| 1st European Open Bridge Championships | Page 3 | Bulletin 7 - Saturday, 21 June 2003 |
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How To Win A Mixed Pairs
Championship
To win a pairs contest, you have to play well and the wind should not be blowing against you. Bep Vriend and Anton Maas were certainly sailing with the wind when the second session got underway. They were already leading the field by some margin and on the first board, their opponents elected to bid a slam missing two aces. The final double made this worth all the 50 matchpoints available on each board. A few boards later it was bingo again:
According to the frequency sheet, doubling NS in spades was a popular choice among East players, but it never led to any success at all. There will have been one anonymous East, however, who will not regret her decision to double that much, as her score was recorded as –530 only; apparently she lost her vulnerability in the process. Of course, Anton had little trouble in assuring nine tricks, thus beating those who were doubled in 4? and allowed to make it. NS 42 mp. Next, they talked their opponents out of a game:
A remarkable auction. One would say that 5¨was the obvious bid to make in East, certainly after West’s double and taking the vulnerability into account. Strangely enough, they were in 5¨ at only three tables, as 4© made with an overtrick was about the average score, giving NS 29 mp. A more remarkable auction we saw when Daniel Vikor of Hungary took his life into his own hands (to be honest, he was forced to do so):
As the tray came back to him very quickly after he bid 4ª, he quite rightly guessed this was not his side’s fit – there had to be a good fit somewhere as the opponents also had good fits, taking the bidding into account. The play in 5¨ was easy enough: North led a trump and South discarded a club, this giving a strong clue she held five of them. So three rounds of trumps, §8 (not covered) to the ace and a spade. Win any return, ruff a spade and run the §7. EW +550 and nearly all the matchpoints as only one other pair managed to do the same. After a setback on board 6 we saw two Austrians coming to the table:
Well, in pairs notrumps often is the right strain to be in, even here as the club layout provides EW with a stopper in the suit. On a spade lead and a club switch, East could not make more than eight tricks, thus losing to all those ordinary people who played in hearts and made nine or even ten tricks, though 4© is down easily enough (?) on the spade ruff. Another 36 mp to the leaders. The other board in the round was all about typical pairs’ decisions:
Well, 3© will go down one and bring you an average score, so there is much to be said for bidding one more and try for the top. You have to be a good guesser then, needing to locate the §10 to succeed. Making nine tricks in spades scored 40 mp., but when Erhart misguessed, she had to be content with 12 mp. only. Disaster was nearby in the next round:
This was the setting West had been waiting for, probably for many years. Needless to say that the score of –500 was just under average for NS (21 mp). The next board was more interesting:
2NT showed the red suits, which induced Vriend to lead the ©A. Now there are 12 tricks once declarer ruffs out the §A. When Vriend continued a club declarer was forced to play this way…only 7 mp. to NS. At another table, Rodwell had overcalled 1NT with 2¨ showing the suit and a major. When Levine led a diamond, declarer might have ducked this to end up with 11 tricks by playing a heart to the queen and ruffing out the §A, but when she put up the ace immediately 10 tricks were the maximum. So this declarer only got 7 mp. for her efforts… On the next board, Maas-Vriend did not appear to have regained their composure:
Well, we know that South’s clubs can be short but letting through 2¨even with an overtrick was worth only 5 mp. instead of the 45 for the taking by bidding on in clubs once or twice more. Things were to get even worse for them:
4NT was alerted as showing minors but, holding a maximum and a double fit, Pain had other ideas. Making the contract was easy enough. EW +1440 and 44 mp, beating the 6¨ bidders. The final recovery, needed to ensure victory, started on board 20:
South led a heart to the queen, king and ace. Declarer next took a diamond finesse which lost to the queen. No immediate harm done, as the ¨K would still provide a parking place for a club. In fact, North returned a club, ducked, but declarer won the club continuation with the ace. The last club went on the ¨K and another trump went to the 10 and queen. Bep Vriend returned a heart, so when Anton came in with the ªA the ©10 could be cashed as the 5th defensive trick for –110 only and a very good score of 46 mp. The popular contract was notrumps, most declarers making nine tricks there on a diamond lead from North.
This nameless West had better stay at the Casino instead of
coming over here for a while… Two boards later, we saw another typical pairs problem:
At 18 out of the 26 tables in play, North led a low spade, after which declarer has all the tricks for 31 mp to him and 19 to NS. Cashing your aces would net 43 mp., but who would? Even missing a game on the last board did not endanger the victory any more:
Again, one of those typical pairs decisions. South might jump, North might raise, but the 12 mp. scored here were more than enough to ensure a second consecutive Maas victory in the European Mixed Pairs Champions. Another Maas this time, Anton, playing with his wife Bep Vriend who certainly needs no introduction at all, had made sure that the Trophy will change hands, but will proudly remain in The Netherlands for two more years. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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