Daily Bulletin
----- Tuesday, November 21st, 1995 -----
Sorry, English only.
Editors:Eric Kokish
Beverly Kraft
EUROPE LEADS IN NEC CUP
If the first day is any indication, the battle for the four qualifying
spots will come down to the wire.
The rankings after 3 rounds:
EUROPE 61
JAPAN (YAMADA) 58
CANADA 58
INDONESIA 51
JAPAN (HISATOMI) 49
JAPAN (YOUTH) 43
NEW ZEALAND 39
CHINESE TAIPEI 35
JAPAN (GELLER) 32
JAPAN (TATAI) 19
Round 1
NEW ZEALAND ( 45) 16 - 14 ( 42) CHINESE TAIPEI
HISATOMI ( 43) 13 - 17 ( 54) YOUTH
INDONESIA ( 35) 19 - 11 ( 16) EUROPE
GELLER ( 44) 14 - 16 ( 47) CANADA
TATAI ( 22) 7 - 23 ( 61) YAMADA
Round 2
EUROPE ( 67) 25 - 5 ( 14) NEW ZEALAND
CANADA ( 54) 17 - 13 ( 42) CHINESE TAIPEI
HISATOMI ( 43) 14 - 16 ( 48) GELLER
TATAI ( 35) 8 - 22 ( 67) YOUTH
INDONESIA ( 24) 7 - 23 ( 61) YAMADA
Round 3
CHINESE TAIPEI ( 28) 8 - 22 ( 63) HISATOMI
YOUTH ( 11) 4 - 25 ( 69) INDONESIA
EUROPE ( 94) 25 - 2 ( 28) GELLER
CANADA ( 68) 25 - 4 ( 9) TATAI
NEW ZEALAND ( 37) 18 - 12 ( 23) YAMADA
THE EDITOR'S IDIOT'S FINESSE
Kokish Lai Kraft Yen
NORTH WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH
BOARD: II-18 S:104 P P
DEALER: E H:A842 1S DBL 2H(1) 3D
VUL: N/S D:AK7 4S P P DBL
C:QJ95 All Pass
WEST EAST
S:QJ875 S:A96 (1) constructive spade raise
H:KQJ10 H:97653
D:4 D:Q865
C:AK10 C:3
SOUTH
S:K32
H:None
D:J10932
C:87642
You might recall Board 18 from the second round robin match of the NEC CUP.
In our match against Chinese Taipei, we overlooked our heart fit and
blasted into 4S, which was doubled rather sportingly by YN Yen, South. He
was thinking sweet thoughts about Mr Lightner's invention, but that was
hardly obvious to Jennifer Lai, who led the DA. YN followed with the jack,
trying again to send his message in hearts, but unfortunately the jack was
simply the normal upside down count card from the very holding he
possessed. With that singleton club in dummy, Jennifer switched to a trump
and she wisely led the four, not the ten. Now I knew that South held at
most one heart, but I couldn't stop the ruff if it were coming, so I was
committed to ducking the trump in an attempt to keep control. Since South
was a favourite to hold king-ten-fourth, I got dummy's nine out of the way,
with a plan in the back of my mindlet. South won the SK and I was expecting
to see a diamond come back in an attempt to shorten my trumps, but instead,
he returned the C8. Could the trumps really be three-two all the time? Why
this club play? Perhaps South was so anxious to get his heart ruff that he
had passed up the almost-sure-thing diamond play in order to try to get
partner in with the CA. Or was South afraid that I would discard a loser
on a diamond continuation, then another loser later, with North continuing
to stay off hearts? Of course, these were unkind thoughts that I was
entertaining, but there was this beautiful plan I had developed, you see.
So, here's what I did ....
I won the CA, ruffed a club with the ace of trumps, and led the S6 to my
seven, preparing to draw trumps and claim, conceding the ace of hearts.
Picture how I felt when North won the S10. Perhaps The Great Shuffler was
feeling sorry for me at this moment, because North exited with a club,
enabling me to draw South's last trump and escape for one down; minus 100.
So poor South never got his heart ruff, after all. He was not amused.
Neither was my partner. So sorry, Kraft-San, your partner was a true idiot.
A QUICKIE
BOARD: II-12
DEALER: W
VUL: N-S
WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH
P 1D P 2C
P 2D P 3C
P 3H(stop) P 3NT///
You hold: (W) 10986 A8432 AJ7 7
What would you lead?
.... SEE BELOW ..................
