The Sunday Swiss, Round 3 Herbst v. Gromova by Jos Jacobs After two rounds, a few teams had done extremely well in scoring 50 and 46 V.P. Behind them, there were many teams with between 36 and 40 V.P. Two of these, Herbst and Gromova, had to play each other at table 4. In the Closed Room, not very much seemed to be happening, but in the Open Room it was action all the time, and some very interesting bridge too. It started right on the very first board: Board 17. Dealer North. None Vul.   ♠ J 8 6 4 3 ♥ A 4 ♦ 10 8 ♣ Q J 8 6 ♠ K 7 ♥ 8 7 6 ♦ A Q 7 4 3 ♣ 9 7 2 ♠ 9 ♥ K J 10 9 3 2 ♦ J 2 ♣ 10 5 4 3   ♠ A Q 10 5 2 ♥ Q 5 ♦ K 9 6 5 ♣ A K Closed Room West North East South Herbst Gromov Michielsen Gromova   2♠ Pass 4♠ All Pass       When Gromov opened his rather weak two-suiter, the spade game was quickly reached. East, with nothing to guide her, had to find a lead and came out with the ♥J. When the queen in dummy held, ten tricks were very easy. Gromova +420. Open Room West North East South Dubinin Van Cleeff Ponomareva Van Ettinger   Pass 2♦ Dble 3♥ 3♠ Pass 4♠ All Pass       Once Jan van Cleeff elected not to open his famous “Muiderberg” 2♠ (Polish-style weak two-suiter but the minor need not be a five-card suit) EW were offered the chance to produce some noise, and they duly did. After the Multi 2♦ West could show his values by jumping to 3♥. This of course did not deter North from introducing his spade support, so the final contract became a normal enough 4♠. The difference with the proceedings at the other table was that East had something to guide her in selecting the best opening lead. So out came the ♦J, a little speculative maybe, but a very good shot with the actual layout. Careful defence will beat the contract now, and careful declarer play might make the defenders’ life a little more difficult. There are four possible losers: two diamonds, a heart and a trump trick. The heart can go on the top clubs, but declarer cannot come to hand in time after unblocking dummy’s top clubs. So West should win the first diamond trick and play a heart immediately. If declarer covers the ♦J with the king, the switch is almost automatic, so better play is to duck the opening lead. Now West has to overtake with the ♦Q and switch to a heart. At the table the ♦J was covered with king and ace after which West played a heart. One down. Gromova +50 and the first 10 IMPs. On board 18 both teams overbid to a hopeless 4♥, down two, and might even consider themselves lucky that nobody doubled this. No score. Next came a slam that proved too difficult for most of the playing room: Board 19. Dealer South. E/W Vul.   ♠ 10 6 3 ♥ K 8 4 2 ♦ 8 7 5 4 ♣ 5 2 ♠ K Q J 9 5 4 ♥ - ♦ K 9 6 ♣ K Q J 6 ♠ A ♥ J 10 9 7 6 ♦ A 3 2 ♣ A 10 9 7   ♠ 8 7 2 ♥ A Q 5 3 ♦ Q J 10 ♣ 8 4 3 Open Room West North East South Dubinin Van Cleeff Ponomareva Van Ettinger       Pass 1♠ Pass 2♥ Pass 3♣ Pass 4♣ Pass 4♦ pass 4♠ Pass 4NT Pass 5♦ Pass 7♣ All Pass     Very well done indeed. The key to the grand is of course East’s raise to 4♣, bypassing 3NT in what still remained a fully natural auction.. The same auction was produced by Loek Verhees and Anneke Simons (team Pasman) in their match against the Hecht Johansen team. However, when Dorte Cilleborg and Lars Blakset also reached 7♣ (auction unknown but mainly the same, one assumes), this board was a very honourable, but also a remarkable push in that match. Why remarkable? Well, it turned out that in most matches, reaching a small slam was enough for a swing in your favour. So why should Herbst/Michielsen feel unhappy about their sequence at the other table of this match? Closed Room West North East South Herbst Gromov Michielsen Gromova       1♠ Pass 2♥ Pass 3♠ Pass 4♣ Pass 4♦ Pass 4♠ Pass 4NT Pass 5♣ Pass 6♠ All Pass       When Ilan Herbst chose to rebid 3♠ the club fit was lost. Marion Michielsen did well to proceed with a cuebid over 3♠, so getting to 6♠ was easy enough. Their combined efforts would have won the board for them in most other matches, but in their actual match it cost them 12 IMPs. Gromova led 22-0 now. On the next board, Van Cleeff reached a thin game when he opened a 15-17 h.c.p. 1NT on a 14-count: Board 20. Dealer West. All Vul.   ♠ K 10 7 ♥ A 8 ♦ A 10 8 4 ♣ Q J 9 2 ♠ A Q 3 2 ♥ J 6 5 4 ♦ 7 6 ♣ K 10 6 ♠ 9 8 5 ♥ K 10 3 2 ♦ Q J 9 3 ♣ 5 4   ♠ J 6 4 ♥ Q 9 7 ♦ K 5 2 ♣ A 8 7 3 Open Room West North East South Dubinin Van Cleeff Ponomareva Van Ettinger Pass 1NT Pass 3NT All Pass       With everything well-placed for declarer, he could not go wrong. The ♥2 was led to the jack and ace and a club honour went to the king. A heart came back, East ducking and the clubs were cashed. Next came the ♠J. When West grabbed his ace and the hearts proved to be 4-4, a successful finesse of the ♠Q saw declarer home. Herbst +600. Closed Room West North East South Herbst Gromov Michielsen Gromova Pass 1♣ Pass 1NT All Pass       In the Closed Room, they were less ambitious and eight tricks were made on a heart lead. Another slam, but an easier one, came next: Board 21. Dealer North. N/S Vul.   ♠ K Q 8 5 4 ♥ A K ♦ A J ♣ K 8 6 5 ♠ J 9 2 ♥ 6 3 ♦ 8 5 4 3 ♣ Q 9 7 4 ♠ 6 3 ♥ 10 8 7 ♦ 10 9 6 2 ♣ A J 3 2   ♠ A 10 7 ♥ Q J 9 5 4 2 ♦ K Q 7 ♣ 10 Open Room West North East South Dubinin Van Cleeff Ponomareva Van Ettinger   2NT Pass 3♦ Pass 3♥ Pass 4♣ Pass 6♣ Pass 6♥ All Pass       3♦ was a transfer and 4♣ either a cuebid or a second suit. The strange thing is that the spades never entered the picture. It might have been possible to refuse the transfer, not an attractive idea when the doubleton heart is AK if you are at all playing this special agreement. On this board, it did not really matter, but the heart slam (and the spade slam too) is a shade inferior to 6NT, certainly at matchpoints. An overtrick was made when East led a spade rather than his ♣A. Closed Room West North East South Herbst Gromov Michielsen Gromova   1♣ Pass 2♥ Pass 2♠ Pass 3♠ Pass 4NT Pass 5♣ Pass 6NT All Pass   The Strong Club solved the problems quite well. 2♥ was a game force with hearts, and 2♠ was natural and showed a fivecard suit. Once South could raise spades, North was in full control and selected the correct final contract without any hesitation. Well done. The board earned the Israeli-Dutch team 1 IMP when Michielsen led the ♣A – it turned out to be the only way to score a trick with it. The next board saw a partscore swing of 5 IMPs go the Russian way when at both tables they set their opponents by one trick in 3 of a major. Then came the penultimate board, a subtle lesson in defence. Board 23. Dealer South. All Vul.   ♠ A ♥ K J 8 4 3 2 ♦ 7 5 3 ♣ A 4 3 ♠ 7 5 ♥ 9 7 ♦ A K 9 4 2 ♣ J 9 8 5 ♠ K Q J 6 3 2 ♥ Q 10 5 ♦ Q J ♣ Q 6   ♠ 10 9 8 4 ♥ A 6 ♦ 10 8 6 ♣ K 10 7 2 Open Room West North East South Dubinin Van Cleeff Ponomareva Van Ettinger       Pass Pass 1♥ 1♠ Dble Pass 2♥ Pass Pass Dble Pass 2♠ All Pass With all these soft values, East wisely refrained from an immediate 2♠, but when West doubled 2♠ quickly became inevitable. You lead the ♥A against 2♠ and what next? If you simply continue the suit on partner’s encouraging signal, North will win the king and play the ♥2 for you to ruff in front of dummy. The rest should be easy: ♣K (!) and a club, followed by another heart. Declarer can ruff this high and cross to dummy to lead a spade felling the ace, but after that another heart will create a third defensive trump trick after all for down two, vulnerable. This nice scenario was no longer possible, however, when a trump was returned at trick 2… Closed Room West North East South Herbst Gromov Michielsen Gromova       Pass Pass 1♥ 1♠ Pass Pass Dble Pass 1NT Pass 2♥ All Pass   EW did well to avoid getting to 2♠. In 2♥ NS had no trouble in coming to the eight tricks there were always there for them. So another partscore swing, 6 IMPs this time, for the Russians who won the match 35-11 or 23-7 V.P.

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