THE INTERNATIONAL BRIDGE PRESS ASSOCIATION Editor: John Carruthers

This Bulletin is published monthly and circulated to around 300 members of the International Bridge Press Association comprising the world’s leading journalists, authors and editors of news, books and articles about , with an estimated readership of BULLETIN some 200 million people who enjoy the most widely played of all card games. www.ibpa.com Bulletin No. 630 July 10, 2017

President Barry Rigal (USA) European Champions (1) 212 366 4799 [email protected] Chairman Per Jannersten (Sweden) (46) 18 52 13 00 [email protected] Executive Vice-President David Stern (Australia) (61) 2 9319 2447 [email protected] Organizational Vice-President, Membership Secretary & Bulletin Production Manager Dilip Gidwani (India) (91) 98214 53817 [email protected] Open Teams: HIGHLANDERS (Norway) Secretary Harald Eide, Sven Oloi Høyland, Lars Eide, Sam Inge Høyland Herman De Wael (Belgium) (32) 3 827 64 45 [email protected] Treasurer Richard Solomon (NZ) (64) 9 232 8494 [email protected] Awards Secretary Brent Manley (USA) (1) 901 383 8782 [email protected] Honorary Auditor Richard Fleet (England) (44) 1395 516273 [email protected] Honorary General Counsel

David Harris (England) Testa Arianna Photos: (44) 1582 821161 Open Pairs: Nafiz Zorlu, Nezih Kubac (Turkey) [email protected] Presidents Emeriti Address all IBPA Bulletin correspondence to: JOHN CARRUTHERS Tommy Sandsmark (Norway) 1322 Patricia Blvd., Kingsville, Ontario, N9Y 2R4, CANADA Henry Francis (USA) Tel: (1) 519-733-9247 email: [email protected]

1 Women’s Teams: DENMARK RED - Tina Ege, Stense Women’s Pairs: Koos Vrieze (President, Farholt, Bo Loenberg Rasmussen, Helle Rasmussen, DBF), Magdalena Tichá, Wietzke van Zwol Lone Bilde (Netherlands)

Senior Pairs: Josef Harsanyi (Treasurer, EBL), Herbert Senior Teams: KAMINSKI (Israel) - Amos Kaminski, Klumpp, Ulrich Wenning (President, DBV), Reiner Eitan Levi (President, IBF), Yeshayahu Levit, Adrian Marsal (Germany) Schwartz, Leonid, Podgur, Shalom Zeligman, Avi Kalish

Photos: Arianna Testa Arianna Photos: Mixed Teams: MNEPO (Russia) - Olga Pavlushko, Mixed Pairs: Justyna Zmuda, Michal Evgeni Rudakov, Elena Rudakova, Sergei Orlov, Anna Klukowski (Poland) Gulevich, Georgi Matushko

2 Montecatini Honour Roll

Open Teams 1. HIGHLANDERS (NOR): Harald Eide, Lars Eide, Sam Inge Høyland, Sven Olai Høyland 2. GREECE: Konstantinos Doxiadis, Aris Filios, Konstantinos Kontomitros, Tassos Koukouselis, Yankos Papakyriakopoulos, Petros Roussos =3. CHINA: Yunlong Chen, Jianming Dai, Jianwei Li, Lixin Yang, Bangxiang Zhang, Jie Zhao =3. MAZURKIEWICZ (POL): Stanislaw Golebiowski, Krzysztof Jassem, Marcin Mazurkiewicz, Wlodzimierz Starkowski Women’s Teams 1. DENMARK: Lone Bilde, Tina Ege, Stense Farholt, Helle Rasmussen 2. BAKER (USA/NED): , Karen McCallum, , =3. CHINA: Yan Huang, Yan Liu, Yan Lu, Qi Shen, Nan Wang, Wen Fei Wang, Xiaojing Wang =3. NETHERLANDS: Carla Arnolds, Magdalena Tichá, Martine Verbeek, Wietske van Zwol Senior Teams 1. KAMINSKI (ISR): Avi Kalish, Amos Kaminski, Yeshayahu Levit, Leonid Podgur, Adrian Schwartz, Shalom Zeligman 2. WOLFSON (USA/ITA): Benito Garozzo, Franco Masoero, Neil Silverman, Jeff Wolfson =3. VAN EIJCK (NED): Nico Doremans, Willem van Eijck, Willem Gosschalk, Jaap Trouwborst =3. VITO (BUL): Hristo Hristov, Zlatko Nedeltchev, Radi Radev, Tony Rusev Mixed Teams 1. MNEPO (RUS): Anna Gulevich, Georgi Matushko, Sergei Orlov, Olga Pavlushko, Evgeni Rudakov, Elena Rudakova 2. ROSENTHAL (NED/USA/SWE): Marion Michielsen, Andrew Rosenthal, Johan Upmark, Chris Willenken, Migry Zur-Campanile =3. SAKR (POL/USA): Katarzyna Dufrat, Michal Klukowski, Krzysztof Martens, Michal Nowosadzki, May Sakr, Justyna Zmuda =3. ZIMMERMANN (FRA/RUS/MON): Philippe Cronier, Tatiana Dikhnova, Catherine d’Ovidio, Sylvie Willard, Pierre Zimmermann Open Pairs 1. Nezih Kubac, Nafiz Zorlu (TUR) 2. , Jeff Meckstroth (USA) 3. Mustafa Cem Tokay (TUR), Alfredo Versace (ITA) Women’s Pairs 1. Magdalena Tichá, Wietske van Zwol (NED) 2. Katarzyna Dufrat, Justyna Zmuda (POL) 3. Anne-Laure Huberschwiller, Jennifer Mourgues (FRA) Senior Pairs 1. Herbert Klumpp, Reiner Marsal (DEU) 2. Pascal Gombert, Philippe Toffier (FRA) 3. Jerzy Michalek, Wlodzimierz Wala (POL) Mixed Pairs 1. Michal Klukowski, Justyna Zmuda (POL) 2. Sabine Auken, Roy Welland (DEU) 3. Junjie Hu, Jian Wang (CHN)