THE QUICKIE SOLUTION
NORTH
BOARD: II-12 S:75
DEALER: W H:KQJ
VUL: N-S D:Q10984
C:A54
WEST EAST
S:10986 S:KQJ3
H:A8432 H:975
D:AJ7 D:653
C:7 C:J92
SOUTH
S:A42
H:106
D:K2
C:KQ10863
Well, dummy didn't promise two heart stoppers, and South seems ready for
spades. East didn't overcall 1S or 2S. You have an entry. But there is
something about that spade sequence that screams, "lead me" ... so ...
As you can see, the spade lead is the killer. If I were an Australian, I
couldn't show my face anywhere near Paul Marston, who has been touting
four-card leads rather than longer suits for many years. I led a heart and
they soon made four; 630. This effectively destroyed a very good result
achieved by Kyoko Shimamura-Etsuko Miyaishi (our teammates), who collected
plus 500 against a phantom sacrifice of 4S doubled. How did E/W get all the
way to 4S? Well, West doubled for takeout after 1D-P-2C. I must confess
that I thought about it.
TWO TIMES FOUR HIGH-LEVEL DECISIONS
NORTH TABLE ONE
DLR: N S 3 Shimizu Yamada Yoshida Ohno
VUL: Both H 74 WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH
D AQ108743 1D P 1S
C AKQ 2H 3D 4H 4S
WEST EAST P P 5H P
S A9864 S J P DBL All Pass
H KJ1082 H A9653 TABLE TWO
D J5 D 6 Imakura Hirata Ino Hanayama
C 9 C J107642 WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH
SOUTH 1D P 1S
S KQ10752 2H 3D 4H 4S
H Q DBL 5D 5H P
D K92 P DBL All Pass
C 853
Here's one from the OUCHI CUP. The first bidding problem falls to South, over
East's 4H. His diamonds strongly suggest a raise, but his spades are pretty
good too and 4S might be the only making game for his side. In the event,
both Souths tried 4S. Do you agree with their decision? Then turn to North.
Would you sit for 4S, doubled or not? Very tough. Yamada did, but Hirata did
not. In both cases, East went on to 5H.
Do you think that N/S are in a forcing situation now? Well, it's not clear
that anyone has the balance of power, is it? So, strictly speaking, the
answer should be "no." It would be different, I believe, if South had
raised diamonds. Now there is a proven fit that is unlikely to cost 800.
Therefore, double the bad guys or save. One of these solutions should be
mathematically rewarding. That sounds good, perhaps, but at the table, no
one really knows what's going on with these distributional hands. There is
always the feeling that one side has pushed the other side up a level or
that "they must be saving." Still, I suspect that both Souths passed
without having any true conviction about North having to bid again. Do you
agree with their decision, or would you prefer 6D?
Then, at last, we return to North, who has not heard his partner mention
diamonds. He has clubs locked up, the ace of his suit, a misfit for spades.
Is he not a big favourite to beat 5H? Well, that's what he (they) thought
too. Would you have done otherwise?
Yoshida made six when Yamada cashed a club and switched to a trump. Imakura
made five, losing two aces.
Some secondary issues that come to mind are these:
(1) Should South's 4S be defined as a suggestion or a virtual
signoff? Consider how you'd bid with no diamonds and
eight decent spades.
(2) Should South simply give up on perfection in situations like thes
and settle for an honest diamond raise, letting North know
about the potentially critical support?
Readers who believe they can discern the truth about this deal are invited
to submit their analysis for publication.
THE GREAT SHUFFLER'S DAILY DOUBLE
by Noboyuki Hayashi
This is a hand from the OUCHI CUP (Flight B)
First, try an opening lead problem:
WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH
1D P 3NT
P 4NT P 6NT
All Pass
You (West) hold: QJ108 K1085 5 J1096
South's 3NT showed 13-15 HCP, no four-card major; 4NT was either Blackwood
or quantitative - South was not sure. This looks almost too easy, doesn't
it?
So, I led the queen of spades, of course. Wouldn't you. Alas, this was the
full hand:
NORTH
DLR: N S K753
VUL: Both H A62
D AKQ43
C 8
WEST EAST
S QJ108 S 962
H K1085 H Q94
D 5 D 10976
C J1096 C 754
SOUTH
S A4
H J73
D J82
C AKQ32
Declarer has eleven tricks on top. It looks as if there is little chance
unless clubs are four-three, and declarer (Shoko Fukuda) played three top
clubs immediately, conceded the fourth round to me, and claimed her slam
when diamonds behaved. Perhaps she should have ducked a club immediately,
catering to some squeeze chances), but that is not the point of my story.
