A Fit of Piques

Round 4 started with a series of deals where all the contracts were played in spades at almost every table. Our featured match saw France, for whom nothing less than a maximum would do, facing Indonesia.

Board 1. Dealer North. Love All
	ª J 9 8 4 2 © A 10 ¨ 8 4 3 2 § Q 6
ª K 10 6 © 7 5 2 ¨ A Q J 5 § A J 5		ª A Q © 8 6 4 3 ¨ K 10 § K 10 9 7 4
	ª 7 5 3 © K Q J 9 ¨ 9 7 6 § 8 3 2

The Precision Club auction, saw West making an inverted raise, and led to South being on lead. He naturally selected the ©K, and the defenders took the first four tricks, declarer claiming the rest for +400.

Playing from the West seat, it looked as if France would start with a few overtrick imps thanks to the doubleton §Q. No way! North led the ©A to flatten the board.

Board 2. Dealer East. North-South Game
	ª 9 5 © 5 4 3 ¨ J 10 2 § A Q J 10 3
ª A K Q J 10 6 4 © A Q ¨ 9 6 § 8 5		ª 7 2 © 7 6 ¨ K 8 7 4 3 § K 9 7 4
	ª 8 3 © K J 10 9 8 2 ¨ A Q 5 § 6 2

Declarer needed no more than to find North with one of the minor suit aces and South with the king of hearts. No problem, +420.

On a heart lead, West has nine tricks facing a yarborough, so I have a sneaking admiration for Eddie Manoppo's bid of 3NT - I must confess I predicted it in the VuGraph theatre. Alain Levy has taken over the mantle of José le Dentu, writing an excellent series in Le Bridgeur - Les Entames - and he led the §Q. It was safe for declarer to cover, and when the king held, he had to make an overtrick by taking the heart finesse. Knowing Paul Chemla's views on weak two's, I would have been prepared to stake a few francs, but declarer played safe - remember, this is not matchpoints!

Board 3. Dealer South. East-West Game
	ª 9 8 © Q 10 8 2 ¨ A 10 9 6 § Q 8 5
ª 6 © A J 7 5 4 ¨ Q J 5 3 § A 10 4		ª A 7 2 © K 6 3 ¨ 8 4 2 § J 7 6 2
	ª K Q J 10 5 4 3 © 9 ¨ K 7 § K 9 3

Even if West does not lead the ¨Q, declarer can always arrive at ten tricks, so this looked like an opportunity for France, provided they could get to game.

Some pairs did get to 4ª. Poland gained 5 IMPs when they were doubled in their match against Italy.

Board 4. Dealer West. Game All
	ª 10 8 3 © 10 8 7 ¨ A 10 8 6 § J 8 7
ª K 9 5 4 © K J 4 ¨ Q 9 2 § 5 4 3		ª 6 © Q 9 5 3 2 ¨ 7 3 § K Q 10 9 6
	ª A Q J 7 2 © A 6 ¨ K J 5 4 § A 2

Guided by East's overcall, West led the §3. Declarer did not get the diamonds right, and he finished two down.

This time West led a cunning ©J. Declarer ducked, and West continued with the king of hearts. Declarer played a diamond to the ace, and took a spade finesse. He only went one down, to pick up 2 IMPs.

An alternative for declarer is to play a diamond to the ten. If that loses, then the ace will be a re-entry, and declarer will need a favourable position in spades.

Duboin gained 13 IMPs by making 4ª, and the board was flat at +620 in USA v China.

Board 9. Dealer North. East-West Game
	ª 10 7 5 3 © Q J 10 8 ¨ K 9 3 2 § 9
ª A J 9 © K 9 4 3 ¨ Q 8 7 5 § 8 4		ª Q 8 2 © - ¨ A 4 § A K Q J 10 7 6 5
	ª K 6 4 © A 7 6 5 2 ¨ J 10 6 § 3 2

South led the ª4, giving declarer an easy route to 12 tricks.

The ©A would also be fatal if the contact is 6§, and that is how China picked up a slam swing against the USA.

Lorenzo Lauria had to play 6§ on the more testing lead of the jack of diamonds. A pre-requisite for success is that South must have the king of spades, and if South has bid, a winning line is to duck the diamond lead, win the continuation, and play out all your trumps. That will squeeze South in the majors.

If South has not bid, then declarer might still go for this line, but could also take the diamond with the ace, draw trumps, play the ªQ forcing South to cover, and then run trumps, forcing North down to ª10x and the ¨K. Then declarer exits with a diamond, and collects the last two tricks with dumm'y ªJ9.

Lauria covered the ¨J with the ¨Q, and took North's ¨K with the ¨A. He played back a diamond to the eight and nine, and North tried to cash the king. That simply speeded matters up, for declarer had already seen the possibility of a squeeze on South.

With South's overcall, Henky Lasut would doubtless have found a winning line, so if Chemla could escape for a reasonable number, Levy's decision would have saved some points. West led the §8, and East won with the §Q and switched to the ª2. West won with the jack and switched to a heart. Declarer won in dummy, and can escape for five down and -1100 by playing on diamonds. However, that was hardly obvious, and in any case, the Indonesians were already playing with the house's money. Chemla decided to play East for the ªA, trying a spade to his king. West took that, played a spade to his partner's queen. Declarer ruffed the club exit and ran the ©10 to West's king. Back came a heart, locking declarer in dummy. He tried a spade, discarding a diamond, but so did West. The ¨K was taken by the ace, and a club guaranteed a trick for West's ©9, as well as a second diamond trick. That was down seven, and -1700, for a loss of 14 IMPs. Missing the slam was going to cost 12 IMPs in any event, so it really didn't matter.