3 th West North East South 8 European Open d’Ovidio Puillet P.Cronier Robert ———1] Championships Pass 2[1 Pass 3}2 Pass 3]3 Pass 3[4 10-24 June, 2017 Pass 3NT5 Pass 4NT6 Montecatini, Italy Pass 5}7 Pass 6}8 David Bird, Chandler’s Ford, Hamps., UK Pass 6]9 Pass Pass Brent Manley, Arlington, TN, USA Pass Ron Tacchi, Vaupillon, France 1. Game-forcing heart raise Ram Soffer, Tel-Aviv, Israel 2. Natural, encouraging Micke Melander, Stockholm, Sweden 3. Stronger than 4] Barry Rigal, NYC, USA 4. Spade control 5. Forward-going Mark Horton, Sutton Benger, Wilts., UK 6. RKCB Jos Jacobs, Maarn, Netherlands 7. 1 or 4 key cards John Carruthers, Kingsville, ON, Canada 8. Choice of slams Francesca Canali, Padua, Italy 9. No thanks to clubs The tournament format followed that of other At the other table, Dikhnova/Zimmermann had bid years, with Mixed Teams and Pairs the first week one heart-three notrump-four hearts-pass, and had and Open, Women’s and Senior Teams and Pairs made 12 tricks on the queen-of-clubs lead and a losing the second week. Players from 57 countries took , so whatever happened here would be part. a huge swing. Anyway, the play is of interest. How would you tackle six hearts on a diamond or a spade lead? Mixed Teams You can discard the diamond loser on the third spade. Round 1 – PUILLET vs. ZIMMERMANN (Bird) One possible line is to rely on a trump finesse. The other is to lay down the ace of hearts. If the king does This was a potential slam and required a not fall, you will eliminate spades and diamonds, planning successful close decision in the play to succeed: to exit to the bare king of hearts and force that Board 3. Dealer South. EW Vul. defender to open the club suit. That line needs hearts [K Q 3 2-1 with the king singleton or the club honours split ] A 10 8 5 2 and is slightly better than a finesse. There is only a tiny {J 10 residual chance if the hearts prove to be 3-0. Another }K 9 6 option is a line that fails on this particular layout: win [ 10 8 5 2 [ J 7 6 4 the diamond lead, discard your spade loser and ]6 4 ]K dummy’s diamond, then take a trump finesse. Barring { K 8 4 3 { Q 7 6 5 2 an effective spade ruff by the defence, that line wins } Q J 7 } 8 5 3 whenever the king of hearts is onside or, if it is offside [A 9 singleton with the club honours split. ] Q J 9 7 3 Twenty-four declarers bid and made six hearts, {A 9 including Quentin Robert here, winning 11 IMPs for } A 10 4 2 PUILLET. He won the diamond lead, played three

