editor: brian senior bulletin 2 friday may 22nd · editor: brian senior bulletin 2 friday may 22nd...
TRANSCRIPT
Editor: Brian Senior Bulletin 2 Friday May 22nd
Help!I need your help, please. The bulletin at these championships is a one-man affair. The chance that I will be at theright table at the right time to spot all your brilliancies is zero. Please, if you, your partner or your opponents dosomething really good, please come and tell me the story. Huge penalties or amusing stories are also fine.
Thursday May 21st
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Contact Details
If you need to contact Chief TD, Anthony Ching,his room number is 820
and his local phone number 096-826-7242
Appeals Procedure
There are no appeals committees at this tournament. The Official Reviewer for any contested TD rulings will be Brian Senior
Today’s BBO Matches
Round 4 0930-1215Korea v China Hong Kong (Open)
Round 5 1330-1615Australia 1 v Japan (Senior)
Round 6 1645-1930China v Chinese Taipei (Women)
The assembledteams at theopening
ceremony onWednesdayevening
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Tuesday morning was kick-off time for one of today’s keymatches in the Girls Series. Leading China was up againstChinese Taipei Blue and needed to score good to keepIndonesia behind them.
Chinese Deng got into problems on the second boardholding:
ª K 9 4© 4¨ K Q J 3§ Q 10 8 7 5
West North East SouthDeng Lee Yu Wu– – Pass1ª Pass 2© Pass2NT Pass 3ª Pass4ª Pass 4NT Pass5© Pass 6ª All Pass
A natural bidding were 4NT asked for aces and FiveHearts showed two out of five without the queen oftrumps. What to lead and why? Deng eventually led theking of diamonds and who could blame her for that? Butwhen the layout of the hand looked like this that was fatal.In fact only a club was killing – not easy to foresee!
Board 18. Dealer East. N/S Vul.
ª Q J 6 5© A 10 9 7 6¨ 9§ A K 4
ªK 9 4 ª 2© 4 ©Q 8 5 3 2¨K Q J 3 ¨ 10 8 7 5 2§Q 10 8 7 5 § J 6
ª A 10 8 7 3© K J¨ A 6 4§ 9 3 2
Open RoomWest North East SouthLiu C.L Guan Peng Liu J– – Pass 1ª2§ 2NT(i) Pass 3ªPass 4ª All Pass
(i) Artificial raise with spade support
Closed RoomWest North East SouthDeng Lee Yu Wu– – Pass 1ªPass 2© Pass 2NTPass 3ª Pass 4ªPass 4NT Pass 5©Pass 6ª All Pass
Chinese Liu J in the Open Room also received the king ofdiamonds in the opening lead. But when she clearedtrumps before anything else she wasn’t able to ruff herlosing diamonds in dummy and when the hearts didn’tpresent all the needed discards with the bad break in thesuit she was kept to ten tricks.
Wu started off well in the Closed Room. The king ofdiamonds went to the ace, she now took her diamond ruffin dummybefore making the finesse in trumps that lost toWest’s king.Deng now returned a second trump Wu wonin hand with the seven and really played too fast. Ifdeclarer had counted her tricks she should have knownthat if hearts isn’t behaving she need to ruff her last diamond as well before pulling the last trump and thatshould be done even if playing to set hearts up to maximize her chances. Instead she drew trump leaving:
ª –© A 10 9 7 6¨ –§ A K 4
ª – ª –-© 4 © Q 8 5 3 2¨ Q J ¨ 10§ Q 10 8 7 5 § J 6
ª 10 8© K J¨ 6§ 9 3 2
Being in hand it’s was now impossible to set up the heartsto be able to get rid of a club and a diamond loser.Wuplayed the king and jack of hearts, the curtain fell whenWest showed out. since if hearts would have been 3-3 orthe queen had dropped being 4-2 she would have madethe contract with this way of declaring. She also had apotential squeeze against West if she had queen, jack, tenof clubs and the queen of hearts by playing like that. Nowshe was doomed to go one down. So the question is whyare you down, playing in double-dummy, when a club isbeing led? You win in dummy, cash the ace of diamonds,ruff a diamond, heart to the jack, ruff the last diamond andtry the spade finesse. West now wins with the king and hasto continue with clubs removing your last entry to dummyand how do you get rid of your losing club in this positionwhen West plays that second evil club:
ª J© A 10 9 7¨ –§ A 4
ª 9 4 ª –© – © Q 8 5 3 ¨ K ¨ 10 8§ Q 10 8 7 § J
ª A 10 8 7 © K ¨ –§ 9 3
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2015 APBF Youth Championshipsby Micke Melander
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The attack from West in clubs is simply to remove yourentries to dummy! So Deng with the wrong opening leadand China was lucky when Wu played a little too fast forher own and Chinese Taipei’s best to receive 13 IMPs intheir hunt for VPs and the Gold Medals in this 20th APBFChampionships.
The Bath Coup is a very common manoeuvre. It is a duck-ing play which enables declarer to keep control of a keysuit. The coup dates back to the days of whist and isnamed after the city of Bath, a hotbed of whist back in thedays when everyone in society played the game.
Dealer South. N/S Vul.
