Iceland vs Norway

Open Round 24

The Nordic encounter between Iceland and Norway turned out to be one of the liveliest matches so far.

On board 2 Tor Helness was faced with a lead problem:

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

Closed Room
West	North	East	South
Einarsson	Aa	Ingimarsson	Grotheim
		Pass	1§
2©	3ª	4©	Dble
Pass	4ª	All Pass

Closed it all ended in 4ª which, after the heart lead, was made with two overtricks.

Open Room
West	North	East	South
Helgemo	Jonsson	Helness	Johannsson
		Pass	1¨
1©	1ª	3©	3NT
4©	6ª	All Pass

In the Open Room Stein Jonsson didn't want to settle for that and Helness as East had to find a lead against 6ª. With all cards open it is easy to see that a club or a diamond (in with the ªK East gives his partner a ruff) and not a heart lead is killing. At the table not to lead your partner's suit against a slam takes a lot of courage. After a long pause Helness decided to table the §J. Now declarer was faced with a huge problem. It looks as if the sensible thing for him to do is to win the §A and take the finesse in hearts in order to discard his club loser on the ©A. In view of the 1© overcall Jonsson didn't want to rely on the position of the ©K and right he was. He won the §A, crossed to dummy in diamonds and played a spade to the queen. This line of play would land the slam with the king of trumps doubleton in West or West having the ªK and three or more diamonds. It was not to be. On the contrary, Helness won the ªK and pressed in diamonds ruffed by Helgemo, who underled his §KQ to his partner's ten to obtain another diamond ruff. Six spades minus three. Nice defence and a great result for the Norwegians.

HELNESS Tor, Norway

On board 5 Iceland won a lot of IMPs back:

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

Closed Room
West	North	East	South
Einarsson	Aa	Ingimarsson	Grotheim
	1ª	Pass	4ª
All Pass

In the Closed Room declarer in 4ª played on a dummy reversal. He therefore went after the club suit, but couldn't avoid that extra trump tricks were created for the defence and finally had to give in for down one.

Open Room
West	North	East	South
Helgemo	Jonsson	Helness	Johannsson
	1ª	Pass	2§
Pass	2©	Pass	4ª
All Pass

In the Open Room East led the ¨10 for the ace and a heart was ducked, followed by the §K for the ace. Declarer cashed his two other top diamonds, pitched a heart from dummy, played ©A and ruffed the third heart with the ª6. Helgemo overruffed with the queen and returned a trump for the nine and king. Declarer entered his hand with a club ruff, ruffed his fourth heart in dummy, ruffed another club in hand, cashed the ªA and claimed eleven tricks. 13 IMP's to Iceland.

Two boards later:

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

PICTURE OF TOR HELNESS

Closed Room
West	North	East	South
Einarsson	Aa	Ingimarsson	Grotheim
			1¨
Pass	1©	1ª	Dble
Redble	Pass	Pass	1NT
Pass	2§	2ª	All Pass

In the Closed Room, on a club lead and continuation by South after winning the ªK, East made 2ª with an overtrick, as the squeeze possibility had been effectively broken.

Open Room
West	North	East	South
Helgemo	Jonsson	Helness	Johannsson
			1¨
Pass	1©	1ª	Dble
2§	2¨	3ª	Pass
4ª	All Pass

In line with their aggressive style Helness-Helgemo bid all the way to 4ª in the Open Room. Due to the unfavourable club layout the contract seemed hopeless. South led the ¨J for the ace and a heart came back. Declarer inserted the ten, South won the jack and the next diamond was ruffed. At this point declarer knew it was unlikely for North to have the king of trumps and so he refrained from taking the finesse. He played Ace of trumps and another. South won the king and back came another diamond ruffed by declarer, followed by the ªQ leaving this position:

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

With all cards open one can see that North is caught in a trump squeeze, but would Helness work this out at the table ? From the bidding and the play he visualized that North originally started with a 1-4-4-4 distribution. So Helness realised that the position of the §Q was irrelevant. If South had this card, he had it doubleton and if North had it, he was squeezed. Helness played another spade, discarding the §J from dummy. North got rid of a club, whereafter Helness cashed his two high clubs and enjoyed the §7 as his tenth trick.

A brilliant piece of declarer play and a very well earned 10 IMP's to Norway. The contract could have been defeated however, if South had switched to clubs in time.

Board 9 had everything to do with ©Q:

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

Closed Room
West	North	East	South
Einarsson	Aa	Ingimarsson	Grotheim
	1ª	2§	3ª
Dble	Pass	3NT	All Pass

In the Closed Room, making 3NT basically came down for declarer to guessing the ©Q. Ingimarsson correctly finessed the essential card through North, who had opened at the one-level.

