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Trans-Tasman Challenge – Round 4

Friday 26^th May saw Round 4 of this on-going challenge between Australian and New Zealand teams, 8 rounds in all. Thus, at the half-way point, these are the current leaders.

Round 4			Round 3		Round 4			Round 4		Cumulative
Position			b/fwd		v			Score
1	NZ Open 1		37.92		Aust Mixed 2			17.59		55.51
2	Aust Seniors 1		45.67		NZ Mixed 1			9.39		55.06
3	Aust Open 2		33.57		NZ Youth			20.00		53.57
4	NZ Mixed 1		42.89		Aust Seniors 1			10.61		53.50
5	Aust Open 1		39.82		NZ Women 2			10.00		49.82

 

The big winners this time were the Australian Open 1 team who moved into the top 5 with a maximum win while the New Zealand Open 1 team took over the lead with a big win over Australia Mixed 2.

The following board provided a variety of auctions and outcomes. Firstly, how many hearts would you bid after this start:

 

While you are thinking about that, would it make any difference if your partner opened 1 (natural) and your right-hand opponent called 1?

As you can imagine, there were a variety of actions in the 8 matches. The most conservative action was that of Kate Davies who did not bid any hearts, at least not initially. These were the four hands:

 

It was her partner, John Patterson, who entered the bidding first with Kate unwilling to let her opponents play 5, a good decision, as there were 11 easy tricks in that contract thanks to the working club finesse. Both opponents had run out of steam by the time 5 was bid and Kate refused the trump finesse to lose one trick in each side suit.

Meanwhile, the young Australians reached the same contract after North had opened:

West              North             East                South

Dolbel            Gordon          Humphries   Goss
                        1                   1                   4

5                   5                   All Pass

 

We had the carefree:

West              North             East                South

Jones             Braithwaite  Millington    De Livera
                        Pass                1                   4
5                    5                   Pass               Pass
x                      All Pass

Rumour has it that Andy Braithwaite did not anticipate a problem in the trump suit until he saw his partner's hand!

Barry’s double did not induce the declarer to take the heart finesse and they duly collected their +100. It was a little more comfortable for the declarer when the double came from the other side of the table:

West              North             East                South

Schwartz       Bashar           Genc              Moses
                        Pass                1                   2
2                   4                   4                   Pass
Pass                 5                   x                     All Pass

1 here might not have been a natural suit. Hence the lack of subsequent diamond bids.

Yet, not all North-Souths bid on to 5:

West              North             East                South

Ware              Foster            Mayer            Rankin
                        Pass                1                   3
3                   4                   x                      Pass
5                  All Pass

Double was for take-out with Julian Foster’s own 5 bid perhaps talking himself out of bidding on.

It did seem that both East and West had one heart or else we would have seen more East-West pairs try the diamond slam. There were a few triers:

            West              North             East                South
            Nisbet                                    Cormack
                                    Pass                   1                 3
            3                   4                   4                  Pass
            Pass                 5                   Pass                Pass
            6                   All Pass

Perhaps Pamela Nisbet expected more of a double fit.     

A heart was not always led against 6 though as long as after South's singleton club lead, North inserted 8 if declarer played low from dummy at trick 1, the defence would still get their two tricks. The only players who made more than 11 tricks in diamonds were those in 5.

The sacrifice is:

There were some significant swings in matches where 5 was left as the final contract. The above gives a selection of the different actions taken by the South hand. While a suit headed by the 10 does not normally feel right for a double jump, the good shape of the South hand makes, in my view, 3 feel the right action. Tomorrow, the North hand will be in the West seat. In that case, it would be a great idea for either South or the replacement North hand to mention spades!

Today, exactly half the tables ended in 5, doubled or not, conceding a good 50 or 100. .. and you?

The next round of this challenge is on Friday June 23^rd.

Richard Solomon

 

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