A
Fit of Piques
Round 4 started with a series of deals where all
the contracts were played in spades at almost every table. Our featured
match saw France, for whom nothing less than a maximum would do, facing
Indonesia.
Board 1. Dealer North. Love All |
|
ª
J 9 8 4 2
© A 10
¨ 8 4 3 2
§ Q 6 |
ª
K 10 6
© 7 5 2
¨ A Q J 5
§ A J 5 |
|
ª
A Q
© 8 6 4 3
¨ K 10
§ K 10 9 7 4 |
|
ª
7 5 3
© K Q J 9
¨ 9 7 6
§ 8 3 2 |
Open Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Manoppo |
Levy |
Lasut |
Chemla |
|
Pass |
1¨ |
Pass |
2¨* |
Pass |
2NT |
Pass |
3NT |
All Pass |
|
|
The Precision Club auction, saw West making an
inverted raise, and led to South being on lead. He naturally selected
the ©K, and the defenders
took the first four tricks, declarer claiming the rest for +400.
Closed Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Cronier |
Sacul |
Quantin |
Karwur |
|
Pass |
1§ |
Pass |
1¨ |
1ª |
Pass |
Pass |
3NT |
All Pass |
|
|
Playing from the West seat, it looked as if France
would start with a few overtrick imps thanks to the doubleton §Q.
No way! North led the ©A
to flatten the board.
Board 2. Dealer East. North-South
Game |
|
ª
9 5
© 5 4 3
¨ J 10 2
§ A Q J 10 3 |
ª
A K Q J 10 6 4
© A Q
¨ 9 6
§ 8 5 |
|
ª
7 2
© 7 6
¨ K 8 7 4 3
§ K 9 7 4 |
|
ª
8 3
© K J 10 9 8 2
¨ A Q 5
§ 6 2 |
Closed Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Cronier |
Sacul |
Quantin |
Karwur |
|
|
Pass |
2© |
4ª |
All Pass |
|
|
Declarer needed no more than to find North with
one of the minor suit aces and South with the king of hearts. No problem,
+420.
Open Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Manoppo |
Levy |
Lasut |
Chemla |
|
|
Pass |
2© |
3NT |
All Pass |
|
|
On a heart lead, West has nine tricks facing a
yarborough, so I have a sneaking admiration for Eddie Manoppo's bid
of 3NT - I must confess I predicted it in the VuGraph theatre. Alain
Levy has taken over the mantle of José le Dentu, writing an excellent
series in Le Bridgeur - Les Entames - and he led the §Q.
It was safe for declarer to cover, and when the king held, he had to
make an overtrick by taking the heart finesse. Knowing Paul Chemla's
views on weak two's, I would have been prepared to stake a few francs,
but declarer played safe - remember, this is not matchpoints!
Board 3. Dealer South. East-West Game
|
|
ª
9 8
© Q 10 8 2
¨ A 10 9 6
§ Q 8 5 |
ª
6
© A J 7 5 4
¨ Q J 5 3
§ A 10 4 |
|
ª
A 7 2
© K 6 3
¨ 8 4 2
§ J 7 6 2 |
|
ª
K Q J 10 5 4 3
© 9
¨ K 7
§ K 9 3 |
Closed Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Cronier |
Sacul |
Quantin |
Karwur |
|
|
|
1ª |
Dble |
Pass |
1NT |
2ª |
All Pass |
|
|
|
Even if West does not lead the ¨Q,
declarer can always arrive at ten tricks, so this looked like an opportunity
for France, provided they could get to game.
Open Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Manoppo |
Levy |
Lasut |
Chemla |
|
|
|
1ª |
Dble |
1NT |
Pass |
2ª |
All Pass |
|
|
|
Some pairs did get to 4ª.
Poland gained 5 IMPs when they were doubled in their match against Italy.
