sign in sign up
<<
Home , Beer card

DAILY BULLETIN Editor: • Co-Editor: PETER VENTURA • Layout: GEORGE HADJIDAKIS

Bulletin 1 Tuesday, 19 August 2003 Bienvenue France

St.Cloud-Paris à Paris 18-28 August 2003

Thierry Dehesdin, Société Générale Director of Patronage & Sponsorship, speaking at the Opening Ceremony, where he welcomed all the teams play- ing in this prestigious championship. M. Dehesdin spoke of how, by sponsoring bridge for the past 20 years, Société Générale has sought to reinforce the important values of team spirit, shared strate- gies and professionalism, which constitute a com- mon value in the world of bridge and for Société Générale. 9th World Youth Team Youth 9th World CHAMPIONSHIP 9th WORLD YOUTH BRIDGE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS St. Cloud-Paris, France José Damiani’s Opening Speech of Opening Speech Panos Gerontopoulos

It is with immense pleasure that we I am very pleased to wel- welcome you come all of you players here in Paris and, and officials from fifteen especially this countries, representing evening, to the the world, in this ninth Société Générale edition of our top event, Headquarters, the World Youth Teams you - the young Championship. This pres- players - on tigious event returns to whom all our Europe after ten years' hopes are pinned. absence and it does so in great style. Our venue is I do not regret the headquarters of the having sacrificed French Bridge Federation, my holidays - yet in one of the most cele- again but to brated cities in the world, Paris. which I have be- come accus- I am sure that you will use the opportunity of sampling tomed - to work the cultural and cosmopolitan atmosphere of Paris, with all the team of the WBF, the without neglecting, of course, the main reason for FFB and the Société Générale to make these World your visit, which is to play top bridge in a wonderful Youth Team Championships happen despite all the diffi- atmosphere and exhibiting great sportsmanship. culties. Many thanks to the organisers of this splendid event Indeed the political and economic environment in the and best wishes to each and every one of you to reach world today, complicated by the SARS epidemic, all his/her personal goal. Enjoy your stay in Paris. caused some concern and obliged us to relocate this event in some haste to Paris. Panos Gerontopoulos WBF Youth Committee Chairman And I cannot thank the French Bridge Federation enough for having accepted to act as our host and the Société Générale for sponsoring this 9th World Youth Team Championship. Together, we are at the service of bridge so that, during the next 10 days, we can live with MATCHES the passion, the enthusiasm, the talent but also the fair play that you will arouse and that the whole world will France - Poland 10.00 be able to appreciate thanks to the modern techniques Italy - Norway 14.00 of communication. England - Chinese Taipei 17.20 Thank you all for being here and for being the best ambassadors of bridge.

I sincerely hope that this event will be yet another SCHEDULE opportunity to promote our sport, to encourage new vocations so that young people will make bridge even 10.00-12.50 Round Robin, Round 1 more popular tomorrow than today. 14.00-16.50 Round Robin, Round 2 17.20-20.10 Round Robin, Round 3 To start the show, I declare these World Youth Teams Championship open.

