Transnational Semi-final
Jansma v Lavazza
Midway through the 32-board semi-finals of the Transnational Teams,
ZHUANG led BRACHMAN by 42 IMPs, while the other match saw Italy’s
LAVAZZA ahead of the Dutch JANSMA team by just 1 IMP at 12-11. Naturally,
we chose to follow the closer of the two matches and that proved
to be the right thing to do as the lead changed hands on a number
of occasions during the second half.
Board 2. Dealer East. N/S
Vul. |
|
ª -
© A K Q 7 6 4
¨ K J 3 2
§ 7 6 3 |
ª J 7 4
© J 10 9 5 3
¨ A 8 7
§ 8 2 |
|
ª K 10 9 5 2
© 8
¨ Q 9 4
§ A Q 9 5 |
|
ª A Q 8 6 3
© 2
¨ 10 6 5
§ K J 10 4 |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Lanzarotti |
Verhees |
Buratti |
Jansma |
|
|
Pass |
Pass |
Pass |
1© |
1ª |
Pass |
Pass |
2© |
Pass |
2NT |
Pass |
3¨ |
Pass |
3© |
Pass |
3NT |
All Pass |
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
De Wijs |
D'Avossa |
Muller |
Ferraro |
|
|
1ª |
Pass |
2ª |
3© |
Pass |
3NT |
Dble |
All Pass |
|
|
Bauke Muller opened the East hand with 1ª and Simon De Wijs raised
to 2ª. When Mario D’Avossa overcalled 3©, Guido Ferraro took
a shot at 3NT, doubled by De Wijs. De Wijs le a spade to the king
and ace and Ferraro tried a diamond to the jack, losing to the queen.
A spade was returned and Ferraro won the queen then played a second
diamond. De Wijs won the ¨A, cashed the ªJ and led a club to his
partner’s ace. The spades were cashed and that was two down
for –500.
Andrea Buratti passed as dealer at the other table but later overcalled
1ª. His opponents bid slowly to 3NT but here nobody found a double.
A spade was led to the nine and queen and Jan Jansma tried two top
hearts, getting the bad news, then played a club to his jack followed
by a diamond to jack and queen. Back came a spade and Jansma won
the ace and played a second diamond. Massimo Lanzarotto took his
ace, cashed the ªA, and led a club; the same down two but here only
–200 so 7 IMPs to JANSMA, who moved into the lead at 18-13.
Board 7. Dealer South. All
Vul. |
|
ª K Q 7 5 4 3
© -
¨ 9 8 5
§ K J 7 6 |
ª J 8 6
© K J 7 3
¨ Q 10 3
§ A 10 2 |
|
ª A 10 9
© A Q 9 5 4 2
¨ A J 7 2
§ - |
|
ª 2
© 10 8 6
¨ K 6 4
§ Q 9 8 5 4 3 |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Lanzarotti |
Verhees |
Buratti |
Jansma |
|
|
|
Pass |
Pass |
1ª |
2© |
Pass |
2ª |
Pass |
3¨ |
Pass |
3© |
Pass |
3ª |
Pass |
4§ |
Dble |
Pass |
Pass |
Rdbl |
Pass |
4¨ |
Pass |
5¨ |
Pass |
6© |
All Pass |
West |
North |
East |
South |
De Wijs |
D'Avossa |
Muller |
Ferraro |
|
|
|
Pass |
Pass |
2ª |
3© |
Pass |
4© |
All Pass |
|
|
D’Avossa opened with a weak two bid in third seat and the
auction was swift and simple. Four Hearst made 11 tricks for +650.
Louk Verhees opened only 1ª and his opponents conducted a slow
and complex auction to the small slam. After a spade lead to queen
and ace, Buratti drew trumps and had to rely on the diamond finesse.
When the ¨K proved to be offside he was down one for –100
and 13 IMPs to JANSMA, increasing the lead to 32-14. A touch unlucky
for the Italians, perhaps, as the finesse was through an opening
one-level opener.
Board 9. Dealer North. E/W
Vul. |
|
ª A 4
© A 9 6
¨ 2
§ A K 10 9 8 7 5 |
ª Q J 7 6 5 2
© 7 5 3
¨ Q 10 4 3
§ - |
|
ª K 8
© K Q 10 8 2
¨ A 9 8 6
§ 4 3 |
|
ª 10 9 3
© J 4
¨ K J 7 5
§ Q J 6 2 |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Lanzarotti |
Verhees |
Buratti |
Jansma |
|
1§ |
1© |
1ª |
2ª |
2NT |
3ª |
4§ |
4ª |
5§ |
All Pass |
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
De Wijs |
D'Avossa |
Muller |
Ferraro |
|
1§ |
1© |
2§ |
2ª |
Dble |
Pass |
2NT |
Pass |
3§ |
All Pass |
|
|
|
|
Louk Verhees,
The Netherlands |
A trifle conservative from D’Avossa, I would have thought.
