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MP Pairs Final, fourth session
by Jos Jacobs
The overnight leaders, sitting EW on board 1, had no reason to complain about what happened to them.
| Board: 1. Dlr: North/None |
| | ♠ K 4
♥ A K J 10 9 5
♦ K 4
♣ A K 4 |
♠ 10 8 3
♥ 7 6 3
♦ 10 8 6 2 |  |
♠ 5 2
♥ Q 4 2
♦ J 9 7 5 3 | | | ♠ A Q J 9 7 6
♥ 8
♦ A Q
♣ 10 8 3 2 |
Someone managed to bid and make 7NT here but not against the leaders. Their first-round opponents also got to 7NT after North found out partner had ♦AQ but when South did not have a small diamond and the heart finesse was wrong, they had to concede one down.
The French youngsters, ranked 3rd overnight, got 7♠ bid and made against them. Not the ideal way to start the final session. Their position improved a lot, however, on board 4:
| Board: 4. Dlr: West/All |
| | ♠ Q 10 8 6
♥ 10 9 3 2
♦ J 5
♣ A 5 3 |
♠ 5 4
♥ K Q 8 6
♦ 10 9 8 6 4
♣ Q J | |
♠ A 3
♥ A J 7 4
♦ K
♣ K 8 7 6 4 2 | | | ♠ K J 9 7 2
♥ 5
♦ A Q 7 3 2
♣ 10 9 |
| West | North | East | South |
| Gardiner | Lhuissier | Etchepareborda | Lebatteux
|
| Pass | Pass | 1♣ | 1♠
|
| 2♦ | 2♠ | 3♣ | Pass
|
| Pass | 3♠ | Dble | All pass
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With the ♦K well placed for declarer, the contract is never in danger. The defenders can arrange a diamond ruff but that only prevents the overtrick. When West led the ♣Q, ten tricks were easy for the French: +930 and all the matchpoints.
They lost part of their advantage on the next board:
| Board: 5. Dlr: North/NS |
| | ♠ A 7 6
♥ 10 5
♦ A 10
♣ A Q 9 5 4 3 |
♠ 3 2
♥ K 9 4 3
♦ K J 2
♣ J 10 8 6 | |
♠ K J 9 8 5
♥ Q 8 7 6
♦ Q 8 3
♣ 2 | | | ♠ Q 10 4
♥ A J 2
♦ 9 7 6 5 4
♣ K 7 |
| West | North | East | South |
| Lebatteux | Sofu | Lhuissier | Imamoglu
|
| | 1NT | Pass | 3NT
|
| All pass
| | | |
East leads a spade and dummy’s ten (or Queen, for that matter) wins. Declarer goes after the clubs, so West wins the 4th round and returns his spade. East wins the King and clears the suit and now come the remaining clubs. West is squeezed as he has to find three discards. One heart and one diamond are easy but after that…When he chose a second heart, declarer advanced the ♥10. East covered with the Queen which was allowed to hold. A diamond came back but declarer won the Ace and played for the squeeze to have worked: heart to the Ace and an overtrick. Nicely done.
The leaders enjoyed a good board on this one as here is their auction;
| West | North | East | South |
| Hollands | Verbeek | Wu | Michielsen
|
| | 1♣ | 1♠ | 1NT
|
| Pass | 2♣ | 2♥ | Dble
|
| Pass | 3NT | Pass | Pass
|
| Dble | All pass
| | |
With the contract in the South hand, West led a heart to Queen and Ace which gave declarer an extra trick. Next, Marion tested the clubs and conceded one to West who returned a spade. East won the King and played back a heart but then, declarer had the balance for a useful +950 and all the matchpoints.
A few boards later, you had to find the right lead:
| Board: 8. Dlr: West/None |
| | ♠ 10 6 2
♥ K 10 9 8 6 3
♦ A 5
♣ J 7 |
♠ 5 3
♥ 5 2
♦ K 10 8 6
♣ K Q 9 8 6 | |
♠ A Q J 7
♥ J 4
♦ Q 4 3 2
♣ 10 3 2 | | | ♠ K 9 8 4
♥ A Q 7
♦ J 9 7
♣ A 5 4 |
| West | North | East | South |
| Lebatteux | Cerek | Lhuissier | Kaya
|
| Pass | 2♦ | Pass | 2NT
|
| Pass | 3♣ | Pass | 3♦
|
| Pass | 3♠ | Pass | 4♥
|
| All pass
| | | |
Either minor will do but Lebatteux hit upon an unlucky spade. Lhuissier won the Ace and returned the Queen but the damage had already been done. Declarer’s 4th spade will develop into a parking place for a minor suit loser. Contract made for 51 mp to NS.