Board 4. Dealer West. Game All |
|
ª
10 8 3
© 10 8 7
¨ A 10 8 6
§ J 8 7 |
ª
K 9 5 4
© K J 4
¨ Q 9 2
§ 5 4 3 |
|
ª
6
© Q 9 5 3 2
¨ 7 3
§ K Q 10 9 6 |
|
ª
A Q J 7 2
© A 6
¨ K J 5 4
§ A 2 |
Closed Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Cronier |
Sacul |
Quantin |
Karwur |
Pass |
Pass |
Pass |
1§* |
Pass |
1¨* |
2§ |
2ª |
Pass |
3ª |
Pass |
4ª |
All Pass |
|
|
|
Guided by East's overcall, West led the §3.
Declarer did not get the diamonds right, and he finished two down.
Open Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Manoppo |
Levy |
Lasut |
Chemla |
Pass |
Pass |
Pass |
1ª |
Pass |
1NT |
Pass |
3¨ |
Pass |
4ª |
All Pass |
|
This time West led a cunning ©J. Declarer ducked,
and West continued with the king of hearts. Declarer played a diamond
to the ace, and took a spade finesse. He only went one down, to pick
up 2 IMPs.
An alternative for declarer is to play a diamond
to the ten. If that loses, then the ace will be a re-entry, and declarer
will need a favourable position in spades.
Duboin gained 13 IMPs by making 4ª,
and the board was flat at +620 in USA v China.
Board 9. Dealer North. East-West Game
|
|
ª
10 7 5 3
© Q J 10 8
¨ K 9 3 2
§ 9 |
ª
A J 9
© K 9 4 3
¨ Q 8 7 5
§ 8 4 |
|
ª
Q 8 2
© -
¨ A 4
§ A K Q J 10 7 6
5 |
|
ª
K 6 4
© A 7 6 5 2
¨ J 10 6
§ 3 2 |
Closed Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Cronier |
Sacul |
Quantin |
Karwur |
|
Pass |
1§ |
1© |
1NT |
2© |
3© |
Pass |
3ª |
Pass |
3NT |
Pass |
Pass |
4© |
5§ |
All Pass |
|
|
|
|
South led the ª4,
giving declarer an easy route to 12 tricks.
The ©A would also be fatal if the contact is 6§,
and that is how China picked up a slam swing against the USA.
Lorenzo Lauria had to play 6§
on the more testing lead of the jack of diamonds. A pre-requisite for
success is that South must have the king of spades, and if South has
bid, a winning line is to duck the diamond lead, win the continuation,
and play out all your trumps. That will squeeze South in the majors.
If South has not bid, then declarer might still
go for this line, but could also take the diamond with the ace, draw
trumps, play the ªQ forcing South to cover, and then run trumps, forcing
North down to ª10x and the ¨K. Then declarer exits with a diamond, and
collects the last two tricks with dumm'y ªJ9.
Lauria covered the ¨J
with the ¨Q, and took
North's ¨K with the ¨A.
He played back a diamond to the eight and nine, and North tried to cash
the king. That simply speeded matters up, for declarer had already seen
the possibility of a squeeze on South.
Open Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Manoppo |
Levy |
Lasut |
Chemla |
|
Pass |
1§ |
1© |
1NT |
3© |
4§ |
Pass |
5§ |
Pass |
6§ |
Pass |
Pass |
6© |
Pass |
Pass |
Dble |
All Pass |
|
|
With South's overcall, Henky Lasut would doubtless
have found a winning line, so if Chemla could escape for a reasonable
number, Levy's decision would have saved some points. West led the §8,
and East won with the §Q
and switched to the ª2.
West won with the jack and switched to a heart. Declarer won in dummy,
and can escape for five down and -1100 by playing on diamonds. However,
that was hardly obvious, and in any case, the Indonesians were already
playing with the house's money. Chemla decided to play East for the
ªA, trying a spade to
his king. West took that, played a spade to his partner's queen. Declarer
ruffed the club exit and ran the ©10
to West's king. Back came a heart, locking declarer in dummy. He tried
a spade, discarding a diamond, but so did West. The ¨K
was taken by the ace, and a club guaranteed a trick for West's ©9,
as well as a second diamond trick. That was down seven, and -1700, for
a loss of 14 IMPs. Missing the slam was going to cost 12 IMPs in any
event, so it really didn't matter.
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