Having received club support, I might have been tempted to try 3NT
– there are, after all, nine running tricks if the opposition
cannot take five diamonds before you get in, and the opposition
have bid two other suits, not diamonds. The no trump game would
indeed have made, but 3§
plus two for +150 proved to be a useful result as it turned out.
In the other room, Jansma’s 1ª bid denied four spades, so
Lanzarotti was just making a natural spade call. After a competitive
auction, Verhees declared 5§ on the lead of the king of hearts to
his ace. He played a diamond at trick two and Buratti played low
without a hitch. Verhees put in the jack, losing to the queen, and
back came a spade. Declarer won the ace and drew trumps, ruffing
two diamonds along the way in hope of dropping the ace. When nothing
good materialised in diamonds, he had to go one down for –50
and 5 IMPs to LAVAZZA, closing to 19-34.
Verhees was a little unlucky in that once Buratti turned up with
both the missing trumps he rated to have only three diamonds, having
overcalled 1© and supported spades at the three level, so there
seemed to be good chances that the ace would ruff out. It’s
a hard life sometimes, isn’t it?
Board 11. Dealer South. None
Vul. |
|
ª 7 6 4 2
© 6
¨ A 9 6 5
§ J 10 3 2 |
ª A Q 10 8 5
© A K 8
¨ J
§ K Q 6 5 |
|
ª K 9 3
© Q J 9 7 4 3 2
¨ 10 8
§ 4 |
|
ª J
© 10 5
¨ K Q 7 4 3 2
§ A 9 8 7 |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Lanzarotti |
Verhees |
Buratti |
Jansma |
|
|
|
1¨ |
Dble |
3¨ |
4© |
5¨ |
Pass |
Pass |
5© |
All Pass |
West |
North |
East |
South |
De Wijs |
D'Avossa |
Muller |
Ferraro |
|
|
|
1¨ |
Dble |
3¨ |
4© |
5¨ |
6© |
All Pass |
|
|
The two auctions were identical up to West’s decision over
5¨. De Wijs made the decision himself, jumping to 6©, while Lanzarotti
made a forcing pass and left it to partner. And when Buratti made
the obvious-looking decision to bid on, Lanzarotti was not tempted
to raise to six.
Against Buratti, Jansma led the singleton spade and there were
twelve tricks for +480. Against the slam, Ferraro cashed the ace
of clubs then switched to the king of diamonds; one down for –50
and 11 IMPs to LAVAZZA; 32-34.
Board 12. Dealer West. N/S
Vul. |
|
ª K Q 10 7
© K 9 8 3
¨ 10
§ A 8 7 5 |
ª A 9 6
© A Q J
¨ A K Q 9 2
§ J 6 |
|
ª J 4
© 10 5 4 2
¨ J 8 7 6 3
§ K 3 |
|
ª 8 5 3 2
© 7 6
¨ 5 4
§ Q 10 9 4 2 |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Lanzarotti |
Verhees |
Buratti |
Jansma |
2NT |
Pass |
3§ |
Pass |
3¨ |
Pass |
3NT |
All Pass |
West |
North |
East |
South |
De Wijs |
D'Avossa |
Muller |
Ferraro |
2§ |
Dble |
3¨ |
Pass |
3NT |
All Pass |
|
|
Lanzarotti’s 2NT showed 21-22 but promised a five-card suit,
other than clubs. Buratti asked for the suit then settled for 3NT,
against which Verhees led the king of spades. Lanzarotti won the
ªA and cashed the diamonds, ending in hand. Having watched the discards
closely, he now judged to play a club towards the king. Verhees
won the §A and the defence cashed the spades, then Verhees exited
passively with a club to the king and Lanzarotti had to take the
heart finesse for his contract; down one for –50.
The contract and opening lead were the same in the other room
and declarer again won and played out the diamonds. There is a problem
with the play record now because it stops before the key moment
and I could not discover what happened in time to include it here.
