Vugraph Deals #168

Welcome back to Madeira and the 55^th European Teams Championships. We are now approaching the pointy end of this tournament, with just three of the 11 days remaining. The battle for the title has been a two-horse race for some time, with the two Bermuda Bowl finalists from Salsomaggiore a couple months ago having occupied the top two spots for the best part of a week. In Italy, the Dutch lost by just 3 IMPs. Here, though, they lead the Swiss by more than 30 VPs going into the last three days. This week, we will see each of the leading contenders in action. 

Just one bidding problem today: with only your side vulnerable, you are East holding: 

What do you bid? 

We begin this week with the Swiss as they take on Sweden. The Scandinavians started the tournament well and were in third place not so long ago. However, they have slipped out of the Bermuda Bowl qualifying places and they come into this match lying fourteenth. 

After opening a natural (3+) 1♣, Peter Bertheau showed an enormous hand via a double of 2♥, and then a 3♥ cue-bid when Simon Hult denied any interest with a Lebensohl-style 2NT. Hult was eventually persuaded to show some sign of life, and thus game was reached. North’s heart lead gave declarer time to set up two diamond ruffs in dummy and thus twelve tricks were made: E/W +420. 

Michal Klukowski’s 1♣ opening was Polish (11-14 balanced, 15+ with clubs, or any 18+). After the same start to the auction, Piotr Gawrys bid 3♣ in response to his partner’s double of 2♥. This galvanized Klukowski into action. He started by making a slam try with a jump to 4♥, and then accepted the try himself when Gawrys signed off. Could Ola Rimstedt find the trump lead needed to limit declarer to one diamond ruff? 

No chance. Ola led the ♥Q and two shakes later declarer was claiming twelve tricks: E/W +920 and the juggernaut picks up speed with an early 11-IMP swing to SWITZERLAND. The thousands watching live on BBO VuGraph did not have to wait long to see it shift into top gear. Both East players were faced with this week’s problem hand on the very next deal: 

A simple auction got the Swedes to 4♥ in double-quick time. Brink led the ♠10 to the jack and queen, and Drijver switched accurately to the ♦Q at trick two. When that held, he continued with the ♠A and the ♦K for an equally quick one down: E/W -100.

Piotr Gawrys thought a little deeper into the hand. He was always going to bid 4♥, but he stopped off to make a game try with 3♦ on the way. Klukowski retreated to 3♥ and Gawrys carried on to game anyway, but the seed had been sown and it did not take long for it to bear fruit. 

Here, too, South led the ♠10 but Ola Rimstedt had a much different perception of declarer’s hand. He still saw a possible route to four defensive tricks, via a trump promotion if his partner held, say, ♥J-x-x. His partner would also need one more trick, which could only be the ♣A and, if declarer held only one club, that trick had to be cashed before playing the third round of spades through. Ola therefore switched to a club at trick two, and once again the Poles had conjured a swing out of nothing. E/W +620 and another 12 IMPs to SWITZERLAND, ahead 30-6 after six deals and trucking down that autobahn.  

Switzerland won the match 46-20 and remained in silver-medal position. With the Dutch also winning and by a larger margin, they are now more than 35 VPs behind the leaders. 

Let’s now see the leaders in action, against Israel on the penultimate day of competition. For the Israelis, who began the day in seventh place, 8 VPs ahead of ninth-placed England, this was always likely to be the defining day of their event. They began the day with a 20-42 loss to the Swiss, and then played the runaway leaders followed by third-placed Italy.  

A near-maximum win over Bulgaria in the first match of the day widened the gap at the top between the Dutch and the Swiss to almost 40 VPs. There are just three matches after this one, but the Dutch meet the Swiss face-to-face in the last match today.  

The Israelis opened a moderate lead in the early stages of the match, and then came a huge chance to add significantly to that advantage. 

Van Prooijen’s 2♥ response showed diamonds. Quite what 4♣ was I cannot explain. The final contract was hardly a stellar one, and duly drifted two down. E/W -100. Could the Israelis find their way to a making contract? 