6NT was duly made after my painfully natural spade lead.
Now why do you think that The Great Shuffler gave me two easy-to-lead
beautiful sequences that allow the contract to make and one hard-to-lead
suit which would set the contract (or would the heart lead do it? I don't
even want to think about the possibilities of a compound squeeze now after
declarer ducks the heart; let's just say that the heart lead would
apparently beat 6NT)? Perhaps I should have figured it out. The Great
Shuffler has a weird sense of humour and I know the guy pretty well. He was
teasing me all the time, and somehow I missed the clues. Next time I'll
lead a heart and give declarer the twelfth trick. Bridge is such a
difficult game!
Why don't you switch seats now and test your play ...
NORTH
S A4
H J73 WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH
D J82 1D
C AKQ32 P 2C(FG) P 2D(5+D)
WEST EAST P 3D P 3H(cue)
S 962 S QJ108 P 3S(cue) P 4D(S/T)
H Q94 H K1085 P 4NT(RKCB)P 5D(0/3)
D 10976 D 5 P 5H(DQ?) P 5S(+SK)
C 754 C J1096 P 6D All Pass
SOUTH
S K753
H A62
D AKQ43
C 8
The opening lead is the S9, high from two or three small cards, fourth
best, standard honour leads. How would you play?
If the trumps are three-two, you can draw two rounds of trumps with the ace
and king, then ruff the third spade with the DJ. But in order to ruff a
spade and draw trumps safely, you must win the lead with dummy's SA. Then,
if you find out that trumps are four-one, it will be too late to set up the
long club and use it - the entries will not be there.
Instead, you may decide to set up a long club. The four-three club break
is a 62% chance, not as good as the three-two trump break (68%), but if you
take this line, you must win the spade lead in the closed hand.
Apparently, this is a trick one problem, and the percentages dictate that
you try for the spade ruff-diamond split. So you win the spade in dummy
and you go one down only to discover that the alternative line would have
succeeded.
After the session (please don't ask how we did), we went out for a drink
and our usual post-mortem discussion. When this deal came up, Masayuki Ino,
one of Japan's leading players, showed his class by presenting an elegant
solution for this hand ....
Win the lead in dummy, then draw two trumps with the ace and king, going
for the percentage line. When the trumps break four-one, there is still a
chance. Cash the ace of hearts. This is the key play. Cash three high clubs
to discard your hearts, ruff a heart, ruff a spade in dummy, then, finally,
ruff dummy's last heart with your last trump as West follows helplessly.
The high trump and the high spade take the last trick together. If West is
exactly three-three-four-three, your prayers are answered.
If you've been wondering how The Great Shuffler fits into the play problem,
it's another teaser. First the guy tempts you into believing that the
inferior line wins while the better line loses; then his sense of justice
prevails and he shows you (through the persona of Mr Ino) that you must
have faith in him.
OUCHI CUP: PART TWO
by Herbst Incorporated
This hand was played in the first match of the Flight A Final:
BD: 5 NORTH TABLE ONE
DLR: E S 987 Ilan Ophir
VUL: N/S H Q10854 WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH
D Q7 P 1S
C K84 2H P 3H///
WEST EAST
S K2 S Q3
H KJ762 H A93 TABLE TWO
D J3 D 1098654 Kokish Kraft
C AQJ7 C 65 WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH
SOUTH P 1S
S AJ10654 2H 2S 3H 4S///
H ---
D AK2
C 10932
With spades and clubs behaving the spade game was never in jeopardy. At our
table North decided to trap over 2H and was soon defending 3H. The spade
lead went to the ten and king. Declarer crossed to the HA, and played a
club to the queen and king. This confirmed his belief that N/S could make
4S. North now played a second spade and South won and played the DA, DK,
and a third diamond. Ilan ruffed with the HJ, but North overruffed and
played a club. Declarer now finished the clubs with a low ruff in dummy.
The H9 from dummy now endplayed North for two down and an 11-imp gain.
The last hand of this match was most spectacular.
