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Hungary v Croatia
Ladies Series - Round 5
After two days play in the Ladies event, the surprise leaders
were the team from Hungary. Friday's morning match saw them up
against Croatia, an opportunity to see if their challenge was a
serious one.
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Board 2. Dealer East. N/S Vul.
|
| |
ª A 8
© 10 5 2
¨ A K Q 10 6 5 3
§ 2 |
ª Q 7 6 3 2
© 7 3
¨ 9 2
§ A J 7 4 |
 |
ª K J 5
© J 6
¨ J 7 4
§ 10 9 8 5 3 |
| |
ª 10 9 4
© A K Q 9 8 4
¨ 8
§ K Q 6 |
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Welker |
Sver |
Mezey |
Pilipovic |
| |
|
Pass |
1© |
| 2ª |
3¨ |
Pass |
3ª |
| Dble |
5© |
Pass |
6© |
| All Pass |
|
|
|
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Mueller |
Tichy |
Jurisic |
Nyaradi |
| |
|
Pass |
1© |
| 1ª |
2¨ |
2ª |
3© |
| Pass |
4ª |
Pass |
5© |
| Pass |
6© |
All Pass |
|
Both North/South pairs overcame the spade intervention without
too much difficulty. Nikica Sver's jump to 5© focused on her partner's trump holding and
Marina Pilipovic was not hard pressed to bid the slam. Eszter Tichy
preferred to ask for key cards and the response was sufficinet to
allow her too to bid the slam. Croatia picked up an overtrick IMP
when Jacint Welker led a spade and Renata Mueller the ace of
clubs.
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Board 3. Dealer South. E/W Vul.
|
| |
ª 10 9 8 7 3
© J 6 2
¨ 5
§ J 8 7 2 |
ª K 6
© 9 5 4
¨ A Q 8 4 3
§ K Q 10 |
|
ª Q J 5 2
© A K 8 3
¨ 10 9 7
§ 5 3 |
| |
ª A 4
© Q 10 7
¨ K J 6 2
§ A 9 6 4 |
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Welker |
Sver |
Mezey |
Pilipovic |
| |
|
|
1¨ |
| Pass |
Pass |
Dble |
Pass |
| 3NT |
All Pass |
|
|
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Mueller |
Tichy |
Jurisic |
Nyaradi |
| |
|
|
1NT |
| Pass |
2ª |
All Pass |
|
Ibolya Nyaradi's weak no trump and the
2ª response shut the
Croatians out of the auction. Two Spades drifted a couple off
for -100 but that would not matter if Welker could bring home
3NT at the other table.
Sver led the ten of spades, ducked
to the king, and Welker crossed to the ace of hearts to lead
the ¨10. That was
covered by the jack and queen and declarer continued with a
spade to the queen and ace. Pilipovic tried a low diamond at
this point and Welker rose with the king and played a heart to
dummy then the nine of diamonds. Pilipovic covered with the
king, leaving declarer with a blockage. Welker seems to have
lost track of the spot cards now because, rather than crossing
to dummy's seven, she played the eight the four of diamonds.
Pilipovic won her six and cashed the queen of hearts then
tried another low club. Welker didn't like that very much but
after a minute or so of thought she got it right, putting up
the queen and claiming nine tricks; +600 and 11 IMPs to
Hungary. |
|
 Nicika Sver,
Croatia |
|
Board 4. Dealer West. All Vul.
|
| |
ª 7 4
© K J 7 6
¨ 9 5 3 2
§ 10 9 5 |
ª 9
© Q 8 4 2
¨ A K J
§ A Q 8 4 3 |
|
ª J 10 6 3 2
© A 10 5
¨ 10 6
§ K J 6 |
| |
ª A K Q 8 5
© 9 3
¨ Q 8 7 4
§ 7 2 |
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Welker |
Sver |
Mezey |
Pilipovic |
| 1§ |
Pass |
1ª |
Pass |
| 1NT |
Pass |
3NT |
All Pass |
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Mueller |
Tichy |
Jurisic |
Nyaradi |
| 1§ |
Pass |
1ª |
Pass |
| 2© |
Pass |
2ª |
Pass |
| 2NT |
Pass |
3NT |
All Pass |
After a diamond lead to the queen and ace and a heart to the ten,
Mueller had an easy time coming to ten tricks for +630 to Croatia.
Sver led the ten of clubs against Welker, who therefore did not
know that she had three diamond tricks. Declarer won the club in
dummy and played ace and another heart to her queen. Sver won the
king and had the chance to defeat the contract by cashing the ©J then switching to a spade. She
got half way there, finding the spade play immediately. Pilipovic
won the queen of spades and switched to the seven of diamonds.
