Spingold report Part 2
There was only one double figure swing in the second quarter of the match:
♠ | 832 | ||||
♥ | 102 | ||||
♦ | QJ76 | ||||
♣ | A1096 | ||||
♠ | 9765 | ♠ | J104 | ||
♥ | 97 | ♥ | Q8654 | ||
♦ | 109543 | ♦ | K8 | ||
♣ | Q5 | ♣ | 872 | ||
♠ | AKQ | ||||
♥ | AKJ3 | ||||
♦ | A2 | ||||
♣ | KJ43 |
Jie | Fantoni | Zhong | Nunes |
Pass | Pass | Pass | 1♣* |
Pass | 1♠** | Pass | 2♥*** |
Pass | 2♠**** | Pass | 3NT |
Pass | 4NT | Pass | 6♣ |
All Pass | |||
* 14+ with clubs or 15+ balanced | |||
** 0-11, no 4-card major | |||
*** Kokish relay, hearts or a big notrump range | |||
**** Which is it? |
By the time South bid 3NT he was known to hold a huge balanced hand, so North made a general try with 4NT.
South won the spade lead, cashed the top hearts and played a heart. West discarded a spade and declarer ruffed and advanced the ♦Q, covered by the king and ace. He ruffed another heart, cashed the ♣A and ran the ten to West’s queen. He took the diamond return in dummy, ruffed a diamond and claimed, +920.
Cayne | Lair | Seamon | Mahaffey |
Pass | Pass | Pass | 2♣ |
Pass | 2♦ | Pass | 2♥ |
Pass | 2NT | Pass | 3NT |
Pass | 4♥ | All Pass | |
* see text below |
This time North-South had a major accident in the bidding. South clearly thought they were playing Kokish (where 2♥ is either hearts or a 25-26 point hand) so he had shown a balanced hand, but North
obviously thought his partner had a heart suit.
West led a diamond to the queen, king dummy’s ten and East’s queen. He won the diamond return in dummy, cashed three rounds of hearts followed by three rounds of spades and two top clubs. Then a third
club cashed for 11 tricks, +450, but 10 imps for Cayne.
♠ | J3 | ||||
♥ | J852 | ||||
♦ | AQ98 | ||||
♣ | KQ10 | ||||
♠ | 10865 | ♠ | AKQ9742 | ||
♥ | 1043 | ♥ | AQ6 | ||
♦ | K7 | ♦ | 65 | ||
♣ | A872 | ♣ | 3 | ||
♠ | — | ||||
♥ | K97 | ||||
♦ | J10432 | ||||
♣ | J9654 |
Jie | V/L | Zhong | L/V |
Pass | Pass | 1♦ | Double |
4♦ | Pass | Pass | 4♠ |
5♦ | Pass | Pass | Double |
All Pass |
Versace and Lauria were East-West for the Cayne team, but we’re not sure who’s in which seat. Against 5♦, East led a spade and declarer played a dummy reversal, ruffing spades, drawing trumps, and then attacking clubs, scoring six trump tricks, four clubs and the ♥K, an amazing +550.
Nunes | Bertheau | Fantoni | Nystrom |
Pass | Pass | 1NT (12-14) | Double |
Redouble* | Pass | 2♣ | 4♠ |
All Pass | |||
*It would have been better for Nunes if he had a way to show both minors in one bid. — editor |
South led the ♦J. North took the first two tricks and exited with a spade. Declarer drew trumps and led a club to the ace, North dropping the queen! He ruffed a club, North playing the king! Now he
crossed to dummy with a spade…
♠ | — | ||||
♥ | J852 | ||||
♦ | 9 | ||||
♣ | 10 | ||||
♠ | 10 | ♠ | Q97 | ||
♥ | 1043 | ♥ | AQ6 | ||
♦ | — | ♦ | — | ||
♣ | 87 | ♣ | — | ||
♠ | — | ||||
♥ | K97 | ||||
♦ | 10 | ||||
♣ | J9 |
At this point if declarer ruffs a club and then plays a spade to dummy, he squeezes South. If South pitches a heart, declarer can play ♥A, heart. If South pitches the 10, declarer can exit with a club, endplaying south.
On the system card I saw North’s 1NT was 12-14 and he had already shown up with the ♠J, ♦A-Q and ♣K-Q, so he could not have the ♥K. Perhaps then declarer should have found the winning line. As it
was, he took a heart finesse and was one down, -100. But he still won 10 imps!
Mark Horton is a professional player/writer.
Enquiries can be sent to him at Markhorton007@hotmail.com