| 10th World Youth Team Championship | Page 5 | Bulletin 5 - Friday 12 August 2005 |
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PAKISTAN v AUSTRALIA Runs On The Board - By David Lusk For many of us, Pakistan v Australia is more likely to be a cricket match. Australia’s record in that department has been fairly robust in that regard in recent times. Would these successes be mirrored at the bridge table? It has been a great pleasure to watch Daniel Krochmalik and Justin Williams develop into fine bridge players over a half a dozen or more years. Their opponents in thisRound 8 match have far less experience. Any one of their Australian foes could reasonably boast greater experience than the entire Pakistani team. To a casual observer in the Closed Room, this was notevident as, after hand-shakes and introductions all round, Shahzeb Nasir Butt and Fauzan Athar settled down in arelaxed yet purposeful manner in their quest to engineer their first win of the tournament. The Australian opening was fierce. Their opponents could have reasonably assumed that they were 30 IMPs adrift after just four boards.
Open Room
Closed Room
(i) 4-4+ in the majors, less than opening strength In the Open Room, South’s spade lead established the setting trick. Declarer rose with the ace, drew trumps and took the losing club finesse. South cashed the king of spades but was uncertain about the distribution of the suit. When he tried a third spade, declarer ruffed and had eleven tricks. In the Closed Room, North’s 2♣ opening, often a devastating weapon, was too much for a pair with little or noexperience against it. Justin Williams was allowed to play in 4♥ against a diamond lead. East played the ace and fast-tracked the defence with a low club switch. Williams had no hesitation in rising with the king before drawing trumps. He duly knocked out the spade ace and waited for theopponents to cash their two club tricks… Perhaps West was convinced by that confident rise with the king of clubs. Perhaps it was first board jitters, for West played not a club but a diamond and South had 11 tricks. @bit2:Early runs on the board for Australia with a double-game swing; +13.
Open Room
Closed Room
I noted with interest that the Pakistan players had learnt a lot of gadgets (Cappelletti and Michaels, for instance),illustrating the speed with which young players can easily absorb new ideas. Justin Williams also knows a few gadgets but, given the quality of the spade suit and the 4-3-3-3 shape, this was no time to apply Stayman. So it proved to be. In the Open Room, West’s 3♣ pre-empt propelled North/South to 4♠. With inescapable losers in all suits,declarer drifted three light. In the Closed Room, East’sdiamond lead got North off to a ‘flyer’ in 3NT and Krochmalik eventually accumulated ten tricks. Net 930 equated to 14 IMPs Australia’s way.
Open Room
Closed Room
I’m sure that next time Shahzeb Nasir Butt holds a hand such as West’s, he’ll open 4♥ as Gabby Feiler did in the Open Room. On this occasion he gained a plus but, sadly for his team, 4♥ cannot be defeated. So how did Justin Williams fare in 4♠ doubled against the 6-0 break? Well enough as it happened. West led his top heart and continued with a small one. South deliberated before ruffing. He cashed one diamond and then the ♠A, getting the bad news. East ruffed the fourth diamond and played king and ten of spades. Declarer won and cashed the ace and king of clubs and made his last trump en passant. Escaping for one off netted Australia +420 for a further 9 IMPs. Whatever setbacks may have been perceived in these early boards there was no sign of panic from Athar and Butt. To their credit, they kept their heads and almost certainly won at their table over the next sixteen boards. Their team’s best swing came from an uncharacteristic lapse in concentration from an Australian opponent.
Closed Room
Krochmalik led the ♣4 to South’s ace. West won the diamond switch in hand and played on spades, no doubt hoping for queen and jack to be short. North took the third round of spades with the queen and continued diamonds. Declarer won in hand and established his last spade, no doubt left with the hope that the heart honours were blocked. Not so, but South lost sight of the ball and failed to cash out so that was +600 to Pakistan. In the Open Room, East opened 1♥ and played in four. This can be made double dummy by playing low hearts twice but in real life declarer went one light for +700 and 12 IMPs to Pakistan. In the Open Room, the Australians gained IMPs by bidding aggressively to game and putting the defenders under pressure. This one proved hopeless, however:
Open Room
Closed Room
(i) 4-4+ in the majors, less than opening strength In the Open Room, 3NT requires a 3-3 heart break and a blockage in clubs. Neither of these occurred and thedefenders found enough tricks to inflict three off after North opened with a low spade; +300 to Pakistan. In the Closed Room, the 2♣ opening looked to have been a success, pushing East/West to an unsustainable 2NT. In a way it was. It was likely that the Australians would havedefended 1NT but for that opening. 2NT went just one light, netting Pakistan 5 IMPs. The aggression and experience of the Australians won out in this match. The final score was Australia 86 Pakistan 25 (25-3 VPs). |
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