|
Israel
vs Thailand
The two leading teams after the first round met in yesterday's
morning match. Much to the disappointment of the editors and readers
who prefer at least some "blood", not too many IMPs were
exchanged.
Israel had a good start gaining some IMPs on board No.1:
|
Board 1. Dealer North.
None Vul.
|
| |
ª A Q
5
© 10 9
6
¨ A J 10
§ Q 9
8 5 |
ª
9 7 6 3
© J 4 3
¨ 8 7 5 3
§ 6 3 |
 |
ª
K J 4
© A Q 7
2
¨ Q
§ A J 10
4 2 |
| |
ª 10 8
2
© K 8
5
¨ K 9 6
4 2
§ K 7 |
|
| Closed Room |
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Amit |
Chitngamkusol |
Vax |
Trimankha |
| |
1§ |
1NT |
Dbl |
| Pass |
Pass |
2§ |
Pass |
| Pass |
Dbl. |
All Pass |
|
Terasak Chitngamku, Thailand |
|
East's off-shape 1 NT had two
good effects for his side. First, he managed to play clubs as
low as possible and secondly the opponents never got to their
diamonds.
West's pass over South's penalty double was forcing
for redouble. When East bid a suit instead, it was clear to
West, that he shouldn't look for a better spot somewhere
else.
South started with ª8
to queen and king and declarer got off lead with the ©Q.
South now returned another heart, which declarer won in dummy
to go for another spade trick. North took his ace and "threw
the ball back" in spades again. East cashed ©A
and understandably still refused to turn to the trump suit,
but led ¨Q instead.
North won the ace, tried another diamond and couldn't believe
his eyes when East ruffed. East's third good move now was
§J to South's
king, who had nothing left but a trump and a bunch of diamonds.
East ruffed the diamond return again and continued with ©7
to §6 and §8.
North, who was down to §Q9,
tried the 9 but it took East just a shortl recount to finesse
for eight tricks - Israel: +180. |
In the other room the bidding went as follows:
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Sasibut |
Roll |
Limsinsopon |
Schneider |
| |
1NT |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| 2ª |
Pass |
3§ |
All Pass |
Maybe East should have been satisfied having located a 4-3 fit
in spades, however he went on to 3§,
managed to come to eight tricks as well, but that still meant one
down and 6 IMPs to Israel.
Two boards later Israel exercised some balancing that led to a
contract that played smoothly for even a couple of overtricks:
|
Board 3. Dealer South.
E/W Vul.
|
| |
ª 7 6
© K 4
2
¨ J 10
9 4
§ A J
9 2 |
ª
A 10 9 3
© J 8 7
6 5
¨ K 5
§ 4 3 |
|
ª
4
© A 10 9
3
¨ A Q 7 2
§ Q 10 7
6 |
| |
ª K Q
J 8 5 2
© Q
¨ 8 6 3
§ K 8
5 |
|
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Amit |
Chitngamkusol |
Vax |
Trimankha |
| |
|
|
1ª |
| Pass |
1NT |
Pass |
2ª |
| Pass |
Pass |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| 3© |
All Pass |
|
|
East did not get into the auction immediately but was very willing
to double in the pass-out seat. It would be interesting to hear
if any of the other tables made it to 4©
- anyway, here the bidding of course ended at the three-level.
When North led ¨J,
declarer easily discarded a club on the diamonds and found a cross
ruff-line to score eleven tricks - Israel: +200.
Very surprisingly East/West in the Open Room did not get to hearts
at all:
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Sasibut |
Roll |
Limsinsopon |
Schneider |
| |
|
|
2ª |
| Dbl. |
Pass |
2NT |
All Pass |
Whether the 2NT-bid was a misinterpreted Lebensohl and or intended
as natural is something we don't know. But the double stopper
in spades was good enough to set up the hearts and regain the lead.
In the end Thailand scored one overtrick for +150, but that was
2 more IMPs to Israel.
The next board was low scoring but saw competent declarer plays
at both tables:
|
Board 4. Dealer West.
