Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Just about every bridge player over forty has read Victor Mollo’s
Bridge in the Menagerie, a book that is on any list of the all-
time top ten on the game. Towards the end of his life, Mollo
continued to write stories about the same well-loved characters
(the Hideous Hog, the Rueful Rabbit, Oscar the Owl, and the
rest), but they appeared in various magazines around the world,
and if you weren’t a subscriber, you didn’t get to read them.
Tips on Bidding
Mike Lawrence
BRIDGE
MAGAZINE
undertook a survey in an effort to determine
the best bridge books of all time. These were
the top ten (in descending order) as rated by
expert players:
The Expert Game by Terence Reese
Why You Lose at Bridge by S. J. Simon
Adventures in Card Play by Géza Ottlik and Hugh Kelsey
Killing Defence at Bridge by Hugh Kelsey
Bridge in the Menagerie by Victor Mollo
Right Through the Pack by Robert Darvas and Norman de V.
Hart
Watson on the Play of the Hand at Contract Bridge by Louis H.
44 BAKER STREET Watson
LONDON W1U 7RT Card Play Technique or the Art of Being Lucky by Victor Mollo
Tel: 020-7486 8222 and Nico Gardener
Fax: 020-7486 3355
email: info@bridgeshop.com
Bridge With the Blue Team by Pietro Forquet
http://www.bridgeshop.com Reese on Play: An Introduction to Good Play by Terence Reese
Editor: Four of these books also appeared in the list as rated by non-experts
Mark Horton
Assistant Editors: (again in descending order):
Sandra Landy
Neil Rosen Watson on the Play of the Hand at Contract Bridge by Louis H.
Christina Lund Madsen Watson
Advertising: Points Schmoints! Bergen’s Winning Bridge Secrets by Marty Bergen
Matthew Read How to Read Your Opponents Cards by Mike Lawrence
Photographer: Why You Lose at Bridge by S. J. Simon
Ron Tacchi
Proofreaders: Killing Defence at Bridge by Hugh Kelsey
Danny Roth 25 Bridge Conventions You Should Know by Barbara Seagram
Monica Kummel and Marc Smith
Typesetter: Card Play Technique or the Art of Being Lucky by Victor Mollo
Ron Tacchi
BRIDGE Magazine is published
and Nico Gardener
monthly. Adventures in Card Play by Géza Ottlik and Hugh Kelsey
Online Subscriptions: Standard Bridge Bidding for the 21st Century by Max Hardy
1 year: £19.95
Individual Issue: The Secrets of Winning Bridge by Jeff Rubens
£2.00
Distributors
CHESS & BRIDGE LTD.
Many outstanding books have been published in the intervening
44 Baker Street
London W1U 7RT U.K.
period - can any of them find a way into these charts?
Views expressed in this publication are not
necessarily those of the Editor. Editorial Send your list of the top ten books (in either category) to me at:
contributions will be published at the
Editor’s discretion and may be shortened
markhorton007@hotmail.com
if space is limited.
No parts of this publication may be
reproduced without the prior express
The results will be published later this year.
permission of the publishers. All rights
reserved. 2015
Olympic Dream
The World Bridge Federation has been invited by the organisers
of the 2020 Olympics Games in Tokyo to submit an application
for bridge to be included in the Games.
Sporting Chance
Sports minister, Tracey Crouch MP, has spoken on the benefits of playing bridge.
When asked by fellow MP Bob Blackman for an update regarding the status of bridge, and other
mind sports, as sports, she replied:
‘I recognise that many of these games are enjoyed by many people and that the mental agility
required in this activity can help with conditions and bring many health and wellbeing benefits’.
She added that approaches for funding support can be made to the departments of education or
health.
In This Issue
I 6 Problem Corner — Ron Tacchi & Patrick Jourdain. GI 91 The Rainbow Bridge Club — Alex Adamson &
I 7 Spring into Action — The editor on the 2015 Harry Smith
Spring Fours I 95 Test Your Defence — Julian Pottage
GI 24 Bumblepuppy Days. — Richard Fleet reviews I 98 Great Hands from the Past — Richard Fleet
Julian Laderman’s book I 102 The Abbot’s Brilliant Switch — David Bird
I 25 Solution to Non-Prize Problem I 107 Solution to Test Your Defence
GI 27 A Letter from Sharm El Sheikh — Our Layout I 108 Partnership Profile — Mark Horton
Editor reports on the African Bridge Federation
Championships GI 115 MVP — Katie Thorpe reports on the 2015
Canadian Seniors Championship
GI 87 This Month’s Video Page
I 122 Marks & Comments — Alan Mould
Corner ♣ KQ732 S ♣ 10 9 8
North shows a two-suited minor hand and as East you
sponsored by come to rest in 6♥. South leads a spade. Trumps are
2-1, how do you rate your chances?
THE ORION PUBLISHING GROUP
100% – Do you need me to explain further?
Master Bridge Series South is obviously void in clubs else he would have led
one. Not surprising as you have been told North has a
minor two-suiter. You will always make your contract
Non-Prize Problem See Page 25 if North is 5-5 in the minors or his shape is 2245.
How should South play Four Spades? There was no Win the opening lead with the ace and draw trumps in
opposition bidding. West leads a heart. two rounds. Cash the ace and king of diamonds discard-
ing a spade and then ruff a spade. For the denouement
♠ AJ3 lead a club towards the king. If North wins this he is
♥ 5 thrown in to give you a ruff and discard or to lead away
♦ KJ4 from his jack of clubs. Thus North ducks and you adopt
♣ A 10 9 8 6 5 Plan B and lead your last spade from dummy and dis-
card a club from hand. South is now in the pickle that
♠ 10 8 7 4 2 North avoided. He can only lead a pointed suit giving
♥ A63 you a ruff and discard and thus bringing home your
♦ A532 contract.
♣ 2
Why ‘Caramel Cake’? – Well caramel cake is men-
tioned in the article about the African Bridge Federation
Championships in this magazine and the hand was one
that actually happened in Sharm El Sheikh. If you had
read all the bulletins from that tournament you would
Email your answers to BMProb@vaupillon.com or send already be cognisant of the answer.
on a postcard to The Editor, Bridge Magazine, 44 Baker
Street, London, W1U 7RT. Entries must be received before
30th June. The first correct solution out of the hat will
receive £15 of BRIDGE Magazine book vouchers.
You can gauge the quality of the field for the 2015 Spring Fours by looking at the top ten seeds:
Allfrey Alexander Allfrey, Andrew Robson, David Bakhshi, David Gold, Tony Forrester,
Zia Mahmood
Hinden Frances Hinden, Jeffrey Allerton, Jon Cooke, Graham Osborne
Green Ben Green, Gunnar Hallberg, John Holland, John Matheson, Alan Mould
de Botton Janet de Botton, Thomas Charlsen, Thor Erik Hoftaniska, Artur Malinowski,
Nick Sanqvist, Tom Townsend
Gillis Simon Gillis, Boye Brogeland, Espen Lindqvist, Erik Sælensminde
Penfold Sandra Penfold, Brian Senior, Nevena Senior, Kalin Karaivanov, Rumen Trendafilov
Rosen Neil Rosen, Simon Cope, Peter Crouch, Martin Jones
Vitas Vitas Vainikonis, Lotan Fisher, Ron Schwartz, Dror Padon, Waseem Naqvi,
Wojtek Olanski
Kent Alistair Kent, Rossen Gunev, Andrew McIntosh, Ivan Nanev, Stefan Skorchev
Black Andrew Black, Dennis Bilde, Morten Bilde, Phil King, Derek Patterson, Willie
Whittaker
and then appreciating that many of the teams below them contained numerous World, European
and National champions.
The seeding worked pretty well, with all
the top ten surviving the opening two rounds.
Green lost a life in Round 3, as did Gillis,
Rosen & Kent. Vitas and Black lost in Round
4, de Botton and Penfold in Round 5, while
in the once-defeated pool Black & Rosen
lost for a second time and were eliminated.
In Round 6 Hinden won the match between
the two undefeated teams against Allfrey 52-48.
Meanwhile Gillis, Kent & Green bowed out.
With Hinden getting a break, Penfold &
de Botton left at the quarter-final stage.
In the semi-finals Allfrey went down to
Vitas, 55-47.
Meanwhile Hinden was engaged in a
titanic struggle with Mossop (David Mos-
sop, Jason & Justin Hackett, Alex Hydes,
David Price, Colin Simpson). Hinden trailed
11-13 after 8 boards, then 35-46 and 65-71.
After 7 of the last eight boards the score had
advanced to 69-78. Colin Simpson
Justin Hackett went for the most aggressive action and when West chanced his arm with a dou-
ble he hit the jackpot.
East led the king of hearts and switched to the two of clubs, declarer winning in hand and
playing the jack of diamonds. West won and returned the eight of clubs, East ruffing and return-
ing the five of spades. West cashed a couple of tricks in the suit and then played his last club, five
down, -1100 and 15 match-winning IMPs to Hinden.
(As the undefeated team they would have been entitled to extra boards had they been behind
at the end.)
You can replay all the deals from the semi -final:
Hands 1-8: http://tinyurl.com/p8gp27b
Hands 9-16: http://tinyurl.com/nugugoj
Hands 17-24: http://tinyurl.com/ncfsjn6
Hands 25-32: http://tinyurl.com/nfoobxt
The purists would be shocked by North’s choice of opening bid, but this type of action tends to
be a consistent points winner.
For my money East should have passed the double. His cards were all defensive in nature and
there was nothing to suggest that his side could make eleven tricks. If they could it was likely they
would do well in defence.
South started with the ace and queen of clubs and North overtook it and switched to the jack
of diamonds, South taking the ace for one down.
Closed Room
West North East South
Osborne Schwartz Hinden Fisher
– Pass Pass 3♦
Double Pass 3♠ All Pass
Jeffrey Allerton
I cannot enlighten you as to the precise meaning of North’s 2NT, other than to say it was some
type of game try. I can understand why South bid 3NT with his flat hand, but North’s failure to
convert it to 4♠ is surprising.
East led the five of hearts and declarer won with the king and played the ace of spades and a
spade, winning with dummy’s jack when East ducked. The queen of diamonds lost to East’s king
and the heart return left declarer with only eight tricks, -100 and 13 IMPs to Hinden, who led
24-12 at the end of the first set.
You can replay deals 1-8 at: http://tinyurl.com/ovxch37
Lotan Fisher
When East mysteriously declined to overcall 1♠ South was able to bid the suit and North jumped
to 3NT to show a strong club suit.
East led the ace of spades and when West followed with the eight he catastrophically switched
to the ace of hearts and a heart. Declarer could win and force out the ace of clubs for +600.
If East switches to the seven of hearts then West will return a heart when in with the ace of
clubs and the defenders will score two hearts, two spades and a club.
Closed Room
West North East South
Osborne Schwartz Hinden Fisher
– 1♣ 1♠ Pass
Pass Double Pass 2♦
Pass 3♣ All Pass
East led the king of spades and switched to the ten of clubs. When declarer pitched a spade West
followed with the two and declarer won with the jack and continued with the king of clubs. West
ducked that, won the next club and with East discarding the nine of spades, switched to the six
of hearts.
(When dummy has a worthless holding in the suit you are attacking many players lead fourth-
best with a high honour, otherwise leading second highest.)
East took declarer’s queen with the ace and had only to return a heart to ensure the demise of
the contract. When she tried to cash the ace of spades declarer could ruff and play a club. West
won and played a heart, but declarer could win, daw the last trump and claim,+110 but 10 IMPs
to Hinden.
Facing a passed partner West opted for a tactical multi rather than 1♠. When North overcalled
South did not bother to look for a heart fit.
East led the six of diamonds and when West produced the king declarer must have feared the
worst. When West switched to the six of spades the situation was clear and declarer won with
dummy’s jack and played a heart to the queen and a heart back to dummy’s ace. When the jack
appeared it was clear that West was 6-2-1-4 so declarer played a club, no doubt intending to put
in the ten.
However, West went in with the queen and declarer won and only now played off the last two
hearts. On the first of these West parted with a spade. On the second he fatally threw another
spade. Now declarer could play a spade and when West won and returned a spade declarer could
win and return the ten of clubs to endplay West.
