46th World Bridge Teams Championships in Marrakech
Among the reasons for this extra off-week column is a possible need to alert readers to imminent aspects of certain Canberra events.
One such is the creation of a women's almost free training camp of which this afternoon's (Sunday 27 August) initial session, led by Pam Crichton, Julia Hoffman and Jodi Tutty, has already attracted more than 80 participants. Visit canberrabridgeclub.com.au for full details. Entries closed at 10am on Friday but my guess is that at least the first several of any women who see this in time to simply turn up unheralded at 1.30pm today are unlikely to be turned away.
Another is the existence of an early-bird discount at the forthcoming Canberra in Bloom Congress. My understanding is that entries paid for by and including 31 August will be reduced to those charged in 2022 and that the new Rookie pairs tournament will attract a comparable reduction.
Have you been keeping track of Australia's progress at the fortnight-long 46th world bridge teams championships in Marrakech which began on 20 August? There are links at abf.com.au to results, comprehensive and instructive daily bulletins, cost-free bridgebase.com bid-by-bid card-by-card coverage of eight selected tables, as well as to "Bridge Australia TV" at which many of this nation's own experts contribute much else.
After 18 of 23 scheduled 16-board rounds in the all-play-all qualifying stages of the open, women's, seniors and mixed teams championships, Australia's best hope of figuring in one of the four eight-day eight-team knock-out stages which begin tomorrow (Monday) was in the mixed division where Lauren Travis and Phil Markey (both SA), Sophie Ashton and David Wiltshire (both NSW), Renee Cooper (WA) and Ben Thompson (Vic) were lying ninth on 212.05 victory points only 0.93 out of the crucial eighth place.
New Zealand, the other participating Pacific zone team, was at that point well-placed in the open championship - seventh on 220.31 which was 10.31 more than the ninth-placed team's total.
The following account is largely based on a report at nzbridge.co.nz which, in my not especially humble opinion, is one of the world's best national bridge websites.
Today's deal generated 11 of the 24 IMPs by which New Zealand defeated South Africa in the seventh round. An uncontested auction at the other table had allowed South, Ashley Bach, to play in 4♥ and - after West's non-threatening ♦A opening lead - easily amass the double-dummy-available 11 tricks.
After the diagrammed livelier auction, however, (in which Matt Brown’s 2♥ showed spades plus an as-yet-undisclosed minor suit and Michael Whibley's 4NT said "bid, as the case may be, 5♣ or 5♦") South's not-unreasonable 5♥ set the scene for the following striking defence.
Matt found the great lead-directing under-lead of the ♦2 at trick one. When ♦K won, Michael knew what to do. The club return was ruffed by Matt who exited passively and later scored his ♥K to beat the contract and give New Zealand 11 imps. South can hardly be blamed for not avoiding that defeat by dropping West's by-then singleton ♥K.