All Vul.
|
| |
ª 10 4
3
© A 10
6 5 2
¨ 7 6 4
§ Q 6 |
ª
A K J 8 7 2
© Q 9 8
3
¨ 5
§ A 8 |
|
ª
9 6
© J
¨ A K J 10
2
§ K J 10
5 2 |
| |
ª Q 5
© K 7
4
¨ Q 9 8
3
§ 9 7
4 3 |
|
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Amit |
Chitngamkusol |
Vax |
Trimankha |
| 1ª |
Pass |
2¨ |
Pass |
| 2© |
Pass |
2NT |
Pass |
| 3ª |
Pass |
4ª |
All Pass |
North led ©A and
switched to the §Q.
Declarer won with the ace, ruffed a heart, cashed two top diamonds
pitching a heart, ruffed a diamond and ruffed one more heart with
dummy's last trump. He then cashed §K
and played a fourth round of diamonds with his ª8
being overruffed by North's 10. When a heart came back, South
went for a possible trump promotion and ruffed high. But it was
not to be: Declarer simply overruffed and drew trumps to score an
overtrick - Israel: +650.
This result was worth I IMP, when Thailand scored ten tricks in
the same contract in the other room.
And another game was on for East/West:
|
Board 5. Dealer North.
N/S Vul.
|
| |
ª J 8
2
© 9 7
5 3
¨ Q 6 5
§ K 10
7 |
ª
K 10 6 3
© J 8 4
2
¨ 10 2
§ Q 5 3 |
|
ª
A 9 7 4
© 10
¨ A K 9 8
4
§ A 9 4 |
| |
ª Q 5
© A K
Q 6
¨ J 7 3
§ J 8
6 2 |
|
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Amit |
Chitngamkusol |
Vax |
Trimankha |
| |
Pass |
1¨ |
1© |
| Dbl. |
2© |
3© |
Pass |
| 3NT |
Pass |
4ª |
All Pass |
Ran Schnieder, Israel |
|
South started with ©AK.
Now East can establish his diamonds, draw two rounds of trumps
and cash diamond winners. This line would have given him ten
easy tricks.
At our featured table East went for another line. He trumped
the second heart and established his diamond suit in three
rounds. Then he ruffed a heart in hand and played a fourth
diamond, discarding a club from dummy which was ruffed by
North, who could not open the club trick for his side. When
he returned another heart instead, East ruffed with ª9,
cashed ªA,
§A and led
his last diamond to get rid of the §Q.
North could ruff with ªJ
but had to lead back a trump or a club, so declarer could
score the last two tricks with his K10-tenace.
Some excitement there, but in the end no swing as Thailand's
North/South pair in the Open Room went for the play suggested
above to score this game as well.
And there was more "boring" stuff to come:
|
|
Board 9. Dealer North.
E/W Vul.
|
| |
ª K 10
6 3
© 5
¨ A Q J
10 9 7 2
§ 10 |
ª
A Q
© A K 8
7 2
¨ K
§ A 9 8
7 5 |
|
ª
J 8 7 5 2
© Q 10 6
¨ 6 4
§ 6 3 2 |
| |
ª 9 4
© J 9
4 3
¨ 8 5 3
§ K Q
J 4 |
|
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Amit |
Chitngamkusol |
Vax |
Trimankha |
| |
Pass |
Pass |
Pass |
| 1© |
2¨ |
Pass |
Pass |
| Dbl. |
2ª |
Pass |
3¨ |
| 4§ |
4¨ |
4© |
All Pass |
When West decided to double on his second turn, things did not
develop nicely for him as North's 2ª
and South's 3¨
took away badly needed bidding space. So he stretched his hand a
little, held on to 4§
and finally had to play the hand in 4©.
North cashed ¨A and
continued with a second diamond. Declarer laid down §A
and discovered the bad news of the 4-1 club break on the next round.
When South now fired a spade through, West took his ace - North
contributing the 10 (!) - and exited with the ªQ.