If West throws a club, declarer will be forced to try a low club from dummy, but West wins
with the jack, cashes the ace of spades and then exits with his last club to endplay whichever hand
declarer chooses to win in.
I’m surprised West got this wrong, as by this stage it is pretty clear who has what.
You may have spotted that declarer mistimed the play.
Cashing two more hearts before playing a club forces West to pitch two spades. Then a club to
the queen and king is followed by the king of spades. If West wins and exits with a spade declarer
wins and plays the ten of clubs. West can win and cash a spade, but must then lead into dummy’s
club tenace.
When East opened West’s 2♠ promised the equivalent of a weak two in spades.
That left North to choose between a conservative Pass, a Double or 3♣. He opted for the low
North led the four of clubs and declarer won in hand, cashed dummy’s top spades pitching a heart
and then took the ace of clubs followed by the jack of spades, North ruffing as declarer got rid of
his second heart. Nine tricks were in the bag, +110.
North led the four of diamonds and declarer took South’s queen with the king and played a club
to the ace. He ended up with 12 tricks, +490 and 9 well-deserved IMPs.
Dealer East. E/W Vul.
♠ Q54
♥ 10 8 3 2
♦ AK
♣ K852
♠ A J 10 9 3 N ♠8
♥ K94 ♥ AQ 7 6
♦ Q763 W E ♦ 9854
♣A S ♣ 10 9 7 6
♠ K762
♥ J5
♦ J 10 2
♣ QJ43
Open Room
West North East South
Olanski Osborne Vainikonis Hinden
– – Pass Pass
1♠ All Pass
North led the ace of diamonds and continued with the king before switching to the eight of
hearts. Declarer put up dummy’s ace and ran the eight of spades to North’s queen. He took the
heart return in hand and played ace of spades, ten of spades, pitching a diamond and a club from
dummy. South won and tried the jack of diamonds but declarer won and claimed the rest, +140.
Beer card aficionados will observe that declarer’s last winner was the seven of diamonds.
Closed Room
West North East South
Cooke Schwartz Allerton Fisher
– – Pass Pass
1♠ Double Pass 1NT
All Pass
A diamond lead would have put the defenders one step ahead, but naturally West led the jack of
spades and declarer won with the king and played the three of clubs. When West’s ace appeared
the defenders had no way to prevent declarer taking seven tricks, +90 and 6 IMPs.
South led the king of spades and switched to her trump. Declarer won with the ace, unblocked
the ace of hearts, cashed the ace of diamonds, ruffed a diamond, pitched a couple of diamonds
on the top hearts and claimed, +550.
Closed Room
West North East South
Cooke Schwartz Allerton Fisher
Pass Pass 1♣* 1♠
Double* 2♥* 2NT* 3♠
All Pass
1♣ Could be a doubleton, might have five diamonds
2♥ Spade raise
2NT Good/bad 2NT, weaker than bidding three of a suit
If West had bid 4♣ East might have gone on to game, but West was still not sure that his partner
had real clubs. Perhaps he might have doubled 3♠?
The defenders collected a diamond, a club, three hearts, a diamond ruff and a trump, which
adds up to three down, -150, but 9 IMPs to Vitas which meant the match was tied at 47 across
going into the final set.
Remember, Hinden was unbeaten, so even if they lost they could claim the extra boards.
You can replay deals 17-24 at: http://tinyurl.com/qj7jcbw
After a flat part-score N/S held ♠KQ8 ♥AJ763 ♦A10 ♣Q73 opposite ♠A7 ♥K9 ♦KQ4 ♣A109542.
Both pairs reached 6♣ and with the ♣K singleton onside they took all the tricks.
Both teams reached a so-so 3NT that went two down and then Vitas took the lead when Aller-
ton opened 1♣ on ♠K86 ♥A62 ♦Q62 ♣Q942 and his partner responded 1NT with ♠1093 ♥K83
♦743 ♣K1086 which ended the auction.
North led the queen of hearts from ♠J742 ♥QJ94 ♦AJ10 ♣J3 and when declarer failed to
locate the jack of clubs he finished four down, -200, while N/S made 1NT +1 at the other table.
East led the ace of hearts and declarer ruffed in dummy, played a club to the ace and a club. East
won and switched to the seven of diamonds and West won and rather than cash the ace of dia-
monds tried for a trump promotion by playing a third club. Declarer ruffed with the ten of spades,
ruffed a heart and could draw trumps and give up a diamond for ten tricks, -100.
Could E/W have found a route to 6♥?
I doubt it, but West could have bid 4NT over 4♠, suggesting values in both minors along with
a hand that expected to make 5♥ (whereas a direct 5♥ might be construed as sacrificial). Might
East, envisaging a spade void in partner’s hand, have drawn the right inference?
Closed Room
West North East South
Cooke Schwartz Allerton Fisher
– 1♠ Pass 1NT*
2♥ 3NT 4♥ 4♠
5♥ Pass Pass 5♠
Double All Pass
1NT Semi-forcing
East led the ace of hearts and declarer ruffed, played a spade to the ten (West pitching the two of
hearts) ruffed a heart, played a club to the ace, drew trumps and played one more spade. At this
point, West, down to ♥8 ♦AQ10 ♣KJ had only to discard his heart or the ten of diamonds to be
sure of +500, but he opted for the jack of clubs. Declarer could exit with a club and although West
could exit with a heart declarer could ruff and endplay West with a diamond, escaping for -200.
That gave Hinden 3 IMPs and the lead by one.
Taking a leaf from Mike Lawrence’s book North overcalled on his four-card suit.
East led the king of diamonds and declarer won with dummy’s ace and played the ten of clubs.
East won with the ace, and realising his partner must have either the jack of diamonds or a sin-
gleton, exited with the two of diamonds.
West won with the jack, cashed the king of clubs and continued with a third club to dummy’s
queen. Declarer pitched a heart, played a heart to the ace and exited with a heart. When East
played the ten of diamonds West ruffed with the jack of spades and declarer overruffed and played
a heart. East ruffed in with the seven of spades but declarer overuffed with dummy’s queen and
played a diamond.
If West ruffed declarer would overruff, cash the ace of spades and play a heart, so he tried dis-
carding a club. Declarer ruffed and played a heart. East could ruff in front of dummy but that
left declarer with two master trumps, +110.
The third club was a mistake. If West exits with a trump declarer will run it to dummy’s queen
and duck a heart. He ruffs East’s diamond return and plays ace of hearts and a heart, but East ruffs
in front of dummy and plays a fourth diamond enabling West to discard his last heart, ensuring
one more trick for the defence.
Closed Room
West North East South
Cooke Schwartz Allerton Fisher
– – 1♦ Pass
1♥ Pass 1NT All Pass
South elected to lead the two of spades and North won with the king and returned the five. South
won with the queen and belatedly switched to the queen of clubs. Declarer won with the ace,
played a diamond to the jack and a diamond to the queen and ace.
South exited with his remaining spade and North took two tricks in the suit (declarer throwing
N/S were playing Walsh, but that convention (which bypasses diamonds when responder is too
weak to force to game over 1♣) would not normally be applied here.
Here too East led a heart and declarer won and ran the seven of diamonds – +490 and 2 IMPs.
In a match where both sides had missed a number of opportunities Hinden had prevailed 55-51.
The Spring Fours is rightly regarded as a tough event to win. To do it and remain undefeated
is a fine achievement – to do so playing four-handed is exceptional.
You can replay deals 25-32 at: http://tinyurl.com/ow8wnkj
Popular point count and losing trick count methods are examined and
tested using a database of over 121,000 hands from championship play
and practice matches. Improvements to the best methods are introduced
based on the results.
:ŽŝŶƵƐĨŽƌƚŚĞĨƵůůĐŽŶŐƌĞƐƐĂƚƌŝŐŚƚŽŶϮϬϭϱĂŶĚŐĞƚάϱϬŽīƚŚĞĨƵůůĐŽŶŐƌĞƐƐĂƚĂƐƚďŽƵƌŶĞϮϬϭϲ͘
T his is a bridge book with a difference. There are only three hands included (and one of
these appears twice) and none of them are bridge hands. In spite of the lack of hands, or
maybe because of it, this is the most interesting book that I have read in a long time.
Julian Laderman is an American professor of mathematics who is a keen bridge player and
writer. His book details the evolution of bridge from whist, and even before, through the earliest
form of “bridge whist”, which became popular at the end of the nineteenth century, to the game
that we know today.
The book is written in a self-deprecating, ironic style which I would have thought more charac-
teristic of a British author than an American (Eddie Kantar is a laudable exception to the general
rule). The author has gone to considerable trouble to research his sources and has made a com-
prehensive on-line bibliography available.
I had previously been unaware of all the antecedents to bridge. Laderman notes that all the key
features that differentiated bridge (in its earliest form) from whist were known in other games of
the whist family. The most important of these features were: the ability to play in no-trumps; a
form of bidding; and the display of a dummy hand (until the late 1870s, generally spelt dumby).
The key difference was that bridge incorporated all of these features, as well as the ability to increase
the stakes for which the game was played by doubling and redoubling – in the original form of
bridge whist, there was no limit.
I thoroughly recommend this book to all readers, not merely to those sad few who, like your
reviewer, are interested in the history of the game. The standard of the research and quality of
the writing are both extremely high. However, there is one surprising omission: there is no men-
tion at all of the major development that occurred in organized bridge in 1932 – in this year, the
first official international bridge event was held, the inaugural European Championship. Perhaps
cynically, I suspect that this might be because this was not an American initiative. Although the
book mentions developments in other parts of the world, the history of the game in the twenti-
eth century (the author’s stopping point is 1948) is overwhelmingly that of bridge in the USA.
For the benefit of those readers who have not seen it, this is the famous James Clay Vienna
Coup hand first published in 1864. The original version did not specify the spot cards and the
ones shown below are as specified in George Coffin’s Endplays in Bridge.
♠ AQ
♥2
♦ AQ7643
♣ AKQ3
♠ 987542 N ♠ K6
♥ 84 ♥ 10 9 7 6 5
♦ K9 W E ♦ J 10 8
♣ J 10 9 S ♣ 865
♠ J 10 3
♥ AKQJ3
♦ 52
♣ 742
W here in France is Sharm El Sheikh? I hear you cry. As I explained to my grandson “It is
in Egypt, where the Mummys come from.” Slightly confused young grandson proudly
announced “Papi is going to make Mummy a caramel cake.” Hopefully he is now disa-
bused of that notion and understands that at the beginning of May I took off to Sharm El Sheikh
to produce the bulletins for the Eighth African Bridge Federation Championships. These would
not only decide the champions of Africa in the Open, Women and Seniors categories but two
places in each category were available in Chennai for the Bermuda Bowl, Venice Cup and the
d’Orsi Trophy, so there was lots to play for. Incidentally talking of grandchildren, a certain royal
personage had a granddaughter delivered the same day day as I was delivered of a granddaughter,
surely a favourable omen for her. Well done Niki and Christopher.
This is the start of a few bridge travels for your layout editor. At the beginning of June he is off
to the Middle East again, this time Amman in Jordan for the BFAME Championships. In July he
will be popping up at the Inaugural Dublin Summer Congress followed in August by the Sum-
mer Congress in La Baule (finally somewhere in France), well worth a visit as there is €50,000 in
prizes plus additional cash prizes for overseas players. Then as the year draws to a close, a second
visit to Madeira beckons for their International Festival at the beginning of November.
Sharm El Sheikh is a resort on the South Eastern tip of South Sinai Egyptian peninsular at the
Northern-most point of the Red Sea. Normal highs are round 28-31 Celsius at the beginning of
May. This year, however temperatures are breaching 35 and not falling below 25 overnight, not
quite the same as Vaupillon. I had always assumed it to be flat desert but it is surprisingly moun-
tainous, not that I had much chance to leave the resort. The first match started at 9.45 in the
morning and the final match was scheduled to end at 8.00 in the evening and then the bulletin
has to be finalised and printed. The resort hotel in which I stayed is a few hundred metres from
the Red Sea and has its own pool complex. The various hotels surround ‘Soho Square’ where there
is a giant stage with free entertainment every night and many places for ‘refreshment’ and inter-
national restaurants. My room was all of two minutes walk from the playing area and my desk.
