Louis Vuitton McConnell Teams by Barry Rigal


Auken vs. Morse

The match of the day in the Louis Vuitton McConnell Trophy Teams was surely AUKEN vs. MORSE.

The Auken team did not have the usual lineup - the group that has won previous world championships. Sabine Auken and Daniela von Arnim were playing together, but their teammates were Katrin Reps (Daniela's sister-in-law) and Barbara Harkavy. Against them Jo Morse, Karen McCallum and Lynn Baker were a flexible trio, Hjordis Eythorssdottir and Judi Radin at the other table.

Note: a few compass directions have been rotated during this article for the convenience of the reader.

The match started with a bang. Auken picked up:

ª A 7 5 3
© 9 6 4
¨ K
§ K Q 10 9 3

and opened 1ª (potentially canapé). This was doubled by McCallum, and von Arnim leaped to 4ª. McCallum doubled again to end the auction. Auken must have awaited dummy with some interest and trepidation, but it turned out to be a highly suitable collection.

Board 1. Dealer North. Love All
ª K Q 10 9 4
© 8 2
¨ J 8 6 5 4 3
§
ª 6 2 ª J 8
© A K 7 5 © Q 10 8 3
¨ A 9 7 2 ¨ Q 10
§ A J 5 § 8 7 6 4 2
ª A 7 5 3
© 9 6 4
¨ K
§ K Q 10 9 3

The defence cashed two hearts, then played two diamonds, and declarer claimed plus 590. In the other room, after 1§ - 1NT - 2ª -Pass, the South hand passed, not unreasonably, and collected 170 - 9 IMPs to AUKEN.

AUKEN collected 5 IMPs in a rather unusual fashion a little later - 5© doubled down two for minus 300 against 4© doubled down three for 500 in the other room. The lead had gone into double figures.

Then Morse was faced with a tough decision, made even harder by a slightly hazy recollection of her systemic agreements! The auction to her was:

2¨ - 2NT - Pass (the opening bid showed hearts or spades and a minor.)

Holding:

ª Q J 8
© A Q 9 4 2
¨
§ Q 6 5 4 3

how should one advance? Morse bid 3NT, perhaps reasoning that both majors figured not to split and that slam was likely to be marginal. She was delighted to see a red-suit lead of - a heart, not a diamond. In fact, it did not matter: McCallum had

ª K 10
© K J 7 5
¨ A Q 7 4 2
§ A 8

so in fact there were going to be 12 tricks in hearts played by the strong hand (the defence can only lead trumps once since the weak hand had a 5-1-5-2 shape with the ªA and the ¨K). Declarer can cash a few plain suit winners and crossruff undisturbed in the minors. Slam was not bid in the other room - just as well, since the weaker hand would have been declarer -- so there was no swing on the board.

Then both pairs had a bidding misunderstanding on the following deal. However, Auken took a pragmatic approach and emerged smelling of roses. The Radin-Eythorssdottir accident was considerably more expensive.

ª A K 6 4 ª Q J 10 8 3
© A K J 8 © 4
¨ 6 ¨ K J 10 9 7 2
§ A K 7 2 § 6

Von Arnim opened 2¨ (hearts or spades and a minor) and rebid 4¨ over the game-forcing relay to show a maximum 5-6 shape. Now Auken tried 4© (intended as Roman Keycard Blackwood in spades) and received an impossible 5§ response, which showed two keycards and no trump queen. Auken simply closed her eyes and bid 6ª. She duly collected an easy plus 1430.

Radin and Eythorssdottir bid it this way:

West North East South

Pass Pass
2§ Pass 3¨ Pass
3NT Pass 4ª Pass
5§ Pass 5¨ Pass
5© Dble Pass Pass
Rdble Pass 5NT Pass
7ª All Pass

If you bid 3¨ with the East hand, it is gilding the lily, in my opinion, to cuebid the suit at your next turn. 5NT was intended as pick-a-slam but was interpreted as the Grand Slam Force. Whatever your view on that, 7ª was not a success. 17 more IMPs to AUKEN.

