| 12th World Bridge Championships | Page 6 | Bulletin 13 - Thursday 22 June 2006 |
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Going For Gold By Brent Manley Until this tournament, no team had made it to the final of the Rosenblum Cup with a female member. This year, the two teams in the final were both captained by women – Rose Meltzer and Christal Henner-Welland. They were at the same table for the opening set, taken by Meltzer 36-20. In the early going, it was quiet with relatively few IMPs changing hands. After eight boards, in fact, the score was 8-1 in favor of Meltzer, most of them involving overtricks and undertricks. This deal helped Meltzer to 3 IMPs.
Peter Bertheau started with a heart to the queen. Tor Helness won the ace the rattled off five rounds of clubs, followed by a low diamond from dummy. There was just a small pause before Helness put up the ♦A and he was soon two down for Minus 200.
Kyle Larsen also started with a low heart, taken by Marc Jacobus with the ace. He, too, played five rounds of clubs, but instead of cashing out, Jacobus ran the ♦J to Larsen’s king. East and West had had ample opportunity to exchange signals, and they did not err at that point. Larsen cashed the ♠A (he had unblocked the 10 earlier) and played another spade to Meltzer’s king. She cashed a long spade then pushed a heart through declarer’s doubleton jack. There were no more tricks for declarer – Minus 300 and 3 IMPs to Meltzer. Henner took the lead on the following deal.
Note that the strain that Helgemo and Helness agreed to play in was not mentioned until the final bid of the auction. Over Helgemo’s transfer, Helness showed a good hand with a spade fit and a doubleton club. After Helgemo showed diamond shortage, Helness might have been wary of the duplication, but he cooperated with a cuebid in hearts. When Helgemo bid diamonds again, presumably showing a void, Helness had to quit at the five level because it was apparent neither had a club control. This was obvious to the defenders as well, and Bertheau started with the ♣A, dropping Fredrik Nystrom’s singleton king. Nystrom ruffed the second club with the ♠K. It didn’t matter at that point what Nystrom returned – Bertheau had a natural trump trick for one down.
The defense was the same, but Jacobus and Henner-Welland were one level lower. Plus 420 was good for a 10-IMP gain for Henner. The Henner lead did not last long. The next board produced a push, but then there was this deal.
On the bidding and the likely lead of a low heart, Helgemo probably would have made 3NT, but the issue was made academic when Bertheau put his neck in the guillotine with a bid of 4♥. Helgemo was only too happy to let loose the blade. Helgemo started with the ♠A, switching to the ♥6 at trick two. Bertheau guessed correctly to play low. Helness won the ♥A and returned a heart to the queen and king. Bertheau ruffed a low diamond with his last trump, ruffed a spade and picked up Helness’ last trump, but the tricks just weren’t there. Bertheau ended three down for Minus 500.
Meltzer was also in an impossible contract, but she was one level lower and not doubled. Jacobus led a spade to Henner-Welland’s 10. The low heart switch went to the ace, and Meltzer played the 10 on the heart return, taking the queen with the king. Meltzer ruffed a diamond in dummy and played a low club to the queen and Jacobus’ king. There was no way to take more than seven tricks – two down, Minus 100 but a 9-IMP gain. Board 13 produced a swing for Henner.
Nystrom showed the majors with his 2♣ bid. Against 3NT, Nystrom led the ♥6, a good start for Helgemo, who let it run to his 9. He played the ♦10 from hand, taken perforce by Nystrom with the ace. Nystrom switched to a spade – 5, queen, ace. Another diamond revealed the bad break in that suit, so Helgemo won the king in dummy and ran the ♣9 to Nystrom’s jack. A spade to dummy’s king cleared the suit, and when Helgemo played a club to his queen, Nystrom won the king and cashed three spades for two down.
Meltzer’s Michaels cuebid effectively took North/South out of the auction despite their 23 high-card points.Henner-Welland started with the ♦9 to the ace. When Larsen played a low heart from dummy, Jacobus inserted the 10 and switched to a low trump. Henner-Welland won the ace and returned a spade to North’s king. A club to the ace put Henner-Welland in again, and she got out with a trump. Jacobus did well to go one down. Combined with the minus for Meltzer at the other table, that was 7 IMPs to Henner. Helgemo judged well on the next deal in a highly competitive auction.
Helgemo considered his next move for a long time after Nystrom went to 5♥ (a good save – 4♠ was cold). Helgemo eventually pulled out the red card and quickly cashed two diamonds and a spade.
It’s likely Jacobus did not count Meltzer for only four clubs for her lead-directing 3♣ bid, so it was not unreasonable for him to envision club shortness (or perhaps a stronger holding than three to the 10, given the strong bidding), so he took the push. The defense could not be denied three club tricks, so the contract was one down. The final swing for Meltzer was a big one and again involved good judgment by the Norwegians despite a barrage from the opponents.
The vulnerable slam could not be defeated. Bertheau started with the ♠Q, taken in dummy. Helness played a diamond to the king, then returned to dummy for another diamond lead – Plus 1370. The Swedes could have saved at 6♥ to salvage a few IMPs, but if Helgemo and Helness took the maximum (♠A, spade to the king, spade ruff, ♥A and two clubs) that would be five down and Minus 1100, saving only 1 IMP compared to what happened at the other table.
Henner-Welland and Jacobus did not get the maximum on defense. She started with a low diamond, and Larsen took the ace to discard one of his losing clubs. Now a heart went to the king, and Henner-Welland had another chance for a spade ruff. No doubt envisioning a strong spade holding for East, she exited with a second diamond. Now declarer had only two spades to lose for two down and Minus 300, a 14-IMP gain for Meltzer. |
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