| 38th World Team Championships | Page 3 | Bulletin 6 - Friday 5 October 2007 |
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germany v japan - vc Round 11 by Brian Senior
Japan had a good first day but have been struggling since then, while Germany have gradually been consolidating a qualifying place and were lying fourth going into their eleventh-round meeting. Germany won the match comfortably, by 85-16 IMPs, 25-1 VPs. There were four slam deals, and Germany won those by three to zero, providing roughly half the margin of victory.
After a pass from Kyoko Shimamura, Pony Nehmert and Barbara Hackett had the auction to themselves. Why pass a hand that would be opened at most other tables? I think it is a Japanese thing - I teach Japanese ladies in London and they assure me that they have been taught in Japan that a weak two bid should not contain a void (I agree with them, but only so far as that they should not be void in the suit they open). Anyway, when Hackett rebid a game-forcing 3♣, Nehmert had slam in mind. She used fourth suit then supported clubs in a way that clearly showed slam interest. When Hackett could cuebid diamonds, she closed proceedings with a jump to 6♣, an excellent contract. The five-nil trump split looks awkward but Hackett showed that it could be overcome without too much difficulty. She won the diamond lead with the king, cashed the spade winners to throw two diamonds from hand, then took a heart finesse, losing to the king. The diamond continuation was won with the ace and now she cashed the ace of clubs, getting the bad news. Ace of hearts and a heart ruff were followed by a spade ruff with the ♣4, after which the last four tricks could be won on a high crossruff; +920. Sabine Auken’s multi opening, showing a weak two in either major, made life much more difficult in the other room. Kazuko Banno’s double showed either 13-15 balanced or any strong hand - personally I would prefer to pass then double spades for take-out, making my hand-type clearer to partner - and she showed the strong version with a heart suit by bidding 4♥ over Mizuko Tan’s jump to 3♠. There the matter rested, and neither East nor West could be 100% certain which major was held by North, particularly given the generally aggressive approach Auken/von Arnim have to pre-emption. Four hearts made eleven tricks for +450, but that was worth 10 IMPs to Germany. Only three pairs in the Venice Cup reached 6♣ and one of those failed to make it. The other successful pair was Linda Lee and Pamela Nisbet of Canada against England. Their auction:
Tan passed the West hand, which can hardly be criticised, second in hand at adverse vulnerability, then followed an invitational sequence showing a balanced hand with five hearts in response to Banno’s 2NT opening - again, hard to criticise. Banno had a minimum with only a doubleton heart so had a clear pass despite holding all four aces. Nehmert opened the West hand with 1♥, and Hackett drove to slam, using game-forcing checkback along the way. With the hearts coming in for five tricks, that was +1440 to Germany and +690 to Japan; 13 IMPs to Germany when on another day it could easily have been 13 the other way, though slam is just with the odds. This time exactly half the field bid 6NT and one bid and made 6♥ - about right, considering the odds of the slam actually making.
Hackett showed a good raise to 4♥ with spade shortage, then respected Nehmert’s sign-off, missing the good slam. Nehmert made 11 tricks for +450. After the same start, Banno went on with a second slam try of 5♣ and, when Tan co-operated with a 5♦ cuebid, jumped to 6♥. Like their counterparts at the other table, they never bid in a natural sense the trump suit that offers the best slam. Auken led a cunning eight of clubs, and Tan rose with the ace - after all, on a three-two trump break she didn’t need to take the risk of running into a club ruff if she finessed. When hearts were four-one, however, there was no recovery and Tan had to concede a club and a heart; down one for -50 and 11 IMPs to Germany, when it would have been 11 to Japan had declarer not been dissuaded from taking the club finesse. Six hearts was bid six times and it made half of the time. Nessrine Hamdy of Egypt also led a club, while the contract failed once and made three times after a spade lead. Six diamonds was played once and, of course, failed, while the best contract of 6♣ was reached three times and always succeeded.
Hackett responded 1NT to what could have been a four-card major opening and Mitsue Tajima contented herself with a heavy 2♠ overcall. When Shimamura was able to raise to 3♠ in competition, I think Tajima owed her at the very least a 4♥ cuebid on the way to game, though Shimaura would never co-operate in a slam hunt with that North hand, of course. Tajima’s actual 4♠ raise ended the auction. Banno could raise to 2♥ as she was assured of facing a five-card or longer suit. Danila von Arnim treated her hand in a much more aggressive fashion than had Tajima, as she first cuebid 3♥, then showed her spade suit. Auken did well now to cuebid the ace of diamonds and von Arnim in turn showed the heart control, but there was no way to discover the key to the deal, namely North’s doubleton club. The Germans stopped in 5♠, having had a pretty good auction even if it did not reach the top spot. The board was flat at +480. Only one pair reached 6♠, Kristina Wahyu and Suci Amita Dewi of Indonesia against South Africa. Their auction was:
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