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It’s the final round of qualification in the Open Teams. You have not had a particularly good match so far against strong opponents. You need a few imps quickly.

Those annoying opponents are in the auction again being disruptive. Here’s your hand and the bidding so far. What is your choice of final contract?

Dealer East. Vul N/S. You are North.

AK7

K87

AQJ85

43

                                             West                     North                    East                        South

                                                                                                         2¹                         2                                                                                        

                                             Pass                       4NT                        Pass                       5 ²

                                             Pass                       5NT                        Pass                       6 ³

                                             Pass                       ?

            ¹   4 spades and a 4+ card minor 2-10 hcp

            ²   2 key cards and the Q

            ³    shows K and denies both K and K.

Like in all the best suspense movies, we will keep you waiting….

 

With ANZAC Day on Monday, there was a perfect opportunity for the Wellington Region to grab this weekend for their Congress, the event moving from a standard weekend in July. There were a good number playing in both Open Pairs and Teams and decent fields in the Intermediate and Junior events. However, it is hard to attract all those who play in the Intermediate/Junior Wellington Inter-Club to play for one or two days of a long weekend.

The Open Pairs was extremely close. The best score of the day was the 69.02% scored by Neil Hawkins and Richard Lapthorne in session 2. However, they could only finish 7^th overall. The top three out of a 56 pair field were:

1.Michael Ware – GeO Tislevoll                                                                                    174.57

2.Peter Benham – Brian Cleaver                                                                                  174.36

3.Ray Gruschow – Graeme Norman                                                                             171.36

 

There might be one or two “if onlys” from Peter and Brian. Meanwhile, in the other Pairs events, the top placings were:

Intermediate Pairs

1. Malcolm Grieg – Brad Tattersfield                                                                       124.62  
2. Stephanie Smith – Pam Hancox                                                                          118.98
3. Julia Barnett – Christine Haronga                                                                       116.58

 

Junior Pairs

1. Lee Walker – Amy Haste                                                                                    112.94
2. Denise Barnett – Tegan Bennik                                                                         108.24
3. James Winskill- Diane Miller                                                                               108.18

 

Lee Walker and Amy Haste

Swiss Pairs

1. Robyn and Don Nightingale                                                                                 84.70
2. Dale Lacey – Robyn Freeman – Greene                                                             84.32
3. Cecile Gyde – Lynne Feather                                                                              80.87

 

On then to the Teams competitions.

Intermediate Teams

1. Graham Potter-Mira Trifunovic, Jolene Zink – Glenn Bush                                   65.16
2. Pam Hancox- Stephanie Smith, Rae Julian – Andrew Smith                                 55.72
3. Denise Barnett - Wayne Stechman, Julie Balance- Terry Neal                             51.49

 

Julie Balance, Terry Neal, Wayne Stechman and Denise Barnett. Junior and Intermediate players

who finished in the top 3 all received medals.

Open Teams

1. Michael Ware – GeO Tislevoll, Martin Reid – Peter Newell                                  68.85
2. Blair and Liz Fisher, Pam Canning – Michael Curry                                             60.98
3. Ian and Cynthia Clayton, Ian and Pam Moore                                                     56.85

               Open Teams winners, Peter Newell, Martin Reid, GeO Tislevoll and Michael Ware

A special congratulations to Michael and GeO who did the double. Their team was leading for most of the event but in the final, Fisher not only closed the gap but took the lead with one round left. These two teams met in the final round with victory going to Ware 16.78-3.22.

GeO Tislevoll is a tough competitor. Give him a tiny chance and he will seize the opportunity.The following is from an earlier round  (hand rotated):

 

 

Over to GeO:

“I  received the  8 from West, Q, K and A. I played a heart to the Q and K and back came the 10. I covered with the Q and West won the  K. He played another spade won by the 10. After A, I cashed the A and then the third spade and the rest of the trumps, down to this position before the last trump:

                             

 

West should have got rid of his big diamonds earlier but when he hadn’t, he was now squeeze-end-played. If he pitches a club, I can drop the J and win the tenth trick with the 9. He pitched a diamond and was then end played by the now singleton K,  being forced to lead a club from his J6 into my A7 opposite 93.

 

Of course, West could have unblocked the diamonds, or better had led a diamond earlier with the defence clearing this suit before an end play could occur.”

 See what I mean.

 So, finally, back to our little problem…or the one which faced Aucklander Jonathan Westoby. Remember, he had to choose a bid after his partner’s 6 response. Did you bid 7? If so and assuming your partner trusted you, you would have been a hero!

Here are the 4 hands:

 

                                                             

             ¹   4 spades and a 4+ card minor 2-10 hcp

            ²   2 key cards and the Q

            ³    shows K and denies both K and K

 

 

As you can see, Jonathan chose 7 but found he had an inescapable trump loser. If one is going to the 7 level with such a deal, then it is often correct to play 7NT where if there are unfriendly breaks, you might still survive with a squeeze. However, as long as the defence discarded correctly, that would not eventuate here. There was a third option at the 7 level, 7. You know your partner has the king and on a happy day, he will produce one or two more. Grant Jarvis only had the king this time but it would have been enough. Trumps broke 4-3 and hearts could be set up by means of a ruff to discard North's club loser on the fifth round of the suit. Wonderful!

 Would Grant have passed the 7 bid? We will never know. The story did have a happy ending, though, as Jonathan and Grant’s team did scrape together enough vps to make the final.

 Finally, the usual word of thanks to all the hard working organisers behind the scenes. We players do appreciate your efforts.

Richard Solomon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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