing diamond and led a club up, after which there were no further worries; +620 and 8 IMPs to the Netherlands.

On Board 16, right hand opponent opens One No Trump (strong) and is transferred into Two Spades. What would you lead from:

ªQJ6 ©K ¨KJ105 §9832

Pollack led the diamond jack, which proved to be round to declarer's ace, queen. From there Vriend played well to bring home her partscore for +110. Simons led a passive club and Palmer had no chance, eventually going two down for -200 and 7 more IMPs to the Netherlands.

Board 17. Dealer North. Love All ª K Q © K 10 8 7 5 3 ¨ 10 6 § J 5 4 ª J 8 5 4 2 ª 10 6 3 © 4 © A Q 9 ¨ 7 5 4 2 ¨ A K 9 3 § K 6 2 § 10 9 3 ª A 9 7 © J 6 2 ¨ Q J 8 § A Q 8 7

West North East South van der Pas Goldberg Vriend Pollack 2© Pass 2NT Pass 3ª Pass 4© All Pass

West North East South Deas Pasman Palmer Simons 2¨ Pass 2© All Pass

Partner opens a weak two bid or a multi and you hold the South hand. Do you look for game? It is a lot about style, but even playing disciplined weak twos, as do Goldberg/Pollack, it looks quite aggressive for South to make a try. Goldberg's Three Spade response to the enquiry showed a maximum with a spade feature. On a perfect day, Four Hearts would make, but you would not want to be in it even vulnerable. Vriend led a top diamond and Goldberg went two down for -100.

Simons, who may have been facing a less disciplined style of opening, just responded Two Hearts, pass or correct, to the multi. She received a spade lead. Simons cashed the second spade then took a losing club finesse. Back came asecond club. She won in hand, threw a diamond on the ace of spades, and played a trump; +140 and 6 IMPs to the Netherlands, who led by 12.

Board 18. Dealer East. NS Game ª J 6 4 3 2 © 9 8 ¨ — § A 10 9 5 4 3 ª A 10 ª — © 10 7 5 4 3 © A J ¨ A Q 9 ¨ K J 8 7 5 4 3 2 § 8 6 2 § K Q J ª K Q 9 8 7 5 © K Q 6 2 ¨ 10 6 § 7

West North East South van der Pas Goldberg Vriend Pollack   1¨ 1ª 2© 4ª 5¨ Pass Pass 5ª Dble All Pass

West North East South Deas Pasman Palmer Simons   1§(1) 1ª Dble(2) 4ª 5¨ Pass 6¨ All Pass

(1) Strong
(2) 5-8 balanced with no spade stopper or 8+ with a five-card or longer suit

It takes the singleton club lead to beat Six Diamonds. Put the deal into your local duplicate and all the little old ladies will beat the contract in two seconds flat. In real life, however, the club lead is much less attractive. South has 10 HCP and there must be a fair amount of distribution about. A club lead is at least as likely to pick up partner's holding in the suit as it is to find her with just what you need - the ace - so Simons tried the king of hearts instead. Palmer won, drew trumps and pitched her heart on the ace of spades; +920. It looks wrong to make a penalty double with a void in the opposition's trump suit, as did Vriend at the other table. However, she had bid to the five level on a very broken suit and did not want her partner to go on in the expectation of finding her with a better suit. Now pan to the West hand and think how Marijke van der Pas was feeling. She had bid that awful heart suit when many players would have preferred a negative double, and if the Five Diamond bid had been at all influenced by a heart fit then this suit was going to be a sorry disappointment.

Against that, she held unbelievable riches in partner's diamond suit, plus the ace of spades. Was that sufficient to over-rule her partner's decision and bid on to Six Diamonds? Van der Pas could not have been comfortable with her situation but she did pass, only to find that Five Spades Doubled was completely cold. +850 meant a swing of 18 IMPs to USA2, who needed them.

USA2 won the match by 16-14 VPs, keeping their hopes alive. With a tough last round to come against Austria, they still needed a strong performance to overhaul one of the teams ahead of them if they were to make the knock-outs.