2 18 - 28 August 2003 9th WORLD YOUTH BRIDGE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Beer Card Match 8. 4.All Vul. Dealer West. [ K 8 7 Many people will know about the Beer Card but I am sure that some will not.The basic idea is that you try to win the last ] Q 9 4 trick with the seven of - the Beer Card. If you succeed, {K Q all those involved in this little side game - your partner, team- } Q 10 8 4 2 mates, friends etc - have to buy you a drink. If, on the other hand, [ A 5 2 [ 10 6 3 you fail to take an opportunity to win the {7 at trick 13 and one N ] A K 7 6 2 ] J 10 of the group notices, you are the one who owes the drinks. W E There are different ways of playing this game. In Britain, it does { J 10 9 5 { A 8 2 not count if diamonds are trumps, while the Australians, who look } 5S } A K 9 7 3 for an excuse to drink even more beer, do not make this excep- [ Q J 9 4 tion. By agreement, a partnership on defence can combine to attempt to win the beer card, in which case their teammates will ] 8 5 3 owe the drinks but not the partner of the successful player. { 7 6 4 3 If you make less tricks than you should have done because of }J 6 an attempt to win the beer card, you are punished by being the East/West stopped in 3]. Hinden led a low club to dummy's drinks buyer.And if you are defending and allow declarer to win and declarer cashed the }K to pitch a spade loser. Next he the beer card when you could have prevented it, that is another ran the ]J to the and Hinden switched to a low spade for expensive error you have made. the ace. Now declarer made the curious play of exiting with his An otherwise dull deal can be enlivened by the side-play spade loser.He ruffed the spade continuation and played the around the beer card and, in particular, if all four players at the of diamonds for the queen and ace then cashed the ]10.The {2 table are involved, the play can become quite involved. For went to the ten and and declarer ruffed a club return and example, declarer may look for a squeeze for his tenth trick in drew trumps. Out of trumps, declarer could not unblock the 3NT,even though he has ten tricks already - he wants a line that diamonds so cashed then from the top and the {7 once again permits trick thirteen to be won with the {7.And if a defender won the last trick. An almost double dummy effort on the part is being squeezed, it must not be diamonds that he unguards if of declarer to concede the beer card and justify the bidding by declarer possesses the crucial card. making only nine tricks. Frances Hinden and Jeffrey Allerton, winners of the Swiss Pairs in Brighton are beer card afficianados but clearly their op- Board 9. E/W Vul. Dealer North. ponents were not on a couple of deals from that Championship. [2 Match 6. Board 18. N/S Vul. Dealer East. ] 10 8 6 5 3 [ 7 6 4 { K Q 8 2 ] 10 7 5 3 } Q 4 3 { A 7 4 [ A K 10N [ J 5 4 ] K J 9 4 ] Q } Q 10 4 W E [ 5 [ A K 9 8 { 6 5 4 { A J 10 9 7 N S ] K 9 2 ] A Q J 8 } A 7 5 } J 9 6 2 W E { K J 8 6 { 2 [ Q 9 8 7 6 3 } 8 7 5 3 2S } K J 9 6 ] A 7 2 [ Q J 10 3 2 {3 ]6 4 } K 10 8 { Q 10 9 5 3 West declared 3NT after South had opened a weak 2[. Deals like this one from the Swiss Teams are fraught with danger for those }A of us who play for the Beer Card.The lead was the singleton spade West North East South to the queen and ace and declarer played a diamond to the jack and Allerton Hinden continued with the {10 to North's queen. Now North switched to a heart for his partner's ace. South switched to a low club. 1] 1[ If the ]10 is coming down declarer has the rest of the tricks 2] 2[ 4] All Pass and must win the } A then cash out, making the last trick with Hinden led the queen of and declarer won the ace and the {7. If the ]10 is not coming down there is unlikely to be a ruffed a spade then played a club to the jack and ace.The squeeze because declarer does not have the communications to return was won in hand and a diamond led to the king and ace. squeeze North in and . But now the way to make the Back came a second trump, this time won in dummy. Declarer last trick with the Beer Card is to the club, win any return played a club to the king, South discarding a diamond, then gave and cash out, leaving the diamonds to last. up a club, with South throwing a spade. Well, the odds are that the ]10 will not fall, so the correct Now declarer ruffed the four of diamonds return, cashed the play must be to duck the club and now declarer has the rest and, ace of trumps and king of spades, and played the winning club, as already discussed, can make the last trick with the Beer Card. ruffed by North.While all this was going on, South and dummy That wins him his beer, but what if he was wrong and the ]10 pitched all their diamonds, so at trick thirteen Allerton was on was falling all along? Now he may have won the Beer Card at lead with the beer card to cash. Getting 4] two down was a use- trick 13, but he has dropped a trick in the process and that ful matchpoint result, but winning the beer card was a nice means that it is he who must buy the beer for partner, and not bonus. the normal way around!

3 9th WORLD YOUTH BRIDGE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS St. Cloud-Paris, France

Brighton Youth

Most of the English youth team here in Paris have been West North East South warming up for these Championships by playing in the EBU Sum- Hydes Cooke mer Congress in Brighton, where Brian Senior was editing the Daily Bulletin.The following are the deals from that bulletin that Pass 2} featured youth players in the Swiss Pairs Championship. 6[ Dble All Pass Match 2. Board 10.All Vul. Dealer East. When South opened with a game-forcing artificial 2}, Alex [ K Q 10 5 3 Hydes did not mess about, blasting an immediate 6[.What could ]Q 2 North do? He doubled, ending the auction, and led a heart. Hydes, who will be representing England in the World Youth { 10 9 8 5 Teams Championship in Paris starting in ten days time, ruffed and }K 7 led his diamond. North went in with the king and switched to the [ 8 6 4N [ A J 9 2 jack of clubs. That ran to the king and Hydes played ace and ] 9 4 ] A 7 6 5 another spade. He got the clubs right now, of course, and was W E just two down for -300. { 7 4 3 { A Q Ben Green played in the English Schools team in Torquay last } J 8 6 5 3S } Q 10 4 year and some of you will also have met him at the Junior Camp [7 and World Junior Pairs in Hungary recently. In Brighton he was partnering another youth player, one who could be said to have ] K J 10 8 3 an imaginative approach to the auction. { K J 6 2 } A 9 2 West North East South West North East South Kenworthy Green Hydes Cooke Pass 2} 1NT All Pass 2] Dble Pass Pass One No Trump might seem to be a bit of an uphill struggle 2[ 3] Pass 3NT on this deal from Match 2, particularly after South gets off to a 4[ Dble All Pass heart lead. However, the heart chosen was the jack and North followed with the two. South decided to treat the ]2 as a , I am sure that there were many tables at which there was a when it would be discouraging, rather than as perhaps the only lot of action on this deal. Adrian Kenworthy's approach to the card his partner could afford, so switched. West hand worked out very well when his right-hand opponent The choice of the seven of spades was a little bizarre, I feel. opened with a Benjamin-style 2}, strong and artificial but not Anyway, that went to the queen and ace and Jon Cooke played game-forcing. the queen of clubs to North's king. Not surprisingly, North did not appreciate that his partner had switched to a singleton. He might still have tried the ]Q, but actually chose a low spade. Cooke ran that to dummy's eight and played a spade back. North won the king and finally the defence got back to hearts. Declar- er won the ]Q with his ace and played the }10, which South had to duck to cut declarer off from the club winners. But the duck was not good enough. Cooke cashed the [J then exited with a heart and South had to lead into the {AQ at the end to give the seventh trick for an excellent +90. Match 2. Board 14. None Vul. Dealer East. [K 6 ] A 7 6 4 2 { K 7 2 } J 10 2 [ A Q J 9 7 4 3 2N [ 10 8 5 ]– ]5 W E { 9 { Q J 8 6 4 } K 9 6 5S } Q 8 4 3 [– ] K Q J 10 9 8 3 { A 10 5 3 }A 7 Alex Hydes, England