Something dramatic must have gone wrong in the defence, however,
as De Wijs emerged with an overtrick for +430 and 10 IMPs to JANSMA,
ahead now by 44-32 with four boards to play.
Board 13. Dealer North. All
Vul. |
|
ª K 10 7 5
© Q 4
¨ A Q 10 9
§ Q J 3 |
ª Q 4
© 10 9
¨ K 7 6 2
§ A K 8 7 5 |
|
ª 9 8 6 3
© A J 7 6 3 2
¨ 8 4
§ 9 |
|
ª A J 2
© K 8 5
¨ J 5 3
§ 10 6 4 2 |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Lanzarotti |
Verhees |
Buratti |
Jansma |
|
1¨ |
Pass |
1NT |
Pass |
Pass |
2© |
Pass |
Pass |
2ª |
All Pass |
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
De Wijs |
D'Avossa |
Muller |
Ferraro |
|
1NT |
Pass |
3NT |
All Pass |
|
|
|
D’Avossa stretched to open 1NT and Ferraro raised him to
the 23-point game. Muller led a low heart to the nine and queen
and D’Avossa played a spade to the jack and queen. Back came
a heart. D’Avossa picked up four diamond tricks and cashed
the spades for +600.
There was never any question of game being reached at the other
table, where Verhees opened 1¨ and eventually competed to 2ª over
the opposing 2© contract. Buratti led his club to the king and jack
and Lanzarotti switched to the ©10, run to the king. Verhees ran
the ¨J then repeated the diamond finesse. The good news in his key
side-suit persuaded Verhees to play spades from the top. When the
queen fell under dummy’s ace on the second round, he continued
by cashing the jack then taking another diamond finesse. The diamond
got ruffed but the defence just had two aces to take from there;
+140 but 10 IMPs to LAVAZZA; 42-44.
JANSMA picked up 1 IMP on Board 14 to lead by 45-42, then on Board
15 Buratti/Lanzarotti played 3¨ just making while De Wijs/Muller
were one down in a 22-point 3NT which, after the opening lead, required
a winning diamond play holding ¨KJ1064 opposite ¨A872. There were
¨Q95 over the longer holding and it was not normal to get them right;
4 IMPs to LAVAZZA, and the lead by a single IMP at 46-45.
Board 16. Dealer West. E/W
Vul. |
|
ª 9 8 7
© A K 9 2
¨ 4
§ K Q J 9 2 |
ª J 4 3
© 10
¨ J 9 8 6 2
§ 10 5 4 3 |
|
ª A K Q 10 2
© J 5 3
¨ A 7
§ A 8 7 |
|
ª 6 5
© Q 8 7 6 4
¨ K Q 10 5 3
§ 6 |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Lanzarotti |
Verhees |
Buratti |
Jansma |
Pass |
1§ |
Dble |
1© |
Pass |
3© |
3ª |
4¨ |
4ª |
Pass |
Pass |
5© |
Pass |
Pass |
Dble |
All Pass |
West |
North |
East |
South |
De Wijs |
D'Avossa |
Muller |
Ferraro |
Pass |
1§ |
Dble |
1© |
Pass |
3© |
3ª |
4¨ |
4ª |
All Pass |
|
|
And so to the final deal. D’Avossa/Ferraro competed up to
the four level but then let their opponents play 4ª. After a club
lead, there was no way to avoid four losers in 4ª for –100.
The auction got up to 4ª again in the other room. At this point
the Dutch North/South pair had to double to win the match, as one
down would then have earned them 3 IMPs and a win by 2 IMPs. Passing
4ª out might also win the match but only if South could find a trump
lead, necessary hold declarer to one ruff and get the contract down
two – hard to find that lead, of course, when holding a singleton
in a side-suit. But Verhees passed the decision round to Jansma
and he went for 5©, hoping that one or other contract was making.
Of course, Buratti doubled.
Lanzarotti led a spade and Buratti played three rounds of those.
Not quite certain if he might run into an over-ruff, Jansma pitched
his losing club at trick three. Buratti cashed the ace of diamonds
then played a fourth spade, ruffed with the six, ten and ace. Jansma
cashed the ©K then played the king of clubs for the ace and ruffed.
He ruffed a low diamond then threw the last diamond loser on a club
before picking up the trumps; down two for –300 and 9 IMPs
to LAVAZZA.
Having only just survived the qualifying stage after a big win
in the last round, LAVAZZA was now in the final, where they would
meet ZHUANG, who beat BRACHMAN by 91-40 IMPs in the other semi-final.
|