The next board saw more IMPs fly in the same direction when Auken opened 1ª with

ª Q 8 7 6 5 4
© 8 4 3
¨ A 5
§ A 2

McCallum jumped to 5¨ and von Arnim doubled - Auken passed this, of course. In the other room, the 10-count passed, and 5¨ survived undoubled. This was the full deal:

ª 2
© A J 9
¨ K J 10 9 8 7 6 4
§ 4
ª Q 8 7 6 5 4 ª A J
© 8 4 3 © K 10 6 2
¨ A 5 ¨ Q 3
§ A 2 § K J 9 7 3
ª K 10 9 3
© Q 7 5
¨ 5
§ Q 10 8 6 5

McCallum received a spade lead and an accurate club shift to the ace. The ©5 back meant the defense had the first three tricks, but on the play of the §K next, declarer guessed diamonds by crossing to the ace and playing a trump to the king. Von Arnim could have achieved 800 by playing her second spade at trick four for the trump promotion. Should she? A lot depends on whether partner's heart card has suit prefence overtones. If so, perhaps West might play the ©8.

Plus 500 gained 5 IMPs anyway against 300 from the other room, where declarer misguessed the diamonds.

Going into the final board of the set, AUKEN's lead was up to 33 IMPs, and it could have been a lot more if they had gotten the last board right.

First of all, let's look at Morse's problem.

ª K Q 10 6 4
© 4
¨ K 10 7 6 5 2
§ 3

West North East South

1NT 2© 2NT ?

Jo passed, perhaps intending to back in over the 3§ signoff. The auction proceeded 3§ - Pass - 3NT to her and she passed again. The opening lead was the predictable heart. The full deal:

Board 14. Dealer East. Love All
ª 7 5
© Q J 9
¨ 4 3
§ A K J 8 6 5
ª A 9 2 ª K Q 10 6 4
© K 10 7 6 5 2 © 4
¨ A 8 ¨ K 10 7 6 5 2
§ 9 4 § 3
ª J 8 3
© A 6 3
¨ Q J 9
§ Q 10 7 2

Auken won the heart lead, peeled off six clubs, then tried for an endplay on McCallum. But the defence had kept the right winners, and Morse took the last six tricks for down two.

Harkavy-Reps had a chance to pick up on the board, since 4ª is cold their way. But this was their bidding:

West North East South

1© 2§ 2¨ 3§
Pass Pass 3ª Pass
4¨ Pass 5¨ Dble
All Pass

Had the final bid been 4ª instead of 5¨, they would have gained 8 IMPs instead of losing 5. However, as it was they finished the set 28 IMPs up.

Board 9 in the second quarter provided a huge double-game swing for AUKEN.

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

Harkavy opened 4© with the South hand, and Eythorssdottir closed the auction with a double. Eythorssdottir led the ª9 to the queen, and Radin cashed the §K, getting a signal from partner showing an odd number. Radin tried for another club trick, but this backfired. Declarer ruffed, drew trumps and knocked out the ªA while the ¨A was still in dummy as an entry to the good spades. East had to switch to the ¨K at trick three to beat the contract.

The auction was the same, up to the double of 4©, at the other table. However, Auken very courageously pulled to 4NT and von Arnim corrected to 5§. As you can see, there is no way to beat the club game, so the German team scored 590 at the first table and 600 at the second for a 15-IMP gain.

MORSE got seven of those IMPs back on the next deal.

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

Radin opened 3ª and partner raised her to game. Neither East nor West had anything to say so 4ª became the final contract. On the ¨K lead, declarer lost four red tricks plus the trump king for minus 200. The bidding was different at the other table.

West North East South

2©(1) 3¨ 3ª(2) 3NT
4ª Pass Pass Dble
All Pass

(1) Spades or hearts and a minor.
(2) Willing to play at the three level in spades, higher in hearts.

This contract was beaten the same two tricks for a 7-IMP pickup. The defence actually could have scored 800 if they take the hearts tricks first, then the diamonds, with a further diamond continuation to set up an extra trump trick for West, but plus 500 was still a useful pickup.

Results Contents
Rosenblum Cup KO
McConnell Cup KO
Junior Pairs J3, J4
Senior Teams S1, S2, S3, S4
Zonal Teams Z/1A, Z/1B, Z/2A, Z/2B,
{short description of image}Z/3A, Z/3B, Z/4A, Z/4B, Z/5A, Z/5B
Continuous Pairs
Louis Vuitton McConnell
Be Courteous!
The Irish Grand Slam
Trick Question



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