ª 6 4© Q 10 9¨ 8 7 6 3§ A Q 4 2
ª K Q 10 9 5 ª 8 7 2© K J 2 © 7 6 5 4 3¨ J 9 2 ¨ 10 5 4§ 7 3 § K 5
ª A J 3© A 8¨ A K Q§ J 10 9 8 6
West North East South– – – 1§1ª 2ª Pass 3NTAll Pass
West leads the king of spades. If declarer wins immediately, she will be defeated.
Having won the spade she will take the club finesse. Eastwill win the king of clubs and push a spade through theremaining jack doubleton and West will take four spadewinners for one down.
See the difference if declarer allows the king of spadesto hold the first trick. What is West to do? If she plays asecond spade into the ace-jack, declarer gets a secondspade winner and still has a secure stopper. If she switches, declarer has control of the other suits. She canconcede the club trick quite safely in either case.
Ducking with AJx in this position is the Bath Coup.Although the above is what people normally mean whenthey refer to a Bath Coup, it would also be possible toduck with ace to three in dummy and jack to three in hand,leaving what is known in the trade as a split tenace.
In the example above, it was easy to see the dangerbecause West had overcalled 1©, but the ducking playwould still have been correct even had the opposition notbeen involved in the auction. It might not prove to be necessary, but the coup cannot do any harm and will stillbe essential if spades are five-three again – so why takethe risk?
In each case, what is the capital city of these countries?
1. Ghana2. Croatia3. Laos4. Canada5. Nicaragua6. Zimbabwe7. Peru8. Saudi Arabia9. Albania10. Turkey
Geir Helgemo, originally from Norway but nowadaysrepresenting Monaco in international play, has beenresponsible for some of the finest pieces of declarer playwe have ever seen. This one was pretty special even by hisown standards.
Board 7. Dealer South. All Vul.
ª A 9 7 4 3© K 8 7 6 3¨ A 6§ 7
ª – ª Q 8 2© Q J 9 5 2 © 10 4¨ 10 9 ¨ Q J 8 5 4 3 2§ K Q 10- 9 8 2 § J
ª K J 10 6 5© A¨ K 7§ A 6 5 4 3
West North East South– – – 1ª2ª(i) 2NT(ii) Pass 3§Pass 4§(iii) Pass 4NT(iv)Pass 5ª(v) Pass 7ªAll Pass
(i) Hearts and a minor(ii) Game-forcing with spade support(iii) Shortage(iv) RKCB(v) Two key cards plus the trump queen
Helness judged that his fifth spade meant that, with atleast ten spades between the two hands, the queen wouldnot be required, hence he showed the queen when notactually holding it. As it turned out, he was wrong, in thesense that the grand slam would have been much easier tomake had the queen of trumps been present. However,
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Coup of the Day 2:The Bath Coup
Today’s Quiz 1:Capital Cities
Caution, Genius at Work 2:Geir Helgemo
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Helgemo showed his brilliance on a deal where mostwould not even find the winning line when seeing all fourhands.
West led the king of clubs and East played the jack, wonby Helgemo with the ace. He cashed the ace of hearts andthe king then ace of diamonds, cashed the king of hearts,then led the nine of spades from dummy, and ran it! Thefirst-round finesse was required, as will be shown by theend position that was reached.
A spade to the jack came next, leaving this ending:
ª A 7 4© 8 7 6¨ –§ –
ª – ª Q© Q J 9 © –¨ ¨ Q J 8 5 4§ Q 10 9 § –
ª K J 6© –¨ –§ 6 5 4
Helgemo led the king of spades from his hand. West, withthree cards in hearts and three in clubs, had to find a dis-card. Since North had three low hearts and South hadthree low clubs, West had no winning play. If he discard-ed a heart, Helgemo would overtake the king of spadeswith dummy's ace. Then he would ruff a heart, ruff a club,ruff a heart, ruff a club, and dummy's last heart would winthe last trick. Alternatively, if West threw a club, Helgemowould allow the king of spades to hold and would ruff aclub, ruff a heart, ruff a club, ruff a heart, and his last clubwould be a winner at trick 13. An entry-shifting trumpsqueeze is a rare enough beast at the best of times, but thefirst-round trump finesse makes it truly special. Play thehand through with declarer cashing the ace of spadesbefore taking the finesse and you will see that the squeezeno longer operates and the contract must fail by a trick.
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Election of APBF Executives and Zone 6 Representatives to the WBF
At the APBF Delegates' Meeting held on Wednesday May 20th, the following were elected to the variousoffices of the APBF.
President — Khunying Esther Sophonpanich (Thailand)Ist Executive Vice-president — Chen Zelan (China)2nd Executive Vice-president — Ghassam Ghanem (Jordan, Zone 4-tentative)3rd Executive Vice-president — Michael Bambang Hartono (Indonesia)Honorary Secretaries — Tadayoshi Nakatani (Japan)
— M. Azwerul Haque (Pakistan, in charge of Zone 4)Honorary Treasurer — Anthony Ching (China Hong Kong)Representatives to WBF — Patrick Choy (Singapore)
— Chen Zelan (China)
Chief Tournament Director — Anthony Ching (China Hong Kong)Assistant Chief TDs — Tang Yunjian (China)
— Daniel Windsor (Thailand)
The representativesat the APBFDelegatesMeeting
Electronic Devices
You should not take any electronic devices intothe playing area. There will be random checks to
see that this regulation is adhered to.