4 18 - 28 August 2003 9th WORLD YOUTH BRIDGE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS

Psyching a suit is not necessarily a good idea as that suit been achieved by passing out the double of 3] and collecting at might belong to the opposition but be breaking badly for them least +500. so that you do not actually want to talk them out of playing in it. Plus, partner may have sufficient support for your non-suit that Match 9. Board 16. E/W Vul. Dealer West. he takes you to an uncomfortably high level. Not this time, as 2] worked like a charm. [ 10 9 2 North made a to show some values and ] K 7 5 South, of course, passed. Kenworthy admitted to his real suit now and North bid 3]. { J 10 5 It is pretty clear that this should be a natural bid after South } A 7 4 2 has converted the negative double of 2] to penalty by passing, [ KN [ J 5 4 3 but South took it as asking for a heart stopper and duly bid 3NT! ] A 10 9 6 4 ] Q Kenworthy went on to 4[ now and was doubled by North, end- W E ing the auction. { A 8 7 4 3 { K 9 6 2 Sure enough, Kenworthy picked up the clubs for one loser, } Q 8S } K 9 6 5 playing South for the ace for his opening bid, and that meant ten [ A Q 8 7 6 tricks and +590. Not a bad return for a psyche that the opposi- tion really might have read at some point in the auction. ] J 8 3 2 {Q Match 2. Board 15. N/S Vul Dealer South. } J 10 3 [7 2 ]9 3 West North East South { K 10 7 6 3 Green Kenworthy } J 8 7 3 1] Pass 1NT 2[ 3} 3[ Dble All Pass [ K 8 6 5 3N [ A 9 4 ] 10 6 ] A K 8 W E Christmas came early for Adrian Kenworthy on this deal.Why { A J 4 2 { 9 5 East did not respond 1[ I cannot say, but he was very happy with } 5 2S } K Q 10 9 6 the way that the auction went as he doubled the final contract. He might have been a shade less happy at the end of the hand, [ Q J 10 however. ] Q J 7 5 4 2 West led the and, rather than give his partner {Q 8 an immediate , cashed the {A before leading a second heart. }A 4 East ruffed and returned a low diamond and Kenworthy ran this to dummy's ten, pitching a club. Now he led the [10 and, when West North East South there was no flicker on the right, rose with the ace to drop the Kenworthy Green bare king. It was an easy matter now to cross to the ace of clubs and 1] pick up the spades without loss for a huge score of +530. 1[ Pass 2] 3] Going into the final round of the Swiss Pairs Championship, Pass Pass Dble Pass Jon Cooke and Alex Hydes led by a single Victory Point from 3[ Pass 3NT All Pass Frances Hinden and Jeffrey Allerton. Having already met the pairs lying second, third and fourth, Cooke/Hydes would play joint-fifth When one side has had a complete disaster on a board they placed Stuart Nelson and Nick Hills in the last round, while Hin- often still have it in the back of their minds as they play the next den/Allerton would face and , who one.That may explain South's rather dubious 3] call at adverse were lying third and only 4 VPs off the lead. vulnerability on this deal. Ben Green thought that, having already suggested a spade fit Board 25. E/W Vul. Dealer North. with his unassuming cuebid, a 3[ bid from him over 3] would have been the way to invite game and so double of 3] should be [ Q 5 3 for penalty. He is probably correct but Kenworthy did not see it ] A K J 10 the same way and removed to 3[. Green converted to the no { 10 9 7 3 trump game and played there. South led a low heart and Green put up the ten.When that }K 7 held he tried a club to the ten, which also held. Declarer crossed [ K 8 7 6 4N [ A J 9 to the king of spades to lead a second club to his nine and ] Q 4 3 ] 9 7 6 South's ace. W E With 4[ unlikely to make more than ten tricks for +420, { J 5 { A K 8 6 East/West were already doing well but things got even better } 8 5 2S } Q 10 3 when South, in desperation, tried the effect of a switch to the [ 10 2 eight of diamonds. ] 8 5 2 Green played low from dummy on the diamond and North went up with the king and that was the eleventh trick for +460 { Q 4 2 and virtually the same number of matchpoints as would have } A J 9 6 4

5 9th WORLD YOUTH BRIDGE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS St. Cloud-Paris, France