4 rounds of spades, discarding the diamond, ruffed a Versace also ruffed the opening club lead and played diamond and led the queen of hearts from hand. When three rounds of diamonds, ruffing to set up the suit. it was not covered, he won with dummy’s ace, Instead of ruffing a second club, however, he played a dropping the king. He drew the other trump and spade to the jack in dummy. Rolland won with the ace surrendered a club trick for plus 980. and exited with the ten of spades. Versace won in dummy with the king and played a good diamond, Only two declarers of the 24 who made six hearts discarding his last spade. Nicolas l’Hussier ruffed and were favoured with a queen-of-clubs lead, so it seems played another club, but Versace could ruff in dummy, the other successful declarers must have chosen the ruff a spade to hand and ruff his last club with the ace-of-heart-plus-elimination line, claiming when the king of hearts. He then ruffed a spade to hand and king of hearts fell. Thirteen declarers went one down cashed the ace of hearts for plus 620 and a 13-IMP in six hearts. gain. Round 1 – CALANDRA vs. CORNEMUSE Round 2 – DE BOTTON vs. TAKK (Tacchi) (Manley) Board 15. Dealer South. NS Vul. Trailing in the match 10-1, CALANDRA went ahead [A K Q on this deal: ]6 3 2 Board 4. Dealer West. Both Vul. { Q J 9 8 5 [A 10 }Q 7 ]7 3 2 [ J 10 7 5 4 2 [ 9 8 3 {Q 2 ] A J 10 5 4 ] K 9 } A K Q 9 8 4 { — { A 10 6 3 [ K J 7 2 [ 6 4 3 } 8 2 } J 6 4 3 ] K 6 5 ] A J 10 9 8 [6 { K 10 9 6 5 4 { A 3 ]Q 8 7 }— }7 6 3 { K 7 4 2 [ Q 9 8 5 } A K 10 9 5 ]Q 4 West North East South {J 8 7 Malinowski Furuta De Botton Nishimura } J 10 5 2 ———1} West North East South 2}1 Double 2[ Pass Ventos Calandra Fantun Duboin 3[ 3NT Pass Pass 1{ 2} Double 3} Pass 3[ Pass 4] Pass 1. Majors Pass Pass North showed some good skills on this deal. East Duboin led the jack of clubs. Fantun ruffed in dummy naturally led a spade, the nine, and declarer took it and played a diamond to the ace, another to the king, with the ace. Assuming that five club tricks were then ruffed the third round as Emanuela Calandra available, that brought the total to eight, and so a discarded a club. After ruffing the diamond, Fantun diamond trick was required – not only that, but a heart ruffed a second club in dummy and played the ten switch had to be avoided. Declarer chose a deceptive of diamonds and ruffed it with the ten of hearts. card at trick two when he continued with the jack of Duboin overruffed with the queen and played diamonds, which held the trick. He cashed a second another round of hearts. Fantun overtook with the high spade and the queen of clubs. Now he had to trump ace and cashed the jack, leaving North with a take his third spade as he had no back to hand trump, then played a spade from hand, misguessing to it after taking his club tricks. The moment of truth by playing the king. The result was two down for had arrived and a club was led. minus 200. Should declarer play for the drop (remember he had Alfredo Versace did much better at the other table seen West discard a spade on the first round of after the following auction … diamonds) or finesse against the jack? Beginners might say, “West’s bid showed 5-5 in the majors and he has West North East South no diamonds, so he has three clubs and I should play Lauria Rolland Versace l’Huissier for the drop.” 1{ 2} Double 3} However, if you had watched the spade suit, you would 3[ 3NT Double 4} have known that only the ten and jack had not been Pass Pass 4] Pass played and East would not have led the nine with either Pass Pass

5 of those cards, so they were both in the West hand. A club to the queen was followed by the ace-queen Consequently, West had only two clubs and so you of diamonds and the king of spades. Four cards finesse and claim your contract. Would North have remained, and Helgemo accurately kept the queen- found it so easy if West had discarded a heart or the six of hearts and the ace-ten of clubs. Had Larsson spade ten, keeping a low spot card? The spade position kept two hearts and two clubs as well, the defence would have been less clear and would have given would have prevailed. However, at this point, Larsson declarer the chance to make a mistake. made a costly error, baring her ace of hearts. Now a West North East South low heart from dummy ensured that the last trick A.Miyakun Sandqvist K.Miyakuni Brock would be won by dummy’s king of hearts, via a stepping ———1} stone on West. 1[ 2} 2[ 3{ 4[ Double Pass Pass That was an exciting plus 400, worth 7 IMPs as at the Pass other table … This deal reminds me of when I used to commute to West North East South London from the South coast and, frequently, I would Welland T.Helness Auken G.Helness be late home due to ‘ Failure’. North started with — — Pass 1{ three rounds of trumps on which South discarded Pass 1] Pass 1NT the seven of hearts and then the diamond seven. Pass Pass Whatever this meant, or was supposed to mean, it Round 5 – SAKR vs. NZ (Melander) got lost in translation, and North continued with a diamond rather than a club. Thus only one down On the last set of the first day in the Mixed Teams instead of two, so 11 IMPs out rather than only seven. Qualifying, the players faced some difficult problems, on which those taking a shot at games and slams could Round 4 – HELGENESS vs. PSZCZOLA (Soffer) easily have gained a lot more IMPs than they actually managed. The catch was that they needed to Board 6. Dealer East. EW Vul. determine when to investigate, when to apply the [K J 5 brakes or when to put the pedal to the metal. ] K J 7 3 2 { J 10 9 Board 15. Dealer South. NS Vul. }Q 4 [ K 9 6 4 [ Q 10 6 [ 8 7 4 3 ] A K 8 5 3 ] Q 10 6 ] A 8 5 {A J { K 8 7 4 { 5 2 }K J } A 10 8 } J 6 3 2 [ J 7 2 [ Q 10 8 3 [A 9 2 ] Q 10 9 2 ] — ]9 4 { 7 5 4 { Q 10 9 3 2 { A Q 6 3 } A 9 3 } 8 7 6 5 } K 9 7 5 [A 5 West North East South ] J 7 6 4 Helgemo Pszczola Larsson Molson {K 8 6 — — Pass 1{ Pass 1] Pass 1NT } Q 10 4 2 Pass 2}1 Pass 2{ On this layout, four hearts is easy and six hearts is Pass 2NT2 Pass 3NT down. Both sides did well to avoid the doomed slam. Pass Pass Pass 1. Forces 2{ West North East South 2. Invitational with 5 hearts V.Cornell Nowosadzki M.Cornell Dufrat — — — Pass Helgemo led the six of spades, taken by South’s nine, Pass 2NT Pass 3}1 perhaps not such a great start for declarer since Pass 3{2 Pass 3[3 dummy was becoming short of entries. The next two tricks went heart four-ten-jack-five and the nine of Pass 4] Pass Pass diamonds, ducked as well. As a result, when Helgemo Pass took the ten of diamonds with his king, dummy entries 1. Puppet Stayman were scarce and declarer gave up trying to establish 2. 1 or 2 4-card majors hearts, instead playing a club after winning the next 3. 4 hearts spade with her ace.

