Bulletin 4 Sunday Night, 18 October 2009

Seventh Heaven for Italy

ASD ANGELINI ROMA B.C BAMBERGER REITER

Italy’s domination of the European Bridge Champions Cup continued when ASD Angelini Roma (Francesco Angelini, Fulvio Fantoni, Valerio Giubilo, Lorenzo Lauria, Claudio Nunes, Alfredo Versace, Ercole Bove - NPC) swept to victory against the only non Italian club to disturb their reign, Germany’s BC Bamberger Reiter (Michael Elinescu, Michael Gromoeller, Helmut Hausler, Josef Piekarek, Alexander Smirnov & Entscho Wladow) when they met in the final of the 8th European Bridge Champions Cup. It was the Italian team’s sixth victory in this annual contest between the club champions of Europe. Third place was secured by Sweden’s BK S:T Erik (Peter Bertheau, Per-Ola Cullin, Fredrik Nystrom, Johan Upmark, Arvid Wikner & Frederic Wrang) who defeated Denmark NC (Freddi Brondum, Jacob Ron, Steen Schou & Ulrik Zeeberg) in the play off.

Mr President of the WBF, Mr President of the EBL, Authorities, Dear friends

The French Bridge Federation is particularly pleased and honoured to have welcomed you to the 8th European Champion’s Cup. Paris was indeed an ideal position to host this top-flight bridge event. The city of light deserves the champions, the champions deserve Paris. We were especially proud to be able to host the Champions Cup for the first time in France with the support of Société Générale and Romain Zaleski at the headquarters of the French Federation in St Cloud. We are here tonight for the Prize Giving Ceremony and Victory Banquet at the Army Museum in the prestigious Hotel National des Invalides. This Championship was a tremendous success and I hope all of you, players, officials, journalists and guests enjoyed it. We are very honoured to welcome Philippe Boisse a former Olympic and World Champion in fencing and moreover a very good bridge player. I wish you a safe return to your homes. Au revoir, à bientôt Yves Aubry

th 8 European Bridge Champions Cup – Paris – France – October 15-18, 2009 Daily Bulletin, No.4

Results – Day 4 – Finals

TEAM SEG1 SEG2 SEG3 SEG4 IMPS

BCBR - GERMANY 27 20 8 3 58

ANGELINI - ITALY 21 51 31 34 137

TEAM SEG1 SEG2 SEG3 IMPS

BKSE – SWEDEN 19 34 30 83

N.C DENMARK 35 20 13 68

TEAM SEG1 SEG2 SEG3 IMPS

BCQ – BULGARIA 24 18 24 66

ABC – RUSSIA 27 46 28 101

TEAM SEG1 SEG2 SEG3 IMPS

NC – FRANCE 43 39 31 113

TBC - NORWAY 10 32 34 76

th 8 European Bridge Champions Cup – Paris – France – October 15-18, 2009 Daily Bulletin, No.4

The Semifinals : Bamberger Reiter BC v. BK S.t Erik (concluded)

Jos Jacobs

On the first board of the last segment, the Swedes got An understandable auction but a costly one when West exactly the start there were hoping for, as this was the thought he had nowhere to go. Nyström might have made 11 auction in the Closed Room : tricks on the }K lead but after the }A, {A and a successful spade finesse he played safe by cashing the {K and repeating the spade finesse. When the suit came in, eight tricks were Board 1 ♠ 7 6 there. The overtrick arose when Elinescu correctly discarded Dealer N ♥ K 7 6 his }10 to tell his partner that unblocking the clubs was the Vul none ♦ A K 10 9 8 winning defence but then failed to rise with the }9 and cash

