Bulletin No 9

Yes Smirnov as North should maybe have limited in no-trump or raised diamonds…a lot depends on how youplay Griffith’s initial 2³ call. Put me down in the ‘reversing pattern non-minimum’.Tislevoll found the spade lead after some though (dummy sounded like it had a singleton after all) and declarerhad no play nowAn overtrick imp went Ware’s way, reducing the margin down to 17, then both N/S pairs reached a delicate 4³game and brought it home on a friendly lie of the cards.Dealer: East ª A J 10 4 West North East South Makeable ContractsVul: N-S ³ K 6 4 Sveindal Smirnov Tislevoll Griffiths West North East SouthBrd 18 ² A 7 Pass 1§ - 5 - 6 NTTeams Final 4 § 8 7 6 2 Pass 1ª Pass 2² - 4 - 5 ªª K Q 8 6 ª 9 2 Pass 2³ Pass 2ª 1 - 1 - ³³ J 10 8 5 ³ Q 9 7 3 2 Pass 3§ Pass 3NT - - - 1 ²² K 10 5 2 ² J 9 8 3 Pass 4§ Pass 4³ - 5 - 6 §§ 4 § 10 3 Pass 5§ Pass Passª 7 5 3 Pass Pass³ A Milne McGann Whibley McGann² Q 6 4 2² 3NT§ A K Q J 9 5 4³ 5NT Pass 6§Pass Pass PassYou could argue that South owed his partner a heart cuebid in the Open Room; Smirnov thought one slam trywas enough – and he was absolutely right since slam on a diamond lead is only 50% and on any other leadneeds a spade honour right and either a spade split or a squeeze. Today was Hanlon’s lucky day; nothingcould defeat the slam and the match margin was 4 imps.After both E/W pairs had bid and made an excellent minor-suit slam in the face of their opponents’ preemptionMilne finally turned on the after-burners. Sveindal/Tislevoll combined to miss a vulnerable game.Dealer: West ª J 9 8 7 6 West North East SouthVul: Both ³ A Q J 10Brd 20 ² 10 Pass 1ª 2² PassTeams Final 4 § K J 10 Pass Double 3² Passª A K Q ª 5 2 Pass Pass³ 8 7 5 4 3 ³ K 9² 8 6 ² A K Q J 9 3 Makeable Contracts§ 9 6 4 § A 8 3 4 - 4 - NTª 10 4 3 - 1 - 1 ª³ 6 2 2 - 2 - ³² 7 5 4 2 5 - 5 - ²§ Q 7 5 2 2 - 2 - §Tislevoll’s simple overcall with a 7.5 playing trick hand including six solid diamonds, looks pessimistic butsurely after doing that he could have redoubled? Mind you, Sveindal never bid at all when his partner showedextra shape with ªAKQ. In the other room Milne bid 2NT at his first opportunity and was raised to 3NT…what’sthe problem?A phantom sacrifice by the Norwegians made the margin 20 (had they doubled 4³ they could have taken 500and gained 9 imps since 3³ went down one in the other room). Then the same pair bid to a hopeless gamedown 200, and one more double partscore swing meant the set score went back to 26-26 and Milne had a winby 29.2013 DATES – MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOW!!!Saturday 23 rd February 2013 through toSaturday 2 nd March 2013Saturday 3 rd March 2012 Page 9