6 West North East South Both defenders in the match led their singleton club Zmuda S.Jacob Klukowski T.Jacob against four hearts. Lisa Berkowitz brought home ten — — — Pass tricks easily enough in the one room. Here is what Pass 1] Pass 2}1 happened at our featured table. Pass 2[2 Pass 4] Declarer won the club lead in hand and ruffed a Pass Pass Pass diamond, South giving count in the process. Declarer 1. Drury led the queen of hearts and Aida ducked this to Jan, 2. Natural, positive who put the king of spades on the table! Declarer Nowosadzki elegantly demonstrated how to make 11 cashed two spades to pitch his club loser. Then he tricks if he’d been in five hearts. On the club lead from led a third spade; South ruffed high as declarer East to West’s ace, Nowosadzki unblocked the king, discarded a club, then she gave partner his club ruff won the spade shift with dummy’s ace and led a trump to set the hand. Just like clockwork. to the ace. When East discarded, declarer overtook Round 7 – BADGER vs. PSZCZOLA (Rigal) the jack of clubs with the queen, ruffed a club, cashed the king of spades and ruffed a spade. Next came the This deal was declared brilliantly by Roy Welland: elimination of the diamonds, the ace, king and a ruff in Board 5. Dealer South. NS Vul. hand. That left the following ending: [ J 10 9 [9 ] J 10 6 4 ]K 8 {6 {— } A J 10 8 3 }— [ 6 3 2 [ A K Q 8 7 5 4 [— [Q ] K Q 9 3 ] 8 7 ] Q 10 9 ] — {Q 5 {J {— {10 } 7 5 4 2 } Q 9 6 }— }7 [— [— ]A 5 2 ]J 7 { A K 10 9 8 7 4 3 2 {— }K }10 West North East South When Nowosadzki played the nine of spades and Osborne Auken Hinden Welland pitched dummy’s club, West was endplayed and had to ———1{ surrender the last two to declarer. That won him 1 Pass 1] 4[ 4NT IMP against the ten tricks made at the other table. Pass 5} Pass 6{ Pass Pass Pass Round 6 – BERKSMA v EAV (Rigal) The defenders led spades. Welland ruffed and ran David Berkowitz was full of praise for his teammates’ trumps, and East and West each let go one heart effort on defence here. (West the three, East the seven) early enough to Board 25. Dealer North. EW Vul. persuade declarer that West was guarding hearts. As [ K 8 5 2 the penultimate trump was led this was the position: ]A 3 [J { K J 6 4 3 2 ] J 10 6 }8 {— [ J [ A Q 9 7 6 3 }A J ] 10 9 8 6 5 4 ] Q 2 [6 3 [A Q {A 9 {Q ]K Q 9 ]8 } A K Q 3 } 10 7 5 2 {— {— [ 10 4 }7 }Q 9 6 ]K J 7 [— { 10 8 7 5 ]A 5 2 } J 9 6 4 {4 3 West North East South }K Cappelle J. Jansma Cappeller A.Jansma West discarded a club, dummy the club jack, East a — 1{ 1[ Pass spade. Declarer crossed to the club ace and, when 2] Pass 3] Pass West discarded a spade, declarer ruffed the spade 4] Pass Pass Pass and exited with a heart to West at trick 12.

7 Round 8 – WARD-PLATT vs. SILVERFOX [ 10 6 (Rigal) ] 10 5 3 {— On the following deal, Cédric Lorenzini was at the helm }6 4 in a delicate slam. He proved himself equal to the task. [K 8 [— Board 17. Dealer South. Neither Vul. ]J ]8 7 2 [ 10 6 4 2 {— {— ] K 10 9 5 3 } Q 10 9 2 } K J 8 5 {5 4 [J 9 }6 4 ]— [K 8 5 [7 { 10 7 ] J 6 4 ] A Q 8 7 2 }A 7 3 { J 9 2 { Q 8 3 (a) If West ruffs in with the eight of spades, South } Q 10 9 2 } K J 8 5 overruffs in dummy, ruffs a heart back to hand [ A Q J 9 3 and plays the last diamond, pitching a club from ]— dummy. If West still holds the king of spades, South { A K 10 7 6 cashes the ace of clubs, ruffs a club and discards a }A 7 3 club on the established heart ten to make the West North East South contract. Simonsen Zochowska Oigarden Lorenzini (b) If West ruffs in with the king of spades and returns ———1[ the spade eight (best), declarer plays the ten from Pass 3[1 Double 4} dummy and underplays it with the nine to remain Pass 4] Double Redouble2 on the table. At trick nine, South ruffs a heart and Pass 4[ Pass 4NT3 claims when the jack makes an appearance on his Pass 5}4 Pass 6[ left. Pass Pass Pass (c) If West pitches a club or the heart jack, South 1. Pre-emptive throws a club from dummy and leads the fifth 2. First-round heart control diamond. At this point, the defence is helpless since 3. RKCB declarer can either score his trumps separately 4. 0 or 3 key cards or set up the heart ten if necessary. Lorenzini received the four-of-hearts lead and put in Round 10 – SAKR vs. WILSON (Melander) the ten, covered with the queen and ruffed. He played These were two of the teams at the top of the three rounds of diamonds, crossed to hand with a standings in the Qualifying Swiss almost all the way heart ruff, took the ace of spades, and led a fourth from the start. Some excellent winning decisions and diamond. West ruffed in, and that was fatal. Pitching a some huge errors made the final result in this match heart would have worked better – declarer either ruffs look like a massacre as WILSON scored a blitz. It didn’t with the ten of spades or discards a club, allowing East look like that from the beginning though. to ruff with his singleton trump. In the former case, Board 1. Dealer North. North Vul. declarer leads the king of hearts off the dummy and [K East must to set the slam. ] A J 10 7 Declarer overruffed and led the king of hearts to { A Q 7 6 3 the jack. West ruffed the fifth diamond but declarer }Q 8 2 could discard dummy’s club loser and ruff one club in [ 9 6 [ J 10 7 5 3 2 dummy and pitch the other on the now-established ] Q 9 8 5 2 ] K 6 4 nine of hearts. { 5 4 2 { K J 10 8 }A 6 5 }— In the post mortem, however, it was determined that, [ A Q 8 4 after West’s heart lead, the slam could be made against ]3 any defence on a different sequence of play (with a {9 twist). Instead of leading a low heart at trick five, } K J 10 9 7 4 3 declarer does better by leading the heart king. When West North East South East covers with the ace, South ruffs with the queen Klukowski Ritmeijer Zmuda Tichá or jack, (preserving the nine in his hand). Next, the —1{1[2} spade ace is cashed and the fourth diamond follows, Pass 2NT Pass 3NT giving LHO a choice of poisons in this ending: Pass Pass Pass

