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Norway v Italy - Round 8
Schools
The Flat Boards Were The
Most Enjoyable
Both these teams were stuck in mid-table and needed some big wins
quickly if they were to get into a medal position. A nice result
here would improve the chances for either team. In this match, we
truly enjoyed the flat boards rather than the swings. We considered
displaying only pushes from this match for a change, but as a matter
of a fact only one swing will follow.
| Board 2. Dealer East. N/S Vul. |
| |
♠
Q J 2
♥ 9 8 6 5
2
♦ 10 5
4
♣ 7 4 |
♠ A 7
5
♥ 10 4
♦ J 9 8 6
♣ 6 5 3 2 |
 |
♠ 10 4
3
♥ A K J 7 3
♦ K 3 2
♣ Q 9 |
| |
♠
K 9 8 6
♥ Q
♦ A Q 7
♣ A K J 10 8 |
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| De Marco |
Bogen |
Montanari |
Johansen |
| |
|
1♥ |
Dble |
| Pass |
1♠ |
Pass |
4♠ |
| All Pass |
|
|
|
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Skjetne |
Mistretta |
Simonsen |
Di Franco |
| |
|
1♥ |
Dble |
| Pass |
1♠ |
Pass |
3♠ |
| All Pass |
|
|
|
Neither player in North’s seat was tempted to pass 1♥, so there were not many other options than to
bid 1♠. Now South, Massimiliano di
Franco’s 3♠ might be found in the school
book of bridge, but on this very board his opponent in the other
room, Lars Arthur Johansen was more successful when he went for
game.
At both tables East led the ace of hearts then switched to
a diamond. Two rounds of hearts might disturb declarer, but the play
would be quite straightforward due to the lie of the cards. The
Norwegian N/S pair scored +620 and the Italian +170 and that was 10
IMPs to Norway.
| Board 7. Dealer South. All Vul. |
| |
♠
J 4
♥ 6 3 2
♦ 7 4 2
♣ K J 6 3 2 |
♠ A
8
♥ K Q 7
♦ K J 9 8 3
♣ 10 7 4 |
|
♠ K Q 7 6
5 3 2
♥ A J 9
♦ A Q 5
♣ - |
| |
♠
10 9
♥ 10 8 5 4
♦ 10 6
♣ A Q 9 8 5 |
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| De Marco |
Bogen |
Montanari |
Johansen |
| |
|
|
Pass |
| 1♦ |
Pass |
1♠ |
Pass |
| 1NT |
Pass |
2♣* |
Dble |
| 2♥* |
3♣ |
4♣ |
Pass |
| 4♦ |
Pass |
4♥ |
Pass |
| 4♠ |
Pass |
4NT |
Pass |
| 5♥ |
Pass |
7♠ |
All Pass |
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Skjetne |
Mistretta |
Simonsen |
Di Franco |
| |
|
|
Pass |
| 1♦ |
Pass |
2♠ |
Pass |
| 3♠ |
Pass |
4♣ |
Pass |
| 4♦ |
Pass |
4NT |
Pass |
| 5♣ |
Dble |
7♠ |
All Pass |
De Marco/Montinari solved this board easily enough. 2♣ asked for the length in spades and 2♥ denied three. By bidding 4♣ diamonds was agreed as trumps. Montinari knew
his partner held a balanced hand with two spades, therefore he could
tell that 4♠ was a cuebid for the ace.
4NT asked for the aces and 5♥ showed two
aces out of five, still with diamonds as trumps. Now Montinari
thought he had all necessary information, thus he jumped to 7♠. The grand was cold; E/W +2210.
Did you
read Thursday’s bulletin, where the Norwegian pair, Johansen/Bogen
made 7♠ doubled when three aces were
missing? Well, here it was the other Norwegian pair who landed on
their feet. 2♠ was 15+ with six spades or
more; 3♠ showed trump support then two
cuebids followed; 4NT asked for aces and 5♣ showed one or four out of five. When
Mistretta doubled 5♣ Fredrik Simonsen was
quite confident that West held the ace of trumps rather than the ace
of clubs, thus he bid 7♠. When no one
doubled he was even surer.
“You are just too lucky; I just had
the king of clubs”, complained Eugenio Mistretta, when declarer
claimed at trick one.
Simonsen could have used Exclusion
Blackwood in this situation, as the Norwegian pair uses this
convention, but Simonsen wasn’t completely convinced if his partner
would remember it.
No swing on this board, and halfway through
the match the score had moved onto 20-11 in favour of
Norway.
What do you lead from this hand, if your right hand
opponent opens 3NT (gambling) in first position and all pass?
| |
♠ J 1 0 7
6 4
♥ Q 9 6
♦ -
♣ A 1 0 9 4 3 |
It is obvious that East has gambled with a long diamond suit. Do
you lead the ace of clubs, to see the dummy, or do you prefer
something more exotic? Make your decision first, then read on.
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| De Marco |
Bogen |
Montanari |
Johansen |
| Skjetne |
Mistretta |
Simonsen |
Di Franco |
| |
3NT |
All Pass |
|
As you can see, the winning answer to our question above was to
lead a low club. A spade might lead to the goal if North wins, then
cashes the king of clubs and plays on clubs, while a heart lead or
switch after the ace of clubs also defeats the contract. Did you
find the killing lead?
Johansen led the jack of spades, to queen
and ace at his table. North found the switch – but in hearts; 3NT
just made for +400.
Di Franco tried the ace of clubs and
continued in clubs when he got a positive signal from his partner.
North could win the club ace but declarer now had his nine tricks;
+400 and no swing.
The result in the match was 49-27 to Norway;
20-10 VPs. |