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For the first round of the tournament we take a look at thehost nation, Thailand, who met Chinese Taipei in theSenior Championship.
the action started on the very first deal, where Northheld a weak seven-card club suit and both players pre-empted with 3§.
Board 1. Dealer North. None Vul.
ª A© J 2¨ Q 4 3§ Q 9 8 7 6 4 2
ª K 10 9 6 4 ª J 8 5 3 2© A 10 6 5 © K 8 4¨ 9 6 ¨ A 7 5§ A 10 § J 5
ª Q 7© Q 9 7 3¨ K J 10 8 2© K 3
West North East SouthPanjaroon Chen Pinit Tsao
– 3§ Pass 4§Dble Pass 4ª All PassWest North East SouthChuang Esther Lin Somchai– 3§ All Pass
Esther's 3§ opening was passed out and there was little tothe play, with declarer losing the obvious four tricks tochalk up a quick and painless +110.
In the other room, Tsao raised to 4§ in an attempt to cutout a possible spade fit for his opponents but that backfired in that it convinced Panjaroon that his side musthave a fit so he doubled, where Chuang had gone quietlyin the other room. Pinit had an easy 4ª response to the
double and played there on the lead of the king of clubsfrom Tsao. Pinit won the ace and crossed to hand with theace of diamonds to play on spades. He led the ª8 and,when Tsao played low, misguessed by putting up the king.That lost to the ace and Chen returned his remaining lowdiamond to put partner in. Tsao duly won the diamondcheaply and cashed the spade queen but now, confused asto the diamond layout, switched to a low heart rather thanlead a third round of diamonds. That picked up the heartsuit for Pinit, who was down only one for +50 to ChineseTaipei but 2 IMPs to Thailand.
Chinese Taipei picked up something rather more substantial on the next deal to take the lead.
Board 2. Dealer East. N/S Vul.
ª 9 3© J 10¨ 10 8 5 2§ K Q 10 8 7
ª K 8 ª A J 7 6 5 4© A 9 6 4 3 © K 7¨ A 9 6 ¨ 7 3§ A 9 2 § J 5 4
ª Q 10 2© Q 8 5 2¨ K Q J 4© 6 3
West North East SouthPanjaroon Chen Pinit Tsao– – 2ª Pass2NT Pass 3ª Pass4ª All PassWest North East SouthChuang Esther Lin Somchai– – 2ª Pass4ª All Pass
Where Panjaroon made a 2NT inquiry, asking for a shortage, Chuang raised directly to game. Both Southsmade the normal lead of the king of diamonds.
Pinit won the diamond with the ace and played king ofspades followed by a spade to the jack and queen. Tsaocashed the jack of diamonds then played the queen,ruffed. Pinit cashed the ace of spades then played threerounds of hearts in hope of ruffing out the suit. whenhearts proved to be four-two, he was left to lose two clubsat the end for down one and –50.
Lin too won the first diamond but he started on thehearts immediately, playing king, low to the ace and ruffing the third round. When hearts proved to be four-two, Lin gave up on the spade finesse, instead crossing tothe spade king to ruff another heart then cashing the aceof spades. When trumps proved to be three-two, Lin couldcross to the ace of clubs and cash the long heart, holdinghis club losers to one. That was nicely played for +420and 10 IMPs to Chinese Taipei, who led by 10-2.
Lin again did well for his team on the next deal.
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Thailand 1 v Chinese Taipei (RR1 Senior)
C.M. Lin (Chinese Taipei)
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Board 3. Dealer South. E/W Vul.
ª J 2© K 8 6 5 4¨ K 6 5§ K Q 9
ª 10 8 4 ª A Q 9 6 3© Q J 2 © 10 9¨ A 10 4 3 ¨ Q 9 7§ A 7 6 § 10 8 5
ª K 7 5© A 7 3¨ J 8 2© J 4 3 2
West North East SouthPanjaroon Chen Pinit Tsao– – – PassPass 1© Pass 2©All PassWest North East SouthChuang Esther Lin Somchai– – – PassPass 1© 1ª 2©2ª Pass Pass 3©All Pass
The Chinese Taipei N/S pair were given a free ride to 2©,where the friendly lie meant that Chen could make fourhearts, two clubs and two kings for eight tricks in all and+110.
At the other table, Lin overcalled and Chuang's raisepushed Somchai to the three level. Perhaps, rather thanallow himself to be pushed with such a balanced hand,Somchai might have doubled to show a maximum, if thatwould have been the meaning of double in his methods,and leave it up to partner whether to play or defend (2ªshould be down one), but this would not have helped onthis occasion as Esther would surely have chosen to play3© as she could not be confident of defeating 2ª.
The trump lead gave declarer a chance in 3©. In practice, she won the king, crossed to the ace and playeda club to her queen. now a spade towards the king waswon by Lin, who exited with the spade queen to dummy'sking. Esther ruffed the third spade and played the clubking but Chuang ducked this and declarer was forced toplay diamonds from hand, losing two of those for downone and –50; 4 IMPs to Chinese Taipei, who led by 14-2.
