Page 11 - ABF Newsletter October 2024

their contracts. Tomer won the [K lead with the [A, noting a discouraging [8 by East. A diamond to the king, and a diamond back to the ace revealed the bad news. He played a club towards dummy’s nine, west winning the ten and shifting to a low heart, which Tomer won with the jack. Tomer proceeded to strip the black suits and endplay West with the [9! West was helpless, forced to give up the ninth trick in the diamond suit, with 3NT= yielding +600.
At my table, I elected to lead the ]Q, though admit- edly perhaps a diamond is preferable to cut ruffs. Regardless, Felix took note of a very different auc- tion, and immediately played a club to hand. I split honours, so he won, played the }A and finessed partner’s jack, proceeding to play another club to hand. The defense was now screwed, as declarer could pitch hearts from dummy on the {J and the long club, being restricted to the }J and {K. A well played 11 marbles also for +600, and a flat board.
Well done Tomer and Felix.
Board 12. Dealer West. Nil vulnerable.
] A Q 10 9 7 [6 }AQ62
{ A 10 4
]2 ]5
[J843 [ K Q 10 7 5 2 }43 } K J 10 5 {J98532 {Q6
]KJ8643 [A9 }987 {K7
plays. At the other table, declarer did not find the endplay and simply tried the diamond finesse.
The final board of note is from the Pairs. It involved some spectacular declarer play by a Dutch superstar, Xavier Friesen, and the most humiliating board of my life.
Pairs Final, Session Two.
Board 11. Dealer South. Nil vulnerable.
] 10 9 8 [KJ97 }AK5 {K32
]A72 ]KQ54
WEST NORTH Lara
pass 1]
EAST SOUTH Tomer
3[1 4]
all pass
I elected to lead the [3. Declarer thought for a long time then stuck in the nine, which held. Declarer has seven tricks in the red suits, so will presumably need two club tricks. The problem is the defenders can take four spades and a club trick at their leisure. So, trying to distract us, declarer called for the ten of spades! Partner obviously ducked, declarer played low, and I thought for a bit before ducking as well! With a spade trick in the bank, declarer could simply set up a club for his ninth trick. The insight I took away from this board is that I should’ve thought about this earlier when declarer was thinking, and realised that there’s not really any reason to duck the spade. Regardless, Xavier got a well-deserved top board for his play, and went on to win the Silver medal with his partner Ronald Goor, to go with their Silver in the Teams for the Dutch. In fact, Xavier and Ronald finished a mere 0.11% behind Castor Mann and Alexander Sandin from Sweden who took Gold in the Pairs.
It is always an honour to represent Australia. On behalf of the youth team, I am grateful for all the help we have received over the last couple of years. In particular, there was an unbelievable effort put in by our captains, Mike Doecke and Lauren Travis, to improve our bridge. I would also like to thank my partner Jack; I only occasionally wish he never took up bridge, the rest of the time I’m grateful that he’s around.
5[ 2
6] 3
1. Wide ranging preempt opposite a passed hand. 2. Getting in there.
3. Throwing the kitchen sink at the auction.
WEST NORTH Bertie
pass 1]
4[ 4]
1. 3+ support, decent hand.
EAST
2[
all pass
SOUTH Alex
3[ 1
This board is from the BAM segment of the event, where Bertie did very nicely to make 12 tricks while Lara and Tomer’s opponent went off in slam! On the lead of the [K, Bertie won the ace, drew trumps, stripped his hearts and clubs and ran the }9! There was nothing East could do. East was endplayed, forced to concede a ruff and discard or play a dia- mond into the tenace. Even if West had a high dia- mond, Bertie simply covers whatever diamond West
Australian Bridge Federation Ltd. Newsletter: October 2024
Page: 11
[ Q 10 4 3 2 } 10 4 3 {J7
]J63 [A6 }QJ86 {Q864
[85 }972
{ A 10 9 5
SOUTH 1NT 10-12
WEST
George Jack
pass
NORTH EAST 3NT all pass