Hand of the day

The Norsemen were very impressive when they whitewashed Finland 25-0 (104-7) in Round 3 in a match with many instructive hands. Board 18 was one of them:

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

Sitting East-West Tor Helness - Geir Helgemo bid to 4© which was the usual contract even if some pairs played in partscores - and one West went one short in 2©! Both major suits presented declarer with problems, and at many tables West went astray.

The usual lead was ¨Q, and after winning West usually cashed a top trump. At many tables South remembered that ©8 is a compulsory false card and was rewarded when West continued with ©Q. South did not do it against Helgemo who continued a heart to ©A, finessed for the knave, drew South's last trump and "just" had to play the spades with no loser. No problem. ªQ from the hand finessed the king and scooped the knave. 11 tricks in a contract which failed in the other room. 11 IMPs to Norway.

On VuGraph Swedish Johan Sylvan like Helgemo cashed a top heart in trick two. Here, too, there was no false card, and when he played ªQ immediately, he got all the news he could ask for, winning his contract. In the other room Duboin got the trumps right, too, cashing ©K and ©A but then he played a spade to J, Q and K and was lost. 11 IMPs to Sweden.

Little Anna

Poland have a completely new Women's team at these championships, including a pair who won the Polish Junior Championship, 'Big' Anna Grunt and 'Little' Anna Sarniak. Little Anna showed showed some of the style that has led to their success on these two deals from the third session of the Ladies Pairs qualifying.

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

West	North	East	South
Sarniak		Grunt
	Pass	Pass	1©
2§	Pass	2©	Pass
3NT	All Pass

On a spade lead, 3NT would make exactly, with declarer breathing a very big sigh of relief on discovering that the suit is blocked. However, North led her singleton heart and South won the ace to switch to the queen of spades. Little Anna had little option but to put up the king and when it held she cashed five rounds of clubs and three hearts. That brought South down to the ace of spades and king doubleton diamond. Everything pointed to the actual position and Anna exited with her remaining spade to endplay South, forcing a lead into the diamond tenace at trick twelve; eleven tricks for +460 and an excellent matchpoint score.

Board 22. Dealer East. E/W Vul.
	ª J 10 3 © K 10 6 ¨ Q J 10 § Q 9 5 2
ª A 7 5 4 © 2 ¨ 9 8 6 3 § A J 10 7		ª Q 9 6 2 © A J 5 3 ¨ K 5 4 § K 4
	ª K 8 © Q 9 8 7 4 ¨ A 7 2 § 8 6 3

West	North	East	South
Sarniak		Grunt
		1§	1©
1ª	Dble	2ª	All Pass

Again a different opening lead would have made things much better for the defence, with a diamond being the winning choice. However, North tried a low heart and Little Anna rose with the ace and played a spade to the ace then ducked a spade to South´s king. South exited with a low heart and declarer ruffed and continued with the king of clubs, a club to the ace and the ten of clubs, pitching a diamond when North played small. A club ruff, a second heart ruff, and the queen of spades meant nine tricks for +140 and another bundle of matchpoints.
The two Annas qualified for the final in a comfortable thirteenth place.

Ladies Pairs 2nd session

Board 12, Dealer West, N/S Vul.
	ª A © 8 7 2 ¨ A J 10 9 6 § K 10 8 7
ª J 9 8 7 6 © 10 6 5 ¨ K 3 § A 6 5		ª 5 3 2 © A K 9 4 ¨ 4 § J 9 4 3 2
	ª K Q 10 4 © 8 7 ¨ J 10 § 9 3

Pascaline Delacour from France showed a textbook performance on this hand right from the textbooks. She was in 3NT against a spade lead and no opposition bidding.

Dummy´s ace won and trying to reach her hand for the diamond finesse, she led a club to the queen. If East would have the ace, she would probably duck, and with West winning the ace the heart weakness would be protected. West duly won the §A but returned a club. Declarer put in the ten, but East won the jack and returned a spade, not unexpectedly.

The rest was plain sailing. The diamond finesse was successfully taken, declarer taking care to unblock the suit . This way, she could cash the last spade as well before getting off play with a low heart to East who had been squeezed in the meantime, having been forced to come down to only one top heart in order to protect her club stopper. However, when the low heart was led off dummy at trick 11, East had to win and to surrender the last two tricks to dummy in clubs again. Well played for a juicy overtrick.

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