Several teams did not come to Egypt, some said it was the perceived security situation. I personally
felt safer there than most other
parts of the globe and the wel-
come from the Egyptian Bridge
Federation was warm and hos-
pitable; those who did not come
missed out.
I shall concentrate on the
Open event as this was where
there was most competition.
Four teams were contesting for
two places in Chennai: Egypt,
South Africa, Tunisia and a
young team from Botswana.
It was played as a quintuple
Round Robin, three twenty-
board matches each day View from my office - an editor’s life is a hard one
On the lead of the ace of diamonds declarer had only to find the club ace onside for his contract.
Closed Room
West North East South
Noshy Fick Ahmed Stephens
– 1♣ Pass 1♥*
Pass 1♠* Pass 2♣
Pass 2♦ Pass 2♠
All Pass
Here South responded to the systemic 1♣ with a transfer to spades. Neither partner deemed
themselves strong enough to try for game and so subsided in a part-score and made the same ten
tricks but lost 6 IMPs.
Here East’s pre-empt with West’s support managed to silence North/South who are cold for a
spade game - another eleven-count opposite an eleven-count. I confess that with the South hand
I would have entered the fray – you are not dealt two five card majors to sit there and say noth-
ing. The defence lost a trick in the play so the contract drifted one off for -50.
Closed Room
West North East South
Noshy Fick Ahmed Stephens
– – 3NT Pass
5♣ Pass Pass Double
Pass 5♠ All Pass
Here East was more aggressive with an opening 3NT and West tried to crowd the opposition. It
had the opposite effect for South now sprung back to life with a double and North elected to try
for game and was rewarded when 5♠ came home without declarer having to break into a sweat.
Board 3. Dealer South. E/W Vul.
♠ Q 10 5 4 2
♥ J42
♦ K 10 7
♣ 83
♠ AK N ♠ 9876
♥ AQ 6 ♥ K7
♦ AQ 9 8 6 W E ♦ J542
♣ A6 2 S ♣ Q J 10
♠ J3
♥ 10 9 8 5 3
♦3
♣ K9754
29 July 2015 BRIDGE Magazine
Intermediate
Egypt gained an overtrick IMP when they made 3NT+3 after North led a club. Neither pair made
any effort towards bidding the excellent slam – this was to become a theme of this set about good
and bad slams and whether they were bid and whether they could, or should, be made.
Board 4. Dealer West. All Vul.
♠ K83
♥ AQJ86
♦ AK92
♣A
♠J N ♠ A 10 6 5 2
♥ 10 2 ♥ 753
♦ Q J 10 8 7 5 W E ♦3
♣ J876 S ♣ 10 9 5 3
♠ Q974
♥ K94
♦ 64
♣ KQ42
Open Room
West North East South
Grunder El-Ahmedy Kaprey Fattah
Pass 1♥ Pass 2♥
Pass 2♠ Pass 3♠
Pass 6♥ All Pass
Looking at the North South cards in isolation you most definitely want to be in 6♥ but the
unkind spade break means that the slam is slated to be defeated, and after East led his ace that
was the result.
Closed Room
West North East South
Noshy Fick Ahmed Stephens
Pass 1♥ Pass 2♥
Pass 2♠ Pass 4♥
Pass 4NT Pass 5♣*
Pass 5♥* All Pass
How or why North/South stayed out of the slam is a mystery to me and my fellow viewers in
the VuGraph, however justice was about to be wreaked when East made the lead of his single-
ton diamond. Declarer made the fatal mistake of not unblocking the clubs and drawing trumps,
a manoeuvre I was taught at my mother’s knee (I was a short child) and when declarer played a
spade the defence started a crossruff and declarer swiftly went from a possible +1 to -2 and a loss
of three IMPs and the need to wipe the egg from his face.
Another excellent slam which both pairs were good enough to bid. Unfortunately the cards did not
cooperate. With neither declarer having the gift of second sight the contract failed at both tables.
West was eager to get his name into the bulletin as he chose the spectacular lead of the jack of
clubs, unfortunately this was not the time for heroics, any card, other than a club would have left
declarer with no resource given accurate defence.
Closed Room
West North East South
Noshy Fick Ahmed Stephens
– Pass Pass 1♥
Double 2♦ Pass 4♥
All Pass
And indeed in the Closed Room. Voila! The Egyptian defender led a small spade and declarer
failed by two tricks, so eleven IMPs to Egypt.
Board 12. Dealer West. N/S Vul.
♠ Q8
♥Q
♦ J5432
♣ AJ654
♠ A9 3 N ♠ 62
♥ A5 2 ♥ K J 10 9 7 6 3
♦ AK W E ♦6
♣ KQ732 S ♣ 10 9 8
♠ K J 10 7 5 4
♥ 84
♦ Q 10 9 8 7
♣—
Both teams subsided in 4♥. Again apart from the way that the dealer arranged the club suit, you
would have wanted to be in 6♥, so were both teams lucky in avoiding the slam? Well that depends,
if East is the declarer then the contract can always be made. Let us assume that South kicks off
with a spade then declarer wins in dummy, cashes the ace and king of diamonds discarding a
spade from hand, ruffs a spade and then cashes the ace and king of trumps. Now he leads a club
towards the queen, what is North to do? If he takes the trick he either gives a ruff and discard or
has to lead a club into the tenace, so he ducks but now declarer plucks a second arrow from his
quiver and leads the spade nine discarding a club from hand. It is now South’s turn to be discom-
fited, he has to return a pointed card which declarer ruffs in dummy and parts with the losing
club. A pretty play problem as you will have seen last month.
Board 14. Dealer East. None Vul.
♠ J62
♥ KJ742
♦ J54
♣ 10 8
♠ AK 9 4 N ♠ 10 8 7 3
♥A ♥ Q 10
♦ AQ 3 W E ♦ K 10 9 7
♣ AK 7 5 3 S ♣ Q94
♠ Q5
♥ 98653
♦ 862
♣ J62
Open Room
West North East South
Grunder El-Ahmedy Kaprey Fattah
– – Pass Pass
2♣* Pass 2♦* Pass
2♥* Pass 2♠* Pass
2NT* Pass 3♣* Pass
3♦* Pass 3♥* Pass
3♠ Pass 4♦* Pass
4♥* Double 4♠* Pass
6♠ All Pass
Both teams bid adequately but as you will no doubt notice there are three grand slams possible,
7♣, 7NT and 7♦, in the first two you trivially squeeze North between his third spade and the king
of hearts. In 7♦ you need to ruff a heart high and then take a finesse against the jack of diamonds
Board 15. Dealer South. N/S Vul.
♠ KJ3
♥ J542
♦—
♣ KQ9654
♠ A2 N ♠ 654
♥ 9873 ♥ Q6
♦ K J 10 5 4 W E ♦ A9 8 6 2
♣ J8 S ♣ A 10 2
♠ Q 10 9 8 7
♥ A K 10
♦ Q73
♣ 73
Open Room
West North East South
Grunder El-Ahmedy Kaprey Fattah
– – – Pass
Pass 1♣ 1♦ 1♠
3♦ All Pass
Having noted the aggressive bidding behaviour of the players I was surprised when South passed
initially and then went quietly over 3♦ after his partner had opened the bidding. Declarer made
his contract for the loss of a spade, two hearts and a club. South must have thought a few IMPs
were going astray when it becomes apparent that North/South are cold for eleven tricks in spades.
Here North managed to pre-empt his partner out of any chance of finding the game but West’s
intervention allowed South to venture a spade bid which closed the auction. Declarer lost his way
a little but made nine tricks for 140 and six IMPs.
Board 16. Dealer West. E/W Vul.
♠ K764
♥ 754
♦ 64
♣ J754
♠ 10 5 2 N ♠ J98
♥3 ♥ Q 10
♦ J853 W E ♦ Q 10 7 2
♣ AQ 9 6 2 S ♣ K 10 8 3
♠ AQ3
♥ AKJ9862
♦ AK9
♣—
Another grand slam. Would either pair bid it?
Open Room
West North East South
Grunder El-Ahmedy Kaprey Fattah
Pass Pass Pass 2♣*
Pass 2♦* Pass 2♥*
Pass 2♠* Pass 3♥
Pass 4♠* Pass 5♦*
Pass 6♥ All Pass
Mr Kokish made another appearance (he was quite busy today) in the bidding. Surely the 4♠ bid
showed at least three hearts and a spade control, if that is the case then maybe South is worth a
bit more. Would the South Africans fare any better?
Closed Room
West North East South
Noshy Fick Ahmed Stephens
Pass Pass Pass 2♣*
Double Pass Pass 2♥
Pass 4♥ Pass 4♠
Pass 5♥ Pass 6♣*
Pass 6♦* Pass 6♥
All Pass
A basically similar auction to above that used ‘normal’ Blackwood. In both cases the lead was a
club and playing the hand meant winning the first trick and putting your cards on the table.
1NT was forcing for one round, North showed his maximum and when South discovered he
held two keycards and the trump queen did not hesitate to bid the slam. After two rounds of
diamonds declarer ruffs, crosses to dummy with a trump and then plays three rounds of clubs in
case the suit is 4-2.
At this table 2NT was a transfer to diamonds, East showed he liked the suit, with AK not unrea-
sonable. I cannot tell from the convention card whether 4♣ was a cue-bid or another suit but
one would have thought that he would cue-bid in hearts at the three-level. If it was a suit is 4♠
a cue-bid agreeing clubs or diamonds, whatever the bids meant the consensus of opinion in the
crowded VuGraph was perhaps that West should have tried 6♣ as ‘pick-a-slam’.
Closed Room
West North East South
Trabelsi Stephens Rebai Fick
– – 1NT Pass
2NT* Pass 3♣ Pass
3♥* Pass 6♣ All Pass
3♥ cue-bid
The Tunisian convention card is blank as to the meaning of 2NT, but whatever it meant it got
them to the correct slam with the minimum of fuss. There was nothing to the play and 11 IMPs
to Tunisia.
Robert Stephens
South bid what he thought he could make and make it he did. (If West leads a club and East wins
and switches to a trump then declarer will be a trick short. Editor)
Closed Room
West North East South
Trabelsi Stephens Rebai Fick
Pass 1♥ 2♣ 2♦
Pass 2♥ 5♣ Double
All Pass
This time South expressed his opinion as to unilateral action by East and gained another 5 IMPs
when the contract failed by four tricks, losing two tricks in each major and one in each minor.
4♥ was asking partner to choose the best game. There was discussion on BBO and many thought he
would try 5♦; but fortunately he decided on 5♣ as 5♦ has no chance after a heart lead. North led the
heart ace which declarer ruffed in dummy. He came to hand with a diamond and immediately led a
spade; if North hops up with his ace to lead a trump to curtail the heart ruffs declarer has an entry to
cash the long diamonds after he has drawn trumps so wisely he ducked. The additional advantage of
ducking was that it gave declarer a chance to misguess the spade situation, which unfortunately for
Sherif he did when he selected the jack of spades, now declarer was without resource and drifted two
off for -200.
Closed Room
West North East South
Mestiri Hussein Bellazreg Abdel Fattah
– – – Pass
1♣ 1♥ 1♠ 3♥
Pass Pass 4♦ Pass
5♣ All Pass
The same contract as in the Closed Room with similar interference from North/South. Again the
lead was the ace of hearts, ruffed in dummy and followed by a diamond to hand. And yet again
declarer tackled the spade suit, but this time he got it right by putting up the king. Another dia-
mond to hand was followed by a heart ruff. Declarer led a master diamond from the table and
East led the ace of clubs and continued with a small spade which declarer took in dummy with
the ace. A low diamond gathered the king from West and was taken with the ace. Declarer now
went astray, he needs to ruff a heart in dummy and so should attack the heart suit; if East wins
a heart trick and leads a trump to prevent the ruff he is giving up his trump trick; but declarer
cashed the queen of trumps and so went one off for -100.