♣ 8 4 2 {Q as a squeeze card for declarer, allowing declarer’s }8 to score instead. S.t Erik +590. ♠ 10 3 2 ♠ K 9 8 N ♥ ♥ 8 4 W E A Q J 9 5 2 ♦ ♦ OPEN ROOM Q 7 2 S J ♣ 10 9 7 5 3 ♣ K Q J West North East South ♠ A Q J 5 4 Upmark Piekarek Cullin Smirnov ♥ Pass 1} 1{ 10 3 Pass 1[ 2] All Pass ♦ 6 5 4 3 ♣ A 6 1{ showed spades. Here, the German NS missed the CLOSED ROOM diamond fit, picking up just 50 in 2] but it did not matter, of West North East South course. The swing was 11 IMPs to the Swedes so the German lead was cut to 14 with 11 to play. Elinescu Nyström Wladow Bertheau 1{ 1] 2] On the next board, we saw another great chance for S.t Erik : Pass 2NT Dble All Pass

Board 2 ♠ Q 9 4 Dealer E ♥ 10 2 N/S Vul. ♦ Q J 10 7 6

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

CLOSED ROOM West North East South Elinescu Nyström Wladow Bertheau Pass 1{ Pass Pass 1] Pass Pass Dbl 2} 2[ 3} Pass Pass 3{ All Pass

Josef PIEKAREK The nebulous 1{ made it difficult for NS to reach their diamond game, even more so when North passed it. The Swedes found their diamond fit alright but did not get beyond the very safe three-level. S.t Erik +150. th 8 European Bridge Champions Cup – Paris – France – October 15-18, 2009 Daily Bulletin, No.4

OPEN ROOM West North East South OPEN ROOM Upmark Piekarek Cullin Smirnov West North East South Pass 1} Upmark Piekarek Cullin Smirnov Pass 1{ 1] Pass Pass Pass 1[ Dble Pass 2{ Pass 3NT 2} 2{ All Pass All Pass

Missing game would still have been worth 8 IMPs to S.t Erik had they managed to beat the German 3NT here. West led the ]J which ran to declarer’s Queen but then, in with the {A, East understandably did not find the lethal club shift but continued the ]K, clearing the suit but at the same time presenting declarer with his contract. So Bamberg scored +600 and gained 10 IMPs instead of losing 8 — their lead had gone back to 24.

Peter BERTHEAU

EW did well to let 2{ go undoubled as two in either major will certainly be a better spot for NS. They proved right and thus collected a quiet +400 with no game on for themselves.

CLOSED ROOM West North East South Elinescu Nyström Wladow Bertheau

3} Pass Pass Dble Per-Ola CULLIN Pass 3[ Dble All Pass

Two boards later, the issue was settled : Once again, the pre-empt paid off. Probably, 3[ could have gone off only one but when East led the }Q and declarer Board 4 ♠ 10 9 8 7 ducked in dummy, East shifted to his diamond and declarer Dealer W ♥ K Q 2 ducked again…The defensive ruffs now put the contract All Vul ♦ Q J 9 5 down three for a juicy +800 to Bamberg and 9 more IMPs. ♣ 10 4 ♠ — ♠ A K 5 3 2 The Swedish deficit thus rose to 32 with only eight boards to N ♥ ♥ go… a margin from which they never recovered, losing by 62 7 W E 9 8 6 5 3 ♦ ♦ in the end. K 7 6 4 3 S 10 ♣ ♣ A J 9 8 7 6 5 Q 2 ♠ Q J 6 4 ♥ A J 10 4 ♦ A 8 2 ♣ K 3

th 8 European Bridge Champions Cup – Paris – France – October 15-18, 2009 Daily Bulletin, No.4

Le premier étage

Mark Horton Okay, I expect you are ready for a few deals from the first session of the final : Four days in Paris can never be enough, especially since I still have several unused themes prepared as introductions to Board 2 ♠ K 7 5 3 these Champions Cup contests. Dealer E One of them relates to famous French films that have a title ♥ K N/S Vul. that might be connected to the Royal game : ♦ A 6 5 4