North insisted on another spade and played the 6. Declarer ordered
dummy's 7, which was ruffed by South and overruffed by West.
Now declarer played a heart to the queen and was happy to lead a
surprisingly high spade. After both South and West had discarded
losers, declarer switched to a club. South won and tried a trump.
West let this run to dummy's ten and was now able to claim
for one down - Thailand: +100.
At the other table East/West stayed lower in the bidding but ended
up with less trumps:
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Sasibut |
Roll |
Limsinsopon |
Schneider |
| |
1¨ |
Pass |
1© |
| Dbl. |
2¨ |
Pass |
Pass |
| Dbl. |
3¨ |
3ª |
All Pass |
North here made life miserable for West as well, who also had problems
to cope with all these repeated diamond bids. When his partner finally
bid, he decided to go for this suit and passed. As 3ª
also went down one, there is not much more to say.
But then action at last:
|
Board 10. Dealer East.
All Vul.
|
| |
ª A K
3
© K 5
¨ K 6 5
4 3
§ 9 8
2 |
ª
8 6 2
© 8 6 4
¨ Q
§ 10 7 6
5 4 3 |
|
ª
Q J 10 7 5 4
© 10 9 7
3
¨ 10
§ K Q |
| |
ª 9
© A Q
J 2
¨ A J 9
8 7 2
§ A J |
|
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Amit |
Chitngamkusol |
Vax |
Trimankha |
| |
|
2ª |
Dbl. |
| 3ª |
3NT |
Pass |
4¨ |
| Pass |
4ª |
Pass |
6¨ |
| All Pass |
|
|
|
The jump to 6¨ looks
a bit lazy in the Closed Room, where East/West with a weak two and
a raise (non-forcing, indeed!), tried to steal bidding space. There
wasn't much in the play and South claimed at trick three.
Could North/South in the other room do better? Here's their
bidding sequence:
|
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Sasibut |
Roll |
Limsinsopon |
Schneider |
|
|
2ª |
Dbl. |
| 3ª |
3NT |
Pass |
4¨ |
| Pass |
4ª |
Pass |
4NT |
| Pass |
5ª |
Pass |
5NT |
| Pass |
7¨ |
All Pass |
|
Not much to criticise here and 13 well-deserved IMPs to Israel,
who slowly but steadily moved into a comfortable lead.
Then Thailand got adventurous but escaped nicely:
|
Board 13. Dealer North.
All Vul.
|
| |
ª 3
© K Q
¨ A 10
8 7 6 4 2
§ Q 4
3 |
ª
10 4
© A 10 8
4
¨ K 5
§ A 9 8
7 6 |
|
ª
A K 5 2
© 9 7 6
5 3 2
¨ Q 9
§ 2 |
| |
ª Q J
9 8 7 6
© J
¨ J 3
§ K J
10 5 |
|
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Amit |
Chitngamkusol |
Vax |
Trimankha |
| |
1¨ |
Pass |
1ª |
| Dbl. |
2¨ |
4© |
4ª |
| Pass |
Pass |
Dbl. |
All Pass |
There was already a lot of pressure on South after East's
jump to 4©. When
4ª got doubled,
North also took his time to consider bidding 5¨
but finally decided to pass.
Now all eyes were on West who had to find the best lead for his
side. A diamond is the killer (not that one would really go for
it), as now declarer loses a heart, a club, a diamond, two top spades
and a club ruff to end up down three. Quite understandably however
West laid down ©A
and away went the diamond loser. South lost only five tricks now
and finished only down two - Israel: +500.
In the Open Room the bidding ended in 4©:
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Sasibut |
Roll |
Limsinsopon |
Schneider |
| |
1¨ |
1© |
1ª |
| 2¨ |
Pass |
2© |
2ª |
| 3© |
Pass |
4© |
All Pass |
Declarer only lost a heart and a diamond to score an overtrick
- Thailand: +650 and 4 IMPs.
So far Israel led by 36:5, when a low scoring set of seven more
boards didn't change much, the final result being 41:13, or
21-9 in VPs respectively.
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