France vs South Africa

Venice Cup Quarter-final 1

If there was a surprise qualifier in the Venice Cup then it was South Africa. They started their quarter-final match with France 16 IMPs down, courtesy of a heavy defeat in the round robin match between the two teams.

The first set of the quarter-final started quietly and the score had only reached 7-2 to France after seven deals. Then South Africa took the lead in the set:

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

West	North	East	South
Mansell	D'Ovidio	Modlin	Bessis
Pass	Pass	1§	Pass
1¨	Pass	2¨	2©
2ª	3©	Pass	Pass
4¨	All Pass

West	North	East	South
Willard	Swartz	Cronier	Fihrer
Pass	Pass	1¨	2©
3¨	3©	All Pass

Joan Fihrer came in immediately with the South hand and a simple competitive auction led to her declaring 3©. Though the heart finesse failed, the favourable spade position meant that nine tricks were not a problem; +140.

Veronique Bessis only introduced her hearts at her second turn. Catherine D'Ovidio competed to 3©, but Petra Mansell was in a bidding mood and competed aggressively to 4¨. D'Ovidio led a low trump and Mansell put in the queen then led a spade to the jack and queen. Back came the nine of clubs, covered all round, and Mansell drew the missing trumps with the aid of repeated finesses. Next she cashed the clubs and, on the last one, bared her king of spades, before exiting with a spade. Mansell had convinced herself that the two major-suit aces were offside and she was hoping for some defensive error. Well, she got one to allow her to recover when both aces were actually onside. Had D'Ovidio kept two spades, she would have had the ª10 for the last trick, but she bared it to keep two hearts and had to give the last trick to the ©K; +130 and 7 IMPs to South Africa.

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

West	North	East	South
Mansell	D'Ovidio	Modlin	Bessis
	1¨	2¨	Pass
3§	All Pass

In the Closed Room, Benedicte Cronier overcalled 1ª and was left to play there, making nine tricks for +140. In the Open Room, Merle Modlin made a two -suited overcall, showing the black suits, and Mansell played in the 5-3 club fit on the lead of the queen of diamonds. She won and played the ©Q to the ace and back came a second diamond. I would have expected declarer to play two rounds of spades now but Mansell instead tried a low club off the dummy, her ten losing to the queen. It looked as though Mansell was in trouble now but she recovered well. D'Ovidio played a diamond and Mansell ruffed high in dummy, Bessis pitching a spade. Mansell played ace and another spade to D'Ovidio's king and back came a heart to the jack and king. Mansell cashed three hearts and threw all dummy's spades away, then ruffed the last heart with dummy's jack and finessed her §7; just made for +110 but 1 IMP to France.

Board 11. Dealer South. None Vul.
	ª K Q 9 8 6 © Q J 5 3 ¨ 3 § J 10 9
ª J 5 3 © 10 9 8 2 ¨ 7 2 § Q 8 7 4		ª A 7 © A K 6 4 ¨ A 9 § A K 6 5 2
	ª 10 4 2 © 7 ¨ K Q J 10 8 6 5 4 § 3

Pre-empting to the limit paid off in a big way on this deal. In the Closed Room, Joan Fihrer opened only 3¨ on the South cards - would 4¨ have been natural? - and the French pair coped effortlessly with the pressure. Cronier doubled in fourth seat and cuebid 4¨ over Sylvie Willard's 3© response. When Willard could only sign off in 4©, Cronier called it a day; +420.

On vugraph, Bessis opened 4¨ and that ran round to Modlin, who doubled.. It was impossible for a player who had made a fourth-seat double to pass her partner's 4© response - after all, two queens could be sufficient to produce a playable slam - and Modlin went on with a 5¨ cuebid. Mansell signed off in 5© at just under the speed of light and played there on a diamond lead. She won the ace of diamonds, cashed the ace of hearts, then thought for a few seconds and, with a visible shrug, continued with the king of hearts. Declarer could eventually ruff the diamond loser in hand but had to lose two trumps and a spade for down one; -50 and 10 IMPs to France.

Board 14. Dealer East. None Vul.
	ª Q J 8 © 10 7 6 ¨ K Q J 10 8 6 5 § -
ª A 5 3 2 © 9 5 3 2 ¨ A 7 § Q 3 2		ª 9 7 © A Q 4 ¨ 9 4 3 2 § K 10 8 6
	ª K 10 6 4 © K J 8 ¨ - § A J 9 7 5 4

Fihrer/Swartz played a peaceful 2¨, making nine tricks for +110. Bessis/D'Ovidio were more optimistic, bidding the North/South cards: 1§ - 1¨ - 1ª - 3¨ - 3NT, where we believe 3¨ to have been forcing. Mansell led the five of hearts.

Everything lies very favourably for declarer but the defence has one chance to break the contract. If East rises with the ace of hearts and sees the fall of the eight from declarer, she should be able to read her partner's lead as being from four small cards. A heart return is not good enough as the defence can only come to three aces plus the long heart. However, what if East switches to a low club.? Declarer cannot rise with the ace as the defence can then cash two clubs to go with their three aces, so she must put in the nine or jack. So West will win the queen of clubs and can now switch back to hearts for an eventual one down.

Alas, Modlin did not pass the first hurdle because she put in the queen at trick one and Bessis won the king. She played a spade to the queen then the ¨K, pitching a club as Mansell won. Mansell did the best she could by switching to a low club for the king and ace then went up with the ace on Bessis's low spade play and led the two of hearts to the ace. Declarer was favourite to get it right if Modlin returned a club now but in practice she played a heart and Bessis had the rest for +430 and 8 IMPs to France.

Bessis/D'Ovidio bid and made a vulnerable game on the next board, missed at the other table, and the set ended with France ahead by 55-11, including the carry-over score.