♣ Q 10 8 6 La Regle de Jeu. (The Rules of the Game). Renoir's satire of ♠ ♠ decaying bourgeois society just before the second world war. 6 2 J 10 4 ♥ N ♥ (A big favourite of Ton Kooijman perhaps ?). 10 9 8 6 4 W E A Q 7 5 2 Les Quatre Cents Coups. The first of Truffaut's thinly veiled ♦ ♦ K 9 S Q 10 8 7 2 autobiographical films in the Antoine Doinel series, starring ♣ ♣ Jean-Pierre Leaud. It's a great coming-of-age movie. J 7 4 3 — Le Roi de Coeur . (The King of Hearts). In the 1970s, this cult ♠ A Q 9 8 classic played for over 200 straight weeks in Cambridge MA ♥ J 3 providing students at both Harvard and MIT with complete ♦ J 3 escape. It's about an evacuated town in WWI, left to the ♣ residents of the local - unlocked - asylum. A K 9 5 2 You might try to discover films from other countries that have a title that could be linked to bridge, but I’ll leave you with a recommendation — if you only watch one French film OPEN ROOM make it Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain. (Amélie). Audrey West North East South Tautou, with her mesmerizing eyes, stars in this slice of life Versace Gromoeller Lauria Hausler about a young woman who, after a dysfunctional childhood, Pass 1} tries to cope with life. Pass 1{ 1] 1[ 4] 4[ 5} Dble 5] Dble All Pass

Notice that Five Club bid by Lauria, just to make sure that his partner would lead a club if the opponents went on to Five Spades. (Keep in mind that with South as declarer on anything other than a club lead you can make eleven tricks in spades.) Five Hearts was the obvious one down, -100.

CLOSED ROOM West North East South Elinescu Fantoni Wladow Nunes Pass 1} Pass 1]* Dble 2[ Pass 4[ 5{ Pass 5] Dble All Pass

1] Transfer to Spades

Here East could do no more than double to show his hearts. Despite getting no encouragement from his partner he came again on the next round, trusting that his side would have a decent fit in a red suit. (It was perhaps harder to bid Five Clubs for the lead, but not necessarily impossible. Another alternative was 4NT. In either case a subsequent double of Alfredo VERSACE Five Spades would surely direct partner to a club lead.) Rather than a raft of useless clubs West was kind enough to hold five hearts and a vital card in diamonds, rewarding East for his enterprise. No swing !

th 8 European Bridge Champions Cup – Paris – France – October 15-18, 2009 Daily Bulletin, No.4

In theory Four Spades cannot be beaten, although declarer would have to play very well on a diamond lead, winning the Board 4 ♠ A 9 8 7 4 3 second round and then playing spades, ducking if West played Dealer W ♥ Q J the king but winning and then playing another spade if West ALL Vul. ♦ 7 6 4 played low on the first round.

♣ A 2 Of course, East led a club and declarer won and played ace of spades and a spade. West won, cashed a top club and ♠ K 6 ♠ Q 10 5 N switched to the queen of diamonds but declarer won and ♥ ♥ played four rounds of hearts, discarding his losing diamonds 9 8 2 W E 6 5 4 ♦ ♦ as East ruffed the last of these with the master trump, +620 Q 8 S K J 5 3 2 ♣ ♣ and 12 IMPs for the Italians. K Q 10 8 6 4 9 7 ♠ J 2 Board 5 ♠ A K Q 8 3 ♥ A K 10 7 3 Dealer N ♥ 8 4 ♦ A 10 9 N/S Vul. ♦ 6 3 ♣ J 5 3 ♣ A 9 7 6 ♠ J 6 5 4 2 ♠ 10 ♥ N ♥ K 10 7 2 W E Q 6 5 ♦ ♦ 7 4 S K Q J 10 2 ♣ 4 3 ♣ K Q 8 2 ♠ 9 7 ♥ A J 9 3 ♦ A 9 8 5 ♣ J 10 5

OPEN ROOM West North East South Versace Gromoeller Lauria Hausler 1[ Dble Redble 2] Pass Pass Dble All Pass

