Mark Horton

COMING UP (CAM)ROSES

Although England eventually inflicted a severe defeat on the Contract Bridge Association of Ireland team in the first of the two Camrose Trophy weekends, it was their opponents who took the lead on the very first deal of the match when they delivered a perfect natural auction to a slam missed at every other table:

		♠	A K 9 6 5
		♥	A
		♦	3 2
		♣	A K 9 4 3
♠	7 2			♠	J 10 8 3
♥	9 5 3 2			♥	K 6 4
♦	K 10 9 8 6 5			♦	A Q J 7
♣	10			♣	8 2
		♠	Q 4
		♥	Q J 10 8 7
		♦	4
		♣	Q J 7 6 5

West	North	East	South
Hallberg	Pigot	McIntosh	Moran
—	1♣	Pass	1♥
Pass	2♠	Pass	3♣
Pass	3♠	Pass	4♦
Pass	4♥	Pass	5♣
Pass	6♣	Pass	Pass
Pass

There were two key bids, the first being North’s jump to two spades, which established a game-forcing situation. The second came when, having given preference to clubs, Mark Moran appreciated the potential importance of his singleton diamond and took the opportunity to cue bid four diamonds. When he bid five clubs over North’s cue bid of four hearts, Peter Pigot realised that his partner’s trump support must be significant and went on to the laydown slam. If they go on to collect the IBPA award for the best bid hand of the year, those Irish eyes really will be smiling.

Spingold report Part 2

There was only one double figure swing in the second quarter of the match:

		♠	832
		♥	102
		♦	QJ76
		♣	A1096
♠	9765			♠	J104
♥	97			♥	Q8654
♦	109543			♦	K8
♣	Q5			♣	872
		♠	AKQ
		♥	AKJ3
		♦	A2
		♣	KJ43

Jie	Fantoni	Zhong	Nunes
Pass	Pass	Pass	1♣*
Pass	1♠**	Pass	2♥***
Pass	2♠****	Pass	3NT
Pass	4NT	Pass	6♣
All Pass
* 14+ with clubs or 15+ balanced
** 0-11, no 4-card major
*** Kokish relay, hearts or a big notrump range
**** Which is it?

By the time South bid 3NT he was known to hold a huge balanced hand, so North made a general try with 4NT.

South won the spade lead, cashed the top hearts and played a heart. West discarded a spade and declarer ruffed and advanced the ♦Q, covered by the king and ace. He ruffed another heart, cashed the ♣A and ran the ten to West’s queen. He took the diamond return in dummy, ruffed a diamond and claimed, +920.

Cayne	Lair	Seamon	Mahaffey
Pass	Pass	Pass	2♣
Pass	2♦	Pass	2♥
Pass	2NT	Pass	3NT
Pass	4♥	All Pass
* see text below

This time North-South had a major accident in the bidding. South clearly thought they were playing Kokish (where 2♥ is either hearts or a 25-26 point hand) so he had shown a balanced hand, but North
obviously thought his partner had a heart suit.

West led a diamond to the queen, king dummy’s ten and East’s queen. He won the diamond return in dummy, cashed three rounds of hearts followed by three rounds of spades and two top clubs. Then a third
club cashed for 11 tricks, +450, but 10 imps for Cayne.

		♠	J3
		♥	J852
		♦	AQ98
		♣	KQ10
♠	10865			♠	AKQ9742
♥	1043			♥	AQ6
♦	K7			♦	65
♣	A872			♣	3
		♠	---
		♥	K97
		♦	J10432
		♣	J9654

Jie	V/L	Zhong	L/V
Pass	Pass	1♦	Double
4♦	Pass	Pass	4♠
5♦	Pass	Pass	Double
All Pass

Versace and Lauria were East-West for the Cayne team, but we’re not sure who’s in which seat. Against 5♦, East led a spade and declarer played a dummy reversal, ruffing spades, drawing trumps, and then attacking clubs, scoring six trump tricks, four clubs and the ♥K, an amazing +550.

