By Stefan Back

Three boards from the Women's Rd. 10: Russia vs. Germany

The top match of round 10 between the leading Germans and the sixth-placed Russian women didn't see a single double-digit swing but nevertheless contained some interesting "spadish" boards:

A might-have been in spades

Board 2. Dealer East. N/S Vul.
	ª J 2 © J 9 7 ¨ A K Q J § A J 8 6
ª Q 8 7 © K Q 8 4 ¨ 10 9 6 3 § Q 4		ª A 10 9 6 4 © 10 6 2 ¨ 8 4 2 § K 9
	ª K 5 3 © A 5 3 ¨ 7 5 § 10 7 5 3 2

West	North	East	South
Romanovska	Auken	Galaktionova	von Arnim
		Pass	Pass
Pass	1§*	1ª	Dble
Pass	2ª	Pass	3ª
Pass	3NT	All Pass

GALAKTIONOVA Olga, Russia

* strong When Auken - von Arnim managed to reach 3 NT from the hand with Jx in spades, East could have been put to the decisive "honour lead-test" in trick one, had she held AQxxx in the suit she bid.. As it wasn't to be - after a small spade to North's disappointment the queen appeared offside - 3 NT had no play and Sabine Auken finished one down, losing four spades and a club. 5 IMPs to Russia, who bid and made 1 NT in the other room.

Transferred spades

As West you hold:

ª 9 6 4
© 6 4 3
¨ A K J 7
§ K 8 2

and hear the following auction:

West	North	East	South
Romanovska	Auken	Galaktionova	von Arnim
			1§ *
1¨	1ª**	Pass	3ª***
Pass	4©****	Pass	4 ª
All Pass

* strong, ** five clubs (+), game forcing, *** good spade suit, **** cue bid, 8 to 10 HCP

Partner leads ¨3 (fourth best or small from an honour) and the following dummy goes down:

ª 9 6 4 © 6 4 3 ¨ A K J 7 § K 8 2
	ª A K Q J 10 7 © K J ¨ 10 8 5 § A 6

You cash ¨ AK, North following with ¨ 4 and ¨ 2. How do you continue? You found the trump switch? Well done! At the table West played another diamond, declarer was happy to ruff with her singleton trump and had an easy route to then tricks from there; +420 to Germany:

Board 3. Dealer South. E/W Vul.
	ª 2 © A 10 8 7 ¨ 4 2 § Q J 10 9 7 4
ª 9 6 4 © 6 4 3 ¨ A K J 7 § K 8 2		ª 8 5 3 © Q 9 5 2 ¨ Q 9 6 3 § 5 3
	ª A K Q J 10 7 © K J ¨ 10 8 5 § A 6

Of course, playing 4 ª from the North hand makes it much more difficult for the defence to get this one right. Had South played the contract, a trump switch would have been obvious to everybody.

In the Closed Room the Russian pair Maitova - Ponomareva did very well to keep the loss down to only 1 IMP, when they bid the North/South hands as follows:

West	North	East	South
Rauscheid	Maitova	Nehmert	Ponomareva
			1§*
Pass	1©	Pass	2ª
Pass	3§	Pass	3ª
Pass	3 NT	All Pass

Rauscheid - Nehmert collected four diamond tricks, but that was all; Russia +400.

Canapé spades

Another board, an even bigger thriller! And again a case for the defence:

West	North	East	South
Romanovska	Auken	Galaktionova	von Arnim
Pass	1ª*	2§	3§
5§	Dble	Pass	5ª
All Pass

* four (+) spades, canapé possible

As East you hold ª 10 2
© J 2
¨ K J 9 5
§ A Q 6 3 2

You lead §A and get to see:

		ª 10 2 © J 2 ¨ K J 9 5 § A Q 6 3 2
Dummy	ª Q J 7 6 © K Q 10 7 6 4 ¨ A 4 § 10

North contributes §K. What do you do now? Did you try a diamond before the loser goes away on dummy's long hearts? Then you did the wrong thing, because declarer had too many diamonds:

Board 4. Dealer West. All Vul.
	ª K 9 5 4 © A 8 3 ¨ Q 8 6 3 2 § K
ª A 8 3 © 9 5 ¨ 10 7 § J 9 8 7 5 4		ª 10 2 © J 2 ¨ K J 9 5 § A Q 6 3 2
	ª Q J 7 6 © K Q 10 7 6 4 ¨ A 4 § 10

Pony NEHMERT, Germany

The canapé opening definitely helped declarer to win the contract, as East had no idea of how many diamonds North held. A "longue d'abord"-bidding sequence might tell the defenders that North has at least five diamonds, which gives them a good chance to avoid the fatal, but somehow understandable switch. + 650 and another hard-fought IMP to Germany, when Russia came to rest on the four-level after an uncontested auction at the other table:

West	North	East	South
Rauscheid	Maitova	Nehmert	Ponomareva
Pass	1¨	Pass	1©
Pass	1ª	Pass	2§
Pass	2©	Pass	4©
All Pass

West led a small trump and South soon claimed, scoring six hearts, three spades and ¨ A; Russia +620.

The match, that stood 9-6 at half-time, remained close until the very end with the leaders scoring their tenth consecutive win: 33- 19, or 18:12 respectively.