South’s redouble put his side on the way to a sound result, although it is hard to defeat Two Hearts by more than one trick. North led the queen of spades (I’m not sure I believe Helmut HAUSLER the VuGraph operator!) South playing the nine, and switched to the eight of hearts. (A natural thing to do, but a diamond is OPEN ROOM better.) Declarer put up dummy’s queen and South put on West North East South the ace and returned the suit (remarkably a spade is best, Versace Gromoeller Lauria Hausler forcing the dummy) declarer winning with the seven. (I know Pass 1[ Pass 2] you will find it hard to believe, but declarer should have Pass 2[ Pass 3{ played that to the previous trick !) Declarer played a diamond Pass 3NT All Pass to dummy and when that held he can escape for one down by continuing to play diamonds. Instead he elected to draw East led the nine of clubs, which must have cheered West no trumps via the finesse and now South could win the second end. He overtook with the ten and declarer elected to win diamond and play the seven of spades. North overtook with the first club, cross to dummy with a heart and play the jack the ace and declarer was two down, -300. of spades, covered by the king and ace. Declarer unblocked CLOSED ROOM the heart suit, crossed to dummy witth ace of diamonds, West North East South cashed his hearts and gave up, one down, -100. Elinescu Fantoni Wladow Nunes 1NT Pass 2}* CLOSED ROOM Pass 2[ Pass 2NT West North East South Pass 3[ Pass 3NT All Pass Elinescu Fantoni Wladow Nunes 2} 2[ Pass 3}* At the very least 3NT needed good things to happen in both Pass 3[ Pass 4[ black suits, but on this layout declarer had no chance All Pass whatsoever. On the lead of the king of diamonds declarer finished up with six tricks, -300 giving the German team 12 IMPs. th 8 European Bridge Champions Cup – Paris – France – October 15-18, 2009 Daily Bulletin, No.4

OPEN ROOM Board 9 ♠ 8 West North East South Dealer N ♥ A J 9 8 6 4 E/W Vul. Versace Gromoeller Lauria Hausler ♦ A Q 10 9 7 6 1} ♣ — Pass 1{ Pass 2{ ♠ K J 7 3 ♠ Q 6 5 4 2 Pass 2] Pass 3{ ♥ N ♥ All Pass 10 7 W E K 2 ♦ ♦ K 8 5 4 2 S J ♣ K 10 ♣ 9 8 4 3 2 Far be it for me to criticise North’s bidding but one of the ♠ A 10 9 first rules of bridge is that if your partner opens the bidding ♥ and you yourself have an opening bid then it is incumbent Q 5 3 upon you to ensure that your side gets to game. ♦ 3 True enough, if you reach 3NT you will have to guess well on ♣ A Q J 7 6 5 a spade lead, but that is hardly the point. Declarer took ten tricks, +130. OPEN ROOM West North East South Versace Gromoeller Lauria Hausler 1] Pass 2} Pass 2{ Pass 2[ Pass 3{ Pass 3] Pass 4] All Pass

South gave a lot of thought to going on over Four Hearts, but with only one useful card in partner’s suits he eventually decided to call it a day. Declarer won the spade lead with dummy’s ace, played a diamond to the ace, ruffed a diamond and ran the queen of hearts. When that lost to East’s king he ended up with eleven tricks, +450.

CLOSED ROOM West North East South Elinescu Fantoni Wladow Nunes 1] Pass 2} Pass 2[ Pass 3] Pass 3[* Pass 4}* Pass 4{* Pass 4] Pass 6] All Pass

2[ Diamonds Michael GROMOELLER

East led the eight of clubs and declarer put in the jack, ruffing when West produced the king. He continued with the ace and jack of hearts and was now doomed by the bad breaks in CLOSED ROOM both minors. One down gave Bamberger 11 IMPs. West North East South Elinescu Fantoni Wladow Nunes

1NT Board 1 1 ♠ J 6 Pass 2}* Pass 2{* Dealer S ♥ K J 10 4 Vul none Pass 3NT All Pass ♦ K 9 8 2

♣ A J 9 For my money 5422 is not a notrump distribution, but you ♠ ♠ can see the advantage of opening 1NT — you may cut out the K 10 3 2 Q 9 8 5 4 majors for the other side. ♥ N ♥ 8 7 6 3 2 W E Q 9 West led the three of hearts and the hand was already over, ♦ ♦ A 7 S Q J 5 declarer finishing with ten tricks, +430 giving Angelini 7 IMPs ♣ 5 2 ♣ 6 4 3 they may have been surprised to collect.