Closed Room
West North East South
Mestiri Hussein Bellazreg Abdel Fattah
– – Pass Pass
Pass 1♦ Pass 1♠
Pass 2♦ Pass Pass
3♣ 3♦ Pass 3NT
Pass Pass Double All Pass
After what can best be described as an entertaining auction West led the four of clubs which East
took with the ace and returned the seven to the jack, king and a diamond discard from dummy.
West made the apparently obvious play of the jack of hearts ducked to the king in hand but now
declarer is in control as he led a diamond towards dummy and played three rounds to establish
the suit. He was now home free as he had five diamonds, two spades and a trick in each of the
rounded suits. When West won the second trick he needed to switch to a spade honour; which
disrupts declarer’s timing and communication. (This type of play is discussed in detail in The Rodwell
Files. Editor) It is interesting to play it out and see, of course had the defence started with hearts
there would never have been a chance for declarer. The defence lost their way discarding on the
long diamonds and declarer managed a doubled vulnerable overtrick for +950 and 14 IMPS and
the lead for the first time in the match.
When West failed to open with a weak two-bid North/South had a relatively easy run, but sur-
prisingly neither of them managed to mention their spade suit and so reached the slightly inferior
diamond slam. After a spade lead declarer cashed ace and king of clubs and ruffed one and when
the queen appeared drew trumps and claimed. Twelve IMPs and Egypt had come from behind
to win 52-37 or 13.61-6.39 VPs.
You can replay the deals at: http://tinyurl.com/pqufhqj
A controlled auction which got to the right spot. There was nothing to the play and declarer took
her twelve tricks after a diamond had been cashed on the initial lead.
Closed Room
West North East South
Homsy Sallami Maud Baccar
– – Pass Pass
Pass 2♦* Pass 2♠*
Pass 6♠ All Pass
The Tunisian ladies’ system is based on the French five-card majors, so 2♦ was game-forcing and
2♠ showed a major-suit ace. North knowing that a grand slam was not possible bid what she
thought she could make and her judgement proved correct.
Some might say that East had been fortunate enough to have muddied the waters for North/South
and that to battle on with her somewhat anaemic hand was a bridge too far, and so it proved,
especially as she lost a trick in the play and was down four for -800.
Closed Room
West North East South
Homsy Sallami Maud Baccar
– 1♠ 2♣ 2♦
2♠ Double Pass Pass
Redouble Pass 3♣ 4♦
All Pass
Assuming North’s double of 2♠ demonstrated quality in her trump suit then perhaps South
should bid 3♠ rather than persevere with her diamonds. 4♦ went peacefully one off for -100 and
14 IMPs, bidding 3♠ would have saved two IMPs.
Now we are back in slam territory but neither pair attained the six-level.
Closed Room
West North East South
Homsy Sallami Maud Baccar
– – – Pass
Pass 1♣ 2♠ Double
3♠ 4♦ Pass 5♦
All Pass
Maud Khouri
I will concede that East/West’s barrage did not help the cause but North’s hand has values, espe-
cially as she knows partner is probably void in clubs and so you are playing with a thirty-point
deck and you have 20% of them. Makes North’s hand sound a lot better put that way. So Egypt
collected 500.
Closed Room
West North East South
Homsy Sallami Maud Baccar
Pass Pass 1♣ 2♦*
Pass 2♠ Pass 4♣
Double 4♠ All Pass
2♦ was the majors and North showed more spades than hearts, and South made an effort with
4♣, if 4♠ shows a weaker hand than passing I think North should have kept quiet as she has three
honour cards in her partner’s suits. I would still have made one more effort with the South cards
and hopefully would have got as far as the small slam. Declarer made all the tricks for +510 so
the board was just a boring push.
Closed Room
West North East South
Homsy Sallami Maud Baccar
– – Pass Pass
2♣* Pass 2♦* Pass
2NT Pass 3♣* Pass
3♦* Pass 3NT* All Pass
Nessrine Hamdy
After a Lebensohl auction the contract soared to 4♠ promptly doubled by East who led the ten
of hearts which was covered by the king and taken by West, who returned the jack for dummy’s
queen. Declarer called for dummy’s king of spades taken by East with the ace, and the switch to
the ten of diamonds was covered by the jack, queen and ace. Declarer tried the queen of spades
and learned the bad news about the trump situation. She cashed the jack and ten and then essayed
the club finesse and now her world collapsed and she finished three down for -800.
At the death Egypt had won by 31-24 or 11.83-8.17 in VPs.
After a non-forcing Stayman sequence, the merits of which we shall discuss shortly, South doubled
2♦ for takeout and North converted it to penalties. North/South minded their work in defence
and declarer could not avoid going down two for -500. I must confess that I would have bid 3♣
with West’s hand – I can guarantee seven tricks with clubs as trumps but then I can’t guarantee
we will not get eight tricks with diamonds as the trump suit, so you pays yer money and takes
yer choice. Back to East’s original Stayman enquiry. If you are not going to invite game if partner
discloses a four-card major then why use Stayman? You have over half the pack between you, and
as you are short in clubs, simple arithmetic says partner will have four or more points in that suit
well over half the time and equally pertinent is that now that David Bird has written a book on
no-trump leads if you do not mention a major they will almost always start with one.
Closed Room
West North East South
Grunder Ghodhbane Kaprey Fourati
1♣ Pass 1♥ Double
Redouble* Pass Pass 1NT
Double 2♦ Pass Pass
3♣ Pass 3♥ All Pass
The defence started with a diamond ducked to North’s king, who correctly returned a spade to
South’s jack. South continued with another diamond, perforce won by dummy’s ace, and declarer
South’s 3♦ was one of those leaping things showing the majors. I think West endplayed himself
with his first double, what was he to do after South’s 3♠? His solution of another double will not
be voted the most successful bid of the championships as it resulted in 1130 away after two over-
tricks were made.
Closed Room
West North East South
Grunder Ghodhbane Kaprey Fourati
– Pass 1♦ 2♦*
Pass 2NT Pass 3♠
Pass 4♠ Pass 5♣
Pass 5♥ Pass 5♠
Pass 6♠ All Pass
South’s 2♦ showed the majors and after North showed values and a diamond stop the slam was
reached. On a good day West has the singleton or doubleton king of spades, but today was not a
good day and so the slam failed and there were sixteen IMPs in the ‘out’ column.
Was South just a little greedy here? He needs some specific cards in the North hand for the slam
to be above 50% and as a certain Mr. Hamman says “Don’t play me for the perfect hand, I never
have it” and so it was this time that the perfect hand did not appear and that was -100.
Closed Room
West North East South
Grunder Ghodhbane Kaprey Fourati
Pass 1♣ 4♦ 4♥
5♦ 5♥ All Pass
At this table everyone was more restrained, and South found himself in the par contract for +450
and eleven IMPs.
North was in a bit of a fix after South’s negative double, partly of his own making from opening a
turgid eleven count and chose 2♥ as the least evil bid. East soldiered on apparently aware that his
partner has something good up his sleeve. South started with his singleton club taken by North
with his queen who returned a small trump; and it may surprise you to know that the play of the
seven restricts declarer to eight tricks but playing an honour will gain him an overtrick. The rest
of the defence was less than perfect and declarer finished up with ten tricks in spite of playing the
seven of trumps at trick two.
Closed Room
West North East South
Grunder Ghodhbane Kaprey Fourati
– – – Pass
Pass 1♣ 1♠ Pass
1NT Pass 2♥ Pass
2♠ Pass 2NT Pass
3NT Pass Pass Double
All Pass
Unfortunately for East/West they had just got too high and South also surmised that was the sit-
uation and pulled out his red card. There was little West could do and North/South took their
preordained six tricks for two off, -300 and ten IMPs out and Tunisia were ahead for the first
time in the match.
When I was taught to play bridge we were told we needed 32/33 points for a small slam in no-
trumps, I am sure inflation has probably reduced that nowadays but maybe by not too much.
The question I pose to East is would his partner have bid 3NT with a 21 count or would he have
doubled first and then bid 3NT? East is definitely believing that West would not bid 3NT with a
seventeen count, so at least one of them is at fault. Declarer won the queen of clubs lead, unblocked
the spades, played three rounds of hearts ending in dummy, cashed the ace of spades pitching a
diamond and played a club. South won and exited with a diamond and now all declarer had to
do was play three rounds of the suit which would have ensured a trick for the nine of clubs.
When he overlooked this possibility he was one down.
Closed Room
West North East South
Grunder Ghodhbane Kaprey Fourati
– Pass Pass 3♣
Pass Pass 3♠ Pass
3NT All Pass
Here West did not rate his hand at all and passed but East was made of sterner stuff and entered
the fray with his major. Now West felt entitled to show his values and bid the obvious game, just
making for +600 and 12 IMPS and South Africa back in the lead.
I think the comment on BBO could best sum up North’s intervention “North’s 3♥ would not be
to everyone’s liking”. The upshot was that South showed that he had heart support and a decent
club suit but they were already in phantom sacrifice land and the contract lost its three obvious
tricks for -50.
Closed Room
West North East South
Grunder Ghodhbane Kaprey Fourati
– – 1♠ 2♣
2♠ 3♥ Pass Pass
Double Pass 3♠ Pass
Pass Double All Pass
The requirements for a two-level overcall seem to diminish on a daily basis, soon twelve cards
will suffice. The result of South’s ‘bold’ (feel free to substitute a different adjective if you wish)
intervention was that North with a twelve-count and four of the opposing trumps expressed his
opinion with a red card. This was not to be a success. With perfect defence the contract will just
make but as is nearly always the case things went from bad to worse and the defence lost a trick
in the play so chalked up -630, a non-too frequent non-vulnerable score and another ten IMPs
for South Africa.
The only other notable swing was a part-score contract of 2♦ on Board 19 where one declarer
failed by three tricks but the other declarer failed by four, but he was doubled.
At last a set without a makeable slam.
At the final whistle South Africa had won by 72-32 or 17.56-2.44 VPs.
You can replay these deals at: http://tinyurl.com/o99nqw3
Here East/West had learned very little about the North/South hands and East chose to lead a
heart and so declarer took his twelve tricks.
Closed Room
West North East South
Khalil Fakhfakh Kamel Mestiri
– – – Pass
Pass 1♠ Pass 2♠
Pass 3♣ Pass 4♠
Pass 4NT* Pass 5♦*
Pass 6♠ All Pass
Though East had not gained enough information to know definitively what to lead but he found
the excellent choice of a diamond. The spotlight now fell on West – could he find the club switch?
Yes was the answer; he knew North had some clubs so he was not false carding from a long dia-
mond suit, a heart does not look inviting, a club might find East with the king or if it is your
lucky day North’s club suit might be a five-carder and yes, it was West’s lucky day, one down and
another fourteen IMPs to Egypt.
Some would view East’s raise to 2♥ as a trifle conservative but when partner showed a diamond
suit the double fit goaded him into game. North led his partner’s suit, the deuce. South made the
imaginative play of the eight and West won a surprising trick with the queen, I must confess to
not seeing any downside in playing the king, but what do I know? Now declarer had no prob-
lem in making his contract in spite of the 4-0 trump break He always could have made it but it
would have required careful and accurate play.
Closed Room
West North East South
Khalil Fakhfakh Kamel Mestiri
– – – Pass
1♥ Pass 3♣* Double
4♥ 4♠ Pass Pass
Double All Pass
After East’s Bergen raise South doubled, I thought to ostensibly show his club suit but North had
other ideas and was correct – I could find no further information from the sparse convention card.
East started with the ace of hearts which was ruffed in dummy. The ace of trumps was cashed and
a small trump was advanced from dummy and the moment of truth had arrived – queen or ten,
the odds would seem to favour the queen, we have seen four points in the East hand, he is limited
to more or less four more points which makes the king three to one on to be with West - today the
statistical gods are not with us, alas East turns up with the king and you are now one down. The
good news is that is is a cheap sacrifice against Four Hearts and the result is ten IMPs to Tunisia.
South’s Michaels intervention robbed West of some bidding space but I think his bid of 4♥ is
pusillanimous, he has controls in every suit, that ‘magic’ ninth trump, I don’t know what methods
were available to him but some effort must be made. I place the fault of not reaching the slam in
the West camp and I am unanimous in that.
