This week, we conclude our visit to France for the Channel Trophy, a four-way competition between junior teams from England, France, Belgium and Netherlands. Each of the four countries sent three teams to Lille in northern France, Juniors (Open Under-26), Girls (Women’s Under-26) and Youngsters (Under-21). Each team will play a double round-robin of 18-board matches against the other three teams in their category. These were the standings in each category after four of the six rounds had been played:




JUNIORS:

GIRLS

YOUNGSTERS

So, it was the home team with a massive lead in one category and their noses ahead in a second, whilst the Dutch led the way in the third event.

Only one problem hand this week, and it’s an opening lead. With only your side vulnerable, you are East holding:

South doubles your weak two opening for takeout. North responds with a Lebensohl 2NT and then bids 3NT when South shows extra values via a natural 3♦ bid. What do you lead? 

One match from each of the six rounds was broadcast live on BBO VuGraph. In Round 5, we got our second look at the closest of the three events, the Girls category, and the match between ENGLAND and NETHERLANDS. We start with an early declarer play test.

The twin De Wijs sisters, Lotte (left) and Sarah (below right) made their international debuts in the Dutch Under-16 team at the 2018 European Youth Championships. They won their first medals as members of the Under-26 Womens team that finished third in the European Championships on home soil in Veldhoven earlier this year. It should come as no surprise to find that they are already fine bridge players, as their father is Bermuda Bowl winner and member of the BBO bidding panel, Simon de Wijs.

On this deal, a natural auction carried the sisters to game easily enough, and Bethany Madden led a spade. 

Declarer won with the ♠A and played a club to the jack and ace. Two rounds of spades then forced declarer to ruff. Now De Wijs set about clubs, taking a ruff, and returning to hand with the ♦K to ruff a second club. A heart to the ace then allowed her to take a third club ruff with dummy’s last trump. Unfortunately, East was able to discard a diamond on this trick so that, when declarer cashed the ♦A-Q, Madden ruffed with the ♥K. That left East with ♥8-7 against declarer’s ♥Q-6, so the defenders scored a second trump trick to put the contract one down. N/S -100.

For the English pair, Imogen La Chapelle responded 1♥ on the South cards. That meant that 4♥ was played from the other side, but Marieke van der Walk also led a spade from the West seat here, so it was effectively the same contract.

The English declarer got off to a slightly better start by ducking the first trick. Van der Walk might perhaps have done best to simply continue spades, as her heart switch made the timing of the hand easier for declarer. La Chapelle played low from dummy and East won with the ♥K. Felice Starreveld switched back to spades, so declarer won with the ♠A, ruffed her spade loser in dummy, and cashed one high trump. Now came the ♦K, a diamond to the ace, and a low diamond ruffed with the ♥A. This thoughtful play made no difference with diamonds 3-3, but it might have been essential had they not behaved. Declarer exited with a club and claimed the remaining tricks: N/S +620 and 12 IMPs to ENGLAND.

On our next deal, the English East was faced with the opening lead problem posed above:

Bethany Madden (left) made her international debut representing England in the Under-26 Women’s Teams at the 2022 European Youth Championships. 

Faced with the lead problem posed earlier, she was understandably not able to find the killing ♥K opening that would have enabled the defenders to take the first nine tricks. Perhaps more to the point, she did manage to avoid the spade lead that would have given declarer her ninth trick. On Madden’s club lead, there was not much that declarer could do other than cash her eight minor-suit winners and hope the defenders went wrong in the endgame. They didn’t, so that was one down: E-W +50. 

Felice Starreveld did not open the East hand, which changed the nature of the auction entirely. Imogen La Chapelle upgraded the South hand to a 2NT opening and Marieke van der Walk confirmed the ascertain made by Marty Bergen many years ago that ‘Colors are for Children’ with an audacious 3♥ overcall. With 7 HCP facing a 20-22 HCP 2NT opening, you can hardly blame Charlotte Bedford for thinking that the hand belongs to her side. In fact, the only game that can be made on this deal is 4♥, by East/West (seven trumps, two spades and one club). 

Bedford’s double got an unwelcome 4♦ response from La Chapelle, so she then had to settle for a hopeful shot at game in her five-card suit. Fortunately, no one doubled! The defence started with two top hearts, then the singleton spade through declarer’s king. East took her two winners in that suit and delivered her partner’s ruff, and the defenders still had a natural trump trick to come. Diamonds would have played one trick better but that would have been more important if someone had doubled. E/W +200 and 4 IMPs to NETHERLANDS.

I suppose it is natural for both players and writer to focus mostly on the odd deal where one side gains a 14-IMP swing. However, many of these big swing come about because a slam swing goes one way rather than the other when a finesse either works or fails. In reality, players should pay more attention to small details, as matches are frequently won and lost by accumulating a number of much more numerous small swings.

NETHERLANDS won the match 41-38, but that was a result that only helped one team, FRANCE, who opened a gap over both chasing teams with a big win against the Belgians. In the Juniors, FRANCE won again to ensure they were mathematically safe, leading ENGLAND by 24 VPs with just one match to play. In the Youngsters category, FRANCE scored their second whitewash over BELGIUM to consolidate their place at the top of the table, although here both chasing teams were still on the leaders’ coattails. 