BD: 7 NORTH TABLE TWO
DLR: S S AJ2 Ilan Ophir
VUL: BOTH H 9876 WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH
D K95 P
C A63 1D P 1S 2C
WEST EAST P 3C///
S Q3 S 1098765
H QJ32 H A104 TABLE TWO
D AQJ104 D 873 Kokish Kraft
C 54 C K WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH
SOUTH P
S K4 1D P 1S 3C
H K5 P 3NT P P
D 62 DBL///
C QJ109872
At our table, the opponents played in 3C and scored 11 tricks when declarer
guessed the CK at trick one. There was more excitement at the other table,
when Eric declared 3NT doubled. The contract would seem to depend on a club
guess after a diamond lead, but in practice East led a spade and declarer
could afford a club loser. He didn't lose one, however, and with the C6 an
entry to his hand to cash the third spade, scored plus 950 and 13 imps.
We were happy with our auction on this deal from Match Six.
NORTH TABLE ONE
DLR: W S 103 Ilan Ophir
VUL: E/W H 6 WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH
D 6542 2D P 2H P
C KQ10876 3S P 4C P
WEST EAST 4S P 6D///
S KJ52 S Q6
H AK92 H 1087 2D Multi
D AK93 D QJ1087 2H P/C with weak hand type
C 2 C AJ9 3S 4441, short C
SOUTH 4C control ask
S A9874 4S 7 controls
H QJ543
D ---
C 543
North led his singleton heart and Ilan took the queen with his ace. Then he
crossed to the CA, ruffed a club with the DA, went to the DQ, ruffed a club
with the DK, drew trumps and conceded a spade for twelve tricks. At the other
table, Eric overcalled the 1D opening with a preemptive 3C and East ended the
auction with 3NT.
In the sixth match, we faced the strong Indonesian team. There were two
major swings that helped us to a win. The first was an aggressive game but
it might have been worse for the Indonesians.
BD: 2 NORTH TABLE ONE
DLR: E S J10 Ilan Ophir
VUL: N/S H K87 WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH
D K987 2D P
C K1075 2NT P 3H(S) DBL
WEST EAST 3S 4H 4S P
S 864 S AK9752 P DBL///
H Q1096 H 2 TABLE TWO
D AQ102 D 43 Joey Rhoda
C A6 C J932 WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH
SOUTH 2D P
S Q3 2S///
H AJ543
D J65
C Q84
The auction at our table was lively. West liked the Multi opening enough
to inquire. West showed a weak two-bid in spades with the 3H call and
South doubled. West's 3S constituted an invitation, and East had enough.
The 4H bid placed the vulnerable Indonesians in severe jeopardy but,
instead of doubling to show his acceptance of the invitation, Ophir bid 4S.
Perhaps that is the right view with such a distributional acceptance. 4S
proved unbeatable and so we scored +590.
The next swing was a partscore played in the same contract by both our
pairs!
NORTH OPEN ROOM
DLR: N S Q1043 Ilan Ophir
VUL: N/S H Q6 WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH
D K6 P 1NT///
C A10932
WEST EAST
S KJ2 S A98
H J32 H AK54 CLOSED ROOM
D 109542 D Q83 Joey Rhoda
C 54 C KJ2 WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH
SOUTH P 1D P
S 765 P 1NT DBL///
H 10987
D AJ7
C Q87
E/W at TABLE TWO were playing the weak notrump and the double was an
attempt to express those values. Perhaps West should not pass 1D but bid
a three-card major if 2D or 3D would be inappropriate. Silver was favoured
with the lead of the HK and a switch to the CK! He won the ace and led a
club and East put in the jack, still trying to develop West's hoped-for
club suit. Declarer finished with eight tricks, plus 380.
At our table, South led the H10 (zero or two higher) and declarer knew the
location of the HQ. He won the ace and played the DQ, which South won, to
further his heart suit, low, queen, king. The second diamond was won by
North, who returned a club, jack, queen. South cleared the hearts and
declarer had time to establish the diamonds. This little hand was worth 10
imps.
Going into the final match of the event, we held a comfortable lead but the
conditions dictated that we had to play the formidable Indonesians once
again.
This time, the match went the other way. The Indonesians bid their way to
victory with this deal.
NORTH OPEN ROOM
DLR: E S J Ilan Ophir
VUL: N/S H Q962 WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH
D J102 1NT P
C QJ1096 2H* P 2S P
WEST EAST 3NT P 4S///
S AQ1092 S K76
H J3 H AK1054 CLOSED ROOM
D A64 D KQ3 Lucy Silver Denny Habert
C A53 C 42 WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH
SOUTH 1NT P
S 8543 2H* P 2S P
H 87 3C P 3S P
D 9875 4NT P 5H P
C K87 6S///
Indonesia won this replay by 4 imps, but we managed to hang on and finish
first.
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