Closed Room
West North East South
Khalil Fakhfakh Kamel Mestiri
– – 1♥ 1♠
4♦* Pass 4♥ Pass
4♠* Double 5♣* Pass
6♥ All Pass
Here West was made of sterner stuff and continued to explore even after East declined to con-
tinue. When East showed a club control West realised the full potential of his hand and bid the
slam – well done. There was nothing to the play – so eleven IMPs.
A good solid bidding sequence and the slam was bid, careful play brought the slam home
comfortably.
Closed Room
West North East South
Khalil Fakhfakh Kamel Mestiri
– – – Pass
1♠ Pass 2♠ Pass
4♠ All Pass
According to the convention card 2♠ is eight to ten points. Assuming West has some sort of game
try available maybe he should use it and if it is accepted he could explore further and if not he
can rest comfortably in game. As it was it gave Tunisia thirteen IMPs.
At the end of the match Egypt had run out winners 93-25 or 20-0 VPs.
You can replay the deals at: http://tinyurl.com/o8c3h8m
Not the best result for South Africa on the first board. After the 3♣ bid West’s very good hand
becomes even better, she would have made the overcall without the king and jack of hearts and now
her club honours are worth more than before, in effect you made an overcall and then discover you
have two extra aces – if that was the case you would certainly continue. Imagine East has just the king
of spades and the queen of hearts and you will certainly have a play for game. At teams you need to
be aggressive at bidding game, if you only bid when game is certain you will not and cannot win.
Closed Room
West North East South
Najet Narunsky Ferdaous Swiel
– Pass Pass 1♦
1♠ Pass 2♠ 3♣
3♦* Double 3♠ 4♦
4♠ All Pass
Here we had a much more aggressive auction from both pairs with the par contract being reached.
Eight IMPs to Egypt.
East had obviously taken her ‘timid’ pills, especially as West’s 2♥ showed a sound raise to 3♠. I do
not know whether systemically East can initially double but at my table the bidding would have
gone Double – 4♠ – 6♠ with a slight worry there may be a play for seven.
Closed Room
West North East South
Najet Narunsky Ferdaous Swiel
– – – Pass
Pass 2♥* Double Pass
4♠ Pass 5♠ Pass
6♠ All Pass
After North’s two-suited opening bid the auction basically followed my suggestion and that net-
ted Egypt thirteen IMPs
At the halfway stage the Egyptians led 41 - 6.
A slightly optimistic contract that was bound to fail after repeated spade leads by West. The con-
tract duly failed by two tricks -200.
Closed Room
West North East South
Najet Narunsky Ferdaous Swiel
1♠ Pass Pass Double
2♠ 3♦ Pass 3NT
All Pass
Jocelyn Ashberg
A reasonable contract after a reasonable auction. South started with a small club and North took
the ace and returned the suit. Declarer tried the jack, but South won and persevered with a third
club.. Here endeth the defence as North inexplicably discarded a spade. Call me old-fashioned
(“You’re old-fashioned” I hear you all cry) but you would have needed a crowbar to get a spade
out of me at this stage. Another eleven IMPs to South Africa.
West’s strong pre-empt posed North/South the perennial problems and they decided to bid on in
spite of well-known advice about the five-level. Bristling with defensive tricks West doubled to pre-
vent her partner carrying on. The contract lost the three obvious tricks and so failed by one trick.
Closed Room
West North East South
Najet Narunsky Ferdaous Swiel
– – – Pass
Pass 1♥ Double 2♦*
Pass 4♥ All Pass
With insufficient diamonds to pre-empt West passed. South’s 2♦ was a Drury variant and North
cheerfully bid the game. There was considerable discussion in the VuGraph auditorium as to
whether East would concede a ruff and discard at trick two by continuing with a second diamond
honour. The crowds were disappointed as they were looking forward to the expression on East’s
face if partner had turned up with an undisclosed eight-carder. Declarer minded her work and
took ten tricks and another eleven IMPs.
At the end Tunisia scraped home by one IMP, so they probably have bragging rights for the next
match. Both teams would need to up their game if they were to take that coveted second place.
You can replay the deals at: http://tinyurl.com/pddnqm4
South’s pre-empt had the effect of inhibiting a spade contract and after East’s bid showing clubs
and hearts West effectively shut the door on North/South. 5♣ was two off but a good save against
the spade game.
Closed Room
West North East South
Fourati Hussein Ghodhbane Abdelfattah
– – – 1♦
Pass 1♠ Double 4♠
Pass 4NT* Pass 5♥
Pass 5♠ All Pass
A much more assertive auction by North/South, the 1♦ bid gets my vote as I suspect it would
on most bidding panels. The result was a good spade game contract and six early IMPs to Egypt.
After East showed his spade stop West had no hesitation in bidding the no-trump game. With
the diamonds 2-2 and the blockage in the club suit declarer has ten tricks however one disap-
peared in the play so +600
Closed Room
West North East South
Fourati Hussein Ghodhbane Abdelfattah
– – Pass Pass
1NT Pass 2♠ Pass
3♣ Pass 3♠* Pass
4♥* Pass 5♣ All Pass
As always when you try something a little off-centre a car crash occurs, as here when West decided
to open an off-shape 1NT. After the 2♠ transfer I got a little lost as to the meaning of all the bids
as the convention card was sadly lacking in detail. The result was a hopeless contract that failed
by two tricks and presented Egypt with thirteen IMPs.
West pushed North to the five-level. East led the spade ace and switched to a small trump won
by declarer who then played a club to the ace and a small one back towards hand which he ruffed
with the deuce and that was gratefully overruffed by the seven – whoops another solid one goes
the way of all flesh. -100 instead of +650.
Closed Room
West North East South
Fourati Hussein Ghodhbane Abdelfattah
– – – 1♣
Pass 1♥ 1♠ 2♥
2♠ 4♥ 4♠ Double
All Pass
Walid El-Ahmady
A broadsword rather than a rapier from East but nonetheless effective. The contract depended
on the position of the ace of spades, ‘Fortune favours the brave’ so they say and it did this time.
Closed Room
West North East South
Fourati Hussein Ghodhbane Abdelfattah
– – Pass Pass
2♦* Pass 2♥* Pass
2NT Pass 3♣* Pass
3♥ Pass 3NT All Pass
At this table East did not take such a rosy view of his hand and subsided in 3NT when his part-
ner could not show a spade suit and so another twelve IMPs to Egypt.
Dummy’s precious ten of spades along with the jack doubleton in the East hand made the contract
relatively straightforward, especially as the king and queen of diamonds are also nicely positioned.
You could not place the defenders’ cards much better. Declarer played impeccably and made an
overtrick +650.
Closed Room
West North East South
Fourati Hussein Ghodhbane Abdelfattah
– 1♦ Pass 1♠
Pass 2♣ Pass 2♥
Pass 3♣ Pass 3♥
Pass 4♥ All Pass
I do not know if South had a 3♥ bid available to him to better describe his hand; one must be
charitable and assume not. The consequence was that they played in their 5-2 fit rather than their
6-1 fit. Declarer lost control of the hand after a club lead and he lost six tricks for three off and
fourteen IMPs out.
We will not intrude on the private grief that was Board 18 when the Egyptian defenders stead-
fastly refused to set up their spade tricks to break a 3NT contract whereas in the other room the
defence was more alive and that was ten IMPs back to Tunisia.
Whether you bid or pass on the North hand is a personal matter and I would not decry either
option, but I do decry the second pass. You have a minimum of 23 points between you. I would
double and let partner decide what to do. South started with the top hearts and with fatally exited
with a third one, handing declarer the contract.
Closed Room
West North East South
Fourati Hussein Ghodhbane Abdelfattah
– – – 2NT
Pass 3♣* Pass 3♦
Pass 3NT All Pass
I am not sure about the 3♣ bid but I suspect it was little bit psychic to inhibit a major-suit lead,
but whatever it was declarer had enough tricks and actually succeeded in making ten for a score
of 430 and 11 IMPs.
Egypt had won by 69 – 30 or 17,44 – 2,56 VPs and consolidated their position at the head of
the table.
You can replay the deals at: http://tinyurl.com/pnwm55e
Round 14.
Board 15. Dealer South. N/S Vul.
♠ 64
♥9
♦ J 10 9 6 5 2
♣ K 10 6 2
♠ Q 10 3 2 N ♠ AK 8 7
♥ AK 6 ♥ J 10 8 7 5 3 2
♦ AK Q 3 W E ♦—
♣ J8 S ♣ Q3
♠ J95
♥ Q4
♦ 874
♣ A9754
The most frequent result was 6♥ -1. The South African ladies were the only pair to make the slam,
mainly because it was played by West and now it is more difficult for North to find the club lead.
In nearly every case West showed a strong balanced hand and East just bludgeoned into 6♥. My
theory is that if you have decided that you are bidding the slam willy-nilly and you have a weak-
ness in a suit then make psychic cue-bid in that suit. It costs you nothing and may gain. From
my huge statistical study it has worked two times out of three.
Round 15.
The final round – this was mainly of interest for the Womens match as it would determine who
went to Chennai. Tunisia could do nothing as they had a Bye this round, South Africa could
afford a small loss to Egypt and still qualify. The Great Shuffler in the sky provided some distri-
butional hands early on.
Board 1. Dealer North. None Vul.
♠—
♥ 97
♦ A K J 10 7 6 4 3
♣ K 10 4
♠ AK 9 4 3 N ♠ J76
♥ K J 10 8 5 3 ♥ A6 4 2
♦— W E ♦ 9852
♣ Q2 S ♣ 63
♠ Q 10 8 5 2
♥Q
♦Q
♣ AJ9875
There were connection problems for BBO early on and the bidding came through as 2♦x by North
and after a club lead she made all the tricks for +680. It transpired later that North had opened
5♦ and after two passes West doubled and East passed and that resulted in -750. This netted 8
IMPs for South Africa as it was the same contract in the other room but not doubled and East
cashed her heart ace.
Another nine-carder.
What about South’s vulnerable bid, a candidate for bravest bid of the year? I suspect her heart
was in her mouth when partner raised and she was then promptly doubled. West commenced
with the king of clubs and followed up with the queen of hearts overtaken by the king. East per-
severed with the heart ace and South ruffed this and played her remaining small club and ruffed
it with the seven of diamonds and was overruffed by the eight – ruffing with the ten would have
cost nothing and gained lots. So now it was -500 as opposed to -200 and a 3 IMP gain rather
than nine. Would those six IMPs come back to haunt South Africa?
Closed Room
West North East South
Kenny Philippe Lipshitz Soliman
1♣ 1♠ 2♥ Pass
5♣ All Pass
At this table West chose not to pre-empt and South could find no way bring her diamonds to the
party and so West was allowed to play peacefully in 5♣. (Why anyone would fail to open 5♣ is a
mystery. Editor)
Once North cashed the ace king and queen of clubs declarer had a simple nine tricks. If she only
cashes two top clubs and then exits in a major declarer still gets home by cashing eight major-suit
winners coming down to ♦Kxx in hand and ♦x ♣Jx in dummy and North has to discard from
Ax in both suits. Whichever suit she chooses to throw declarer simply plays that suit and North
then has to concede the ninth trick in the other suit.
Closed Room
West North East South
Kenny Philippe Lipshitz Soliman
– – – Pass
1♦ 2♣ Double* Pass
2♦ Pass 3♣* Pass
3♥ Pass 4♥ All Pass
East knew her partner had three hearts and no club stop and decided to play game in a Moysian
heart fit. With the trumps splitting 4-2 declarer had little chance and failed by one trick. That
was ten IMPs to Egypt who now took the lead for the first time.
Board 13 saw the lead change again when the Egyptian North responded 1NT with an eleven
count and her partner made no forward move with her fourteen count. The South Africans were
made of sterner stuff and bid and made 3NT.
South Africa gained some small part-score swings to lead by thirteen IMPs when….
A conservative approach by North and so the slam was not bid, of course had it been bid you
find spade queen trebleton offside. Not the best slam in the world but ‘a good slam’ according to
Hamman. Would they bid it in the other room?