West North East South West North East South Nelson Hydes Hills Cooke Nelson Hydes Hills Cooke 1] Pass 2] 1] Pass Pass Pass Dble Pass 2NT Pass 3NT Pass 2[ All Pass 4{ Pass 5} Pass 5] All Pass Cooke/Hydes play strong no trump with four-card majors and it was normal for Hydes to start with his strong four-card Two No Trump was at least invitational to game with heart heart suit. Holding three trumps and a weak doubleton, it was support and 3NT showed a strong . A couple of equally normal for Cooke to raise to 2]. Hills made a cuebids followed but then Nelson had to sign off as he had nei- double and Nelson was pleased to be looking at a five-card spade ther anything to spare nor, more importantly, a spade control. suit.Two Spades ended the auction and Hydes cashed a top heart Alas for Nelson/Hills, the cuebidding sequence had pinpoint- then switched to a low diamond. Nelson rose with the ace of ed the spade weakness and Cooke started with ace and another diamonds and played a spade to the king then a spade to spade to take the first two tricks for the defence. At those dummy's jack. He tried a heart to the queen next but Hydes tables where West began with a clearly defined limit raise, East could win and play a second diamond. Again Nelson won in had just settled for game and now a spade lead was much less dummy and played a heart. Hydes won and switched to king and attractive. Plus 650 scored very badly for E/W, Cooke/Hydes another club and that was one down for +100 to N/S and 59 MPs picking up 114.6 MPs. out of 126. Board 27. None Vul. Dealer South. Board 26.All Vul. Dealer East. [ A Q 8 ]6 2 [ K 10 7 2 { K Q 10 9 8 4 ] 4 3 2 } 10 3 {Q [ K 7 6 2 [ J 5 4 3 } 9 8 6 5 4 N ] A 4 3 ] K Q 10 9 8 7 5 [ J 9 [ Q 5 3 W E N { J 7 5 { – ] 9 7 6 5 ] A K Q 8 W E } K 9 4S } 8 6 { A 9 8 7 4 { K J 2 [ 10 9 } K QS } A 7 2 ]J [ A 8 6 4 { A 6 3 2 ]J 10 } A Q J 7 5 2 { 10 6 5 3 } J 10 3 West North East South Nelson Hydes Hills Cooke 1} Pass 1{ 3] 4{ Pass 5{ All Pass Slam is basically on the club but Hills' pre-empt left no sensible way for Hydes to explore after Cooke raised to 4{. Looking at two losing hearts, Hydes settled for a reraise to game, which proved to be the winning decision. Hills led the ]K and Nelson overtook to switch to a spade. Hydes finessed the queen, drew trumps and took the club finesse; +400 and 96.6 MPs. Board 32. E/W Vul. Dealer West. [ 8 4 3 ] J 8 3 {5 2 } A K 9 7 5 [ A K 2N [ J 9 6 5 ] 9 6 5 ] K Q 4 W E { A 10 8 6 { 9 4 3 } Q 8 6S } J 10 4 [ Q 10 7 ] A 10 7 2 { K Q J 7 Ben Green, England }3 2

6 18 - 28 August 2003 9th WORLD YOUTH BRIDGE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS

West North East South Board 31. N/S Vul. Dealer South. Nelson Hydes Hills Cooke [ A K Q J 4 1NT Pass Pass 2} ] Q J 7 5 Pass 2] All Pass {5 2 }6 3 One of the joys of receiving boards from Robson/Bakhshi's table is that you will sometimes get well ahead of them. Here, [ 10 9 8 7 2N [ 6 3 they had not completed their second board as our table looked ] 4 ] K 10 9 3 W E for their fourth, hence a board had to be taken out of sequence. { J 10 6 { A K 8 3 Cooke does not believe that you tend to get rich defending 1NT } A 8 7 2S } Q J 10 at Pairs and he decided to compete with 2}, showing hearts and another suit. Hydes, of course, responded 2] and played there. [5 Hills led the jack of clubs and Hydes won the ace to lead a ] A 8 6 2 diamond to dummy. Nelson won the first diamond and returned { Q 9 7 4 the }Q to the king. Hydes cashed the two diamond winners, } K 9 5 4 throwing a spade, then played the losing diamond, intending to ruff if West showed out but, when he followed, pitching another West North East South spade loser. Nelson Hydes Hills Cooke Nelson won the diamond and cashed the [A then played a Pass club, ruffed in dummy. Hydes ruffed a spade then played his low Pass 1[ Dble Rdbl heart to the ace and ruffed the last spade; eight tricks for +110 and 58 MPs. A number of pairs who were left to play in 1NT 2} Pass Pass Dble went two down for -200, understandably enough. Pass 2[ All Pass I understand what Hydes did on this deal but I am not sure Board 28.N/S Vul. Dealer West. that I agree with him. He passed over 2} because an immediate [ J 10 8 bid would have shown a poor hand, but then pulled the essen- tially penalty double to 2[ rather than either passing or showing ] A 10 7 3 2 the hearts. Passing would probably have led to a plus score but {J 5 Hydes saw that at this vulnerability he would need to get 2} } Q J 3 doubled two down if he could make 110 his way.Thus far I have sympathy with his decision but, despite the double on his left, [ Q 9N [ A 6 5 suggesting hearts, I would prefer to offer partner a choice by bid- ] 8 6 5 ] K Q J 9 ding 2] and not 2[. W E { 7 4 { A 10 9 8 Hills led the }Q and, when that held the trick, continued with } A K 10 8 6 2S } 7 4 the }J to king and ace. Nelson switched to his heart for the queen, king and ace and Hydes led a spade to the king then [ K 7 4 3 2 played a second spade.Alas, he pulled the wrong card and played ]4 the [4 instead of the ace as intended. { K Q 6 3 2 That proved to be an expensive error as declarer comes to a minimum of seven tricks on straightforward play. Now, howev- }9 5 er, Hills won the [6, Nelson having played the seven on the first round. He actually dropped one trick by cashing the king of dia- West North East South monds before giving his partner a heart ruff.A diamond back to Nelson Hydes Hills Cooke the ace allowed a second heart ruff and that meant two down for -200 and only 30 MPs for Cooke/Hydes. 3} All Pass Had Hills led a heart without first cashing a top diamond, Nelson could have received three heart ruffs for down three. Not everyone would agree with Nelson's pre-empt but it looks a practical approach to me and here it bought the contract Board 29.All Vul. Dealer North. when Cooke rightly felt that he was far too weak to compete [ K J 3 2 despite his five-five distribution. ]Q 7 Hydes led the jack of spades and Nelson chose not to run this to his queen, thinking it unlikely that it was from the king. {J 6 Right he was as ducking would have cost a trick had Cooke } Q J 9 5 4 won the king and switched to a diamond. As it was, Nelson [ A 8 6 5N [ 9 7 won the [A and crossed to hand with a top club to lead a ] K J 10 ] 9 8 6 5 heart up. Hydes took his ace and led a spade to Cooke's king W E and back came the {K. It was too late for the defence. Nelson { A 7 4 { K 10 5 won the {A and cashed the king of clubs then cashed out the } K 7 6S } A 10 8 2 hearts for a diamond discard; ten tricks for +130. [ Q 10 4 Cooke/Hydes scored 64 MPs on this deal and with three ] A 4 3 2 boards to go looked to be well-placed to win the trophy, hav- ing chalked up two very good boards and three around aver- { Q 9 8 3 2 age.That was all to change, however. }3