8 Three notrump was not the best contract since West North East South transportation between the two hands so bad. Zmuda Rosenthal Auken Michielsen Welland kicked off with a spade, removing the only entry to — — — Pass dummy to reach the established clubs when that suit 1} 4] Pass Pass broke 3-0. Ritmeijer won the in his hand Double Pass 4[ Pass with the king of spades and started on clubs. Klukowski Pass Pass ducked twice and, when East discarded two spades, South led a heart to North’s jack. Auken switched to declarer cashed the ace and queen of spades, then led the jack of clubs. Declarer won and played a trump to another to throw East in to lead away from her red the king, ducked by South. What next? suits. Zmuda eventually shifted to the six of hearts, which went to declarer’s jack when Klukowski ducked, After long thought, Michielsen ruffed a heart and played playing the eight. Declarer then cashed the ace of the now-bare jack of spades. Yes! South, who had no hearts; thereupon Zmuda unblocked the king of heart to play, allowed this card to win. Declarer played hearts! That left: two more winning clubs, throwing the nine of hearts, [— ruffed a club and led the queen of spades to the ace. ] 10 7 Down to the nine of spades and the king-nine-three {A Q 7 of diamonds, South played a low diamond. Michielsen }— ran this to her queen and recorded an overtrick. A [— [— magnificent board for East/West. ]Q 9 ]4 West North East South { 4 2 { K J 10 8 Sarniak Campanile Blass Willenken }A }— — — — Pass [— 1} 4] Pass Pass ]— Pass {9 West passed at her second turn and East led the king } J 10 9 7 of spades against four hearts. Zur-Campanile won and Ritmeijer exited with a low diamond toward the nine played a club, West taking two tricks in the suit and in dummy. Zmuda went up with the ten, but was again switching back to spades. Declarer ruffed and drew endplayed and had to play hearts, which set up trumps. How should she now seek a diamond trick to declarer’s ten of hearts as the ninth trick. escape for one down? At the other table … Only one play was good enough and North found it. West North East South She led the jack of diamonds. This won the trick and Grönqvist Nowosadzki van Prooijen Dufrat that was just 50 away and 9 IMPs to ROSENTHAL. — 1NT 2[ 2NT1 Round of 16 – ROSENTHAL vs. PSZCZOLA Pass 3{2 Pass 4{ (Manley) Pass 6} Pass Pass Board 20. Dealer West. Both Vul. Pass [ K J 8 7 5 4 1. Clubs ]— 2. Loves clubs { J 10 8 5 2 Dufrat/Nowosadzki reached the far better six clubs, }8 4 which couldn’t be beaten. Declarer just had to ruff a [9 [A 2 spade in dummy and pull trumps. 11 IMPs to SAKR. ] K Q 10 9 8 4 ] J 3 { K Q 6 3 { A 9 4 Round of 16 – ROSENTHAL vs. PSZCZOLA } 10 6 } A K Q J 5 3 (Bird) [ Q 10 6 3 Board 11. Dealer South. Neither Vul. ] A 7 6 5 2 [7 {7 ] A K Q J 7 6 2 }9 7 2 {J 8 6 West North East South }J 9 Molson Campanile Pszczola Willenken [ J 8 6 [ K Q 10 3 2 1] 2]1 3} 4[ ] 10 ] 9 5 3 Pass Pass 4NT2 Pass { A 10 7 2 { Q 5 4 5{3 Pass 6} Pass } A K Q 8 3 } 6 5 Pass Double 6NT Double [ A 9 5 4 Pass Pass Pass ]8 4 1. Michaels {K 9 3 2. RKCB } 10 7 4 2 3. 0 or 3 key cards

