We are back in Dubrovnik, Croatia, for the second day of the 21^st European Champions Cup and the 1^st Women’s European Champions Cup.

With six of the eleven rounds in the qualifying stage played, these were the overnight standings in the Open event:

After four of the seven rounds in the Women’s event, the overnight standings were:

At the end of play today, the top four teams in each event will advance to the top semi-finals. The remaining teams will also play knockout matches to determine a complete finishing order.

In the Open, the Swiss began the day with a substantial lead over the field, but their 2-19 loss to the Norwegians in the opening match allowed the chasing teams to narrow the gap. Next up for the favourites were the Irish, who were still very much in the mix for a place in the top semi-finals tomorrow. It turned out to be a fascinating match. As usual, we start with a couple of problems. Firstly, with neither side vulnerable, you are West holding:

What action, if any, do you take?

Next, with only your opponents vulnerable, you are sitting in the East seat with:

What action, if any, do you take?

While you mull those over, we start on the opening deal of the match, with both West players having to make a decision on the first of the problems above.

Sjoert Brink opened 1♦ and Mark Moran (left) passed on the West hand. It was hard thereafter to see at what point the Irish could get back into the auction.

With only three top losers, 4♥ is an excellent game for East/West, needing little more than the club finesse through the opening bidder.

Brink had seven top tricks and the ♣K provided him with his eighth when the ♣A was well placed. N/S +90.

Pierre Zimmermann got his side into the auction with a double of South’s 1♦ opening. Now it was just a question of whether the Swiss could avoid the good but doomed game. Michal Nowosadzki started with a value-showing cue-bid and the Irish competed to the three-level. Nowosadzki now bid his suit in a highly invitational situation but, with nothing to spare for his original double, Zimmermann was not tempted to take another bid.

Game is good on this auction but, as so often seems to happen, the top teams inevitably seem to know when to zig and when to zag (more on that later). N/S -140 and 6 IMPs to Bridge Contact Club to get the scoreboard ticking.

Both East players had to deal with the second of today’s problems on our next deal.

The spade slam is a little worse than the heart finesse, but the Irish made it difficult for the Swiss even to pick up their vulnerable game bonus. John Carroll (right) jumped to 5♦, which could easily go wrong, even at favourable vulnerability, but it turned out to be very well judged on this layout.

At this vulnerability, it is fairly common expert practise to play South’s pass of 5♦ as forcing after a three-level takeout double (or overcall). Brink had a suitable hand on which to invite his partner to bid on, and Bas Drijver thought for some considerable time before eventually settling for defending. Now the challenge was to collect the maximum.

Drijver opened the ♠K, Brink following with a suit-preference ♠6. Moran false-carded with the ♠7, which made it easier for Drijver to work out that his partner had played his highest spot card. After some thought Drijver switched to the ♥2. Now it was declarer’s turn to restrict his losses. If he allows South to win this trick, a trump switch would limit declarer to one spade ruff and he would be four down. Moran correctly rose with the ♥K (Brink following with the queen) and played a club. Drijver won and played a low heart to his partner’s jack and Brink switched to a trump, but Moran put up the ♦A and was now able to ruff both spade losers in dummy. Three down: N/S +500. Could the Irish at the other table avoid the slam and pick up a few IMPs? The answer was yes and no…

In the same situation, Nowosadzki also raised his partner’s 3♦ opening to game. Conor Boland (left) either didn’t have a forcing pass available or judged that this hand was not good enough, so he simply doubled on the South hand.

Tom Hanlon also led the ♠K, South following with the six but declarer with the three. With the ♠6 perhaps looking like a middle card, Hanlon cashed the ♣A and the ♥A, then played a second heart. Zimmermann won with the ♥K and advanced the ♣Q. Boland played low, so Zimmermann discarded his heart loser. (If South covers with the ♣K, then declarer can cash the ♦A, ruff a spade, and play the ♣J and pitch a heart to gain the same trick.)

Not only had the Irish not collected their vulnerable game bonus, but they had also let a trick get away in defence. N/S +300 and 5 IMPs to Bridge Contact Club. It is tough to pick up IMPs against the very best teams as their card play is rarely inaccurate. When they do slip, it is imperative that you take advantage. Giving away the odd trick against them can prove very costly, as the Irish were discovering. This time the tariff was 5 IMPs, but a slip at both tables on the next deal proved more costly…

It’s a matter of style, but I am not a fan of opening 1NT with 5-4 hands unless partner can make a response that leaves you with no sensible rebid. This West hand looks strong enough for a reverse to 2♥ if partner bids 1♠ over your 1♣ opening, so I see no need to distort the shape. It looks like it should be fairly easy to reach the cold 5♣ after a 1♣ opening. It proved impossible after 1NT, and the Irish landed in the inevitable destination. With North having been directed away from the fatal heart lead, declarer’s only chance in 3NT seems to be finding the ♥K onside. Is he, therefore, destined to fail today?