7 9th WORLD YOUTH BRIDGE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS St. Cloud-Paris, France

West North East South Three Spades looks to be a bit too much on the North cards Nelson Hydes Hills Cooke but perhaps Hydes knew that he needed a big board after the last couple of results and was trying to get one. Cooke had no diffi- Pass Pass Pass culty in passing it, of course. 1[ Pass 1NT Pass Perhaps a more normal approach would be to bid a quiet 2[, Pass 2} Pass Pass expecting to get an opportunity to bid 3{ when E/W compete Dble Pass Pass Rdbl to 3}. Pass 2{ Dble Pass Hills led the singleton diamond to dummy and Hydes played [J to the ace. Hills switched to the ace of clubs and Hydes dis- Pass Rdbl Pass 2] carded a heart in an attempt to keep some sort of trump con- Dble All Pass trol. He ruffed the club continuation and led a diamond, Hills ruff- ing. Now Hills cashed the ]A before playing a third club which Matchpoints is a bidders' game and competition is the name Hydes ruffed. He played another diamond, again ruffed by Hills, of the game. However, it can be overdone and Hydes might have and won the heart return, drew the remaining trumps with the been better advised to go quietly here, where his opponents had king and claimed the rest for down one; -50 and 65 MPs. Nelson/Hills just won the match by 11-9 VPs. Hinden/Aller- not found a fit and the vulnerability was the worst one at which ton's win 13-7 win at table two was sufficient to give them the to compete a partscore. Championship, Cooke/Hydes finishing in second place. Well, it is easy to be critical after the fact but certainly 2} proved to be a disaster. Nelson doubled and Cooke, who knew that his partner had been unable to 2} at his previous turn, tried to improve things via an SOS redouble.That did not thrill Hydes, who knew he was in big trouble. It would have been too big a position to commit to 2[ on this TODAY’S auction but Hydes did the best that he could by choosing 2{ and then redoubling to offer a choice between the majors. Cooke hated that, of course, but eventually settled for 2], where he was doubled to end the auction. PROGRAM While I dislike the 2} overcall, credit Hydes with his later auction, as he would have found a four-four spade fit had one ex- isted. ROUND ROBIN SESSION 1 Nelson started with ace and another spade to Cooke's ten. He led his club to the queen and ace and back came a club, 1 FRANCE POLAND ruffed. Cooke led the {9 to the jack next, losing to the king, and 2 NORWAY DENMARK Hills switched to a trump, run to the king. Nelson gave his part- 3 ENGLAND ITALY ner a spade ruff and Hills returned a heart to dummy's queen. 4 USA 2 USA 1 Now Cooke led a diamond to the eight and ace and Nelson 5 URUGUAY CHILE played the }A. Cooke pitched a diamond on that and now Nel- 6 CHN TAIPEI CHN HONG KONG son needed to play a spade to get another defensive trick. In 7 AUSTRALIA CANADA practice he erred, returning a diamond to the ten and queen, 8 THAILAND EGYPT though it scarcely mattered. Cooke could cash the ]A and the last diamond for down two; -500 and only 2 MPs.