9 Zur-Campanile’s double clearly called for a heart lead, Like a rocket destined for some remote planet, the which would have sunk the club slam right off the bat. auction lifted off slowly. Michielsen’s two-club bid was The unbeatable contract was six hearts by West, but game-forcing, hearts were agreed and Rosenthal then Pszczola did not know his partner had such a good control-bid in spades. Whoosh ... up now to a Roman suit – or so many of them. Running to six notrump Key Card Blackwood four notrump, the response did not work out well. After the spade lead, Pszczola’s showing two key-cards and a . West’s grand-slam only option was to cash his winners, which left him try of six clubs was followed by a suspenseful pause. two tricks short for minus 500. Rosenthal had a splendid hand, it’s true, but might there still be a spade loser? Eventually, to great applause and At the other table, however, the bidding worked out cheering from the commentators (Mark Horton and spectacularly for Michielsen and Upmark. myself), Rosenthal reached for the seven-heart card. West North East South It had been a magnificent auction with an enterprising Michielsen Auken Upmark Welland final bid. Thirteen tricks were made for plus 1510. 2] 2[ 2NT1 4[ West North East South Pass Pass 4NT Pass Orlov Campanile Pavlushko Willenken 5} 5[ 6} Pass — — 1[ Pass Pass Pass 2} 2{ 2] 4{ 1. Clubs 5{ Pass 6} Pass Michielsen’s response to four notrump made her 6] Pass Pass Pass declarer in the club slam, and the hand with the void Willenken’s raise to four diamonds took away bidding in hearts was on lead. There was nothing Auken could space, but allowed Orlov to deduce that his partner do. Michielsen won the spade lead, ruffed a spade, was void in diamonds. Might he have ventured six cashed the ten of clubs and entered dummy with a diamonds at his third turn? Thirteen tricks were made diamond to the ace. She could then pull trumps and here as well, and ROSENTHAL won 11 IMPs to be claim, conceding a trick to the ace of hearts. Plus 1370, just 49-43 behind at the half-way mark. It had been a combined with plus 500 at the other table, gave superbly-entertaining session for the kibitzers. ROSENTHAL an 18-IMP swing, Final — MNEPO vs. ROSENTHAL (Bird) Misplay This Hand with Me in Montecatini (Horton) It is always exhilarating to end a session with a big firework and it is safe to say that the more-than 2200 Despite my best efforts, we are continuing to flourish kibitzers following the Open Room online were not in the European Mixed Teams. In the Round of 16, we disappointed by the last board of the first half: are vulnerable when, as the dealer South, I pick up this modest collection: Board 15. Dealer East. Neither Vul. [Q J 6 [ 10 9 6 3 2 ]— ] 7 6 3 2 { A Q J 10 8 { K 10 6 3 } J 10 9 7 3 }— [ K [ A 9 5 4 3 2 I have nothing to say, but West opens with a weak two ] A 5 4 3 ] K Q J 10 9 8 hearts. When my partner jumps to four clubs, I alert, { 6 5 4 3 { — as it shows a strong hand with clubs and spades. When } A K 6 4 } 8 I bid four spades, East contributes a double. This has [ 10 8 7 been our auction: ]7 6 2 { K 9 7 2 West North East South }Q 5 2 — — — Pass 1 West North East South 2] 4} Pass 4[ Michielsen Matushko Rosenthal Gulevich Pass Pass Double Pass — — 1[ Pass Pass Pass 2} 2{ 2] 3{ 1. Leaping Michaels 3] Pass 3[ Pass West leads the king of hearts and, although I receive a 4NT Pass 5NT Pass fine dummy, I see that the contract is not quite a 6} Pass 7] Pass laydown: Pass Pass

