Ireland vs Switzerland - Juniors Round Seven

Ireland and Switzerland were both near the bottom of the table when they met on vugraph on Sunday morning but they delivered a good entertaining match for the audience. Ireland had the perfect start on Board 1.

Board 1. Dealer North. None Vul.
	ª A 6 2 © K ¨ K 10 9 3 2 § K Q 5 2
ª Q 9 8 7 4 © Q 10 7 5 ¨ Q 8 6 4 § -		ª 3 © A 9 4 2 ¨ J 7 5 § A 9 8 4 3
	ª K J 10 5 © J 8 6 3 ¨ A § J 10 7 6

Both Norths declared 3NT on the lead of East’s singleton spade, both declarers putting in South’s ten. On vugraph, Ben Mackenzie covered with the queen and Gerard Heche won the ace. Heche unblocked the ace of diamonds then played a club to the queen and ace. Tom McCormac switched to the ace of hearts and continued with the nine. Had declarer covered that, the defence would have had to show a little care to make sure of beating the contract. As it was, Heche failed to cover and McCormac could play another heart through for a quick one down; -50.

At the other table, John Weisweiler did not cover the ª10 so Andrew barton allowed it to hold then played a club to his king, ducked, followed by a low club. This time Nathalie Justitz took her ace and switched to a low diamond. Barton won the ace and tried a heart to his bare king. Justitz won the ace of hearts and, not able to read the position, exited with a club. Barton won in hand, cashed the ace of spades and crossed to dummy’s last club. West had been squeezed down to the bare queen of diamonds and queen-doubleton in each major. When Barton now exited with a low heart he won the ten and cashed the queen of hearts before exiting with the diamond. That wasn’t good enough, of course, because declarer could throw the ªJ from dummy while winning the diamond and dummy had a spade and a heart for the last two tricks; +400 and 10 IMPs to Ireland.

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

How would you handle that West hand after RHO opens 1¨? While agreeing with the modern style regarding the decision whether to double or overcall, that is to stress the five-card suit first whenever possible, it seems that to make a simple overcall on this hand is carrying a good idea too far. It is all too easy to see how 1ª could get passed out when East/West are cold for 3NT - not that this was the case on this particular deal, of course. It was surprising that South did not reopen with a double, given his ideal shape for such an action, but after the 1ª bid East/West were always likely to stop at a safe level anyway. As at several other tables around the room, declarer made eight tricks in his spade contract for +110 to Switzerland.

Double seems to be a more normal start but then I fancy a lot of players would prefer to bid spades at their second turn rather than jump to 2NT. The latter was Mackenzie’s choice and McCormac made the equally dubious decision to raise to game. Heche led the jack of spades and Mackenzie won the ace and tried a low club from hand, hoping for a helpful return. Olivier La Spada won the §10 and switched to a low heart, putting the defence firmly in control. Mackenzie won, perforce, and cashed a top spade, not liking what he saw. Next, he tried the effect of the ten of diamonds, playing dummy’s king when North showed out. La Spada won and the defence took their hearts, ending in the South hand. La Spada was endplayed now and actually exited with the king of clubs, hoping that his partner might hold the queen. Mackenzie had seven tricks now for down one; -50 and 5 IMPs to Switzerland.

The Swiss levelled the match a couple of boards later when Heche/La Spada stayed out of a hopeless game reached by Barton/Nolan. Ireland picked up a couple of minor swings to regain the lead then seemed to have taken control of the match as they extended their lead to 41 IMPs over the next few deals.

Board 7. Dealer South. All Vul.
	ª Q J © K J 7 2 ¨ K 7 3 § Q 8 7 6
ª A K 10 6 3 © 6 3 ¨ 10 4 § A K 4 3		ª 9 4 © A Q 5 4 ¨ A J 9 6 § 9 5 2
	ª 8 7 5 2 © 10 9 8 ¨ Q 8 5 2 § J 10

It is always a little embarrassing to go down in a partscore then find that your counterparts at the other table have bid and made game after the same suit was led to trick one, but that is what happened to Weisweiler/Justitz on this deal.

Against 2NT, Barton led a low heart and Weisweiler ducked. David Nolan switched to a club and declarer won and twice crossed to hand in the red suits to take spade finesses, first running the nine, then leading low to the ten. As Barton wasted no time in knocking out the second club entry when he got in with the first spade, that meant that declarer made no spade tricks at all. He was one down for -100.

At the other table, it was McCormac who was declarer from the East seat. He won the heart lead and ran the ª9 to Heche’s queen. McCormac ducked the heart return but won the next round. He crossed to a club to lead the ten of diamonds and Heche erred by failing to cover. There were a couple of winning options available to declarer after La Spada had won the ¨Q. and one losing one. La Spada put him to the test straight away by returning a spade. McCormac thought for a moment then called for dummy’s ace and the fall of the jack meant that he had ten tricks, North being show-up squeezed on the run of the spades; +600 and 12 IMPs to Ireland.