Board 30. None Vul. Dealer East. ROUND ROBIN SESSION 2 [ K Q 8 4 1 THAILAND FRANCE 2 EGYPT AUSTRALIA ] J 7 2 3 CANADA CHN TAIPEI { 10 7 6 5 4 3 4 CHN HONG KONG URUGUAY }– 5 CHILE USA 2 6 USA 1 ENGLAND [ 10 6N [ A 7 3 2 ] Q 8 ] A 10 5 4 3 7 ITALY NORWAY W E 8 DENMARK POLAND { 9 8 2 { Q } K Q 8 7 6 5S } A 3 2 [ J 9 5 ROUND ROBIN SESSION 3 ] K 9 6 1 FRANCE CHILE { A K J 2 USA 1 CHN HONG KONG } J 10 9 4 3 ITALY CANADA 4 DENMARK EGYPT West North East South 5 POLAND THAILAND Nelson Hydes Hills Cooke 6 NORWAY AUSTRALIA 1] Dble 7 ENGLAND CHN TAIPEI 2} 3[ All Pass 8 USA 2 URUGUAY

8 18 - 28 August 2003 9th WORLD YOUTH BRIDGE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS

World Junior Pairs by

The venue this July for the fifth World Junior Pairs was Tata in Kranyak as West opened 2](hearts and another, weak) and Hungary, situated 50 miles outside Budapest.The location was an played there on the lead of a top diamond, on which South, Lo Olympic Sports camp - excellent facilities and very comfortable Presti discouraged with the six.When Sbarrigia continued with a surroundings. The organizers had endeavored to ensure that second diamond, declarer was back in control on the hand.The everyone who wanted to could afford to play, by holding the spade shift came now, and Kranyak ruffed the second spade, lead camp in a relatively inexpensive venue in a country that was eas- a heart to the jack and king, ruffed the next spade, crossed to the ily accessible from most of Europe, and as a result there were ]A, and advanced the }Q, covered all round. He led out the ]Q nearly 200 pairs participating. Scoring was by Barometer, so to leave Lo Presti with the master trump, and ran the clubs. everyone played the same deals at the same time, and the up- When Lo Presti ruffed in he had no spade left to lead, so declar- dated results were available after every four deals. er had eight tricks. The USA had sent five of the six players from the team that The most challenging defense is to play spades at trick two will be favorite in the WJT in Paris in August,and two of the part- and three.When declarer ruffs, his only chance to make the hand nerships (Mignocchi/Bathurst and Kranyak/Grue) went quickly is to play a diamond himself, not to take the trump finesse. If he towards the head of the table. Here are some of the more stim- plays a heart to the jack, South wins his ]K and plays a third ulating deals from the event. spade. Declarer can ruff and unblock the heart ace then start running the clubs. But at some point South can ruff the fourth Board 8. None Vul. Dealer West. club, and lead a diamond to his partner to let him cash the fourth spade, on which South's diamond loser goes away. [ K 10 7 2 The Americans continued their fine form towards the end of ] 10 2 the session: { A K 9 8 Board 19. E/W Vul. Dealer South. } 8 5 4 [ Q 5 2 [ QN [ 9 8 6 4 3 ] Q 8 7 6 3 ] A J ] K 10 9 6 W E { 4 3 { Q J 10 2 { J 10 7 3 } A J 10 9 6S } Q 2 }7 6 [ A J 5 [ A 9 7N [ 8 3 ] Q 7 5 3 ] A J 8 2 ] K 9 5 4 W E { 7 6 5 { Q 8 5 { A 9 4 } K 7 3 } A 9 2S } K Q 8 4 [ K J 10 6 4 ]4 { K 6 2 } J 10 5 3

It appears impossible to stay out of trouble with the E/W cards here; 4] looks down at least one trick does it not? Well, Kranyak passed the West hand, and that apparently got his side off to a good start against Katerbau and Rehder of Germany, who at that point were in third place. But Grue as East opened 1] in fourth chair, and now when South overcalled 1NT (mod- ified Michaels) Kranyak jumped to 4]. On a low club lead Grue put up the }A, ran the ]Q, covered all round, then led a low diamond from hand to dummy's queen (good!) and tried a heart to the eight (better!). Now he had ten tricks by sim- ply arranging a spade ruff in hand, and virtually all the match- points. To set the hand, South had to win the {K at trick two. Once he ducked, even if North had split his heart honors at trick four, Grue would simply have won, cashed the }K, and then gone to dummy with the [A to lead a third club, after which the defense are helpless.When North discards, Grue can win, then cash the {A for his side's eighth trick, followed by ruffing the fourth club with the ]7 to ensure two more trump tricks for his side. John Kranyak promptly retaliated by scoring up a thin game Adi Azizi, Israel of his own.