Nunes	Bertheau	Fantoni	Nystrom
Pass	Pass	1NT (12-14)	Double
Redouble*	Pass	2♣	4♠
All Pass
*It would have been better for Nunes if he had a way to show both minors in one bid. — editor

South led the ♦J. North took the first two tricks and exited with a spade. Declarer drew trumps and led a club to the ace, North dropping the queen! He ruffed a club, North playing the king! Now he
crossed to dummy with a spade...

		♠	---
		♥	J852
		♦	9
		♣	10
♠	10			♠	Q97
♥	1043			♥	AQ6
♦	---			♦	---
♣	87			♣	---
		♠	---
		♥	K97
		♦	10
		♣	J9

At this point if declarer ruffs a club and then plays a spade to dummy, he squeezes South. If South pitches a heart, declarer can play ♥A, heart. If South pitches the 10, declarer can exit with a club, endplaying south.

On the system card I saw North’s 1NT was 12-14 and he had already shown up with the ♠J, ♦A-Q and ♣K-Q, so he could not have the ♥K. Perhaps then declarer should have found the winning line. As it
was, he took a heart finesse and was one down, -100. But he still won 10 imps!

Mark Horton is a professional player/writer.
Enquiries can be sent to him at Markhorton007@hotmail.com

Spingold report Part 1

Here are some highlights from the Spingold Teams at the ACBL summer nationals in Nashville.

All Quiet on the Eastern Front

The first set of the Round of 16 match between Cayne (the #2 seed: Charlie Weed NPC, James Cayne and Michael Seamon, playing with Italians Alfredo Versace and Lorenzo Lauria, and Fulvio Fantoni and
Claudio Nunes) and Mahaffey (the #18 seed: Jim Mahaffey and Mark Lair, playing with China’s Zhao Jie and Fu Zhong, and Sweden’s Fredrik Nystrom and Peter Bertheau) was a low scoring affair (27 to 14), but there were many points of interest. This deal shows how keeping quiet can sometimes be effective. At one table East overcalled and at the other East passed:

		♠	K3
		♥	AK
		♦	AK9876
		♣	J98
♠	QJ104			♠	A9752
♥	QJ86			♥	97432
♦	432			♦	QJ
♣	K7			♣	Q
		♠	86
		♥	105
		♦	105
		♣	A106543

Bertheau	Lauria	Nystrom	Versace
	1♦	1♠	Pass
2♠	2NT	Pass	3NT
All Pass

East led the ♠5 and declarer won in hand with the king. There was no time to play on clubs so declarer simply cashed the top diamonds and must have been delighted with East’s contribution. He claimed 10 tricks and +430. Notice it would do declarer no good to take a finesse in diamonds on the second round, since if East held a singleton honor, West would hold four of them.

Cayne	Lair	Seamon	Mahaffey
	1♦	All Pass

Declarer made the same ten tricks for +130, but that was 7 imps for Cayne.

On this deal, North-South in the Closed Room had an accident but survived:

		♠	92
		♥	K107
		♦	KQ4
		♣	AKQ73
♠	Q10874			♠	K5
♥	A8			♥	9642
♦	J75			♦	10862
♣	J52			♣	1096
		♠	AJ63
		♥	QJ53
		♦	A93
		♣	84

In the Open Room, Lauria opened 1NT with the North cards and was soon in 3NT, +690. In the Closed Room:

West	North	East	South
	1♣	Pass	1♥
Pass	2NT	Pass	3♦
Pass	3♥	Pass	3NT
Pass	4♥	Pass	4♠
Pass	5♣	Pass	5♦
Pass	6♥	All Pass

West needed to lead a spade to defeat this contract, but he tried the ♦5 and now declarer could win and attack trumps. West took the first round and played a second diamond. Declarer won, drew trumps and with fingers crossed set about the clubs. The 3-3 split meant he was +1430 – 12 imps to Mahaffey, who trailed 27-14 at the end of the set.

Mark Horton is a professional player/writer.
Enquiries can be sent to him at Markhorton007@hotmail.com

Welcome Mark

Bridge Blogging would like to welcome Mark Horton, Editor to the World Bridge Federation & the European Bridge League and editor of Bridge Magazine. 

He's currently editing the bridge bulletin for the World Championships in Shanghai, China and will be bringing you more of the latest news.