| 10th World Youth Team Championship | Page 6 | Bulletin 5 - Friday 12 August 2005 |
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ISRAEL v JAPAN by Ron Klinger Israel and Japan were lying fifth and seventh respectively before this match. A slam on little more than a finesse gave Israel the early lead.
Datum: N/S 190
Lead: ♥5 North won and returned a club, ducked to South’s king; one down.
Lead: ♣8 East won and cashed the ♦A: 9 J 3. Although West’s ♦J is suit-preference for spades, there is no rush to play a spade. South’s spade loser cannot disappear. A club return will take the contract two down, but East switched to a spade and so declarer’s second club loser went away. That was +100 to E/W and 4 IMPs to Israel. At slam level it can be right to play in your 4-4 fit with a 4-3-3-3 opposite a 4-3-3-3. At game level it will usually be better in 3NT. Witness:
Datum: N/S +260
Lead: ♦4 North won with the ♦J and cashed ♠A, ♠K. He crossed to dummy in diamonds and later in hearts to lead clubs up twice and finished with ten tricks, +630.
Lead: ♥3 North might have chosen 3NT rather than double, but the pre-empt gave N/S a tougher time. Declarer inserted dummy’s ♥8: nine king. The ♠A, ♠K revealed the bad news and South crossed to the ♦A to play a club to the queen and king. East returned a heart and declarer finished three down for 300 and 14 IMPs toIsrael. In other matches Pass Pass 3C 3NT occurred eight times and Pass Pass 3C Dble Pass 3S Pass 4S happened twice. In two cases the auction went Pass Pass Pass 2NT Pass 3NT All Pass. Although this board was a stand-off, there was no lack of excitement:
Datum: N/S 250
(i) Top spade honour Lead: ♠A West continued with the ♠K, followed by the ♦Q, king, ace. East returned a diamond and South still had a heart to lose for two down; 500.
Lead: ♠K West cashed two spades and shifted to the ♣8. Declarer could not escape two trump losers and the ♦A for two down and also 500. Israel increased its lead to 31-13 thanks to this deal:
Datum: N/S +50
Lead: ♦2 Declarer won in dummy and, hoping for a doubleton spade honour or ♠Q-J-x, played ♠A, ♠K and a third spade. South won and continued diamonds. Declarer finished three down for 300.
Lead: ♦J Declarer won in hand and pounded out ♠A, ♠K and ♠9. North won and played the ♦3. Declarer took this in dummy and played a club to the king, followed by a club to the ten to make nine tricks for +140 and +10 IMPs. Israel went further ahead here:
Datum: N/S 90
South led the ♦K: six two three and continued with the ♦4 to North’s queen. The ♣7 was returned, ducked to the king. The ♥A was the fourth trick for the defence for +200. Even if South’s second double is for take-out, North can tell that South is very strong and that E/W have probably over-stretched. West is a passed hand and East has shown a weak two.
Declarer lost the same tricks for +140 and 8 IMPs toIsrael, who won the match by 45-13 IMPs, 22-8 in VPs. |
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