At another table, the runners-up from Poland were defending 3NT against the Dutchies Van Lankveld and Philipsen. The former had become declarer (South) in 3NT, an interesting variation. Justyna Zmuda led the ♣Q and Adam Krysa contributed the two. Probably, he should have shown/unblocked his ♣10 according to the partnership agreements, as Justyna, after long consideration, continued a low club. Dummy’s Jack thus made a surprise trick and declarer quickly cashed out for +400. When play was over, I jokingly asked Joris van Lankveld why he had not made an overtrick by playing a spade to the King, as -430 probably would have been a complete bottom for the Polish pair…It turned out later that +400 was already worth 48 mp…
Two boards later, both Michielsen and Lebatteux made good use of a slight defensive mistake:
| Board: 10. Dlr: East/All |
| | ♠ A J 10 2
♥ J 5
♦ J 6 5
♣ K Q 8 4 |
♠ Q 9 8 7 6
♥ 6
♦ A Q 9 8 3
♣ 9 6 | |
♠ 4 3
♥ A K 10 9 8 3
♦ 10 7
♣ 10 7 3 | | | ♠ K 5
♥ Q 7 4 2
♦ K 4 2
♣ A J 5 2 |
| West | North | East | South |
| Koclar | Lhuissier | Ucar | Lebatteux
|
| | | 2♥ | Pass
|
| Pass | Dble | Pass | 3NT
|
West led a diamond to dummy’s Jack. As declarer cannot allow East to get the lead, making nine tricks the legitimate way is impossible. However, when declarer took a spade finesse through West and then cashed his clubs, West discarded a heart and a spade, holding on to all his diamonds. In the end, declarer thus had a choice of endplays: he could either put West in with the ♠Q to lead a diamond or, his actual choice, exit in diamonds to force a spade return into the ♠AJ. Well done, +400 to the French.
At another table, Marion Michielsen also was in 3NT and, of course, found the same endplay when West discarded a heart. She opted for the ♠A and a spade so the ♦K became her 9th trick.
The Polish runners-up did much better on this one:
| Board: 17. Dlr: North/None |
| |
♠ 3
♥ Q 8 7 5 4 2
♦ K 10 9
♣ 7 6 5 |
♠ K 5 4 2
♥ 10 6
♦ Q 7 6
♣ K 10 9 8 | |
♠ Q 7 6
♥ -
♦ A J 8 5 4 3 2
♣ A Q 3 |
| |
♠ A J 10 9 8
♥ A K J 9 3
♦ -
♣ J 4 2 |
| West | North | East | South |
| Koclar | Lhuissier | Ucar | Lebatteux
|
| | | 2♥ | Pass
|
| Pass | Dble | Pass | 3NT
|
It was a pity the Poles were not allowed to play 5♥ for in that case, West would have been obliged to find the club lead to set it. Declarer even went two down when he overtook the ♣Q to create an entry for the diamond finesse and later took a losing finesse through North against the ♣J. NS +300.
In the last round, the overnight nos. 2 and 3 were scheduled to meet. With only these two boards to go, they still were ranked 2 and 3 in the same order but the difference between them had been reduced to less than 0.3%. So the outcome of this round would decide about the silver and bronze, as the Dutch lead had become more and more unassailable as play went on.
This was board 27, a chance for the French:
| Board: 27. Dlr: South/None |
| |
♠ K Q J
♥ K 9 2
♦ A 8
♣ 10 9 8 7 3 |
♠ A 10 8 5
♥ 10 7 5 4
♦ 9 4
♣ A 5 2 | |
♠ 9 7 4
♥ J 8 6
♦ 10 7 6 2
♣ K J 6 |
| |
♠ 6 3 2
♥ A Q 3
♦ K Q J 5 3
♣ Q 4 |
| West | North | East | South |
| Koclar | Lhuissier | Ucar | Lebatteux
|
| | | 2♥ | Pass
|
| Pass | Dble | Pass | 3NT
|
A dull contract at teams but an interesting one at pairs. Can the defenders find their four tricks? The French could not so Poland scored +430 and an average score, 26 mp. Conceding -400 would have been worth 51 mp to the French
On the last board, the lost trick came back to the French:
| Board: 28. Dlr: West/NSl |
| |
♠ Q 3 2
♥ J 10 6 4 3 2
♦ 8 2
♣ 8 7 |
♠ J 7 6
♥ A 9 8 5
♦ A K 6
♣ A 10 9 | |
♠ A K 8 4
♥ Q
♦ J 10 9 7 5
♣ K 6 3 |
| |
♠ 10 9 5
♥ K 7
♦ Q 4 3
♣ Q J 5 4 2 |
| West | North | East | South |
| Koclar | Lhuissier | Ucar | Lebatteux
|
| | | 2♥ | Pass
|
| Pass | Dble | Pass | 3NT
|
North seems to have a normal heart lead but elected to lead the ♦2. This gave the French declarer the extra tempo needed to make 11 tricks and score 37 mp instead of 20 for the more normal 10 tricks.
It thus turned out that the French had won the round but their winning margin was not big enough so they had to be content with bronze. Adam Krysa and Justyna Zmuda can be proud of their silver medal. It’s very good to see, as I already mentioned earlier, that two mixed pairs take the main medals in this event. Congratulations to all prize winners!
On this last board, Marion celebrated winning the world title in a very special way, Kees Tammens reports.
| West | North | East | South |
| | Tim | | Marion
|
| | | | 1NT
|
| pass | 2♣ | pass | 2♥
|
| pass | 3 NT | All Pass |
|
The lead was a helpful ♦8, ♦J making the trick. Now Marion announced a second diamond Tim mistakenly took ♦7 but Marion quickly pointed out ♦7 had to stay in dummy.
After ♦A and ♦K, declarer played a club to ♣K and a spade for Jack and Queen in West who returned a heart, ♥Q and ♥K, of course ducked by the Dutch girl who exactly knew what she was doing. A second heart for ♦A. ♣A. ♥A and ♥K, the thirteenth spade and after 10, there still was one card left in dummy: ♦7 at the last trick which won her a beer later that night, after the bottle of champagne Mr Fahir Uzümcü, the President of the Turkish Bridge Federation, so kindly offered to the winning pair.
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