Ami Zamir opened a strong club, and Oren Toledano’s 1♥ response showed any 8-11 without five spades. Natural bids followed, with 4♣ seemingly agreeing diamonds (and was perhaps even RKCB). When Zamir bid 4♥, de Wijs doubled, presumably lead-directing, but the price for getting that information to his partner could have been truly extortionate. As it happens, there is no good slam contract, and the Israelis had the chance to play 4♥-X, or even 4♥-XX. Would Muller have been forced to save in 5♣ over that? Doing so may have been cheaper but it certainly would not have been cheap! 

In the end, the enormous Dutch fish was allowed to wriggle off the hook. Theoretically, the Israelis had managed to stop in a slam that could be made, but declarer was never likely to find the winning line in reality. And so it proved, Toledano winning the heart opening, cashing the ♦K, crossing to the ♠K, and cashing the ♦A. Had the trumps split 3-2, declarer would have been favourite to bring home his slam, but it was not to be. E/W -50 and just an exciting 2 IMPs to ISRAEL. 

Board 11 was another slam-bidding challenge for the East/West pairs: 

Zamir began with a strong club, but the Dutch had pre-empted to the four-level by the time he got to speak again. Even so, the Israelis made short work of getting to the excellent grand slam. There was nothing to the play: E/W +1510. 

The auction began in identical fashion in the replay and, although the path’s diverged at the four-level, the end result was the same. E/W +1510 here too and an honourable push.  

These two pairs may have made it look easy but, of the 30 tables in the Open, only eight pairs got to the grand (it was also flat at +1510 in the England/Lithuania match). One stopped in game and two collected moderate penalties, but the other 19 all scored only +1010 in 6♥. 

We have room for one more fine defensive play. 

Van Prooijen opened a strong club and then rebid a 17-19 1NT over the 1♦ negative (0-8 HCP) response. Verhees advanced with Stayman and then signed off in 3♦ when he found spades opposite. Game in diamond is basically on the trump finesse but, as Verhees demonstrated, may also make if the defenders do not cash their two heart winners.  

North led a trump and Verhees won with the ace in dummy. He then cashed his three winners in each black suit to dispose of three heart losers from his hand. The defenders came to a trick in each red suit at the end. E/W +150. 

The Israelis play a 1♦ negative as the traditional 0-7 HCP range, so this West hand was (just) a game-forcing positive, 1♥ showing any 8-11 without five spades. After the spade-showing Stayman response here, Zamir had no non-forcing options to he took a shot at the most likely game. As it happens, 3NT is inferior, as it still needs the diamond finesse, but might also fail if the defenders are able to cash five hearts. 

Bauke Muller led the ♣10, declarer winning with the queen and running the ♦Q at trick two. Yes, one possibility is to find partner with ♥K-J-x. Another, though, is that he holds the ♠A and a heart holding such as J-10-x. To which major would you switch when you take the ♦K? 

Experts always prefer not to have to guess, and Muller found a way to avoid doing so on this deal. At trick two, he followed smoothly with the ♦8. Of course, declarer continued by running the ♦J and now, after taking the ♦K, Muller could safely exit with a spade, removing dummy’s only remaining possible entry whilst the diamonds were blocked. Declarer could score eight tricks, three in each black suit plus two diamonds, but that was all. E/W -50 and 5 IMPs to NETHERLANDS. 

The final score was a 33-16 win for Israel. Not what the huge number of Orange supporters in the crowd wanted, but just enough to keep the competition interesting for the neutrals. With three matches to go, the Dutch lead over the chasing Bermuda Bowl champions was down to 30 VPs, but those two teams meet in the final match on this penultimate day. A big win for the Swiss would certainly make the final two matches must-watch affairs. The Israelis had climbed up into the Top 8 during the latter part of the match, but a late rally by Lithuania in their match against England knocked them back down into ninth spot. For those teams, the matches on the final day of this championship will, indeed, be what Sir Alex Ferguson always referred to as ‘squeaky bum time’. 

We will be back next week with our last instalment from Madeira. We will find out which teams earn plane tickets for Morocco next year, and who leaves these idyllic Atlantic islands clutching gold. 

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