10 [ A J 8 7 5 Sometimes the first board of a set can be an indication ]9 of the way the wind is blowing. On other occasions, a {9 team will flatter to deceive. } A K Q 10 9 7 When Andreas Babsch as South opened a strong club and got a negative one diamond response from partner [ 10 9 6 3 2 Arno Lindermann, a two-club by East let him ] 7 6 3 2 cuebid, doubled by West. Now Lindermann got to { K 10 6 3 }— contribute a natural heart bid, and two rounds later North was in seven hearts. Declarer ruffed the club When East follows with the five of hearts, West lead, drew two rounds of trumps with the king and switches to the two of diamonds. East wins with the queen, then ruffed two spades in hand and claimed ace and continues with the ace of hearts. I ruff in when spades broke. dummy, and am already leaning forward to claim as I cash the ace of spades. When West discards, I have to In the other room, where Aa/Livgard were taking on revise my opinion and concede one down. This was Simon/Terraneo, the North/South auction has been the full deal: censored (to prevent readers of a nervous disposition [ A J 8 7 5 from a shock to the system), but Aa/Livgard stopped ]9 in four hearts, and Austria had 14 IMPs. {9 Board 12. Dealer West. NS Vul. } A K Q 10 9 7 [6 5 4 [— [K Q 4 ]9 8 7 ] K Q J 10 8 ] A 5 4 {8 3 { J 8 7 5 2 { A Q 4 } 9 8 7 6 2 } 8 5 2 } J 6 4 3 [A 9 3 [8 [ 10 9 6 3 2 ] 5 4 3 2 ] K J 10 6 ] 7 6 3 2 { K 10 6 3 { Q J 6 5 { A K 10 9 7 2 }— }J 10 }A Q [ K Q J 10 7 2 Post mortem ]A Q At this level of play, it was silly to imagine that East would {4 double on the strength of just two aces and a trump } K 5 4 3 trick. After ruffing the second heart, declarer can cash West North East South two clubs, pitching a diamond and a heart, ruff a club, Grøtheim Lindermann Tøndel Babsch ruff a heart, ruff a club, cash the king of diamonds pitching Pass Pass 1{ 4[ a club, ruff a diamond and play a club, catching East in a Pass Pass Double Pass trump endplay 5{ Pass Pass Double At the other table, East also doubled four spades and Pass Pass Pass cashed the red aces on lead. Here too, declarer made This was a nice auction to a sensible spot. In the other the mistake of laying down the ace of spades, so it was room, Aa passed the South hand after a strong club to a flat board. his right, then bid up to four spades. Since East had shown both his suits, East/West were persuaded to OPEN TEAMS bid on to five hearts over four spades. Unluckily for Round 8 – HEIMDAL vs. AUSTRIA (Rigal) East, though you do not appear to need the club finesse in that contract, repeated spade leads promoted the Board 11. Dealer South. Neither Vul. nine of hearts, so that contact went quietly one down. [7 ] Q 8 6 2 In five diamonds doubled, Tøndel chose a very careful { J 7 5 2 line and was suitably rewarded. He won the king of } J 8 5 4 spades lead with the ace and ruffed a spade, overtook [ 10 9 4 2 [ Q 8 3 a trump to ruff another spade, drew the last trump ]9 5 3 ]J and took a heart finesse of the ten. Seeing what was { 8 4 { 10 9 6 3 about to happen, Babsch won with his ace and } A 7 6 3 } K Q 10 9 2 returned the queen, hoping his partner had the jack [ A K J 6 5 (but of course then declarer would have ducked the ] A K 10 7 4 second heart). Whatever he did, though, declarer had {A K Q 11 tricks and 12 IMPs. }— Continued on page 14...

11 IBPA Column Service Tim Bourke, Canberra Members may use these deals as they wish, without attributing the author or IBPA.

861. Dealer West. EW Vul. 862. Dealer South. Both Vul. [ 10 9 7 3 2 [ K J 10 8 4 ] K 6 4 3 ]J 7 {A 2 {4 }J 3 } 9 8 5 4 3 [A [6 5 [6 3 2 [— ] Q J 10 9 2 ] A ] K Q 9 8 ] 10 6 3 { Q J 10 6 { 9 8 7 5 4 } Q 7 4 } 10 9 8 5 2 { Q 8 6 2 { K J 7 5 3 [ K Q J 8 4 } K 2 } Q J 10 7 6 ]8 7 5 [ A Q 9 7 5 {K 3 ] A 5 4 2 }A K 6 { A 10 9 West North East South }A 1] Pass Pass 1[ West North East South Pass 2]1 Pass 4[ ———1[ Pass Pass Pass Pass 4[ Pass 6[ 1. Good raise in spades Pass Pass Pass West led the queen of hearts. Declarer played low West led a low trump and declarer won the trick from dummy and East took the trick with his singleton cheaply in hand. Declarer could count eight top ace, and then had to find the entry to West’s hand to acquire his ruff. As North/South had at least ten tricks. However, as there were not the entries to trumps, the odds favoured the ace being in declarer’s set up clubs and enjoy the established winner, hand. Accordingly, East shifted to the ten of clubs at declarer saw that he needed to ruff four cards in trick two. dummy to make his contract. So, West was the danger hand, as he could lead a second trump to As East had won the first trick with the ace of hearts declarer placed the ace of trumps on his left. Clearly scupper the contract. there would not be a problem if West had at least One potential winning position was when East two trumps, so declarer turned his thoughts to started with both the king and queen of hearts; the overcoming the problem of West having a bare ace of contract would then make unless there was a trumps. distributional nightmare in the side suits. However, Declarer’s plan was to strip the minor-suits from his as the chance of that occurring was well below even hand and dummy before playing a trump. If East ruffed money, declarer decided to try his luck in diamonds the king of hearts he would then have no satisfactory first. exit card. So after taking the club shift at trick three with the ace, declarer cashed the ace and king of At trick two he cashed the ace of diamonds and diamonds. Next he cashed the king of clubs and ruffed continued with a tricky nine of diamonds, intending the six of clubs high. Only then did he call for a trump to throw a heart from dummy if West followed low. from dummy. West took the king of trumps with the When West played the queen of diamonds declarer ace and returned a predictable jack of hearts. had to ruff in dummy. After cashing the ace of hearts Declarer covered this with the king and East ruffed and the ace of clubs, declarer led the ten of with his remaining trump. As East had only minor-suit diamonds. West had to follow with a low card and cards remaining, declarer was able to throw his heart declarer discarded dummy’s jack of hearts. East took loser on the return and ruff it dummy for his tenth the trick with the jack but declarer had the last seven trick. tricks on a high cross-ruff.