Had declarer won the heart lead in hand and knockedout the club ace, she might have made 3© due to the evenbreak in both clubs and hearts, as she would be able topitch a diamond on the long club. The only hope for thedefence would now be for West to underlead the ace ofdiamonds after winning the club ace, putting declarer to aguess for her contract.
Board 4. Dealer West. All Vul.
ª K 10 9 7 5 2© K 10 6 3¨ 3§ 5 3
ª Q 4 ª A© 8 7 4 2 © A Q 9 5¨ Q 10 4 ¨ A K J 9 7§ A 6 4 2 § Q 10 8
ª J 8 6 3© J¨ 8 6 5 2© K J 9 7
West North East SouthPanjaroon Chen Pinit TsaoPass Pass 1¨ Pass1© 1ª 2ª 3§Pass Pass 4© All PassWest North East SouthChuang Esther Lin SomchaiPass Pass 1¨ Pass1© 2ª 3ª 4ªPass Pass 5© PassPass Dble All Pass
Esther made a weak jump overcall of 2ª, which looksright to me – the suit may not be so good but the six-fourshape adds to the playing potential of the hand, and Linshowed a constructive game raise in hearts with his cuebid. For me, the 3ª cuebid sets up a force for E/Wand, when Somchai made the 4ª advance save, there is astrong case for West doubling to discourage his partnerfrom going on to the five level. He does, after all, have awasted spade honour and four low hearts, suggesting thatthe five level on an eight-card fit may be too high. In practice, Chuang passed and Lin could hardly be blamedfor bidding 5©, which Esther doubled due to her trumpholding.
The opening lead was the nine of spades to dummy'sbare ace and Chuang crossed to the queen of diamonds toplay a heart to the nine and jack. The spade return forceddummy to ruff. Chuang tried to cross to hand with another diamond but Esther ruffed and returned a club tothe queen, king and ace. Chuang took the heart finesse,cashed the ace and ran the diamonds, conceding a club atthe end for down one and –200.
Chen made only a simple overcall in the other room, soPinit could cuebid at a lower level. However, that in turnleft room for Tsao to make a fit-non-jump of 3§, and thiswon the board for Chinese Taipei. With heart length andno fit for clubs, Chen was happy to defend 4© and he, ofcourse, led the five of clubs, as suggested by the 3§ bid.That went to the ten, jack and ace, and Panjaroon led aheart to the queen and, on seeing the fall of the jack,played a diamond to the ten then a second heart, Chen putting in the ten to force the ace. Panjaroon played a lowheart now to Chen's king and Chen returned his remainingclub.
That enabled Tsao to win two club tricks then give hispartner a diamond ruff for down one; –100 but 3 IMPs toThailand, closing to 5-14.
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No Smoking or Alcohol
Please remember that there is no smoking ordrinking of alcohol allowed in the playing area.
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To succeed, declarer had to duck the opening lead,thereby cutting defensive communications. That is toughto find, perhaps, in the face of South's 3§ bid, but perhapsit is correct to duck nonetheless? If South has the clubstrength, the heart king is almost certain to be onside andconceding a club ruff will not cost the contract, while theduck ensures that there will not be a second club loserother than via a ruff. Obviously, we have seen in real lifewhat can go wrong by winning the first club.
A string of flat boards left the score at 14-5 in favour ofChinese Taipei after nine boards, then came a majorswing.
Board 10. Dealer East. All Vul.
ª J 10 4© K Q 7 5 3¨ 4§ A K 3 2
ª K 8 5 3 2 ª Q© A 10 9 © J 8 2¨ Q 7 ¨ J 10 9 6 5 3 2§ Q J 5 § 7 6
ª A 9 7 6© 6 4¨ A K 8© 10 9 8 4
West North East SouthPanjaroon Chen Pinit Tsao– – Pass Pass1ª 2© Pass 2NTAll PassWest North East SouthChuang Esther Lin Somchai– – Pass 1¨1ª Dble Pass 1NTPass 3NT All Pass
Tsao passed the ace-king, ace and Panjaroon opened 1ªin third seat. Chen overcalled but, when Tsao tried 2NT inresponse, was unwilling to go on to game facing a passedhand. Panjaroon led the queen of clubs to dummy's ace.Tsao played dummy's heart king, which was ducked, thencrossed to a top diamond to lead the ten of clubs to thejack and king. A third club saw Tsao back to hand and heled a low spade towards dummy, no doubt assuming thatwest would hold both missing honours. The spade lost toPinit's queen and he returned a diamond, which Tsaoducked to Panjaroon's queen. Tsao won the spade returnwith dummy's ten and cashed out for nine tricks and +150.As we shall see from the other room, more than nine tricksmight have been made after the club lead.
Somchai opened 1¨, Precision-style, and now it wasnatural that N/S should reach game. Esther made a nega-tive double of the 1ª overcall then raised the 1NTresponse to game. Somchai received the same lead of theclub queen, which he won with the ace. He played thespade jack to the queen and ace and continued with the tenof clubs for the jack and king, a club to hand, then a heartto the nine and king. A fourth club put declarer back inhand and he now led a low spade, Chuang going in withthe king and returning a spade to dummy's ten. Somchai
cashed his winners and, as West had pitched the fifthspade on the last club, could lead a heart towards dummyat trick twelve and West was forced to give the last trickto the queen. That meant 11 tricks for +660 and 11 IMPsto Thailand, taking the lead at 16-14.