The VuGraph match for Round 6 was FRANCE v NETHERLANDS in the Youngsters category. This being a junior event, of course no one even considered passing the West hand on our next deal:

Jorn Essink started with a natural, weak 2♠ opening for the Dutch. With both pointed-suits behaving and a winning heart guess available, there was no way for the defenders to take more than three tricks against a spade contract. At the table, one of those three got away, so Essink finished with three overtricks: E/W +200. 

Is East supposed to bid on this hand? Of course not: opposite many first-seat, non-vulnerable weak two openings these days, even the two-level may be too high. 

We saw Leo Rombaut (right) recently, playing with his father on the winning team in the French Inter-club Championships. As a junior, he was a member of the French Under-16 team that earned bronze medals at the 2017 European Championships and then went one better, finishing second, in the same event at the World Championships a year later. At the 2022 World Championships in Salsomaggiore, Rombaut won a bronze medal in the Under-21 Pairs and a gold in the Under-21 Teams.

On this deal, Rombaut got the ball rolling with an 8-12 HCP 1NT opening. Arthur Libbrecht advanced with a range-asking 2♠ bid and Rombaut, perhaps stretching a tad, chose to show his hand as ‘any non-minimum’. That was enough for Libbrecht to take a shot at game in notrumps. 

Although they had not found their best strain, the aggressive bidding by the French pair meant that the spotlight was on Wout Klarenbeek. Could he find the killing club lead to beat the French game? No, he predictably opened with a heart to his partner’s queen and declarer’s king. With the spades 3-3 and the ♦Q onside, declarer had 11 tricks: E/W +460 and 6 IMPs to FRANCE.

Our final deal may appear unremarkable…

Romain Bloch (left) has so far represented France in five major championships, never finishing lower than fourth. He collected a bronze medal in the Under-16 Teams at the 2017 European Championships and a silver medal from the same event at the World Championships a year later. He then earned silver medals in the Under-21 Teams at the European Championships in both 2019 and 2022. 

On this deal, Bloch opened 1NT and bought the contract there. Declarer can always make seven tricks, and West’s normal club opening lead handed him an eighth. Bloch won with the ♣J at trick one and immediately led a diamond towards dummy. A fine play! West rose with the ♦J and continued clubs. Bloch won with the ♣K, crossed to hand with a high heart, and led a spade towards dummy’s ten. When West rose with the ♠K and continued with a third round of clubs, East was in trouble. He pitched a heart, so declarer therefore cashed three more heart winners. Remembering declarer’s early play, East released a spade to keep the ♦A. The ♠10 was overtaken with the jack and declarer claimed the last two tricks with spade winners. N/S +210, but that is only a couple of overtrick IMPs, isn’t it?

You would expect to see this auction duplicated around the room in a large field, as no one has any reason to bid after South’s 1NT. Of course, this is junior bridge, so you can be sure that someone will find an excuse.

Let’s describe Leo Rombaut’s 2NT overcall as ‘courageous’. Those old enough to remember that wonderful English TV sitcom “Yes, Minister” will recall Sir Humphrey’s use of that and similar adjectives as euphemisms. East retreated to 3♦, which has five top losers and will surely go at least two down as South can play three rounds of heats at some point. 

Martijn Goor could pass and collect +100 or make a takeout-ish double and probably get +300. But this is junior bridge, and who wants to defend when you can be declarer? And, thus, Goor re-entered the fray with a ‘brave’ 3♠. Alas for the Dutch, but not surprising perhaps, the effect was to turn a plus score into a minus as long as Rombaut could avoid a black-suit lead. His ♦Q opening ensured the defenders of five tricks: E/W +100 and 7 IMPs to FRANCE.

FRANCE won the match 35-27, which was just a big enough margin for them to overtake their European partners. However, it turned out to be exactly the result that ENGLAND wanted, as they scored another big win over BELGIUM to leapfrog both of the two teams ahead of them to win the Youngsters event.

These were the final standings in the three categories:

JUNIORS:

GIRLS

YOUNGSTERS

Congratulations to FRANCE, who win the Channel Trophy with victory in two categories and a second-place finish in the third. ENGLAND finished in a clear second place, with a win and two second-place finishes. This annual event (which has been going since before I was a junior, MANY years ago) is an excellent way for players at various junior levels to gain useful international experience in preparation for upcoming European and World Championships. Long may it continue.

That’s it from the final international event of what has been an extremely busy 2022. I would like to wish all regular readers of this column a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope you all have/had both an enjoyable and a safe holiday season. I shall be back early in 2023 with the best of the action from the many wonderful events broadcast live on BBO VuGraph. In the meantime, the hands have now been posted for Set 2023-2 of the monthly BBO Bidding Challenge. More than 3,500 BBO members are now entering every month, and benefiting from the experience and knowledge of our esteemed panel of experts. If you have not so far been one of them, check it out and help us to get those monthly entry numbers up above 5,000 in 2023. If you are already enjoying the competition, tell your friends and partners too. Happy Holidays!!!