Out of their hands

With one round to go and Iceland only 2 Victory Points ahead of them for fourth place in Group D of Olympiad Open series, New Zealand felt themselves to be in contention for the round of 16. Unfortunately, New Zealand needed some help from Malaysia, Iceland's opponent. That was not forthcoming, as Iceland pounded Malaysia, 84-21. New Zealand, of course, did not help their own cause. In a seesaw battle, China prevailed, 49-48.

The first deal featured virtually double-dummy defense by Weimin Wang and Zejun Zhuang.

Board 1. Dealer North. None Vul.
	ª K 10 6 3 2 © K Q 8 ¨ K Q § 10 8 7
ª J 5 4 © 6 5 4 3 2 ¨ J 10 7 5 § Q		ª A Q 8 7 © A J 10 7 ¨ A 4 2 § 9 3
	ª 9 © 9 ¨ 9 8 6 3 § A K J 6 5 4 2

West led the ¨J to East's ace, and East continued with the ©J, hoping partner could get in later for a heart through dummy. That did not work out, and Reid finished with 11 tricks for plus 150.

Wang led the ¨K to the ace in dummy. Stephen Blackstock, fearing a diamond ruff, played the ©A and ©J. Wang won the ©Q, cashed the ¨K and, as though he could see through the backs of the cards, played a club to South's king. Cooperating beautifully, Zejun Zhuang returned a diamond. Wang ruffed with the master trump and got out with a club. Blackstock ruffed, but he had no other entry to his hand, so he could not take two spade finesses (starting with the jack, blotting the 9, and later finessing against the 10), thus finishing down one. The Chinese still lost 3 IMPs, but it could have been much worse.

Look what happens if Wang cashes the ©K and exits with a club. Blackstock can ruff the second round of clubs and follow with the ªJ to the king, ace and 9. He can then exit with a diamond. If Wang still had the ¨Q, he would be endplayed, forced to play a spade, giving Blackstock a free finesse, or a club, giving declarer an entry to hand with a ruff. If Wang simply cashed his two red winners, followed by a club, Blackstock would have a re-entry to hand with a diamond.

On this deal, Wang was again sterling on defense, coming up with the only opening lead to defeat 3NT with very little to go on.

Board 3. Dealer South. E/W Vul.
	ª A J 8 6 © J 6 2 ¨ J 7 6 § J 7 4
ª Q 3 © 8 5 3 ¨ A K 9 § Q 8 6 5 3		ª K 9 4 2 © K 10 ¨ Q 10 8 5 3 § A K
	ª 10 7 5 © A Q 9 7 4 ¨ 4 2 § 10 9 2

Actually, there was more than one opening lead to defeat the contract - the ªA, followed by the heart switch, but who would ever do that after East bid spades?

With three jack to lead from, Wang selected the killer, the ©2. Blackstock put up the king, and Zhuang made it easy on his partner by returning a low heart. Had Zhuang cashed the ©Q at trick two, Wang would have been forced to play the jack, which would have been fatal if West had started with three to the 9. As you can see, on the lead of either minor suit or a low spade, declarer can romp home with nine or 10 tricks with ease.

The defenders in the other room managed a push on the deal with their own good effort.

Peter Newell also led a low heart, and the defenders took the first three tricks with two hearts and the spade ace, and Newell promoted a trump trick for himself by continuing with the ©J at trick four, forcing declarer to ruff with one of dummy's high clubs.

China went ahead with a game swing that could have been another loss for them but for a reasonable but unfortunate play by Martin Reid.

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

Wang, who seemed to be leading hearts at every opporunity, tried it again, and again it was a success. Blackstock put up the queen and ducked when it was covered. He won the heart continuation with the ace and banged down the §A, drifting off one because of the bad trump split.

Reid led a spade to the 10, jack and ace. Zhong followed with the §10, ducking when Reid put in the jack. Reid could see that another club play would force him to split again and the 9-8 would drive out his other honor for four club tricks. With that in mind, he placed the ©K on the table, aiming to take out dummy's entry to the soon-to-be-established clubs.

That was a fine place in theory but wrong in practice on this occasion. Zhong won, played a diamond to his queen, reentered dummy with a club to the ace and played a second round of diamonds. With the ¨A on side and the suit splitting, Zhong had four diamonds, two hearts, two spades and a club for plus 600 and a 12-IMP gain.

