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Holder Eliminated
By Patrick Jourdain (
Wales)
The first gold medal in the first European Transnational (in
Menton) went to the American team led by Roy Welland. The team
contained Michael Rosenberg who seems to have made a name for
himself in the USA since being my team-mate in the Glasgow
University League. Anyway I like to support old friends and watched
the first half of their match against a team from the Czech Republic
led by Josef Kurka.
Board 9, which Svoboda and Hnatova bid to a
solid slam was cancelled due to a mis-duplication, and Board 8 was
affected by the same error but a substitute board came in. And so it
transpired that the only big swing in the half came on this decision
for North:
You hold:
| |
♠ J 9 6 5
♥ J 6 2
♦ 9 6 4
♣ A Q 9 |
Partner opens 2NT (balanced 20-22). Do you raise to 3NT or seek a
major suit fit? Bobby Levin made what would certainly be a popular
choice when he chose 3NT, and it was mortifying for him to see the
man on lead begin with six winning hearts.
At the table I was
watching, Daniela Hnatova, South, held:
| |
♠ A K Q 8
♥ 8 4
♦ A Q J
♣ K J 8 6 |
They were playing a mainly natural system (with 2♣ as the strong bid) but the 2NT opener showed
both minors so she opened 1♣. Michael R.
overcalled 1♥, North made a take-out
double promising spades, and South’s rebid was 4♠, a game that presented no problem. The swing
of 11 IMPs to the Czech team was more than their lead at the end of
the first half.
The other swings were small, but this deal shows
the depth to which Michael Rosenberg analyses a hand:
| Board 3. Dealer South. E/W Vul. |
| |
♠
Q 8
♥ J 10
♦ K 10 8 2
♣ A 10 8 6 4 |
♠ A J 10 6
5 3
♥ Q 7 5 3
♦ A 9
♣ Q |
 |
♠ 7
2
♥ A K 8 6 2
♦ J 6 4 3
♣ J 2 |
| |
♠
K 9 4
♥ 9 4
♦ Q 7 5
♣ K 9 7 5 3 |
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Michael R. |
Svoboda |
Debbie R. |
Hnatova |
| |
|
|
Pass |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
1NT (A) |
Pass |
| 2♥ |
Pass |
4♥ |
All Pass |
Michael was declarer as West in 4♥.
Svoboda led a third and fifth ♦8 (note how this wastes a vital pip in the suit,
though the lead of the ten would not!) and Michael played low from
dummy. When South contributed the queen Michael could place the ten
on his left and therefore there was no danger of a diamond
ruff.
Deciding to take the small risk of suffering a spade ruff,
after winning the ♦A
Michael crossed to a top heart and took a spade finesse next.
Svoboda won and well aware that the spade suit was probably running,
cashed his king of diamonds, and then tried ace and another club.
Michael was able to ruff the second club, but from his point of view
the hand was still not over, for he still had to take care of
dummy’s small diamond.
I expected him to cash the heart queen,
and then, if the trumps did not break, to decide on the safest way
to take care of that diamond. However, as one might expect, Michael
did that thinking first. He followed with the heart queen, and, when
they broke, claimed, but during the next hand passed me a note of
what he had planned had there been a trump outstanding.
If the
trumps were 3-1, the silence of the opponents made it likely the
clubs were 5-5. So North would hold nine cards in the minors and
four in the majors. If he had three hearts and one spade Michael
would finish drawing trumps and be confident a second spade finesse
would win. Instead if North held one heart and therefore three
spades, declarer could cash all the hearts and squeeze North in
spades and diamonds.
No wonder the man has a reputation for
careful play, and no surprise we won the Glasgow League, even though
he had only being playing bridge for a couple of years.
The Czech
team hung on to their lead to win by 49-35 and the Menton gold
medallists were out. |