Open Room
West	North	East	South
Helgemo	Jonsson	Helness	Johannsson
	2ª	3§	4ª
5§	All Pass

In the Open Room Jonsson-Johannsson reached the four-level quickly. Though 4ª doubled would lead to a juicy 800, Helgemo decided to bid 5§. In spite of the bad break in clubs, the contract can be made if again the ©Q is found. In view of North's weak twosuiter, Helness decided to find the essential card in South. 12 IMP's to Iceland.

Norway did well on board 11:

Board 11. Dealer South. None Vul.
	ª J 10 6 © A 10 4 3 ¨ A 4 2 § K 8 3
ª Q 8 5 3 © Q J 9 6 5 ¨ K § 9 7 4		ª A © K 8 7 2 ¨ Q J 9 6 5 3 § A 2
	ª K 9 7 4 2 © - ¨ 10 8 7 § Q J 10 6 5

Closed Room
West	North	East	South
Einarsson	Aa	Ingimarsson	Grotheim
			2¨
Pass	2©	3¨	All Pass

In the Closed Room Glen Grotheim's 2¨ opening showed a five card in one of the majors. After the 2© relay the auction died at 3¨. In the partial Ingimarsson made ten tricks.

Open Room
West	North	East	South
Helgemo	Jonsson	Helness	Johannsson
			2ª
Pass	Pass	Dble	Pass
3©	3ª	4©	All Pass

In the Open Room Helness-Helgemo reached game, since Helness gave it another shot with good hand for hearts. On a club lead 4© is in danger, but North led the ªJ for the ace. Helgemo knocked out the ¨A at trick two and got a club back which he took with the ace. Next came two high diamonds to which declarer pitched the two club losers from his hand. Helgemo played a heart to the jack and the ace, ruffed the next club in hand, finessed in trumps and made eleven tricks. 8 IMP's to Norway.

Though board 15 did not produce a swing in this match, it is worth reporting because only one declarer in the Open Series found the right play to make the grand:

Board 15. Dealer South. N/S Vul.
	ª K J 10 7 2 © A Q 10 9 6 4 ¨ - § J 4
ª 9 5 4 © 8 ¨ K 7 5 4 2 § K 9 3 2		ª 8 3 © 5 3 2 ¨ A J 8 3 § 10 8 7 5
	ª A Q 6 © K J 7 ¨ Q 10 9 6 § A Q 6

In the Iceland-Norway match both NS pairs ended up in 6© making. Andrea Buratti was one out of three declarers in 7©. The winning line of play is easy once you think of it, apparently that was the main problem, as the other two declarers went down. Ruff the ¨A lead (or win the §A and ruff a diamond, depending on the lead). The dummy reversal works if the trumps are 2-2 and also if you take a finesse of the ©8, playing for the trumps to be 3-1. Play a middle heart to the jack, noting the fall of the eight, ruff a diamond, another middle heart to the king, ruff a diamond high, cross in spades, ruff the last diamond with your last trump, cross in spades and pitch your losing club on the ©7. Thirteen tricks.

The strange thing is that on a diamond lead, this line of play looks automatic as it cannot possibly cost to ruff and play a middle trump to the jack first. Once the eight appears, you will only need the spades to be 3-2 if the hearts to not break.

Board 16 turned out to be the last big swing of the match:

Board 16. Dealer West. E/W Vul.
	ª A 10 5 2 © 6 ¨ K J 3 § K 9 8 5 2
ª 7 6 © K J 4 ¨ 9 5 § A Q J 10 4 3		ª J 8 4 3 © A Q 9 7 3 ¨ 10 6 § 7 6
	ª K Q 9 © 10 8 5 2 ¨ A Q 8 7 4 2 § -

Closed Room
West	North	East	South
Einarsson	Aa	Ingimarsson	Grotheim
1§	Pass	1©	2¨
Dble	2©	Dble	4¨
Pass	5¨	All Pass

In the Closed Room a heart was lead against 5¨ whereafter Glenn Grotheim had no trouble in making his contract since he had the tempo and the trumps to ruff two hearts in dummy. Grotheim even managed to make an overtrick since defenders somehow got squeezed in the endplay.

Open Room
West	North	East	South
Helgemo	Jonsson	Helness	Johannsson
1§	Pass	1©	2¨
Dble	5¨	All Pass

Open this time it was Geir Helgemo who made an excellent lead: a trump. Declarer won in dummy and played a heart. Helness won the ace and played a second trump, won in hand. A heart ruff, three spades and a zillion of diamonds later, declarer ended up one trick short, since the ªJ did not come down.

However, after the heart ruff, there is a funny squeeze that works. On the run of all but one diamonds and TWO high spades from hand, West can be endplayed in hearts and is obliged to play a club which declarer can ruff, establishing dummy's king for his 11th trick. If West unblocks his hearts instead, on the last diamond East is squeezed. To keep his guards in both majors, he has to get rid of his two clubs. But then he will be endplayed in hearts to play spades.

The final result of the match: 69-25 or 24-6 V.P. to Norway.