And that was the last major swing of a very quiet match.Chinese Taipei picked up a few small swings to come outon top by 26-16 IMPs, a very low score for a 20-boardmatch, which translated to a 12.53-7.47 VP win.
1. Accra2. Zagreb3. Vientiane4. Ottawa5. Managua6. Harare7. Lima8. Riyadh9. Tirana10. Ankara
©©©©
Today’s Quiz Solutions 1Capital Cities
2016 APBF Open Congress
The 2016 APBF Open Congress will be held inBeijing, China.
Details will be available in September 2015, butthe dates are likely to be either the second half
of April or early May.
Toilet Regulations
To go to the toilet, a player must firstly ask theTD’s permission to leave the playing area, and sec-ondly take his team’s toilet card from the caddyoutside the toilet, return ing the card on exit.
If this procedure is not followed correctly, there isa mandatory fine of 2 VPs.
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Australia started the championship with a big win whileThailand had begun with a defeat, so the hosts would wantto put their first win on the board, but would find it toughagainst one of the strongest teams in the Women's field.
Board 3. Dealer South. E/W Vul.
ª 7 4© A 10 8¨ K Q 8 7 6 3§ 10 7
ª J 10 9 8 ª A Q 5 3© Q J 9 7 6 4 © K 5 2¨ J ¨ A 10 5§ K 3 § Q J 6
ª K 6 2© 3¨ 9 4 2§ A 9 8 5 4 2
West North East SouthLusk Chodchoy Bourke Pavinee– – – PassPass 3¨ Dble Pass4¨ Pass 4ª All PassWest North East SouthKanokporn Fuller Pobsook Biltoft– – – PassPass 3¨ Dble 5¨5© All Pass
The two Souths took very different approaches to theirhand after the take-out double on their right. Val Biltoftpre-empted to the five level, figuring that the oppositionwas very likely to have a game their way, given LeoneFuller's pre-emptive opening and her own limited values.Perhaps Kanokporn could have passed to see if partnercould double again, rather than allow herself to be bulliedinto a bid at the five level, but 5© proved to be on littlemore than a finesse even facing a rather uninspiring 15-count.
Of course, the finesse duly failed and Biltoft wascharmed with the success of her enterprising raise;Australia +100.
There was much less action at the other table, wherePavinee didn't raise the pre-empt – if you don't like a jumpraise on three to the nine, can you not compromise with agentle 4ª, thereby taking away West's option to cuebid?Sue Lusk might have bid a simple 4© with her six-fourhand and, had she done so, it seems that she would eitherhave played there for +620 or Pavinee might now havesaved, but that would have given Margaret Bourke aneasy double and a solid plus score.
Lusk chose to cuebid and Bourke, of course, bid 4ª,which ended the auction. Pavinee cashed the ace of clubsand promptly switched to her singleton heart. That got hera ruff and the king of spades was the setting trick for +100and a flat board, but one with plenty of interest for bothsides.
Board 6. Dealer East. E/W Vul.
ª A 8© 10 2¨ K Q J 10 4§ A J 8 4
ª 10 3 ª Q 7 4 2© Q 7 6 4 © K J 9 8¨ 9 ¨ A 6 3 2§ K Q 10 6 3 2 § 7
ª K J 9 6 5© A 5 3¨ 8 7 5§ 9 5
West North East SouthLusk Chodchoy Bourke Pavinee– – Pass PassPass 1¨ Pass 1ª2§ Pass Pass DbleAll PassWest North East SouthKanokporn Fuller Pobsook Biltoft– – Pass PassPass 1¨ Pass 1ªPass 2§ Pass 2¨All Pass
it was all very peaceful in the Open Room, where E/Wpassed throughout and Biltoft gave simple preference toher partner's first suit. Pobsook led the nine of hearts,Fuller winning the ace and leading the nine of clubs andmaking one of those routine ducks that we all do whenWest put in the queen. Kanokporn returned her diamondto the jack and ace and Pobsook continued the suit,Kanokporn pitching a club as declarer won in dummy.Her next play of a club to the ace was ruffed andPobsook's trump return meant that there would be nocompensatory ruff in the dummy. Fuller cashed one moretrump then played ace of spades and a spade to the jackand must have breathed a sigh of relief when that held andshe had scraped home in what had looked to be such aneasy contract at the start; +90.
In the other room, Lusk overcalled 2© at her secondturn and the Thai N/S pair combined to double that contract. Though dummy produced only a singletontrump, the diamond ace and heart honours compensatedwell for that lack. Chodchoy led the king of diamonds todummy's ace and Lusk ruffed a diamond in hope of shortening herself in case the trumps were seriously badthen led a heart to the king and ace. Pavinee returned thefive of clubs to the king and ace – it will sometimes bebetter for North to duck this – and now Chodchoy switched to ace and another spade. Pavinee won the jackand continued with the king, ruffed with the six and over-ruffed, and Chodchoy exited with the ten of hearts.Lusk won dummy's jack, ruffed a diamond and played alow heart. Chodchoy ruffed that and played a diamond,which would have created an extra trump trick had the
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Thailand v Australia (RR1.2 Women)
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nine and ten of clubs been switched. As it was, declarerhad the rest for down one; –200 and 3 IMPs to Thailand.