Closed Room
West North East South
Kenny Philippe Lipshitz Soliman
– – – 1♠
Pass 2♣* Pass 2♥
Pass 3♥ Pass 3♠
Pass 4♣ Pass 4♦
Pass 4NT Pass 5NT
Pass 6♥ All Pass
The answer was yes and the contract did not test declarer. Ten IMPs to Egypt and the lead reduced
to two IMPs – a game swing on the last board could see South Africa missing out.
On the last board both rooms reached 3NT. The South African declarer adopted a superior
line and made her contract whilst Egypt failed. Twelve IMPs to South Africa and a ‘comfortable’
win and a ticket to Chennai.
You can replay these deals at: http://tinyurl.com/okz28f7
The European Open Bridge Championships includes players from 40 different countries with
representatives from all 8 of the World Bridge Federation's Zones.
The host country, Norway, is supporting the tournament in spectacular fashion. In the Mixed Teams
127 Norwegian squads will set out in search of the title. Remarkably 29 teams from the USA have made
the journey towards the arctic circle to seek out a European title.
It is the same story in the Open Teams, where Norway has 113 entries, way more than England and the
USA who are both fielding 20 teams.
In the Women's Teams Norway have 29 squads, while China has an incredible 12. With 25 outfits in the
Senior Teams Norway must be hoping to pull off an 'impregnable quadrilateral'.
It's the same story in the Pairs Championships, with Norway having 139 duo's in the Mixed Pairs, 140
in the Open, 30 in the Women's and 40 in the Seniors.
In this year's Championships, the Daily Bulletins will only be available online. we have been looking
at a suggestion from Francesca Canali (the layout Editor and Photographer in Tromsø) which might
revolutionise the way in which material is presented in the future.
Click the image below to play the video (running time: 6 minutes) Click the image below to play the video (running time: 2 minutes)
LA BAULE
DU 15 AU 23 AOÛT 2015
SALLE DES FLORALIES - PLACE DES SALINES
14th Red Bull World The Power of Last Call Mike Lawrence
Bridge Series 2014 Positive Bidding in the Bridge Tips:
- Sanya Bidding Secrets of the Menagerie Tips on Bidding
Edited by Brian Senior Italian Champions Victor Mollo Mike Lawrence
350 pages, paperback 239 pages, paperback 220 pages, paperback 286 pages, paperback
RRP £22 RRP £14.99 RRP £13.95 RRP £12.95
BM Online Price BM Online Price BM Online Price BM Online Price
£16.50 £11.24 £10.46 £9.71
F or two consecutive weeks the Tin Man had finished below the Lion and there was no way
that he was going to allow the run to extend to three. Dorothy was unperturbed, partly
due to her more relaxed nature, and partly because she had been away on holiday when
the unmentionable events had taken place. Indeed, she was rather amused at his discomfiture.
In the first week of her absence the Tin Man had played with Dorothy’s Uncle Henry, practis-
ing for their upcoming outing together in the annual men versus ladies match. If the purpose of
practice is to identify areas which needed work then it was a great success, giving the Tin Man an
unaccustomed interest in the bottom quarter of the result sheet: 44.8% was not a good score in
anyone’s book and even the Lion and the Scarecrow had been higher with 49.2%.
In the second week the Tin Man had played with the Mayor of Munchkinland. Bumptious,
self-important and unwilling to listen to reason, was how they both described their partner after
the event. With the Scarecrow absent with a nasty head cold, the Lion had played with an adoring
but moderately competent Munchkin. Filled with courage by his partner’s unquestioning con-
fidence, and helped by the absence of some of the stronger players, the Lion cut a swathe round
the room. As hand after hand failed on unlucky breaks the Lion’s ‘sound’ judgement was justified
time and again as they powered to an unstoppable 65%.
Now Dorothy had returned and she stood in front of the notice board looking at the results
of the previous few weeks. The Tin Man joined her: ‘Sometimes one feels that the score would
make more sense if it was the other way up,’ he observed. Dorothy decided not to mention that
inverting the order would not have changed the Tin Man and the Mayor’s position, coming as
they had right in the middle of the field.
With the Scarecrow recovered, both regular partnerships were restored and they faced each
other in the first round. The Tin Man and Dorothy sat North and South, respectively. The Lion
was West and the Scarecrow East.
Dealer South. All Vul.
♠ Q8
♥ A Q 10 5
♦ K74
♣ Q854
♠ 10 9 2 N ♠ KJ754
♥ 9642 ♥ KJ87
♦ 965 W E ♦2
♣ K 10 3 S ♣ A7 2
♠ A63
♥3
♦ A Q J 10 8 3
♣ J96
As they sorted their cards the Lion announced ‘We are experimenting with weak no-trump and
four-card Majors tonight.’
Test Your
Defence
with Julian Pottage Solutions on page 107
♠ 9873 ♠ 84
1 ♥ AQ 2 ♥ Q83
♦ 10 7 6 4 3 ♦ K Q 10 4
♣ Q 10 ♣ 7543
♠ J4 N ♠ J5 N
♥ 8 ♥ A6 5
♦ AJ 9 5 W E ♦ A9 5 W E
♣ AK 8 7 5 2 S ♣ J 10 9 6 2 S
WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH
– – – 1♠ – – – 1♠
2♣ 3♠ Pass 4♠ Pass 1NT Pass 4♠
All Pass All Pass
You lead the ace and king of clubs, on which partner You lead the jack of clubs: three, ace, queen. Declarer
plays the three (standard) and then the nine, South the wins the club return with the king and leads a low dia-
four and jack. What is your plan? mond. What is your plan?
T he London and Home Counties Championship League for the Duveen Shield came into
being late in 1935. From the beginning, it attracted an exceptionally strong entry with
virtually all the capital’s top players taking part.
As was normal in those days, matches were scored by aggregate (with honours counting) on a
win/loss basis. The first year’s competition was very tight with three of the six teams tied at the top
with three wins. The tie was split in favour of Richard Lederer’s team which had the best overall
aggregate score. However, had Colonel George Walshe won his match against Mrs Alice Gordon
Evers, instead of losing by 50 aggregate points – he would have had four wins and the trophy.
This month’s hand comes from the 1936/37 season and was reported anonymously – though
very probably by Terence Reese who was the assistant editor at the time – in the January 1937
edition of British Bridge World. S J “Skid” Simon was faced with the following problem:
♠ 10 6
♥ AK 4 3
♦ KQ962
♣ AK
Simon sat fourth-in-hand at adverse vulnerability. Willie Rose dealt and opened 1♠, Maurice Har-
rison-Gray passed and Richard Lederer responded 2♦ (non-forcing in Lederer’s system, though
unlikely to be passed). Simon decided to pass and had another decision when Rose’s 2♠ rebid
was passed round to him.
It should be borne in mind that the Lederer system sanctioned light opening bids when the
distribution was favourable and that the possibility of a psyche could not be ruled out. Rightly or
wrongly, Simon decided to double (described as ill-judged in the BBW report), Gray responded
3♣ and Lederer doubled to end the auction.
The full layout was as follows (the duplicated sixes and missing three of clubs are as per the
original report) and it will be seen that Simon was right to reopen. East would probably have
made 2♠ (yes, it can be beaten – Deep Finesse suggests a club lead with North returning a small
heart (!) – though I suspect that in practice it would make) whilst 3NT is cold for North-South.
♠ 10 6
♥ AK43
♦ KQ962
♣ AK
♠J N ♠ KQ97542
♥ 82 ♥ QJ97
♦ A8 7 4 3 W E ♦—
♣ QJ962 S ♣ 75
♠ A83
♥ 10 6 5
♦ J 10 5
♣ 10 8 6 4
NEW
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T he Witchdoctor and Mbozi had produced some disappointing boards in recent encounters
and the Abbot made the decision to bench then for the big match against China. ‘In my
youth I read a few books on Chinese philosophy’ he explained to the Witchdoctor. ‘You
don’t understand the oriental mind like I do. The benefit will show on our eventual scorecard
against them, I can assure you.’
In the first half of the match, the Abbot and the Parrot faced the studious looking pair of Shi
and Chen.
Weimin Chen looked aghast at the Parrot perched on the East chair. ‘Nándào tāmen ràng
dòngwù zài jiûdiàn?’ he exclaimed.
‘English, ENGLISH!’ squawked the Parrot.
Xiaofeng Shi blinked. ‘You are playing?’ he asked.
The Parrot rolled his eyes at this foolish question. Had these players had never seen a parrot
playing bridge before?
The Abbot led the queen of hearts, won in the South hand, and Xiaofeng Shi drew trumps in three
rounds. Eleven top tricks were on view and an extra club trick would bring the total to twelve. The
ace of diamonds was the only certain side entry to dummy. How could the slam be made against
a 4-2 club break if the diamond king was offside?
The Abbot led the ♣4, the Parrot playing the king. Before playing to the first trick, Xiaofeng Shi
paused to consider his prospects. Suppose he won with the ace, ruffed a club high and drew trumps.
He would then need the diamond suit to come in for no losers. Suppose instead that he ran the
jack of diamonds after drawing trumps and this lost to the queen. East would be able to reach his
partner’s hand with a club and a heart switch might then beat the contract. He could afford to lose
one heart, one diamond and one club. Perhaps it might work well to duck the first round of clubs!
Not interested in a diamond ruff when he held a likely trump trick, the sparse-haired Haojun
Wang led the ♣K. Mrs Okoku won with dummy’s ace and played a trump to the ace, the defend-
ers following with the 9 and 2.
When Mrs Okoku led another trump, West followed with the jack. She inspected this card sus-
piciously. If trumps were 3-2, she could win with dummy’s king, draw the last trump and claim
an easy overtrick. If instead West had started with ♠J1082, she would need to lose a trump trick
while she still had a trump in her hand to protect herself in the club suit. Mrs Okoku recalled
the old saying, passed down the generations back home. ‘If you keep taking risks in the jungle,
one day the lion will pounce.’ Yes, best to play safe. ‘Play the four-spot, partner,’ she instructed.
East did indeed show out on this trick and Mrs Okoku’s smart safety play landed the contract.
West had no effective continuation and declarer was able to draw the remaining trumps when
she regained the lead.
The Abbot was fairly happy with the way the match had gone but it was annoying that he
hadn’t yet been granted the opportunity for a brilliant play of some sort – not one that he could
see, anyway. This was the deal before them:
The Abbot, whose Michaels Cue-bid had shown hearts and a minor, led the king of clubs against
Four Spades. The Parrot played a discouraging ♣3 and Xiaofeng Shi ducked in the South hand.
The Abbot paused to digest this development. Another club was out of the question. Was this the
occasion he had been waiting for – an opportunity for a brilliant play that he could talk about for
the rest of his life? The Witchdoctor would doubtless go berserk if the play misfired, but perhaps
it was right to switch to the king of hearts. This might remove a key entry to dummy if declarer
needed to establish the diamond suit with a ruff or two. Even if the Parrot held good diamonds
and the suit could not be established, a switch to the king of hearts might prevent declarer from
scoring the low trumps in his hand. Who was it who first uttered the famous maxim ‘Carpe diem’?
Catullus, was it, or Horace? Whoever it was, perhaps he was right.
With the air of an executioner reaching for a lever, the Abbot spun the king of hearts onto the
table. ‘Ace,’ said Xiaofeng Shi.
The Chinese declarer continued with the ace and king of trumps, discovering the 4-1 break.
Without the Abbot’s king of hearts switch, he could have recovered the situation by ruffing a club
in dummy and three diamonds in his hand. The club ruff and the ace of hearts would have pro-
vided the necessary entries for the diamond ruffs. As it was, the contract could no longer be made.
Weimin Chen was not happy with the way his partner had played the board. ‘Yíngdé jùlèbù de
wángpái!’ he exclaimed.
Although far from fluent in Chinese, the Parrot could guess what the North player was saying.
If declarer had won the first trick with the ace of clubs and played the two top trumps, he could
have recovered. After the ace and king of diamonds followed by a diamond ruff, he could have
exited with the jack of clubs. West would have no trump to play and declarer could then score
all the low trumps at his disposal to make the contract.
