Home | Sjoert Brink | Adventures of a bridge professional 8: Netherlands - Poland
Adventures of a bridge professional 8: Netherlands - Poland
Saturday, 31 October 2009 07:00

sjoertIn May the Dutch national team played Poland in a three day training match, some fifty deals every day. Bas (Drijver) and I were lined up the first day and half of the second day only.
From the beginning all my decisions turned into gold. A wonderful feeling: whatever you do, it works out well. Whether that is skill? I don't think so...

For instance take this deal, as North I held:

N/EW 
4 
Q J 10 8 5 
A K 4 
K Q 7 4 

WestNorthEastSouth
 Brink  Drijver
-
1pass2
3double1pass4
pass42pass4SA3
pass5pass5SA4
pass??  

1 take-out
2 control bid
3 Blackwood
4 grand slam try

It looked like my partner had something like (he certainly had the three aces; missing an ace he would not have tried for a grand slam):

N/EW4
 
 Q J 10 8 5
A K 4
K Q 7 4
  windroos  
    
 A x x
 
A x
Q x x
A J x x x

Holding the K as well, he would have bid 7 himself.
In short: a grand slam on a finesse (
K). Since West had bid 3♠, the chance East had the K seemed far better than that West had it, so I bid 7.
Indeed the
K was out, indeed Bas had the hand I had predicted, indeed the K was with East and indeed Bas landed the grand by way of a successful finesse of the K.

In the next deal I was West:

N/EW 
A 5 4 
6 
J 9 4 
A 10 9 7 6 5 

WestNorthEastSouth
Brink
 Drijver
 
-pass33NT
??   

I decided to double; after all this contract was bound to go down once in a while.
I led the ♣10 and dummy was like my dream:

N/EWJ 10 7 2
 
 7 3
Q 8 3 2
8 3 2
A 5 4
windroos  
6
  
J 9 4
  
A 10 9 7 6 5
  

Short in points and three clubs!
Bas played the Q and the declarer won with the K. Then he played the K (I ducked, Bas signalled an even number) and the Q, which I won. Now I had to be consequent: after having led clubs I now had to continue the suit. So I played the A, hoping both Bas and the declarer had started with two clubs. And sure enough:

N/EWJ 10 7 2
 
 7 3
Q 8 3 2
8 3 2
A 5 4
windroos8 6
6
A J 10 9 5 4 2
J 9 4
K 7
A 10 9 7 6 5
Q 4
 K Q 9 3
 
K Q 8
A 10 6 5
K J

I cashed my remaining clubs after which the position was:

N/EWJ 10  
 7
Q 8
-
4
windroos-
6
A 10 9
J 9 4
K 7
-
-
 3
 
K Q
A 10
-

I played a diamond. Since I had doubled, the declarer not unreasonably inserted the Q.
So we made the
A, the A, a diamond trick and five club tricks: four down, +800!

Having mentioned luck, I cannot leave out this deal. As South I held:

E/NS 
K Q J 8 7
 
4 3
 
A K J 8 7 3
 
- 

WestNorthEastSouth
 Drijver Brink
--21pass2
3344pass
??

1 Multicoloured: weak two in hearts or weak, 5-4+ in spades and a minor
2
Bas and I have agreed to bid known twosuiters only; holding spades we need to pass one round
3 asks East to pass holding the weak two and to correct holding the twosuiter
4
natural


Irritating was that East now certainly had five spades, Bas probably having a void in that suit (since West usually will have three spades in view of his 'pass or correct'; only holding at least four card suits in both minors, he could be short in spades, do you see why?).
Nevertheless I decided to bid 6
, to indicate my strength. That became the contract.

West led the A. Lucky me:

E/NS-
 
 A K 8 7 6 2
9 2
A J 4 3 2
A 6 4
windroos10 9 5 3 2
Q 10 9
J 5
10 6 5 4
Q
K 9 8
Q 10 7 6 5
 K Q J 8 7
 
4 3
A K J 8 7 3
-


Now I could draw trumps - I turned out to have a certain loser in that suit - and claim since I could park my second spade loser on the
A.
The A-lead was normal but on a trump lead 6 looks unmakable.
Looks
unmakable... That should pose a challenge to puzzlers: how can South yet win 6
after a trump lead?

In my next column I will report about the Open European Championships in San Remo, which turned out so successfully for us.

 

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