Board 7. Dealer South. All Vul.
ª A 7 5 4 2© K Q¨ 10 2§ A K 6 5
ª K 6 ª Q J 10 8© A J 7 6 © 10 4 3 2¨ A 7 ¨ J 6§ 10 8 7 4 3 § Q J 2
ª 9 3© 9 8 5¨ K Q 9 8 5 4 3§ 9
West North East SouthLusk Chodchoy Bourke Pavinee– – – Pass1§ Dble 1© Pass2© 2ª Pass Pass3© Pass Pass 3ªAll PassWest North East SouthKanokporn Fuller Pobsook Biltoft– – – Pass1§ 1ª Dble Pass2© All Pass
When Fuller overcalled 1ª, Pobsook doubled to showfour hearts and that suited Kanokporn very well. ThoughFuller had extra high cards, she could hardly compete further on that empty suit and lacked a suitable distribution to double for take-out, so she went quietly. Asfor Biltoft, to compete in her seven-card suit might haveworked out well, but she could have been walking intotrouble by bidding on another day. She too passed soKanokporn declared 2©.
Fuller kicked off with three rounds of clubs, Biltoft discarding a spade then ruffing and returning the king ofdiamonds to declarer's ace. Ace and another heart wouldhave been best now, though the contract would still havebeen down a trick, but Kanokporn instead played a clubwinner to get rid of dummy's diamond loser. Alas, Biltoftwas ruffing with a low trump and could now lead herremaining spade to take a ruff in that suit also. With atrump trick still to come, that was two down for –200.
Chodchoy preferred to start with a take-out double andnow I don't understand at all why Pavinee didn't bid herdiamonds. Chodchoy followed through with her plan toshow a hand too good to overcall in her style and Pavineeagain passed. However, when Lusk now misjudged bycompeting to 3©, Pavinee finally came to life, competingto 3ª and thereby justifying Lusk's 3© call.
Bourke led the queen of clubs so Chodchoy won theking, cashed the ace and ruffed a club. She played a heartnext but Lusk won the ace and returned the six of spadesto prevent a second club ruff in the dummy. Chodchoyducked the spade so Bourke won the ten and switched tothe jack of diamonds for the king and ace. Declarer wonthe diamond continuation in hand and played ace and
another spade, losing two more of those and a club fordown two and another +200 to Australia. These 9 IMPsmade the core 22-3 in Australia's favour after seven deals.
The next few boards were almost flat, but both teamsmissed a chance for a swing on this one:
Board 12. Dealer West. N/S Vul.
ª 9 8© A Q J 8 6¨ Q 6 3§ 6 5 2
ª Q 7 6 ª A K 5 4 2© K 10 9 7 2 © 5¨ A 9 7 5 4 ¨ 10§ – § A K Q J 10 3
ª J 10 3© 4 3¨ K J 8 2§ 9 8 7 4
West North East SouthLusk Chodchoy Bourke Pavinee2© Pass 2NT Pass3¨ Pass 3NT All PassWest North East SouthKanokporn Fuller Pobsook BiltoftPass Pass 1ª Pass2¨ Pass 3§ Pass3ª Pass 4§ Pass4¨ Pass 4ª Pass
Six of either black suit is well with the odds. Lusk openeda weak two-suited type and showed that the second suitwas diamonds in response to Bourke's inquiry. It showedsome discipline on Bourke's part not to go on with herpowerful hand, but how was she ever to know if slam wasgood after this start? Queen to three spades and an acewas far more than she could hope for and she had to settle for +490 after Pavinee's lead of the jack of spades.
Pobsook opened 1ª after a pass from West, who did nothave the option of showing a weak two-suiter. I don'tknow why anybody would want to open 1ª rather than1§, but we all have our different ways of looking atthings.
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Margaret Bourke (Australia)
In truth, the 1ª opening should have worked out verywell, because Kanokporn bid her diamonds then gavespade preference before making what was clearly a diamond cuebid – if West wants to repeat her diamondsshe can do so at the three level instead of giving spadepreference. At this point East can ask for key cards thenfor the trump queen and get to the small slam, but insteadshe just signed off in 4ª and that was that.
After a heart lead there were 12 tricks for +480 and aflat board.
Board 14. Dealer East. None Vul.
ª 8 6 2© A J 9¨ J 3§ A K Q 5 3
ª K 10 5 ª 4© K © 8 7 6 5 4 3 2¨ A K 9 6 5 4 2 ¨ 10 8§ 10 9 § J 6 2
ª A Q J 9 7 3© Q 10¨ Q 7§ 8 7 4
West North East SouthLusk Chodchoy Bourke Pavinee– – Pass 1ª3¨ Dble Pass 3ªPass 4ª All PassWest North East SouthKanokporn Fuller Pobsook Biltoft– – Pass 1ª2¨ 3¨ Pass 4ªAll Pass
Kanokporn made a simple overcall and Fuller committedto spades with a cuebid raise, Biltoft accepting the invitation. Kanokporn led three rounds of diamonds inhope that her partner could ruff with an honour to promotea second trump trick for the defense. No, Biltoft ruffedwith dummy's eight, pitching the heart ten from hand asPobsook discarded a heart. A spade to the queen lost butBiltoft could ruff the diamond return and draw trumps for+420.