9 9th WORLD YOUTH BRIDGE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS St. Cloud-Paris, France

Board 23.All Vul. Dealer South. Daniel won the club lead in hand and unblocked the hearts, then ducked a diamond to South. Now was the right time to play [ K J 10 7 back a club, but reasonably enough Ozbek tried a second top ]J 6 diamond. When Nielsen found the bad news there, he led the { A 9 4 3 2 [10 out of his hand. It was critical for the defense to break de- clarer's communications, but Ozbek won his [K and played a }K 10 third diamond. Declarer won in hand and crossed to the }K to [ 5 3N [ A Q 9 6 cash out the hearts.This was the ending: ] K 7 5 4 2 ] A Q 9 3 W E { K 7 { 10 5 [Q J } J 9 7 6S } A 5 4 ]– [ 8 4 2 {– ] 10 8 } 10 { Q J 8 6 [A 2N [9 } Q 8 3 2 ]– ]2 W E {4 {– Kranyak reached 4] as West, after opening 2] to show }–S }8 hearts and a minor. Florine Pluot of France found the trump lead that gave nothing away, but tended to suggest she had awkward [7 3 tenaces in the other suits. Kranyak drew two rounds of trumps ]– then led a spade to the queen and cashed the ace.The winning {8 line is a little double-dummy: ruff a spade, cross to the }A and }– ruff the last spade, then exit from hand with a club. North must win her club king and is endplayed!! (Note that if declarer follows On the last heart South had to pitch a spade to keep dia- this line North might just unblock the }K under the ace; now monds guarded. Daniel could throw his diamond away now, and might declarer lead a club to the nine? North would win and squeeze North in the black suits. +460 earned him 171 match- would still have a spade to exit with. Declarer would still be left points. with two diamond losers and a club.) The following deal gives plenty of scope for interesting play both Kranyak actually led a diamond to the king and ace, before ruff- by declarer and the defense. The leaders of the event after the ing a spade. When North won and returned the [K, John was second session were sitting East/West. back in business. He ruffed, led a club to the ace and ruffed the fourth spade, then exited from hand with a diamond. South had Board 19. E/W Vul. Dealer South. to win, and could lead a club to allow her partner to take that trick. But North had no clubs left, and had to play a diamond, to [ K 6 2 concede a ruff and discard, allowing dummy's third club to be dis- ] K 9 8 7 6 carded. Daniel Ortmann/Nielsen demonstrated a different sort of { Q 8 4 3 technique, against the Turkish pair,Anter and Ozbek, who were }3 at that point in the top 10. [ A 10 9 5N [ Q 8 7 4 ] Q J 2 ] A 4 3 Deal 15. N/S Vul. Dealer South. W E { K J 5 { A 6 2 [ Q J 8 5 } A 8 2S } K 7 5 ] J 6 5 [J 3 {9 ] 10 5 } 10 9 7 4 3 { 10 9 7 [ A 10 2N [ 9 6 4 } Q J 10 9 6 4 ] A Q ] K 8 4 3 2 W E West North East South { A K 6 5 4 { 10 3 } A 6 5S } K 8 2 Azizi M-R Yener Dirksen 3} [ K 7 3 Dble Pass 3NT All Pass ] 10 9 7 { Q J 8 7 2 Yener reached 3NT here, having carefully avoided the 4-4 }Q J spade fit. In 3NT it looks right to win the first club for fear of a red-suit switch and guess the spades well. In fact Yener ducked West North East South the first club, won the next, then misguessed spades reasonably DON Anter Gjaeldbaek Ozbek enough by winning the [A and passing the [10. When the de- fense misguidedly pressed on with clubs, declarer won and end- Pass played North with the third spade. Back perforce came a heart. 2NT Pass 3{ Pass Declarer won in hand and cashed the fourth spade, squeezing 3] Pass 3NT All Pass North down to the ]K9 and {Q84. Now if declarer has been

10 18 - 28 August 2003 9th WORLD YOUTH BRIDGE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS counting the hearts, he can exit with ]A and another heart, to Both North and South were not hanging back during this auc- North to lead diamonds into the tenace, for nine tricks. tion, though the final contract has some play. When a low club By contrast, Ophir Reshef of Israel played 4[ as West, on an un- was led to trick one dummy's queen held the trick, and Alon opposed sequence, on the lead of the singleton club. He won in cheered up. Now came a diamond to the ace bringing both good hand and sneaked the ]J through, then led a second club towards and bad news (though it might have been a false-card, these the }K. North ruffed, but found himself endplayed, so hoped for things are easier to spot in the post mortem). the best by exiting with the ]K. Declarer won in dummy, cashed Now came a heart to the jack and a spade to the queen.Alon the [A, then played a third heart, ruffed by South with the now- won the spade return and cashed off the spades, setting up bare [J. (If declarer had drawn a second trump before playing the West's long spade, then led a diamond to dummy. In the five-card third heart, North would have won, but would have had a safe ending West had his master spade, the guarded king of hearts, heart exit.) As it was, all that South could do was to exit with a and }AK10.What was he to discard? When he selected a small diamond; declarer ran it to the {A in dummy, cashed the }K, and club,Alon threw him in with a club to lead hearts into his tenace played a third trump. North won his [K, but had to lead into the at trick 12. Contract made! diamond tenace.Would you believe you could make 4[ by losing Board 7.All Vul. Dealer South (rotated 180 degrees). three trump tricks - but no trick in either clubs, hearts or dia- [ A K 3 2 monds! ] J 10 9 5 Ron Hoffman and Alon Birman of Israel were playing together, and Ron gave me a nice play by his partner, David Birman's son. I {A 8 guess: like father like son. } 9 7 5 Board 10.All Vul. Dealer East. [ Q 10 9 5N [ J 7 4 ]7 ]8 4 2 W E [ 8 3 2 { 9 7 6 5 { K J 10 4 2 ]J 3 } A K 3 2S } J 4 { Q 10 7 2 [8 6 } Q J 7 4 ] A K Q 6 3 [ K 9 7 6 5N [ 4 {Q 3 ] K 10 8 ] 9 7 4 2 W E } Q 10 8 6 { K { J 9 6 4 West North East South } A K 10 5S } 9 8 3 2 1} Pass 1] [ A Q J 10 Pass 2] Pass 4] ] A Q 6 5 All Pass The action from the Israeli table was relatively typical; when { A 8 5 3 Yener declared four hearts the defense cashed the club ace-king }6 as East echoed in clubs, and took the ruff, then shifted to dia- West North East South monds - but it was too late. Declarer had a home for his diamond loser on the fourth club.That was 94/186 for the Israelis, effec- Pass 1} tively a dead average. 1[ 2} Pass 3NT Contrast what happened when Guillaume Grenthe was East All Pass against another pair of contenders, Kapala and Brede of Poland. On the lead of the club ace he discouraged with the four, know- ing that his partner would shift to diamonds. And that was duly what happened. Declarer had to duck the diamond - he did not know about the club jack being on side - and Guillaume won his {K and reverted to clubs to get the ruff and set the game for what was very close to a top. Brede and Kapala eventually finished seventh but even at the end were working hard for a medal. Board 26.All Vul. Dealer East. [ A J 4 ]Q 10 { A Q 6 3 } J 10 4 2 [ 10 7 2N [ K Q 5 3 ] 6 3 ] 7 4 2 W E { K 10 7 5 2 { J 9 8 } Q 7 6S } 8 5 3 [ 9 8 6 ] A K J 9 8 5 {4 Gerben Dirksen, Netherlands } A K 9