♠ A 7 ♥ A 5 The German team had won the first set 27-21 IMPs, but they ♦ 10 6 4 3 had perhaps enjoyed the better of the luck. ♣ K Q 10 8 7 th 8 European Bridge Champions Cup – Paris – France – October 15-18, 2009 Daily Bulletin, No.4

The Final, segments 2 and 3 Angelini v. Bamberger

Jos Jacobs

After the first quarter of the final, Bamberg were leading by 6 On the next board, the Germans were a bit unlucky : IMPs so it looked as if a tense day was ahead of us. Half an hour after the restart, all tension seemed gone as by then, the

Angelini team were leading by a mere 31 IMPs. What had Board 3 ♠ 10 7 4 3 happened? Dealer S ♥ K 7 5 4 E/W Vul. ♦ 6 In fact, nothing very much had happened on the first board but the three subsequent boards all produced double-figure ♣ Q J 8 2 swings. Here they are : ♠ K J 9 5 ♠ A Q N ♥ Q 9 ♥ A 8 6 Board 2 ♠ W E A Q 7 6 5 3 ♦ A J ♦ Q 10 8 7 5 4 Dealer E ♥ S 3 ♣ A 9 6 4 3 ♣ K 10 N/S Vul. ♦ A Q 4 ♠ 8 6 2 ♣ 9 6 4 ♥ J 10 3 2 ♠ ♠ K J 8 — ♦ K 9 3 2 ♥ N ♥ Q J 8 7 5 W E A K 9 6 ♣ 7 5 ♦ K 9 8 2 ♦ J 10 6 5 3 S ♣ 3 ♣ K J 10 5 OPEN ROOM ♠ 10 9 4 2 West North East South ♥ 10 4 2 Smirnov Lauria Piekarek Versace ♦ 7 Pass ♣ A Q 8 7 2 1} Pass 2{ Pass 2[ Pass 2NT Pass

3} Pass 3{ Pass OPEN ROOM 4{ Pass 4NT Pass West North East South 5] Pass 6{ All Pass

Smirnov Lauria Piekarek Versace 1{ Pass 1] 1[ 2] 2NT After the Strong Club and the natural positive response, EW 4] 4[ 5] Pass were odds-on to reach this quite justifiable slam. It needs Pass Dble All Pass either the ]K with the leader or a pleasant surprise in diamonds. When Versace led the ]J and the {K did not 2NT showed a limit raise in spades, 8-11 hcp. behave either, the slam had to go down. Angelini +100.

Lauria-Versace did well to take the plus score when the five- level was reached. Down two, +300 to Angelini. CLOSED ROOM West North East South CLOSED ROOM Nunes Gromöller Fantoni Häusler West North East South Pass Nunes Gromöller Fantoni Häusler 1} Pass 2{ Pass 2[ Pass 3{ Pass 2{ Pass 3] Pass 3NT All Pass 2] 2[ 3[ 4[ 5] Pass Pass 5[

Dble All Pass In a sense, the Italians did well to stay out of slam as they had managed to wrongside both declarations. On a low heart On an entirely different type of auction, Häusler was in a lead, Fantoni tried dummy’s Queen and then had to run much worse position than Versace. His decision to bid one home. Angelini +600 and 12 IMPs more… more was reasonable enough as the outcome of the contract depended only on the position of the [8. So Nunes’ double And the most sensational swing of the three : was not unfortunate at all…Angelini another +200 and 11 IMPs to them to take over the lead.

th 8 European Bridge Champions Cup – Paris – France – October 15-18, 2009 Daily Bulletin, No.4