Drijver duly led the ♦10, Sjoert Brink (left) winning with the ♦Q. Afraid, presumably, of giving away a trick if his partner’s diamond lead was a singleton, Brink switched to the ♠4 at trick two, handing declarer a chance. Can it ever cost to put in the ♠J? If it loses, are you any worse off than you were at the start? When Moran rose with the ♠A, that chance had slipped past and he was again back to eight tricks. Declarer rumbled four rounds of clubs before playing a heart to the queen. Drijver won with the ♥K and played a spade for Brink to cash three tricks in the suit. E/W -100.

Pierre Zimmermann (right) also opened 1NT on the West hand, and the auction followed an identical route other than opener’s heart bid at his second turn. The contract and the opening lead were the same. Boland won with the ♦Q and continued with the ♦K. Zimmermann took the ace and started on clubs. Boland had to find discards right away, and he threw a heart, two spades, and then a diamond. After following three times. Hanlon released a heart on the fourth club. Declarer had one club winner left with these cards remaining:

When Zimmermann played his last club winner, Hanlon pitched another heart from the North hand, while Boland released a second diamond. Now declarer led his heart, Boland following with the jack. Zimmerman played the queen and Hanlon won with the king. If North plays a spade now declarer makes just his two aces and he will be one down. When Hanlon instead returned the ♥10, Zimmerman won with the ace and played a third round of hearts. Hanlon won with the ♥9 but, when declarer regained the lead with the ♠A, his ♥6 had become good. E/W +600 and 12 IMPs to Bridge Contact Club despite bidding to the wrong game.

It is always difficult to judge competitive auctions when the hand belongs to the partnership with less than half of the high cards. Take a look at this deal:

As hands that qualify for a 15-17 1NT opening go, they don’t come much worse than this East collection. Bas Drijver (left) could double West’s 2♦ transfer bid to show a takeout of hearts. Carroll showed his three-card support with 2♥ and Brink joined in with 2♠. Moran knew his side had a nine-card fit so he competed to the LAW level despite his meagre high-card values. Drijver’s second double was then a game-try in spades.

The defence had two hearts and one trick in each of the other suits, so that was one down. E/W +100.

The auction here seemed very sensible. The one in the other room was a tad more bizarre…

Hanlon could not double the 2♦ transfer (doing so would have shown diamonds), so he overcalled in his threadbare spade suit. Despite four-card support, Boland decided that he did not have enough even for a defensive raise to 3♠ (which would, presumably, have flattened the deal).

That allowed Zimmermann, who quite rightly judged that he didn’t want to sell to 2♠, to compete to the three-level. When 3♥ came back to him, Boland thought it was perfectly safe to bid a third spade, but Michael Nowosadzki (right) quickly disillusioned him of that idea. A remarkable E/W +420 and another 8 IMPs to Bridge Contact Club.

Since his move westwards, Nowosadzki has obviously been taking lessons from Michal Klukowski, as he now also seems to be doing things that make one wonder, “Is this guy a genius or completely bonkers?” From the level of success they have had, we have to conclude that it is the former. What did I say earlier about knowing when to zig and when to zag? It is truly uncanny, but it provides great entertainment for those watching, so long may it continue.

You may have noticed that there was very little in this set of boards. Scores in other matches in this round were 12-6 and 13-9. The Swiss defeated a good Irish team 31-4 over ten boards with nothing in the hands. Most impressive, particularly when you remember that the world’s best player was sitting this one out. Would you bet against them?

The qualifying stage ended today, with the leading four teams advancing to the top knockout stage tomorrow. The Swiss have been in devastating form, winning ten of their eleven matches and finishing with an amazing IMP score of 331-113 over their eleven matches. It was ‘all change’ in the race to fill the top places behind. The Croatian team hammered the Irish 37-2 in the last round but just fell short of a place in the top four, as the Lithuanians also recorded a big win to leapfrog the Poles and the Irish to grab the fourth spot. 

This was how the top of the leader board finished in the Open:

There was also a runaway leader in the Women’s event, with the German Champions winning all six of their matches with a combined IMP total of 239-100. The round robin of the Women’s event ended with the table looking like this:

We will be back soon with the highlights from the knockout stage.