11 9th WORLD YOUTH BRIDGE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS St. Cloud-Paris, France

West North East South When the event was completed the provisional scores Pass 1] showed that the Israeli pair,Azizi and Yener (who had led by two Pass 2} Pass 3] tops with eight deals to play) had been caught at the wire by Jerome and Guillaume Grenthe of France. However the numbers Pass 4{ Pass 4NT were so close that the scores were rechecked, and a scoring Pass 5[ Pass 6] error reversed the result. In third place were Bas and Bob Dri- All Pass jver of the Netherlands, the latter playing his first serious inter- national tournament, while in fourth place, less than one top out 6] is a fair spot - on a non-club lead slam is excellent, on a from the Gold Medal, were John Kranyak and Joe Grue. spade lead it is at least playable. Stefano Uccelli led an obedient spade to his partner's queen (a good moment for a deceptive [K perhaps) and Ruggiero Guariglia returned the }5. Reading the Sports News position excellently, Brede hopped up with the ace, ran five rounds of trumps, then unblocked his second top club, finessed in diamonds, and pitched his club on the {A. Now he ruffed a Cricket club back to hand, and when the }Q fell he had his twelfth trick. England have squared the series with That was not a top; witness what happened to Flemming South Africa at 1-1 after clinching a Clausen and Sehr Jensen of Denmark. tense 70-run victory on the final day at Trent Bridge. Debutant James Kirtley West North East South took 6-34 as the tourists, resuming the Jensen Clausen day 63-5, were bowled out for 131 on a difficult pitch that Pass 1] was offering almost no bounce by day five. Pass 2} Pass 3] Rallying Pass 3[ Pass 4} Finland's former world rally champion Pass 4{ Pass 4] Tommi Makinen has confirmed he will Pass 4NT Pass 5{ retire at the end of this season.The 39- Pass 5] Pass 6] year-old, now with Subaru, won four ti- Pass 7] Dbl Pass tles with Mitsubishi from 1996 to 1999, Pass Rdbl All Pass a total no other driver has managed.

Sehr Jensen's bidding might appear to come from a different Baseball planet, but pity poor West. Faced with what seemed to be a Curt Schilling edged out Greg Maddux in a thrilling pitching position he sat for ages before leading… a low duel as the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Atlanta Braves club. Now declarer had four clubs, six hearts and two - so 2-0 on Sunday. Mike Mussina pitched a complete game, he still needed the diamond finesse; but that was no problem ei- three-hit shut-out, for his fourth straight win as the New ther. 7] redoubled and made! York Yankees hammered the Baltimore Orioles 8-0. American Football Detroit have agreed a four-year contract with former Wash- ington defensive tackle Dan Wilkinson.The 30-year-old, nick- named "Big Daddy" was cut by the Redskins when he refused to take a pay cut from $3.5m to $2m for the new season. Golf Shaun Micheel produced the shot of the year to clinch the 85th USPGA in thrilling fashion at Oak Hill on Sunday. The 34-year-old American, previously only a household name in his own household, went to the 72nd hole of the championship with a one-shot lead over playing partner Chad Campbell. With only a few feet between them after their drives on the par-four 18th, the 169th-ranked Micheel fired a seven-iron from 174 yards out to within two inches of the cup for a tap-in birdie and a first PGA win.

Tennis Seventh seed Andy Roddick claimed back-to-back Masters Series victories when beating close friend Mardy Fish in a titanic struggle in Cincinnati. Roddick, now hot favourite for the US Open beginning on August 25,stormed to the top of the ATP Champions race with a 4-6 7-6 7-6 triumph. Yuval Yener, Israel

12