OPEN ROOM Board 4 ♠ A 9 6 2 West North East South Dealer W ♥ K Q 9 4 2 All Vul. Smirnov Lauria Piekarek Versace ♦ A 9 8 7 1} Pass 1[ 2{ ♣ — 3} 3{ 4{ Pass ♠ Q 8 5 ♠ K 10 4] Pass 4[ Pass ♥ N ♥ 5] Pass 6} All Pass — W E A J 10 7 5 ♦ ♦ K J 10 3 S Q 6 4 Strong Club and positive response again, followed by a series ♣ A 10 9 8 7 2 ♣ K 4 3 of red-suit cuebids, led to a fine contract as long as you take ♠ into account that the [A may well be right, on this auction. J 7 4 3 Even a trump lead will not defeat the slam as there always is ♥ 8 6 3 time for declarer to take two diamond ruffs in dummy. ♦ 5 2 Bamberg +920.

♣ Q J 6 5 CLOSED ROOM

OPEN ROOM West North East South West North East South Nunes Gromöller Fantoni Häusler Smirnov Lauria Piekarek Versace 2} Pass 2[ Pass 2NT Pass 3[ Pass Pass 1] Pass Pass 4[ All Pass Dble All Pass The Italians did not even try to explore a slam here…Angelini Had Smirnov opened the bidding, all might have been well for +420 but 11 IMPs back to Bamberg to trail by just 20 now. the Germans. Maybe, the hand qualifies for 2} Precision style but even then, it’s not an attractive opening bid with But then : diamonds the side suit. When 1] came round to him, he might have applied the golden rule of never defending a Board 9 ♠ K 3 doubled partscore with a trump void — indeed, a 2} overcall Dealer N ♥ Q J 6 5 2 would have worked fine for him. E/W Vul. ♦ Q 10 8 6 Lauria’s 1] doubled was never in danger, so Angelini recorded +160 at this table. ♣ J 8 ♠ ♠ CLOSED ROOM A Q 7 10 8 6 4 2 ♥ N ♥ West North East South 10 8 7 4 3 W E A ♦ ♦ Nunes Gromöller Fantoni Häusler A 7 4 3 S K J 2} Dble Redble 2[ ♣ A ♣ K 10 9 3 2 3} 3[ 3NT Pass ♠ J 9 5 Pass 4] Dble All Pass ♥ K 9 By opening 2}, Nunes immediately avoided the danger of ♦ 9 5 2 equalling the other table’s result. With 3NT an easy make for ♣ EW, North’s decision to go on would not be very costly Q 7 6 5 4 anyway and so it proved when 4] had gone down three. The OPEN ROOM swing thus became 14 Imps to Angelini but it might have been restricted to only 13… West North East South Smirnov Lauria Piekarek Versace The score now stood at 59-28 to Angelini. Pass 1[ Pass After a few pushes, Bamberg reached a beautiful, though by 2NT Pass 3}(2) Pass no means cold slam : 3{(3) Pass 3](4) Pass

3[(5) Pass 3NT(6) Pass Board 8 ♠ A Q 2 4} Pass 4{ Pass Dealer W ♥ 10 8 4 2 4NT Pass 5{ Pass Vul none ♦ K 4 2 6[ All Pass

♣ 9 8 6 On this board, the German relay system worked extremely ♠ 10 7 ♠ K 9 6 5 4 3 well in a sense, as it enabled W to know about his partner’s ♥ N ♥ minimum hand with a singleton heart at the level of 3NT. The K 5 W E A 9 3 problem of this hand, of course, is that singleton aces tend to ♦ ♦ A 9 3 S 8 be rather wasted values more often than not and this deal ♣ A Q 10 7 3 2 ♣ K J 5 was no exception. Take away that ]A and give East five ♠ J 8 spades to the KJxxx instead and slam is a very decent proposition. ♥ Q J 7 6 On the actual layout, East had to go two down, Angelini ♦ Q J 10 7 6 5 +200. ♣ 4 th 8 European Bridge Champions Cup – Paris – France – October 15-18, 2009 Daily Bulletin, No.4

CLOSED ROOM and even more so when the last board of the set hit the West North East South table:

Nunes Gromöller Fantoni Häusler Pass 2[ Pass Board 1 2 ♠ 10 8 2 2NT Pass 3} Pass Dealer W ♥ Q 8 3 2 4[ All Pass N/S Vul. ♦ 10 5 2

The Fantunes systemic approach worked well for them here ♣ A J 6 when the East hand fitted perfectly into their agreement of 2[ showing just under an opening hand. From there, it ♠ J 5 4 3 ♠ 9 7 N suddenly was very easy. Angelini another +620 and 13 IMPs ♥ ♥ — W E A J 9 back to lead by 33, their biggest margin so far in the match. ♦ ♦ Q 7 6 S A K J 9 8 3 One minor swing to Bamberg on the closing boards of the ♣ K 9 5 4 3 2 ♣ Q 7 set produced a halftime score of 72-46 to Angelini, a 26-IMP ♠ A K Q 6 margin with 24 to play. ♥ K 10 7 6 5 4 So the only way for Bamberg to keep the match alive was a ♦ quick and strong rally in the 3 rd segment. The board below 4 probably was the key board of the 3 rd set : ♣ 10 8

Board 6 ♠ J 8 4 3 OPEN ROOM Dealer E ♥ 9 5 4 2 West North East South E/W Vul. ♦ Q J 10 3 2 Versace Piekarek Lauria Smirnov ♣ Pass Pass 1NT 2} — 3} 3] Pass 4] ♠ 10 7 5 ♠ A All Pass N ♥ ♥ 8 W E A K 7 3 ♦ ♦ Over Lauria’s 1NT, Smirnov could show his majors by 9 4 S A 8 7 5 bidding 2} and game was easily reached. Lauria led the {A ♣ A J 8 5 4 3 2 ♣ K Q 10 7 and shifted to the only card that might cause trouble to ♠ K Q 9 6 2 declarer : the }Q. Piekarek ducked this and the spotlight was ♥ back on Lauria again. Had he continued the suit, declarer Q J 10 6 would have been forced to take the 1 st -round trump finesse ♦ K 6 to land his contract. When he played another top diamond ♣ 9 6 instead, dummy could ruff and lead a heart up to the queen and ace with the }A still there as the entry for the trump OPEN ROOM finesse. Bamberg +620. West North East South In the Closed Room, Wladow’s 2{ opening, showing various Versace Piekarek Lauria Smirnov types of strong hands, made life much more difficult for the 2NT Pass Italians : 4] Pass 4[ Pass 5NT Pass 6} All Pass CLOSED ROOM West North East South One wonders why Lauria-Versace missed the grand after this very promising start of the auction… Elinescu Fantoni Wladow Nunes Angelini +1390. Pass Pass 2{ 2] Pass 2NT Pass 3[ CLOSED ROOM 4} 4] Pass Pass West North East South Dble All Pass

Elinescu Fantoni Wladow Nunes Elinescu quite rightly introduced his suit but his final double 1} 1{ possibly backfired a little, though both the defenders and Dble 3{ Pass 3] Nunes showed excellent card play. Elinescu led a club (!) 4} Pass 5} All Pass which as ducked in dummy, Wladow winning the queen. A

After the Strong Club, 1{ was CRASH, showing majors or diamond was cashed and no, Wldow made the very good minors. Fantoni mixed things up a little with all his possible move of returning a second club. Dummy’s jack won and good fits but Elinescu, having doubled at his first turn to show Nunes cashed the }A, Wladow discarding a diamond. The some values, had no trouble introducing his suit. One moment of truth had come but not so much for Claudio wonders why Wladow contented himself with a simple raise Nunes who quickly played a heart from dummy to the ten in his hand, claiming the contract two seconds later. to game…

Anyway, this was +640 to Bamberg but 13 IMPs to Angelini This was another +790 and 5 IMPs to Angelini who thus went into the final set with a 48-IMP lead, more than enough to rather than Bamberg. So the Italian lead went up to 48 th instead of down to 25. The match suddenly looked all over… win the Cup for the 6 time.