Lusk, facing a passed partner, went for the pre-emptivejump overcall to make life difficult for her opponents, towhom the hand would often belong. Chodchoy did notcommit to spades until her partner repeated the suit so thather own trump holding would not sound better than wasactually the case.
Lusk too led three rounds of diamonds Pavinee ruffedwith dummy's six and pitched the ten of hearts from handas Bourke threw a club. She now led a spade to her ace –can you see what is about to happen? Lusk won the nextspade and stuck her in the dummy and there was no wayback to hand without allowing the ten of spades to takethe setting trick. Cruel, perhaps, but was the danger ofEast ruffing a club with a doubleton spade really plausible. That would require East to be 2-8-2-1 and tohave passed as dealer, non-vulnerable. Down one meant–50 and 10 IMPs to Australia.
Board 18. Dealer East. N/S Vul.
ª Q J 10 2© A Q 9 8 6 2¨ 10§ K 5
ª K 9 5 ª A 3© K 10 3 © J 7 5¨ 6 2 ¨ 8 5 4§ A 8 6 4 2 § Q J 9 7 3
ª 8 7 6 4© 4¨ A K Q J 9 7 3§ 10
West North East SouthLusk Chodchoy Bourke Pavinee– – Pass Pass1§ 1© 3§ 3¨Pass 3© Pass 4¨All PassWest North East SouthKanokporn Fuller Pobsook Biltoft– – Pass 1¨Pass 1© Pass 2¨Pass 2ª Pass 4ªAll Pass
Pavinee could not find an appropriate opening so passed,and that gave an opportunity to Lusk to make a shaded opening in third seat. Combined with Bourke's pre-emptive club raise, that shut the N/S spades out of theauction and Pavinee declared a diamond partscore. Worse,despite South's solid trump suit, she was one down beforeshe could get into the game. Lusk led the ace of clubs, onwhich bourke deposited the queen. Lusk switched to a lowspade and a few seconds later Bourke had ruffed the thirdspade for down one and –100.
Biltoft opened 1¨ and, with the auction to themselves,the Australian pair had no difficulty in bidding to thespade game. Pobsook led the queen of clubs toKanokporn's ace and Fuller won the diamond switch inhand to lead towards her spade honours. The spade queenlost to the ace and Pobsook returned a second diamond,Fuller winning the ace while throwing a heart from hand.a spade was won by the king and the heart return with theace. Fuller drew the last trump and dummy's diamondstook care of the rest; +620 and 12 IMPs to Australia.
Board 19. Dealer South. E/W Vul.
ª 9 7 5 4© A 7 5 2¨ K§ K 10 9 6
ª A K J ª –© J 10 8 3 © K Q 9 6¨ 10 3 2 ¨ A J 9 8 7 6§ J 5 2 § A 8 3
ª Q 10 8 6 3 2© 4¨ Q 5 4§ Q 7 4
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West North East SouthLusk Chodchoy Bourke Pavinee– – – 2¨Pass 3© 4¨ Pass5¨ 5© Dble 5ªDble All PassWest North East SouthKanokporn Fuller Pobsook Biltoft– – – 2©Pass 4© Pass 4ªAll Pass
Biltoft's 2© opening showed a weak hand with either sixspades or five hearts and a five-card minor, and 4© waspass or correct. Pobsook might have doubled when 4ªcame back to her – I think it is normal that a double of 4©should be take-out here – but this is quite a rare convention and she probably was not confident of hermethods. Kanokporn led a top spade, collecting a highdiamond, suit preference for hearts, from Pobsook. Sheduly switched to the jack of hearts, won by dummy's ace.Declarer got the clubs right and was down two for –100.
In the other room, 2¨ was a multi and 3© pass or correct, essentially pre-emptive. Bourke was willing tocome in at this level, being pretty confident that her left-hand-opponent's suit would be spades, and Lusk raised togame. Now Chodchoy judged to save, 5© again beingpass or correct, and the doubling started.
Pavinee too got the clubs right but that was still downthree for –500 and 9 IMPs to Australia.
It is easy enough to beat 5¨ – either a club lead or heartlead and continuation or club switch will do the trick – sothe Australians would have been quite content +500.
Australia picked up another 7 IMPs on the final boardwhen 1NT was played from different sides of the tableand attracted different opening leads, with Australia making seven tricks and Thailand only five, and thatclosed out the match in an Australian win by 68-7 IMPs,19.57-0.43 VPs.
In the final of the 2014 Asia Cup in China, Australia metIndonesia in the Seniors final.
Dealer North. All Vul.