Welker looked at that for a while and decided that the queen was
likely to be offside. She rose with the ace and cashed her club
winners before exiting with a heart, hoping for an endplay. Of
course, that did not materialise. Sver won the heart and played a
spade and that was one down; -100 and 12 IMPs to Croatia.
|
Board 6. Dealer East. E/W Vul.
|
| |
ª 10 9 7
© K 9 8 3
¨ 10 8 4
§ K Q 7 |
ª K 5 4 3
© 6
¨ A K 6 5 2
§ 10 8 5 |
|
ª Q J 8 6 2
© 7
¨ J 9
§ J 9 6 3 2 |
| |
ª A
© A Q J 10 5 4 2
¨ Q 7 3
§ A 4 |
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Welker |
Sver |
Mezey |
Pilipovic |
| |
|
Pass |
1§ |
| 1NT(i) |
Dble |
2§(ii) |
2© |
| Pass |
4© |
All Pass |
|
| (i) Odd two-suiter |
| (ii) Pass or correct |
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Mueller |
Tichy |
Jurisic |
Nyaradi |
| |
|
Pass |
1§ |
| 1¨ |
Dble |
Pass |
1© |
| Pass |
4© |
Pass |
4ª |
| Pass |
5§ |
Pass |
5© |
| All Pass |
|
|
|
The two strong club auctions were actually almost identical in
effect - as far as 4©. Now,
however, Nyaradi judged to go on while Pilipovic did not. With the
defence playing three rounds of diamonds at both tables, that meant
+420 for Pilipovic but -50 for Nyaradi; 10 IMPs to Croatia.
|
Board 9. Dealer North. E/W Vul.
|
| |
ª Q 9 3 2
© A Q 7
¨ J 9 6 5
§ Q 10 |
ª K J 7 5
© K J 8
¨ K 10 8 4
§ 6 3 |
|
ª A 8 6
© 4 3 2
¨ A Q 7
§ A 9 8 7 |
| |
ª 10 4
© 10 9 6 5
¨ 3 2
§ K J 5 4 2 |
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Welker |
Sver |
Mezey |
Pilipovic |
| |
1NT |
Dble |
2§ |
| Dble |
All Pass |
|
|
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Mueller |
Tichy |
Jurisic |
Nyaradi |
| |
Pass |
1§ |
Pass |
| 1¨ |
Pass |
1NT |
Pass |
| 2NT |
Pass |
3NT |
All Pass |
East/West may have a combined 25-count, but the cards lie very
badly for them and it was no surprise when Iva Jurisic went two down
in her no trump game; -200. When Sver's weak no trump got doubled it
looked as though Croatia could be in line for a big loss on the
board. Pilipovic ran to 2§
and Welker doubled for take-out, left in by Katalin Mezey.
Welker
led a club and Mezey won and returned the suit. Pilipovic won on
table and led a low diamond. Mezey went in with the ace and switched
to a low spade. Welker won the king and switched to the jack of
hearts. Pilipovic put in the queen and, when that held, could have
got out for one off by playing two more rounds of hearts. Of course,
that relies on hearts being 3-3, and Pilipovic preferred a less
committal approach. She played a diamond, which ran to the eight.
Welker returned the ¨10 to
the jack and queen, and Pilipovic ruffed. She drew the trumps,
throwing a spade and a diamond from dummy as Welker pitched two
spades. Now Pilipovic led the ten of hearts, hoping to pin a
doubleton nine. That did not happen, of course, but something just
as good happened when Welker decided not to cover the ten in case
declarer had started with ©109xx. Having won the ten, Pilipovic cashed the
ace of hearts then played the ªQ, pinning the jack. At trick 13, Mezey had to
lead the eight of spades to dummy's nine; just made for +180,
holding the Croatian loss to just a single IMP.
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Board 10. Dealer East. All Vul.
|
| |
ª K Q J 8 7 6
© 10
¨ A K 9
§ Q J 2 |
ª A 10 5 4
© Q 9 7 4
¨ 5 4
§ A K 4 |
|
ª 9 3
© 8 6 3
¨ 8 7 6 3 2
§ 10 9 3 |
| |
ª 2
© A K J 5 2
¨ Q J 10
§ 8 7 6 5 |
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Welker |
Sver |
Mezey |
Pilipovic |
| |
|
Pass |
1© |
| Pass |
1ª |
Pass |
2§ |
| Pass |
2¨ |
Pass |
2NT |
| Pass |
3ª |
Pass |
3NT |
| All Pass |
|
|
|
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Mueller |
Tichy |
Jurisic |
Nyaradi |
| |
|
Pass |
Pass |
| 1§ |
1ª |
Pass |
2© |
| Pass |
2ª |
All Pass |
|
Welker wasted no time in getting her revenge on Pilipovic. The
Hungarian North/South pair stopped off in 2ª, scoring +140. As the cards lie, 3NT looks to
be unbeatable, but Welker found a clever play to give declarer a
losing option. She started with an uninspired low spade, won in
dummy. Back came a second spade honour, which was allowed to hold,
then a third spade, dcelarer throwing two clubs from hand. Welker
won the third spade and could see that she had no legitimate line of
defence. However, declarer did not know that the clubs were dividing
evenly. Welker found the excellent switch to her low club. Dummy won
the queen and Pilipovic had a problem. On the actual lay-out, simply
conceding a spade would see the contract home, but if Welker had a
fourth club, then that would lead to defeat. Pilipovic thought for a
long time then ran the ten of hearts - the correct choice if the
finesse was working and clubs 4-2.