th 8 European Bridge Champions Cup – Paris – France – October 15-18, 2009 Daily Bulletin, No.4

LA PAGE EN BLEU BLANC ROUGE

Jean-Paul Meyer

UNE FINALE PRÉVISIBLE Nous vous avions dit que cette Coupe d’Europe n’avait eu Les flops que deux vainqueurs : l’Allemagne une fois, et l’Italie six fois. - L’annonce très prématurée dans nos colonnes et sur le site A partir de là, il n’était guère difficile de prévoir la finale entre de la FFB d’une retransmission PAYANTE sur le site internet les Germains et les Transalpins. d’Eurosport. Lier des contacts avec une grande chaîne de télévision est fort bien mais pas à n’importe quel prix et LE MATCH LE PLUS SERRÉ certainement pas en se dispensant d’excuses pour les Ce n’était certainement pas le match plus important, mais la promesses non tenues. Nous le faisons ici auprès des lecteurs demi finale C, permettant de terminer, au mieux, à la du Bulletin, suppléant les responsables. Finalement au bout de neuvième place après un second match gagnant, opposait les 48 heures, on put voir apparaître des images sans grand deux équipes françaises. Ce fut, en 48 donnes, la plus ardente intérêt et sans le son. Sans le son ? Facile de conclure des batailles plus 21 pour l’équipe Zimmermann après12, beaucoup de bruit pour rien. Beaucoup de bruit pour rien ! comme après 24, après 36 donnes l’équipe Zaleski avait pris le meilleur par 17 points et les 12 dernières donnes virent la - Le délai jusqu’au lendemain matin, imposé aux internautes, victoire changer plusieurs fois de main pour revenir pour lire l’édition électronique du bulletin pourtant disponible finalement à Zimmerman 104 à 100. dès 20 h 30.

Les autres matches virent des écarts nettement plus importants et donc un suspense bien plus modeste pour les spectateurs sur BBO.

LES TOPS ET LES FLOPS.

Les tops L’édition en couleur, dès le deuxième bulletin, de ce journal quotidien ne récolta que des compliments. Il est, en effet, des plus rares de sortir du traditionnel noir et blanc pour des raisons de coût. L’effort de la FFB, dans ce domaine, fut unanimement salué.

Concernant le bulletin ,nous inclurons dans nos louanges en mentionnant le travail de Sophie Saint-Léger, qui faisait ses premières armes au niveau de la mise en page et qui ne ménagea ni son temps, ni sa peine et réussit parfaitement dans sa tâche.

Le travail des opérateurs BBO fut impeccable, les horaires furent scrupuleusement respectés, l’équipe Vidéo délivra ses Fulvio FANTONI habituelles excellentes images encore que nous ne soyons guère convaincus de l’utilité de la diffusion de ces images lors des séances du matin suivies par une assistance famélique. - Le rythme infernal de lenteur de la paire Fantoni Nunes ;

sur une main Fantoni mit trois minutes à répondre un pique — L’information sur l’évolution des scores fut parfaite et en ou plutôt un cœur puisqu’ils jouent les Texas - avec temps réel, il est vrai que le suivi de 12 tables avec l’aide de [R V X X X ] R { A X X X } D X X bridgemate n’est pas un travail de titans.

A notre grande surprise, il y a des partisans pour ne pas à l’heure où nous écrivons, nous n’avons enregistré AUCUN appliquer de pénalité pour jeu lent comme si prendre plus de APPEL des décisions de l’arbitre, la solution idéale pour temps ne donnait pas un avantage. beaucoup — qui avait loin d’être identique lors de la précédente édition. - Le trésorier de l’EBL, Mark de Pauw, a dû rentrer

précipitamment en Belgique après s’être coupé le doigt….au Rien à voir avec le bridge, mais la FFB avait le même week- petit déjeuner avec la machine à faire des jus d’oranges (sic). end son Assemblée Générale et nourrit fort agréablement, au Certaines mauvaises langues prétendent que c’était juste cours de sept un total de 950 personnes, relevant ainsi un joli avant d’avoir à signer des chèques. défi.