The round-robin match drew to a close. The Witchdoctor and Mbozi, who had been watching
another match in the VuGraph theatre, arrived in time to witness the comparison.
‘Plus 620,’ said Mrs Okoku when they came to Board 19.
‘And plus 100!’ exclaimed the Abbot. ‘One of my better efforts, I fancy. A switch to the king
of hearts killed a key entry to dummy.’
♠ ♠
1 ♥
9873
AQ 2 ♥
84
Q83
♦ 10 7 6 4 3 ♦ K Q 10 4
♣ Q 10 ♣ 7543
♠ J4 N ♠ Q6 ♠ J5 N ♠ K7
♥ 8 ♥ 965432 ♥ A6 5 ♥ 10 9 7 4 2
♦ AJ 9 5 W E ♦ 82 ♦ A9 5 W E ♦ 8762
♣ AK 8 7 5 2 S ♣ 963 ♣ J 10 9 6 2 S ♣ A8
♠ A K 10 5 2 ♠ A Q 10 9 6 3 2
♥ K J 10 7 ♥ KJ
♦ KQ ♦ J3
♣ J4 ♣ KQ
The final of the 2015 Vanderbilt in New Orleans was between Lavazza, (Zia Mahmood, Agustin
Madala, Giorgio Duboin and Norberto Bocchi) and Diamond (Eric Greco, Geoff Hampson, Marc
Jacobus and Eddie Wold John Diamond and Brian Platnick).
Apart from a scare in Round 2 when Diamond had to come from behind to defeat Chinese
Ladies Red, these two teams had cruised into the final with a series of easy victories, securing a
concession from their quarter-final opponents and winning their semi-finals by huge margins.
When Diamond took the first of the four sets 51-11 it looked as if the writing was on the wall,
but Lavazza recovered a little ground, winning the second session 23-14 to trail 34-65.
The Hands
(This month all the deals were played at IMPs.)
Hand 1. Dealer West. None Vul.
♠ A9 7 N ♠ K J 10 8 5 2
♥ Q842 ♥—
♦ 10 9 5 2 W E ♦ J8
♣ 10 4 S ♣ KQJ52
North opens a Precision 2♣ and South bids 4♥
West North East South
Duboin Jacobus Zia Wold
Pass 2♣* 2♠ 4♥
All Pass
South’s 4♥ was based on ♠Q63 ♥A1097653 ♦KQ3 ♣-, a near perfect mesh with partner’s ♠4
♥KJ ♦A764 ♣A98763.
West led the ace of spades and switched to the four of clubs, but declarer could pitch one spade
on the ace of clubs and ruff the other for eleven tricks, +450.
There is no case for West to bid 4♠ over 4♥. The only way E/W can get to 4♠ is if East doubles
4♥, but that strikes me as very risky. I’ll ask Zia next time I see him.
West North East South
Hampson Bocchi Greco Madala
Pass 1♣* 1♠ 2♦*
2♠ 3♣ 4♠ Pass*
Pass Double All Pass
1♣ 2+♣, can be 3352
2♦ Transfer to hearts
South’s Pass said ‘I want to double 4♠‘ while a double would have been a normal Pass.
I think the idea of using this reverse Forcing Pass emanates from the fertile mind of Eric Rodwell.
South led the ace of hearts and declarer ruffed and after some thought cashed the king of spades
and then played a spade to the nine, claiming when it held.
In theory South found the only lead to give declarer a chance, but suppose he starts with the
North, holding ♠AK76 ♥8632 ♦9 ♣A732, led the ace of spades on which South played the four
(from ♠J9432). He continued with the six of spades and declarer won with the queen, crossed to
the jack of hearts and ran the jack of diamonds. When it held he repeated the finesse, cashed the
ace of diamonds, crossed to dummy with the queen of hearts and cashed three more diamonds
for +400
West East
1♣* 1♦*
2NT 3NT
Pass
1♣ 17+ balanced or 16+
1♦ 0-7
A 2NT opening would be 19-20/21, so it looks as if West upgraded his hand. (The Kaplan-Rubens
Hand Evaluator rates it at 20.80.)
North led the ace of spades and when South followed with the two he continued with the king
for a rapid two down and 11 IMPs.
Recommended auction: I think you would have to be playing a relay system to have a chance of
avoiding 3NT on this deal (1♣*-1♦*-1♥*-1♠*-1NT-2NT*-3♦*) but as you can see you can still
score IMPs even if your methods result in a poor contract.
Marks: 3♦ 10, 4♦ 7, 3NT 4.
Running score: Diamond 19 (14) Lavazza 14 (23)
South led the jack of spades and declarer won with dummy’s queen and played the two of clubs.
North held ♠9765 ♥A2 ♦10732 ♣AJ10 and was caught by Morton’s Fork (slightly unusually
in the trump suit). If he ducked declarer could win and then play to discard his losing heart on
a spade (or even a diamond) whereas his actual play of the ace of clubs meant declarer had only
one trump loser, +600.
South led the eight of diamonds and declarer won in hand with the nine and played the king of
spades and a spade to the ace. South played the jack on this trick, so there was every reason for
declarer to abandon the suit and play the two of clubs. However, he tried a third spade pitching
a heart and South’s ruff meant the contract was one down, 12 IMPs to Diamond, cancelling out
a slam swing they had lost on the opening deal of the set.
Recommended auction: I can’t improve on Zia-Duboin, but I can guess to lead a heart at trick
one, ending all declarer’s hopes.
Marks: 5♣10 4♠/4♥ 5, 7♠ 2.
Running score: Diamond 36 (26) Lavazza 26 (33)
Hand 6. Dealer South. None Vul.
♠ K J 10 9 8 3 ♠A
♥ 95 N ♥ AQ J 4 2
♦ K 10 W E ♦ AQ 2
♣ AJ 9 S ♣ Q 10 6 4
West North East South
Hampson Bocchi Greco Madala
– – – Pass
1♠ Pass 2♥ Pass
2♠ Pass 2NT Pass
3NT Pass 4NT Pass
6♠ All Pass
1♠ 10-15
2♥ Game forcing
North, with ♠Q65 ♥1063 ♦76543 ♣83 led the three of diamonds and declarer won with dum-
my’s queen, unblocked the ace of spades, came to hand with a diamond, and played king of spades,
spade. South had followed with the two, four and seven of spades, which might (or might not)
have had some suit-preference connotations. When North exited with the three of hearts declarer
elected to finesse dummy’s queen and was one down.
West North East South
Duboin Wold Zia Jacobus
– – – Pass
1♠ Pass 2♥ Pass
2♠ Pass 2NT Pass
3♠ Pass 4♣* Double
4♠ All Pass
As soon as the auction was over Zia asked why there had been no redouble or 4♦ bid from North.
Duboin apologised to his partner – he had not seen South’s double. Had he done so he would have
redoubled to show his first-round club control when 6♠ would have been reached and, thanks to
South’s tell-tale double, have been made.
South led the ace of spades and switched to the nine of clubs. When North played three rounds
of the suit declarer pitched his losing spade and was +140.
West North East South
Duboin Wold Zia Jacobus
– Pass 1♥ 1♠
1NT Pass 2♥ Pass
2♠* Pass 3NT All Pass
The BBO operator described this as ‘an incredible sequence to an apparently unbeatable game.’
Not really – 2♠ clearly showed a maximum for 1NT (and perhaps implied some useful card in
hearts) after which Zia, with his slightly ‘soft’ values, went for the nine trick game.
Barnet Shenkin was closer to the mark with his comment, ‘nice bidding’.
North, looking at ♠J8 ♥965 ♦975 ♣AK832 led the three of clubs and declarer took his ten
tricks, +630 and 10 IMPs.
Recommended auction: Duboin-Zia was a perfecto.
Marks: 3NT 10, 2♥/2NT 6, 4♥ 1.
Running score: Diamond 52 (26) Lavazza 41 (54)
Hand 8 Dealer South. None Vul.
♠ 43 N ♠ AK Q J 5
♥ K 10 ♥ 872
♦ AQ 5 W E ♦ 93
♣ KQJ954 S ♣ A 10 7
South opens 3♦
North, with ♠9862 ♥AQJ965 ♦7 ♣32 led his diamond and declarer claimed +1020.
West North East Pass
Jacobus Duboin Wold Zia
– – – 3♦
3NT Pass 4♦* Pass
4♠ All Pass
4♦ Transfer to spades
West can have all sorts of hands for a 3NT overcall, but even so East’s failure to bid on over 4♠
is surprising.
North led his diamond, +510, but another 11 IMPs to Lavazza.
Recommended auction: Bocchi adopted a practical approach with his jump to 6NT, but West
would have made the same bid with the ace of hearts instead of the king, so perhaps one should
take a slower route.
Perhaps something like (3♦)-3NT-4♥*-4♠-5♣*-5♦-5NT*-6NT where after transferring to
spades and cue-bidding in clubs East bids 5NT to deny the ♥A and ask West to pick a slam.
Marks: 6NT/6♣ 10, 6♠(W) 9, 4NT/5♣/4♠ 5.
Running score: Diamond 57 (26) Lavazza 51 (65)
Diamond won the bidding battle, but Lavazza scored where it mattered on their way to secur-
ing the Vanderbilt Trophy.
You can play through the deals mentioned in this article. Just follow the links:
Hands 1, 2, 3 & 4: http://tinyurl.com/p6xso3x
Hands 5, 6, 7 & 8: http://tinyurl.com/nvzmdgr
In mildly-swinging, state-of-the-match mode, my partner, Marty Kirr, went low and passed me out
in Two Diamonds. Peter Herold, South, led out three rounds of spades, giving Kenny Scholes a
ruff. When that turned out to be from a singleton trump, I still had the queen of diamonds and ace
of hearts to lose, but I could ruff my third heart in the dummy after one high trump, for plus 90.
At the other table …
West North East South
Galand Silver McCully Carruthers
1NT* Pass 3NT All Pass
1NT 11-13
Silver led a fourth-best four of hearts. Galand won that with his eight and tried the ace and king
of diamonds. When they failed to break, he led a third round of the suit. In with the queen of dia-
monds (Silver obligingly discarding the three and two of hearts), Carruthers shifted to the seven
BLACK BRIDGE
Vienna for Connoisseurs a unique bridge holiday
August 23 - 29, 2015
Travel Itinerary
Day 1 - August 23rd Day 3 – August 25th finger food from Vienna’s award- in a Michelin award-winning
winning catering and a bridge restaurant in the historic vaults.
I ndividual arrival and check-in
at your hotel, with free time to
settle in and explore the neigh-
T he morning is at your
leisure. Lunch will be held in
the garden of a former city mo-
tournament await.
Day 7 – August 29th
borhood, such as the nearby nastery (Gault et Millau award- Day 5 – August 27th
Museum Quarter, one of the
world‘s greatest art and cultural
winning restaurant), then you
will depart for a bridge tour-
T he morning is at your
leisure. Lunch will be served
I ndividual check-out and depar-
ture.
areas. Late in the afternoon, en- nament in the Viennese Bridge * Subject to change. Alternative acti-
in an upscale restaurant right on
joy an official welcoming drink Club with dinner afterward at a vities will be arranged in the event of
the Danube River with a view of
at the hotel and then dinner in a winery under the stars. bad weather.
the Vienna’s modern skyline, fol-
stylish Art Nouveau atmosphere.
lowed by a bridge tournament
Day 4 – August 26th afterward in the Bridge Center. No scheduled activity is
Day 2 – August 24th In the evening, we will surprise
www.blackfish-bridge.com
Register by email: The booking and payment for the rements with respect to religious, More detailed information about
tour is handled by our partners HTS- cultural or medical restrictions. We the activities and your hosts is
office@blackfish-bridge.com Reisen (please use the keyword “Vi- will be happy to assist you. available on our website.
enna for Connoisseurs”):
Deadline: April 30, 2015 For questions about the program www.blackfish-bridge.com
Ms. Katharina Brauner schedule and the activities offered,
Immediately upon receiving your HTS-Reisen contact us directly at We look forward to an unforgettable
registration, our travel partners Liechtensteinstr. 107, 1090 Wien time with you in Vienna!
