We return to the 2023 Summer Festival in Turkey. Last time, we saw the first half of the final of the Women’s Teams, a 56-board match divided into four 14-board segments. We left things with the score tied 75-75 at the midway point. Let’s see the best of the action from the second half.

As usual, we begin with some problems. Firstly, with both sides vulnerable, you are North holding:

What action, if any, do you take?

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

What action, if any, do you take?

Finally, with both sides vulnerable, you are in the East seat holding:

What action do you take?

While you contemplate those, we start this week’s coverage early in the third stanza of the final. Although the best contract may be obvious when looking at both hands, even suggesting a sensible auction to reach that top spot is not always easy. Take a look at this slam hand:

Dilek Yavas started with a forcing 1NT response, planning to show an invitational three-card spade raise at her second turn. Good hands with poor suits are often difficult to bid, and this East hand is a case in point. After North’s 2♥ overcall, you would like to bid more than 2♠ on this hand, but partner will surely expect a significantly better spade suit for a jump to 3♠, but 3♦ might have worked well on this layout. Yavas raised invitationally to the three-level and, of course, Ferda Kanlikilic went on to game, but slam was never in the frame. The key is the double fit, which never came to light. There were 12 top tricks: E/W +480.

Ozlem Kandolu (left) made her first international appearance in the 1996 World Mixed Teams. She was a member of the Turkish Women’s team that won bronze medals at the 2012 European Championships. More recently, she won a silver medal after going all the way to the final of the 2022 Venice Cup in Salsomaggiore.

On this deal, Kandolu was able to show an invitational or better spade raise with a jump to 2NT at her first turn. (This is not a recommended method, as there is little room for slam investigation as it is after 1M-2NT, without taking up some of the space to cater for a non-game forcing raise.) However, it worked well here. When North overcalled in hearts, Tuna Elmas was able to show a good hand with a 4♥ cue-bid. Although she did not have any extra values, Kandolu’s hand was very suitable, and she judged well to venture beyond game. Her diamond bid was exactly what her partner wanted to hear, so Elmas had a comfortable jump to the excellent slam. E/W +980 and 11 IMPs to EGETOR to get thing going in the second half.

A few boards later, another slam hand generated the set’s only other double-digit swing. Both North players had to make the decision whether to venture beyond game on a variation of the auction shown in the first of this week’s problems.

Nese Dirim responded with a game-forcing 2♦ and then agreed spades with a raise to the three-level. When Funda Ozbey showed a minimum by simply raising to game, Dirim had to make a decision. With such good controls, it looks right to make one more move, although it may well be that you then stop at the five-level when partner shows what appear to be wasted heart values.

Not that either of the possible slams are particularly good: 6♦ has is virtually no play on a club lead, whilst 6♠ needs both pointed suits to split 3-2 (and probably with West holding three diamonds, so no overruff, and East holding three spades, so no uppercut). On a club lead, this layout allows declarer to win with the ♣A and play ♦A-K and a third round, ruffing (or overruffing). Declarer can then draw trumps ending in dummy and throw three losers on the long diamonds.

Yavas led a trump, so declarer could now make twelve tricks with any 3-2 spade and diamond break (or singleton diamond honour on declarer’s left). N/S +680.

Asli Acar (right) made her first international appearance in the Mixed events at the 2007 European Transnational Championships on home soil in Antalya. She made her debut in the Turkish Women’s team in 2012, winning a bronze medal at the European Championships. She has now played regularly in Turkey’s Women’s and Mixed teams for more than a decade.

On this deal, Acar had to deal with a 2♥ overcall from Ozlem Kandolu. She bid a natural, game-forcing 3♦ and got 3NT from her partner after East had supported hearts. Acar wanted to make a forward-going move now, so she advanced with a 4♥ cue-bid and then raised invitationally when Berrak Erkan retreated to 4♠. Erkan liked her hand sufficiently to accept the slam try, and, with only moderate spades, she offered diamonds as an alternative.