ª K 10 4© A K J 3¨ K 10 2§ A 6 4
ª A J 8 7 2 ª 9© 6 2 © Q 10 9 8 7¨ Q 4 3 ¨ A 7 6§ J 10 8 § Q 9 7 3
ª Q 6 5 3© 5 4¨ J 9 8 5§ K 5 2
West North East SouthBuchen Sawiruddin Christie Polii– 1§(i) 1NT(ii) Dble(iii)2©(iv) Dble(v) Pass 2ªPass 3ª Pass 4ª
All Pass(i) Precision, 16+(ii) Odd suits(iii) 5-7 HCP(iv) Pass or correct(v) Take-out
West, Peter Buchen led the jack of clubs to the four, threeand king. Bert Polii led the three of spades to the two, tenand nine, and now Polii played ace, king and a third heart,ruffing with the five and being over-ruffed. Buchen continued his original line of defence, playing the ten ofclubs, and Polii won the ace and led a diamond to the nineand queen. Buchen returned the four of diamonds to hispartner's ace and Henry Christie played the heart queen,on which Polii discarded a club and Buchen a diamond.the next trick saw Buchen ruff Christie's diamond returnto leave this ending:
ª K 4© –¨ –§ 6
ª A J ª –© – © 10¨ – ¨ –§ 8 § Q 9
ª Q 6© –¨ J§ –
Buchen led the ace of spades and declarer was squeezedin his own trump suit. If he played low from dummyanother spade would leave him in dummy with a clubloser for the final trick, so he unblocked the king. but nowBuchen played his club, forcing declarer to ruff with thequeen of spades and the spade jack won the final trick fordown four and –400.
Note that the squeeze doesn't work if the king and queenof spades are swapped and hence the name for this 'newposition', the 'Monarch Squeeze'.
The Monarch Squeezeby Peter Buchen
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Scheduled Matches
50th Asia Pacific Bridge Federation Championships
Section: ORebullida Cup Open Team Championship
Round Number: 4
Table Home Visiting
22/05/2015 - 12:1509:30Round Robin: 1
1 11 1Indonesia Japan
2 12 2Thailand New Zealand
3 13 3Malaysia China Macau
4 14 4Singapore Chinese Taipei
5 8 5Australia Philippines
6 9 6New Caledonia China
7 10 7Korea China Hong Kong
Round Number: 5
Table Home Visiting
22/05/2015 - 16:1513:30Round Robin: 1
1 1 10Japan Korea
2 2 11New Zealand Indonesia
3 3 12China Macau Thailand
4 4 13Chinese Taipei Malaysia
5 5 14Philippines Singapore
6 6 8China Australia
7 7 9China Hong Kong New Caledonia
Round Number: 6
Table Home Visiting
22/05/2015 - 19:3016:45Round Robin: 1
1 9 1New Caledonia Japan
2 3 2China Macau New Zealand
3 5 4Philippines Chinese Taipei
4 7 6China Hong Kong China
5 14 8Singapore Australia
6 11 10Indonesia Korea
7 13 12Malaysia Thailand
14
Scheduled Matches
50th Asia Pacific Bridge Federation Championships
Section: LPresident's Cup Ladies Team Championship
Round Number: 4
Table Home Visiting
22/05/2015 - 12:1509:30Round Robin: 1
1 7 1Philippines Singapore
2 3 2Korea Indonesia
3 10 4China Australia
4 9 5Japan New Zealand
5 8 6Chinese Taipei Thailand
Round Number: 5
Table Home Visiting
22/05/2015 - 16:1513:30Round Robin: 1
1 1 6Singapore Thailand
2 2 5Indonesia New Zealand
3 3 10Korea China
4 4 8Australia Chinese Taipei
5 7 9Philippines Japan
Round Number: 6
Table Home Visiting
22/05/2015 - 19:3016:45Round Robin: 1
1 5 1New Zealand Singapore
2 6 2Thailand Indonesia
3 7 3Philippines Korea
4 9 4Japan Australia
5 10 8China Chinese Taipei
15
Scheduled Matches
50th Asia Pacific Bridge Federation Championships
Section: SPABF Senior Cup Senior Team Championship
Round Number: 4
Table Home Visiting
22/05/2015 - 12:1509:30Round Robin: 1
1 11 1Chinese Taipei 2 Singapore
2 12 2Korea China Hong Kong 2
3 13 3Thailand 2 Chinese Taipei 1
4 14 4Japan Australia 2
5 8 5China Hong Kong 1 Australia 1
6 9 6Thailand 1 Indonesia 2
7 10 7Indonesia 1 China
Round Number: 5
Table Home Visiting
22/05/2015 - 16:1513:30Round Robin: 1
1 1 10Singapore Indonesia 1
2 2 11China Hong Kong 2 Chinese Taipei 2
3 3 12Chinese Taipei 1 Korea
4 4 13Australia 2 Thailand 2
5 5 14Australia 1 Japan
6 6 8Indonesia 2 China Hong Kong 1
7 7 9China Thailand 1
Round Number: 6
Table Home Visiting
22/05/2015 - 19:3016:45Round Robin: 1
1 9 1Thailand 1 Singapore
2 3 2Chinese Taipei 1 China Hong Kong 2
3 5 4Australia 1 Australia 2
4 7 6China Indonesia 2
5 14 8Japan China Hong Kong 1
6 11 10Chinese Taipei 2 Indonesia 1
7 13 12Thailand 2 Korea
16
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