End of the Third Day
THE END OF THE THIRD DAY
Match 1
Australia vs Sweden 37 48 which converts to 6.77 13.23
Current position 10th
North – South Renee Cooper (N) Francesca McGrath (S)
East – West Jamie Thompson (E) Matt Smith (W)
The match started out with 3 big swings against Australia and then finished with 2 big swings to Australia.
The swings against Australia
Board 3
Renee and Francesca bid 4♥ doubled not vul when EW can’t make a vulnerable 3NT on most defences
Board 5
Do you want to be in 6♠ on this hand?
Of the 22 times that this board was played, 11 pairs bid 6♠ and 11 pairs stopped in 4♠
The K♠ was singleton onside. Sweden bid it and Australia did not.
It is about a 37.5% chance to pick up the ♠s for no losers.
Board 6
Renee and Francesca played in 1♠ when 4♥ is a goodish contract and Sweden duly bid and made
The swings to Australia
Board 8
Renee and Francesca played in 4♠ making while Sweden failed in 3NT.
Board 14
The opponents cash the A♥ and switch to a ♠.
Which slam would you prefer to be in 6♣ or 6♦?
West had shown both majors.
Renee and Francesca played in 6♦ making while Sweden failed in 6♣.
The ♦s were 3 2 with the Q onside and the ♣s were 3 1 with East having QJ9 in front of the AK but West had only 2♦ and 1♣.
Neither slam is great but you are going to need the ♦ finesse in each slam and 6♦ can handle bad ♦ breaks with a 2 2 ♣ break where 6♣ can’t. West having both majors and, therefore, being short in the minors means that 6♦ is a better bet.
The match summary would indicate that the luck more or less was even, so the margin was probably a fair reflection of the match.
Match 2
Australia vs Canada 29 14 which converts to 14.19 5.81
Current position 11th
North – South Andrew Spooner (N) Tomer Libman (S)
East – West Matt Smith (W) Jamie Thompson (E)
Board 2 was a 14 imp pickup when Jamie Thompson led his partner’s pre-empt in ♣s and 3NT now add no play whereas, the Canadian East led a ♠ which gave declarer a trick and the contract.
That was basically the match, with Australia gaining another 9 imps later but losing a lot of small imp scores.
Match 3
Australia vs Egypt 9 11 which converts to 9.34 10.66
Current position 10th
North – South Renee Cooper (N) Francesca McGrath (S)
East – West Tomer Libman (W) Andrew Spooner (E)
A lot of flat or small imp boards in this match.
The only non-small imp result was when Tomer and Andrew competed to 5♥s rather than to defend 5♦ as the Egyptians did for an 8 imp loss. The old saying “the 5 level is for the opponents”.
This match only turned over 20 imps whereas in 2 other matches on the same boards over 60 imps were amassed.
Match 4
Australia vs India 46 25 which converts to 15.46 4.54
Current position 9th
North – South Renee Cooper (N) Francesca McGrath (S)
East – West Matt Smith (W) Jamie Thompson (E)
This was the wildest set of boards so far. This match generated a total of 71 imps. In the other 11 matches, the total imps varied from 51 to 85. This gave an average of nearly 69 imps in each match.
In most matches, there were 4 slams and several doubled game contracts making. The Australian’s match was no different. There were 5 boards that saw swings in double digits one way or the other.
Board 5 was a swing to India, Matt and Jamie bid 5♣ and India 6♣.
How good is the slam? It has a lot of chances and, on this hand, South held the A♦ and the Q♥ and two small ones and North the K♠.
Board 7 was a 17 imp swing to Australia, Matt and Jamie bid 3NT making and India went over 1100 in 4♠ doubled (there were a lot of similar penalties in other matches)
3NT looks a better chance played by West.
Board 8 was a freakish hand with EW having the black suits and NS the red suits.
Australia were in 6♠ doubled making and India 5♠ doubled making (the strip tailed ape).
The above is just a summary of the imps flying around.
End of Day Summary
Australia is in 9th position and have been fluctuating around the 8th playoff spot for most of the event.
Tomorrow they play only 3 matches
|
Match 12 |
China Hong Kong |
Currently 21st |
|
|
Match 13 |
Netherlands |
Currently 2nd |
a favourite to qualify |
|
Match 14 |
England |
Currently 16th |
the old enemy |
Posted by Mike and Chris on Saturday, 11 August 2018 at 23:59