New Zealand went back in front when their relay system helped them to a good slam, while the Chinese stopped in 3NT.

Board 6. Dealer East. E/W Vul.
	ª 7 © 9 6 4 ¨ Q 8 5 § K J 10 9 7 4
ª Q 6 5 © Q J 3 ¨ K 10 9 7 2 § 5 3		ª 10 9 3 2 © A 10 5 2 ¨ J 6 4 § 8 6
	ª A K J 8 4 © K 8 7 ¨ A 3 § A Q 2

Zhuang took the opening lead of the ¨10 in dummy with the queen and took the spade finesse at trick two. Blackstock played back the ©Q at trick three and Zhuang was held to 11 tricks for plus 460.

The ©Q was led to East's ace, and Reid won the heart continuation. He played the top two spades, pitching a heart from dummy and ruffed a spade. When the ªQ came down, he was table to claim for plus 920. That was 10 IMPs to New Zealand, now ahead, 15-12.

When the same contract is played at both tables by South and East, one of them has to be wrong, if not both. That was the case on this deal.

Board 12. Dealer West. N/S Vul.
	ª Q 9 3 2 © K J 3 ¨ A Q 10 6 § 10 3
ª A 10 7 6 © A Q 10 6 5 ¨ J 9 4 § 5		ª 8 5 4 © 2 ¨ K 8 7 2 § K J 9 6 4
	ª K J © 9 8 7 4 ¨ 5 3 § A Q 8 7 2

The takeout double looks suspect, but the hand does have four spades and enough to open. This ugly contract went down two. What about East's failure to double? Did he think North-South had a better spot? Perhaps it was a function of the methods which permit increasingly light opening bids. At any rate, it appears an opportunity was missed.

The Chinese took a different view.

Zhuang led the ¨3, to the 4, 10 and king. A heart went to the queen and ace, and Wang returned a trump to the 9 and queen. Zhuang played the ªK, ducked, and continued with the ªJ, taken by the ace. Stephen Henry took a spade pitched on the ©A and played a diamond to the queen. Two more rounds of diamonds were played, Zhuang ruffing. Declarer took five tricks in all and was three down for minus 500 and 12 IMPs to China.

New Zealand gained 7 IMPs when Reid made a bid that worked out brilliantly in a competitive auction.

Board 14. Dealer East. None Vul.
	ª A Q 9 © K J 8 4 ¨ 8 5 § K 5 3 2
ª K J 10 6 2 © 9 5 3 ¨ J 10 6 § A 8		ª 8 4 © 10 6 2 ¨ A K Q 7 4 3 § 6 4
	ª 7 5 3 © A Q 7 ¨ 9 2 § Q J 10 9 7

Blackstock and Henry collected their two diamond tricks right off the bat, and they still had the §A to come, but that was all. Plus 130 to China.

Reid's 4¨ bid was a master stroke, and makes a lot of sense. Partner could easily be 5-4 either way in the majors. Game in clubs is unlikely, but there must be chances in the majors. In fact, North will often have a better hand for the bidding than Newell did on this occasion. At any rate, it was just the right spot. With clubs and trumps splitting favorably, there were no problems coming to 10 tricks. Plus 420 was just what New Zealand needed.

Trailing 47-43, New Zealand went back in front when an aggressive weak 2ª blew the Chinese out of the auction.

Board 18. Dealer East. N/S Vul.
	ª 10 6 © K J 4 ¨ K J 6 § K J 7 4 3
ª A K 5 3 2 © 9 2 ¨ A 7 2 § A 9 5		ª J 9 8 7 4 © Q 5 ¨ 9 5 § Q 10 8 6
	ª Q © A 10 8 7 6 3 ¨ Q 10 8 4 3 § 2

Zhuang led the §2 and Henry ducked in dummy with some vague notion of making his contract, perhaps if South had led from §K 7 4 3. That resulted in down two, but Henry was never making the contract anyway. China chalked up plus 100.

With all the bidding going on, no one knew who was bidding to make or to save, but Newell put a stop to things with his double, which produced two down for plus 300 and a 5-IMP gain for New Zealand.

China gained 2 IMPs on the penultimate board to produce the final margin of 49-48 in their favor. New Zealand could console themselves that, with Iceland's performance against Malaysia, there was nothing they could have done.

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