HTS-Reisen will contact you to Tel. +43 1 3198553 office@blackfish-bridge.com
provide all application forms as well E-Mail: reisen@hts-reisen.at
as information on the payment terms
and cancellation policy. For more
information, please visit our web-
On the form that you’ll receive by
email from us upon registration, Bridge
site: please indicate if you are vegetari-
an/vegan, suffer from food allergies Tournaments in Viennese bridge clubs
www.blackfisch-bridge.com or have any special dietary requi- Partners guaranteed
Bidding challenge
HTS Reisen
Katharina Brauner
Liechtensteinstraße 107, 1090 Veinna, Austria
Culture
E-Mail: reisen@hts-reisen.at Special city walking tours
Telephone: +43 1 3198553 www.hts-reisen.at Exclusive sightseeing
Margit Schwarz Vintage tram ride
BLACK BRIDGE
www.blackfish-bridge.com
BIDDING COMPETITION Why not enter a bridge hand or bidding problem of your
own for use in BRIDGE Magazine?
SET 294
♠
(for the June Competition) ♥
My answers are (the Adjudicator)
♦
1. ♣
♠ ♠
2. ♥ ♥
3. ♦ ♦
♣ ♣
4. ♠
5.
♥
♦
6. ♣
7. WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH
8.
Total marks:
Email to marksandcomments@sympatico.ca
or post to: Bidding Competition (292), Name: (please print)
John Carruthers, 1322 Patricia Blvd. Address:
Kingsville ON N9Y 2R4, Canada Telephone: ___________________________________
Hand 1. Dealer West. None Vul. Hand 5. Dealer North. E/W Vul.
♠ K J 10 8 5 2 ♠ K8
♥ — ♥ 10
♦ J8 ♦ A95
♣ KQJ52 ♣ K976543
North opens a Precision 2♣ and South bids 4♥ Hand 6. Dealer South. None Vul.
Hand 2. Dealer North. E/W Vul. ♠ A
♠ KQ86 ♥ AQJ42
♥ A J 10 8 7 ♦ AQ2
♦ KJ ♣ Q 10 6 4
♣ AQ Hand 7. Dealer North. All Vul.
Hand 3. Dealer West. N/S Vul. ♠ 10 3
♠ 10 8 ♥ KQJ743
♥ QJ ♦ KQ2
♦ J 10 7 5 4 2 ♣ QJ
♣ 10 8 4 Hand 8 Dealer South. None Vul.
Hand 4. Dealer East. E/W Vul. ♠ AKQJ5
♠ KJ54 ♥ 872
♥ KQ2 ♦ 93
♦ K 10 8 ♣ A 10 7
♣ QJ2 South opens 3♦
BIDDING COMPETITION
Set 292 Top Scores Other Good Scores: 1= Graham Johnson 369
73 Meic Goodyear, Bill Linton, Andy Poole, 1= Norman Massey 369
Prize winners should quote the month,
competition and value of their prize when Alan Sant 3 Stuart Nelson 367
placing an order for Master Point Press 72 Jeff Callaghan 4 Mike Perkins 365
books. Prize winners can refer to the list of 71 Michael Kaye, George Willett 5 Kresten Kristensen 358
MPP titles on the inside back cover of the 6 Alan Sant 357
70 Kresten Kristensen, Brian McDowell
current issue of Bridge Magazine. 7= Nigel Guthrie 356
69 Bill Gordon, Stuart Nelson, Ray Stubbs
Nigel Guthrie takes top spot with an 7= Peter Hawkes 356
excellent 77. Nigel wins ₤50 worth of 68 Chris Bickerdike, Stanko Kruzic, Tony
Poole, Mike Ralph 9= Meic Goodyear 355
Master Point Press books from Chess
and Bridge. Just one back on 76 is Pyers 67 Graham Johnson 9= Bill Gordon 355
Pennant (₤25 worth), then Norman 66 Tony Burt, Michael Prior 11 Frank Turton 354
Massey, Martin Turner and Frank 65 Malcolm Copley, Nigel Osmer, Olga 12 Michael Kaye 353
Turton on 74. The randow draw awarded 13 Chris Bickerdike 352
the prizes to Norman (₤15 worth) and Shadyro
14 Olga Shadyro 351
Frank (₤10 worth).
Grand Prix Standings 15= Harald Bletz 350
after Set 292 15= Ray Stubbs 350
Halfway in the Grand Prix! Remember 17= Axel Johannsson 348
that only your top five scores of the year 17= Tony Poole 348
count at the end and that not all entrants 19= Malcolm Copley 347
have five scores as yet. Keep entering to 19= Pyers Pennant 347
improve your score, or even start now. 19= Mike Ralph 347
JACK’S BACK
Deadly Endplay (fiction) Allen, Ken £12.95 Complete Book Takeout Doubles (2nd ed.) Lawrence, Mike £15.95
Shades of Grey (fiction) Allen, Ken £11.95 Falsecards (New Edition) Lawrence, Mike £14.95
I Love This Game Auken, Sabine £12.50 Encyclopedia of Card Play Techniques Levé, Guy £21.95
25 Bridge Myths Exposed Bird, David £10.50 Bridge Squeezes Complete Love, Clyde. E £14.95
Bridge Endplays for Everyone Bird, David £12.95 Bridge, Probability and Information MacKinnon, Robert F. £12.95
Bridge Squeezes for Everyone Bird, David £11.95 Win the Bermuda Bowl with Me Meckstroth & Smith £11.50
Clever Plays in the Trump Suit Bird, David £12.95 The Setting Trick McCance, Ian £11.95
Defensive Signaling at Bridge Bird, David £11.95 Competitive Bidding in the 21st Century Miles, Marshall £11.50
Off-Road Declarer Play Bird, David £11.95 Inferences at Bridge Miles, Marshall £11.50
Somehow We Landed in 6NT Bird, David £12.95 It's Your Call Miles, Marshall £12.95
Winning Notrump Leads Bird & Anthias £10.95 Modern Constructive Bidding Miles, Marshall £11.95
Winning Suit Contract Leads Bird & Anthias £10.95 My System: The Unbalanced Diamond Miles, Marshall £11.95
Leading Questions in Bridge Brock, Sally £11.95 Bridge in the Menagerie Mollo, Victor £13.95
Bridge at the Edge Brogeland, Boye & Bird, David £13.95 Card Play Technique Mollo & Gardener £14.95
Bridge Crosswords Chen, Jeff £7.95 Diamonds are the Hog’s Best Friend Mollo, Victor £13.95
Following the Law Cohen, Larry £9.95 Swings and Arrows Mollo, Victor £13.95
Larry Cohen's Bidding Challenge Cohen, Larry £9.95 The Hog Takes to Precision Mollo, Victor £11.95
To Bid or Not To Bid Cohen, Larry £11.50 Kickback: Slam Bidding at Bridge Munger, Robert £7.95
Death in Duplicate Coplea, Carole £13.95 First Book of Play Problems O’Connor, Patrick £10.95
Standard Bidding with SAYC Downey, Ned & Ellen Pomer £11.95 Second Book of Play Problems O’Connor, Patrick £10.95
Bridge with Bells and Whistles Dufresne, MA & Ellingsen, M £11.95 Bridge Behind Bars (fiction) Pottage & Smith £12.95
A Modern Approach to Two-Over-One Eichenbaum, Ken £8.95 Clues from the Bidding Pottage, Julian £10.95
Winners, Losers and Cover Cards Eichenbaum, Ken £8.95 Defend These Hands with Me Pottage, Julian £11.50
Can You Win The USBC Team Trials Felmy, Matthias £13.95 Play or Defend? Pottage, Julian £8.95
I Shot My Bridge Partner (fiction) Granovetter, Matthew £9.50 Defend or Declare? Pottage, Julian £11.95
Murder at the Bridge Table (fiction) Granovetter, Matthew £9.50 Deadly Hold-Up Priebe, Jim £11.95
Bridge Conventions in Depth Granovetter & Granovetter £13.95 Double Elimination: A Bridge Mystery Priebe, Jim £11.95
Bridge Master Vs Bridge Amateur Horton, Mark £11.95 Matchpoint Defense Priebe, Jim £11.95
Misplay These Hands with Me Horton, Mark £11.95 Takeout Double: A Bridge Mystery Priebe, Jim £11.50
The Hands of Time Horton, Mark £10.50 Thinking on Defense Priebe, Jim £9.95
The Mysterious Multi Horton, Mark £12.95 Positive Declarer Play in Bridge Reese & Pottage £10.50
Duplicate Bridge at Home Horton & Gittelman £12.95 Positive Defense in Bridge Reese & Pottage £10.50
The Bridge Magicians Horton & Kielbasinski £11.50 The Extra Edge in Play Reese & Pottage £10.95
For Love or Money Horton & Senior £12.95 Modified Italian Canapé System Rexford, Ken £8.95
The Rabbi’s Rules Horton, Mark £12.95 New Frontiers for Strong Forcing Openings Rexford, Ken £8.95
Building a Bidding System Hughes, Roy £11.50 Overcalling Opponent's 1NT Rexford, Ken £6.95
Canada’s Bridge Warriors Hughes, Roy £15.95 Really Unusual Notrump (R.U.N.T.) Rexford, Ken £7.95
Card by Card Hughes, Roy £11.50 Variable Key Card Blackwood Rexford, Ken £8.95
Fantunes Revealed Jacobs, Bill £9.95 Breaking the Bridge Rules Rigal, Barry £12.95
One Trick at a TIme Jackson, Jim £11.95 Rodwell Files: Secrets of a champion Rodwell, Eric £17.95
Polish Club International Jassem,Krzysztof £10.95 How Good is Your Bridge Roth, Danny £11.95
Patrick Jourdain’s Problem Corner Jourdain, Patrick £12.95 Bridge on a Shoestring Schoenborn, Michael £13.95
Advanced Bridge Defense Kantar, Eddie £13.95 25 Bridge Conventions You Should Know Seagram & Smith £10.50
Classic Kantar Kantar, Eddie £9.50 25 More Conventions You Should Know Seagram & Bird £10.50
Defensive Tips for Bad Card Holders Kantar, Eddie £14.95 25 Ways to Be a Better Defender Seagram & Bird £10.50
Kantar on Kontract Kantar, Eddie £10.50 25 Ways to Compete in the Bidding Seagram & Smith £10.50
Modern Bridge Defense Kantar, Eddie £13.95 25 Ways to Take More Tricks as Declarer Seagram & Bird £10.50
Roman Keycard Blackwood - 5th ed. Kantar, Eddie £13.95 Declarer Play at Bridge: A Quizbook Seagram & Bird £9.95
Topics in Declarer Play Kantar, Eddie £13.95 Defensive Play Quizbook: A Quizbook Seagram & Bird £9.95
Improve Your Bidding Judgment Kimelman, Neil £12.95 Planning the Play of a Bridge Hand Seagram & Bird £12.95
The Thin Line Kimelman, Neil £12.95 Pocket Guide to Defensive Play Seagram & Bird £6.95
365 Winning Bridge Tips Kleinman, Danny £13.95 Scotland’s Senior Moment Smith & Adamson £13.95
Human Bridge Errors Kleinman & Straguzzi £10.50 Becoming a Bridge Expert Stewart, Frank £13.95
A Bridge to Inspired Declarer Play Laderman, Julian £12.95 Frank Stewart's Bridge Club Stewart, Frank £10.50
A Bridge to Simple Squeezes Laderman, Julian £11.95 How to Play Bridge with your Spouse Tevkolsky, Roselyn £9.95
Bumblepuppy Days Laderman, Julian £14.95 Bridge at the Breakfast Table Thurston, Paul £1.50
Still Not Finding Squeezes? Laderman, Julian £7.95 25 Steps to Learning 2/1 Thurston, Paul £10.50
25 Conventions for ACOL Players Landry & Horton £11.95 North of the Master Solvers’ Club Vine, Frank £11.95
Complete Book on Overcalls (2nd ed.) Lawrence, Mike £13.95 Bridge at the Enigma Club Winkler, Peter £11.95
Complete Book on Passed Hand Bidding Lawrence, Mike £13.95 The Lone Wolff Wollf, Bobby £15.95