Bridgeä Kaliforniassa
- Tunnelmia reissusta ja peleistä.
- Board analysis at the end of this post (In English)
San Franciscossa riittää ylä- ja alamäkeä! |
Paul Soloway |
Syksyn Amerikan mestaruuskilpailut päättyvät ehkäpä arvostetuimpaan ja haastavimpaan kilpailuun, Reisingeriin. Kilpailumuotona on BAM eli joukkuekilpailu, jossa jaon voittamiseen riittää 10 pisteen ero.
Meidän ohjelmaamme kuuluivat seuraavat kilpalut:
- Soloway Knockout
- Michell BAM
- Reisinger
- Pari muuta joukkista.
Golden Gate kaukaa kuvattuna. |
Valmistautuminen kisoihin
Muutaman Yhdysvaltain reissun jälkeen on oppinut valmistautumaan myös jetlagista toipumiseen mahdollisimman nopeasti. Nykyään itsellä on vakiovarusteena mukana melatoniinia ja korvatulpat, jotta nukkuminen olisi mahdollisimman helppoa. Silti varsinkin täpärät karsiutumiset saattavat vaikeuttaa nukahtamista, kun virheet saattavat jäädä pyörimään päähän ja haittaamaan unta...
Lyhyt turistikierros
"Cable Car" |
Chinatown |
Keskusta |
Etualalla "kääntöpöytä" |
Itsenäisyyspäivä maailmalla. |
Joulutunnelmaa. |
Tunnelmia peleistä
Soloway KO
Mitchell BAM
Reisinger
Qualification to Mitchell BAM
From Mitchell BAM tournament. I opened with a stretched 1NT and ended up playing four hearts after a transfer sequence. Kevin Castner started with the Queen of diamonds. What is your plan?
There’s no point of discarding dummy’s club on my third spade. It’s true that I won’t lose any club after that, but what I’m going to do with all the diamonds in the dummy? If I play clubs by myself, I could discard one diamond on the third spade and one on the King of clubs. Then I will lose one diamond and one club. To make the contract I need to find North with the King of hearts and 3-2 split in trumps. Best plan is to duck the first trick. If the defence cashes the Ace of clubs next, I’ll need the favourable trump position. To my relief Castner continued diamonds and now I had a better approach. What is that?
I won the diamond continuation with the Ace, crossed to the dummy with the Ace of spades, ruffed a diamond, cashed King-Queen of spades discarding the Queen of clubs, ruffed dummy’s last diamond with the Queen of hearts, ruffed a club, took the Ace of trumps and conceded two trump tricks. Making ten tricks and winning the board. You can follow the play below:
Reisinger, the 1st day
Our team had a nice 1st session. We were in a good position when Kauko had to face the following declarer problem:Reisinger second qualifying session against young Australians. After Liam Milnes’s takeout double our Gazilli convention was off so my two clubs was just natural. Vesa took a conservative view, not inviting with two no trumps but settling for a preference bid of two spades. Andy Hung started with the three of diamonds (3rd/5th) to his partner’s Ace and Milne continued with the five of diamonds. How would you continue?
It didn’t look like a good idea to try to draw the trumps. After the takeout double West has most probably only two spades and the defenders are shortening my trumps. There’s no way to score more than two club tricks after the forcing defence. But maybe it would be a good plan to accept the force and try to ruff as many red cards in my hand as possible. I played a small heart to the King, Milne winning with the Ace, and I was expecting him to continue with diamonds. Then I could ruff, unblock the Queen of hearts and use my two club entries for two further ruffs. Unfortunately, Milne is not playing a diamond back, but a heart instead and I win into my hand with the Queen. I continue with the King of spades, which Milne wins with his Ace. After that, defence can’t prevent me of taking three ruffs in my hand, eight tricks and tied board when our opponents played three clubs just making at the other table. The whole board can be seen below:
I was happy with my line of play, but without a reason. Milne defended well returning a heart after the Ace of hearts, only switch to kill the contract. And if he next ducks my King of spades, I have no chance to make eight tricks.
Instead of playing a heart to the King I should have continued with the Queen of hearts to the third trick. Say that West ducks (no difference) and now I can continue with the King of spades. West ducks again, but that doesn’t help him. Next comes three rounds of clubs, East ruffing the third round. He plays back the Queen of diamonds, which I ruff. Next any black card from my hand is enough to make the contract. For example, a spade to West’s Ace, he cashes the Jack of diamonds, but I discard my last heart. In the three-card ending West has to play a heart and I still score one ruff and the King of hearts.
There was in fact no reason to fear the forcing defence. The contract makes even if I play a spade to the Queen at trick three. West continues a diamond, which I ruff. A club to the dummy and next..?
The continuation of clubs is correct, but careful now, a small club to the Ace! If you would make a mistake and take first high club from the dummy and then play a club to the Ace. East can set the contract declining to ruff but discarding a diamond (a heart is good as well). If you next try the Queen of hearts, West will win and continue diamonds. Seven tricks is your limit now. If you play the club suit in correct order, it doesn’t help East if he refuses to ruff. You are in the dummy and play a low heart to the Queen and next more clubs. If East is not ruffing, he has to play a trump in the ending to declarer’s K9-tenace. And even if he ruffs, declarer will end up making eight tricks with any defence. Try it yourself!