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

This deal featured the first of two truly revolting bids which it was my pleasure to see suitably punished, one from each team. The East hand is a little awkward if you do not have a weak no trump rebid available over a 1ª response and one can understand the Closed room auction, even if it didn’t work out particularly well for East/West. Two Diamonds drifted a couple off for +200 to Ireland. Not that it really mattered very much.

In the Open Room, McCormac opened a weak no trump, which I think is probably the best solution to East’s problem - assuming that you would not contemplate a pass, of course. When that came around to Heche he bid when he really should have passed. But this decision was compounded by the inappropriateness of his methods - he had to bid 2ª to show either clubs or both red suits. To force yourself to the three level on what is, after all, a weak no trump, vulnerable! Happily, justice was not sleeping. La Spada responded 3§. Pass or correct, and Mackenzie doubled. It was not too taxing for McCormac to double the correction to 3¨, and there the matter rested.

If the auction had gone badly for Heche, the play went no better. McCormac found the best start of the queen of clubs in response to his partner’s double of 3§. And Heche won the ace to play a heart to the jack and queen. McCormac played his remaining club and Mackenzie won and played a third round, on which North and East both pitched a spade. The fourth club came next and North threw a heart, East another spade. Mackenzie switched to the ten of hearts and McCormac won the king with his ace and played another heart. Declarer played ace and another diamond and made just one more diamond trick for five down; -1400 and 17 IMPs to Ireland.

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

After identical starts in the two rooms, this one was simply a matter of whether the East hand was worth a second bid facing a simple rebid. Justitz thought not and Weisweiler was left to make an easy +170. McCormac thought yes and bid 2NT, which was raised to game. La Spada led a low spade and Heche, perhaps still thinking about the previous board, made the odd play of the nine. McCormac won the ª10 and immediately took a heart finesse. He crossed back to hand with the ¨J and repeated the finesse then ran the hearts. North’s play to trick one now came home to roost as N/S muddled their discards, allowing declarer to take an 11th trick for _460 and 7 IMPs to Ireland.

At this point, Ireland led by 51-10 and seemed well on their way to a maximum win. However, the stage was set for a determined Swiss fight-back.

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

You could make out a case for opening the West hand with either 1ª or 1¨. Weisweiler’s choice was 1ª and once he had shown the two-suited nature of his hand Justitz jumped to the small slam in diamonds. With both minors behaving, Weisweiler had 13 tricks; +940.

Mackenzie made the second of those disgusting bids I mentioned earlier, when he opened the West hand with a weak two bid! It was tough for McCormac to envisage a slam and he just punted 3NT. Having so grossly distorted his hand with his first bid, Mackenzie might have bid 4¨ now and given his side a chance to recover. He passed. McCormac managed all 13 tricks for +520 but 9 IMPs to Switzerland.

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

Both Easts opened a multi, neither being too concerned about holding four hearts on the side. Weisweiler jumped to 4©. Pass or correct. Which told Justitz about the double fit and persuaded her to go on to 5ª over Barton’s 4NT (minors) bid. When that came around to Barton he doubled - 4© had not been alerted and he was not aware of what was going on, but it is not clear that this affects his decision significantly. Five Spades doubled duly rolled in when declarer played the heart suit in normal fashion, +650.

In Austria vs Denmark, the Austrian declarer went down in 5ª doubled when South went in with the king on the first round of hearts and declarer subsequently played for this to have been from ©AKx.

In the other room, Mackenzie preferred a slower approach via a 2NT enquiry. Heche was able to stress his clubs then show the diamonds at his next turn. Finally, when La Spada couldn’t double 5ª, he went on to 6§ and must have been pretty pleased with the dummy. Heche won the heart lead in hand and laid down the ace of clubs, conceding one down; -100 but 11 IMPs to Switzerland. He did not have the dummy entries to pick up the trumps even had he viewed to play for the actual position.

There was only one more significant swing to come. On Board 18, the Irish East/West pair missed a thin but successful game bid by Switzerland for a 6 IMP swing. At the end, Switzerland had pulled right back and lost by only 44-51 IMPs, 14-16 VPs.

It is rarely good policy for the same team to choose the same trump suit at both tables. As we saw on Board 10, Ireland were the recipients of a 17 IMP windfall when Switzerland tried it. Back on Thursday evening the Irish were on the other side of the equation in their match against Hungary. This was the deal:

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

Two Clubs over the weak no trump showed clubs and another suit, after which both players bid basically naturally until the heart game was reached, at which point West lost patience and doubled. The double was more a response to the sound of the auction than anything related to west’s actual hand, but it proved to be successful when the contract went one down after the lead of a low diamond from east; -200.

The above was the auction as seen by the Irish West player in the Closed Room. He thought his partner had transferred to hearts and. As he had four-card support, he broke the transfer with a jump to 3©. Unfortunately for him, and his team, this was the actual auction:

So East’s 2¨ was really just a run-out from 1NT doubled. As you might imagine, 3© doubled was a bloody affair. And declarer did well to scramble five tricks for -800. That meant a swing of 14 IMPs to Hungary.

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