Welker's fine defence had
beaten a cold contract; -100 and 6 IMPs to Hungary instead of 10 to
Croatia.
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Board 12. Dealer West. N/S Vul.
|
| |
ª A K 7
© Q 10 9
¨ A
§ A K J 7 5 4 |
ª 3 2
© A J 8 3 2
¨ K Q J 9 2
§ 8 |
|
ª 10 9 8 6 5
© K 5
¨ 10 8 6 4
§ 10 6 |
| |
ª Q J 4
© 7 6 4
¨ 7 5 3
§ Q 9 3
2 |
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Welker |
Sver |
Mezey |
Pilipovic |
| 1© |
Dble |
Pass |
2§ |
| 3¨ |
3NT |
All Pass |
|
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Mueller |
Tichy |
Jurisic |
Nyaradi |
| 1© |
Dble |
Pass |
2§ |
| 2¨ |
3NT |
Pass |
Pass |
| 4¨ |
5§ |
5¨ |
Pass |
| Pass |
Dble |
All Pass |
|
Welker showed her two-suiter with a jump to 3¨ at her second turn but was then content to
defend 3NT. Mezey led a diamond but Sver had ten on top for
+630.
Mueller only rebid a quite 2¨ but was then not willing to defend, suspecting
that her opponents were about to run a lot of club tricks against
her. Whether or not 4¨ is a
sound call, it was a very successful one. In fact, it could have
been even more successful had Jurisic not had an obvious save over
5§. Five Diamonds doubled
lost the four obvious tricks for -300 and 8 IMPs to Croatia. Of
course, 5§ could have been
defeated by leading three rounds of diamonds for a ruff, but how
could Jurisic know that?
|
Board 13. Dealer North. All
Vul. |
| |
ª J 7
© J 9 4
¨ Q 10 9 8 7 6
§ 8 6 |
ª A Q 9 5
© Q 7 5 2
¨ -
§ Q J 5 4 3 |
|
ª 10 4
© K 8 3
¨ A K J 4 2
§ A 9 7 |
| |
ª K 8 6 3 2
© A 10 6
¨ 5 3
§ K 10 2 |
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Welker |
Sver |
Mezey |
Pilipovic |
| |
Pass |
1NT |
Pass |
| 2§ |
Pass |
3¨ |
Pass |
| 3NT |
All Pass |
|
|
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Mueller |
Tichy |
Jurisic |
Nyaradi |
| |
Pass |
1NT |
Pass |
| 2§ |
Pass |
2¨ |
Pass |
| 2© |
Pass |
3ª |
Pass |
| 3NT |
All Pass |
|
|
Nyaradi led a spade against Jurisic. Declarer ducked that to the
jack and Tichy switched to the nine of hearts, which ran to the
queen. Jurisic passed the queen of clubs, ducked, and continued with
ace and another club to the king. Back came a spade. Jurisic
finessed the queen then cashed the two club winners. On the clubs,
South threw a diamond and a heart. Now Jurisic led a low heart off
the dummy and ducked it to South's bare ace. Jurisic had the rest
now for an excellent +630.
Pilipovic also led a spade and Mezey
also ducked to the jack. Sver, however, returned a spade, declarer
winning the ten. Mezey played a low club to the queen, then a club
to the ace and a third club. Pilipovic won the third club and led a
spade. Mezey finessed and cashed the club winners, but the defence
was in control, both throwing their diamonds away. Mezey cashed the
ace of spades then played a heart to the king and ace. Pilipovic
cashed her long spade then played a heart and Sver's jack was the
setting trick; one down for -100 and 12 IMPs to Croatia. Nicely
defended.
|
Board 18. Dealer East. N/S Vul.
|
| |
ª A K 8
© J 4 3
¨ Q J
§ A Q J 10 7 |
ª Q 7 5
© Q
¨ A K 10 9 76432
§ - |
|
ª 10 9 2
© 10 8 6 5
¨ 5
§ K 9 8 6 3 |
| |
ª J 6 4 3
© A K 9 7 2
¨ 8
§ 5 4 2 |
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Welker |
Sver |
Mezey |
Pilipovic |
| |
|
Pass |
Pass |
| 5¨ |
Dble |
Pass |
5© |
| 6¨ |
Dble |
All Pass |
|
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Mueller |
Tichy |
Jurisic |
Nyaradi |
| |
|
Pass |
Pass |
| 1¨ |
Dble |
Pass |
2¨ |
| 5¨ |
Dble |
All Pass |
|
Having put her opponents under pressure with the 5¨ opening, Welker then made an
undisciplined second bid and went for 500 against a 5© contract that rated to fail.
Double dummy, on the likely defence of two top diamonds, East has to
ruff because he cannot afford to throw a black card - in practice,
of course, declarer would not be likely to find the play of the jack
of spades from hand after a spade pitch. On more normal play, 5© is likely to fail because the 5-0
club break leaves declarer a trick short.
In the other room,
Mueller preferred to start with a one-level opening then pre-empted
on finding that her partner was weak. That made it easy for
North/South to settle for the penalty, but -300 was worth 5 IMPs to
Croatia.
The final score was a 57-31 IMP win for Croatia,
converting to 20-10 VPs. |