Reisinger, 2nd day, Semi-Final
We start well the 2nd day of Reisinger (Semi-Final) and an average session from the fourth session would be enough to get us into the final on Sunday.With three rounds to go we are meeting Jan Jansma and Chris Willenken from the team Rosenthal. With vul against not, first in hand I open one no trump (14+ to 17) with 85 A1075 KQJ83 A4.
Jansma passes, Vesa bids 2C stayman and Willenken overcalls two spades. My double would be for takeout, but I should have more than 14 hcp for that action. Besides, the double from Vesa would also show four hearts, so we are not going to miss the heart fit even if I pass. Vesa keeps the bidding alive with a natural two no trump bid. I can’t pass that because I see that this contract is wrong handed, so I choose three diamonds, which is followed by three passes. Jansma starts with the Queen of spades, Willenken thinks for two seconds, then overtakes with the King and plays back the three of clubs. What is your overall plan?
If the West’s club is singleton, I can’t afford to duck the club shift. I guess Willenken has more clubs, because in favourable vulnerability Jansma might have overcalled his seven card suit. Not willing to risk an early ruff, I take the Ace anyway and play the five of hearts to deuce, King and the nine. Opponents are playing UDCA. Next I decide to cut the communications between defenders and play a small club from the dummy. Willenken takes the trick with the ten and continues the suit, I’m ruffing and Jansma follows with the King. And then?
If opponents trumps are 2-2, the rest is easy. I just pull out the trumps and ruff my two heart losers in the dummy. But if Jansma has three trumps, a trump promotion with the spades is an obvious threat. I decide to take two rounds of trumps with the King and the Ace, Willenken discarding a spade. That’s annoying. Spades look like to be 6-1 and because the defenders can’t cash six spade tricks, I would have made eight tricks in no trumps. So I have to make ten tricks in diamonds to win the board if our opponents stays in no trump at the other table. I continue with the Ace of hearts and ruff a heart in dummy Jansma following with low cards and Willenken with the eight and the Jack. Do you have any chance to make ten tricks anymore?
Yes you do. I played a spade from the dummy, West winning and continuing with another spade. In the three-card ending H10 and DQJ, I ruffed high, but what Jansma could do with HQ D10 CQ. Of course he can’t underruff, but he can’t discard his heart, neither. In that case I would draw trumps and the ten of hearts would be high. Reluctantly Jansma finally discarded a club, but then I could make ten tricks with a heart ruff into the dummy. We had big hopes to win the board, but at the other table our opponents were climbing up to three no trumps. West was overtaking the lead of Queen of clubs with the King, but without the club continuation declarer managed to make the contract.
Reisinger, Final Round
Last round we are playing in the BBO vugraph. The very last board is decisive. If we would win the board, we’ll go thru, if we’ll lose, the Swiss teams are waiting us on Sunday.
At IMPs passing two spades doubled would be too risky, but at BAM my decision was clear cut. I cashed Ace-King of hearts all following. I switched to the four of diamonds, King, Ace and the five. What next?
In order to cut down club ruffs into the dummy, Vesa played back a spade to my Ace, declarer unblocked the King, and I continued the trumps dummy’s nine winning the trick. A small club from the dummy. Your turn.
It looks natural to play second hand low. But that would have been a fatal mistake. Declarer would win the King, play two rounds of spades discarding a low red card from the dummy and play a diamond to the Queen. When dummy’s Queen of hearts is cashed, South is helplessly squeezed. If he discards the Jack of diamonds, dummy’s ten will be high. But if he discards a low club, declarer continues clubs and makes three tricks in this suit. The correct move on the first round of clubs is to win with the Ace and continue with any diamond. Both defenders have still one trump left, so declarer won’t make a trick anymore in either red suit. '
Vesa was not tested anyhow, because I played low to the first round of trumps, dummy winning. Declarer continued with a club to the King and a spade. When I took the Ace and continued with a diamond, dummy was dead and declarer had still to lose two club tricks.
Our result from the last board was good and we were expecting to qualify for the final, but our opponents played one no trump at the other table from the South hand. Unfortunately, the defence slipped badly, declarer making eight tricks, so we lost the board and were disqualified with narrowest possible margin.
Sunday A/X Swiss
After this huge disappointment my motivation and concentration were not the best one at the Swiss teams on the last playing day, as the following board shows.East’s opening showed at least five cards and West’s three clubs was natural invitation with a long suit. I led with the three of diamonds (3rd/5th), deuce, Queen and the Ace. Declarer plays next the six of clubs. And you?
Surely enough it looks natural to try to block the club suit by ducking the first round. But that’s not correct. If declarer has five hearts and the Ace of spades, he is home with nine tricks if I let him take one club trick. The correct move is to rise up with the Ace and see what partner is playing. We play regular Smith, so playing a high card at the first opportunity tells that he has missing honour or extra length. If for example Vesa had played the Jack to the first trick and a high club to the second, he promises either the Queen or four cards in diamonds. In the actual layout a high club would promise four cards and after the Ace of diamonds the defence takes five tricks. On the other hand, if partner plays a low club, he denies the hoped for combination. And in that case I have to find the partner with the Ace of spades and defend accordingly. This time Vesa would have played the seven of clubs and the situation wouldn’t have been clear to me. The seven could be from 97-doubleton as well. But change Vesa’s club combination to nine doubleton and the situation would be easier to read.
As a minor consolation, we finish 3rd (tied) in the final Swiss.