SEVEN DOWN IN A (THEORETICALLY?) MAKEABLE CONTRACT
Today’s deal generated half of the eighteen-IMP margin (134-116) by which the grand final of the 2024 national open teams championship at the recent Summer Festival of Bridge in Canberra was won and lost.
At both tables the first trick went ♠9-Q-K-5. Not rising with dummy's ♠A destroyed declarer's double-dummy line for the nine needed tricks; but one East, after the diagrammed auction, reincarnated it by not persisting with spades, shifting instead to ♣10 which elicited 3-8-A. That declarer then led ♥3 to 8-Q-K. Her plan, had ♥Q won that trick, was perhaps to thereupon lay down ♥A, which would bring 3NT home if East’s hand contained both ♥K doubleton and a friendly diamond holding headed by the other red king. After, in practice, ♠4-A-J-10, and hoping by then for ♦K doubleton with East, ♦8-3-Q-K, ♠8-♥4-2-♦2, ♠2-♥5-9-♦9, ♠3-♣4-♥10-♦J, ♠6-♥6-♦5-♣6, (in which the ♣6 discard cost a trick that instead parting with a heart would save) ♠7-♣2-♦10-♣J, ♣Q-5-K were followed by a claim by the defenders of the remaining tricks for a result of seven down and an East-West table score of 700.
At the other table, where the same contract was reached via 1NT-3♠-3NT passed out, East did accordingly return ♠J to 10-2-A. The play there continued ♦7-3-Q-K, ♠8-♥3-♣7-3, ♠7-♥4-♣9-6, ♠6-♣2-♥2-J, ♠4-♥5-10-♦2, ♠3-♣4-♥9-♦9, ♣8-A-10-J, ♥6-8-A-K, after which three down was agreed as the result and 300 to East-West as the score. Ironically, the more effective early defence here led to the significantly smaller penalty.
To amass the nine needed tricks in this seemingly wrong-sided contract South must first rise with ♠A at trick one. Low to ♦Q is affordable even when, as here, West wins with ♦K and leads to East's ♠K. There is, however, no double-dummy continuation that does not involve winning the first round of hearts with the ace yet no single-dummy consideration that makes that line a better one than sooner or taking the heart finesse and going three down.
Remarkably, the gold-medallist team THOMPSON - Ben Thompson (Vic), Renee Cooper (WA), Peter Newman and Matthew Thomson (both NSW) had barely qualified for the three-round knock-out tournament by placing eighth in the South-West Pacific Teams with a victory-point total of 145.97. This was only 0.32 more than that of the ninth-placed and hence top eliminated six-player team four of whom were Canberrans Christy Geromboux, Elizabeth Havas, Bernard Waters and Sebastian Yuen. Likewise, the defeated team ASHTON - Canberran Andrew Spooner with four NSW teammates Sophie Ashton, David Beauchamp, Matt Mullamphy and (sitting out) Maurits van der Vlugt - qualified sixth on 147.77. Contrastingly, the two top qualifiers with totals of 166.16 and 165.92, each more-or-less a full match ahead of the finalists, were respectively knocked in their closely-contested semi-final and quarter-final.
The ensuing grand final was a ding-dong struggle containing eleven double-digit IMP scores of which the following was the last.
Accurately judging, with only four boards left to play, that ASHTON badly needed a big IMP pick-up, North on the deal readers that can find at bridgeaustralia.org/showtraveller.asp?id=50063&board=29&headeventid=2806 climbed into a low-percentage though double-dummy unbeatable no-trump small slam and could have but didn't bring it home. The play began ♦10-3-2-J, ♠7-4-Q-K. Low from dummy instead of ♠Q, because East might have gone up with ♠K if he had it, would have kept the initially available double-dummy line for 12 tricks alive. One would need to have been at the table to decide why declarer, having presumably led ♠7 so early for that precise reason, nevertheless called for ♠Q. Next came♦5-K-7-4, ♣A-2-4-3, ♣5-6-Q-K, at which point one down was agreed.
North's contract at the other table was a super-safe 3NT against which ♣2 was harmlessly led to Q-3-5. The play continued ♦3-6-K-7, ♠7-4-Q-K, ♣7-A-5-4, ♥2-3-Q-8, ♥J-9-4-6, ♥5-10-K-♠6, ♥A-♦9-♠2-10, ♥7-♦10-♠3-♦2, before declarer tabled ♠A and claimed 10 tricks. The resulting 25-IMP swing, 12 to THOMPSON instead of 13 to ASHTON, exceeded the former's match-winning margin.
Many readers are doubtless already aware of the existence of the ABF Foundation. Its role is to fund selected bridge-related projects that are outside the proper domain and stated objectives of the Australian Bridge Federation. Its trustees are Kim Frazer, Mimi Packer, David Stern, Simon Hinge, Sophie Ashton and Peter Cox, all of whose potted biographies can be found at abffoundation.org.au/trustees.asp. To help fund its endeavours a number of top players auction their services as a partner in an online session. Bids for the next such, on March 5, close at 8pm on the last day but one of the current month. Many of the 31 experts are still available at the minimum price of $125(plus?). Visit abffoundation.org.au/fundraiser/auction.asp?EventId=12 to make an offer or learn more.