This turned the spotlight onto Tuna Elmas in the East seat. Could she find the killing club lead? Of course not. Why should she choose to open Qxxx rather than leading the suit her partner had overcalled at the two-level? Acar played low from dummy and ruffed the first round of hearts. Three rounds of diamonds took care of the trumps, leaving declarer with the ♥A and two long spades on which to pitch her club losers. N/S +1370 and 12 IMPs to FUTURE.

FUTURE won the third stanza 20-11, so they led by 9 IMPs (95-86) with one 14-board segment left to play. Still anyone’s game!

The match so far had been nip-and-tuck throughout, but the final stanza turned out to be all one-way traffic. Both South players were faced with the second of this week’s problems on our next deal. The unfortunate thing about this game is that sometimes doing the right thing blows up in your face.

Faced with the problem posed earlier, Berrak Erkan raised to 2♠. Asli Acar made a game-try on the North hand and Tuna Elmas doubled again to show her extra values. Erkan retreated to 3♠, probably silently thanked by Ozlem Kandolu, who therefore did not have to bid vulnerable at the four-level on her lousy hand. However, with bridge as in life, you should we wary of what you wish for, as you may get it.

Despite North’s apparent good hand, there were three hearts, two clubs and a diamond to be lost in 3♠. But, it was only 50s: E/W +100.

Funda Ozbey (left) made her first international appearance at the 1998 European Mixed Championships in Aachen. She made her debut in the Turkish Women’s team at the 2016 European Championships and also represented her country in the Mixed Teams at the Wroclaw World Bridge Games that same year.

On this deal, Ozbey followed the sound general principle of pre-empting to the maximum, her jump to 3♠ taking as much space away from the opponents as possible. Ferda Kanlikilic decided that the East hand was worth another bid and backed in, forcing her partner to the four-level. Having previously decided that her hand was not worth 4♠ facing a pre-emptive jump to 3♠, Nese Dirim now bid again on the North hand, effectively double-crossing herself. Quite how her hand had improved, is hard to see.

Had North passed, East would have a close decision and may have passed, allowing her partner to play peacefully in 4♦. But, 4♠ offered her fielders’ choice. Now there was no wrong decision: East could double and collect +500 or bid 5♦ and score +600 when the trumps behaved and the club finesse worked. E/W +600 meant 11 IMPs to FUTURE.

The very next board hammered another huge nail into the coffin containing EGETOR’s chances. Both East players had to answer the last of this week’s problems, and their different choices decided the direction of the IMPs.

Having originally passed as dealer, Tuna Elmas decided to cue-bid 3♣, showing a maximum pass with a diamond fit. When Ozlem Kandolu retreated to 3♦, denying game interest facing a passed hand, there was nothing more to say. Declarer had one loser in each suit: E/W +110.

Ferda Kanlikilic took a much more aggressive approach on the East hand. She risked a negative double of North’s 2♣ overcall, reasoning presumably that she could always retreat to 3♦ if her partner bid 2♠. When Dilek Yavas bid hearts, Kanlikilic fully appreciated that the double fit made her hand significantly better than just the 10 points that simply counting high cards would have you believe. Not willing to allow her partner to pass below game, she jumped all the way to 4♥.

Quite right she was too, as the hand played much better in the 4-4 major than it did the 5-3 diamond fit. Declarer was able to set up the long diamonds on which to discard her spade loser: E/W +620 and another 11 IMPs to FUTURE.

The score in the final set was 44-3, so FUTURE won the match by an even 50 IMPs, 139-89, the final scoreline belying how close it was as a contest. Congratulations to the winners: Asli Acar, Berrak Erkan, Dilek Yavas and Ferda Kanlikilic. Have we now seen the bright future of Women’s Bridge in Turkey (pun intended)?

We are collecting plenty of Air Miles this month, as we are now headed for Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, in order to bring you the best of the action from the final of the 2023 Australian National Open Teams.