12 If West had covered the ten of diamonds, declarer As the opening bid had placed West with all of the would ruff then hope for the best in hearts. missing high-value honours, you should note that playing on diamonds would have succeeded when Essentially, declarer would have made his contract East had a singleton or doubleton queen or jack of most of the time that East had at least two diamond diamonds (the former by an endplay). Further, it also honours or the king and queen of hearts, which would have won when East had held exactly three totals to about 70% of the time, assuming that West diamonds. would have led a diamond if he’d held the king-queen- jack. 864. Dealer East. EW Vul. [ K 10 9 863. Dealer West. Both Vul. ] A 9 6 4 [A Q 6 { A K 7 5 ]Q 6 }5 4 { K 10 9 8 5 3 [8 6 2 [4 }Q 6 ] 2 ] K Q J 10 8 [ 7 4 [ 9 8 5 3 2 { J 9 4 { Q 10 8 6 3 ] K J 10 9 2 ] 5 3 } K J 10 9 8 2 } A Q {A Q 4 {J 6 [ A Q J 7 5 3 } K 8 2 } 9 7 5 4 ]7 5 3 [ K J 10 {2 ] A 8 7 4 }7 6 3 {7 2 West North East South } A J 10 3 ——1]2[ West North East South Pass 4[ Pass Pass 1] 2{ Pass 3NT Pass Pass Pass Pass West led the singleton two of hearts. Declarer rose After this rather agricultural auction, West led the with the ace of hearts and then cashed the ace and jack of hearts and dummy’s queen held the first king of diamonds, throwing a heart from hand. Next trick. Declarer placed West with all of the missing declarer advanced a club and East won the trick aces and kings on the bidding and, if he played on with the queen of clubs. East cashed the king of hearts and continued with the queen of the suit. clubs immediately, he would make only eight tricks. Declarer ruffed high and West threw the jack of So declarer crossed to hand by playing the six of diamonds. East won the club exit with the ace and spades to his ten and led a diamond. If West played played the jack of hearts. Declarer ruffed high, ruffed low the king would win and he would then turn his a club and cashed the king and ten of trumps. attention to making three club tricks. Dummy was left with two diamonds while declarer West saw that it was likely that declarer was trying had the ace and seven of trumps remaining. Declarer to steal his ninth trick with the diamond play and ruffed a diamond with the seven of trumps but West so rose with the ace of diamonds and continued overruffed with the eight for the fourth defensive with the king of hearts. As his opponents were trick. playing five-card majors, declarer won with the ace of hearts and played a second diamond towards “That was unlucky,” declarer offered by way of excuse for making only nine tricks. dummy. When West followed with the four of diamonds declarer covered it with dummy’s eight. “Luck had nothing to do with the result,” said an East won the trick with the jack of diamonds and unsympathetic North. “All you had to do was ruff a switched to a club. Declarer rose with ace of clubs diamond at trick four rather than play a club. When then claimed ten tricks. He made three spades, two you play a club next, the defenders are helpless. If hearts, four diamonds and a club. they followed the same defensive plan you are a trick ahead in the play. After ruffing a club in dummy If West had played low on the first round of and cashing the king-ten of trump you will have only diamonds, declarer would have been held to nine one diamond left in dummy and the ace of trumps tricks. In effect, declarer caught West in a Morton’s in hand. You will make six trumps, the ace of hearts, Fork by playing a diamond at trick three. two diamonds and a club ruff.”

13 Round 8 – ERA v SHOKOLATA (Soffer) North. This is what Pachtmann did, scoring plus 400 and 11 IMPs. Board 14. Dealer East. Neither Vul. [ Q 7 5 3 Round 10 – ERA v LAVAZZA (Melander) & ] K 6 5 4 PSZCZOLA vs. VINCI (Jacobs) {8 The spectators were treated to the following laser- } K 7 6 2 and-light show on the following astonishing board … [9 6 4 [K J ] Q 9 8 ] 7 3 2 Board 1. Dealer North. Neither Vul. { A K 10 7 4 3 { Q J 9 5 [7 5 }4 }A Q 8 3 ]5 3 [ A 10 8 2 { 10 8 6 5 ] A J 10 } K 10 8 4 2 {6 2 [ A 10 [ Q J 9 8 4 } J 10 9 5 ] A K 6 4 ] Q 10 7 2 { A Q { K J 9 3 West North East South } A Q J 9 7 } — Zatorski Roll Pachtmann Levin [ K 6 3 2 ——1}1 Pass ]J 9 8 1[2 Pass 1NT Pass {7 4 2 3{3 Pass 3[ Pass }6 5 3 3NT Pass Pass Pass 1. 2+ clubs West North East South 2. Diamonds or a with less than Zatorski Bilde Pachtman Duboin invitational strength — 3} Pass Pass 3. Natural, invitational, based on long diamonds Double Pass 4} Pass 5} Pass 6} Pass West North East South 7] Pass Pass Pass Lengy Gromov Bareket Dubinin ——1}1 Pass A trump was led. Declarer pulled trumps ending in 1[2 Pass 1NT Pass dummy, led a diamond to the ace followed by the black 2}3 Pass 2{4 Pass aces, pitching a diamond from dummy on the ace of Pass Double 3{ 3[ clubs. Next, he overtook the queen of diamonds with Pass Pass Pass the king, discarded a spade on the jack of diamonds 1. 2+ clubs and finished up with a ruffing finesse against South’s 2. Diamonds or a balanced hand with less than king of spades. Having seen two hearts and three invitational strength diamonds from North he probably believed spades 3. Puppet to 2{ were even more unevenly distributed from the 4. Forced auction. Nevertheless, zero success this time for the . Against three spades, Lengy led his club singleton, but Bareket couldn’t read it and never continued clubs West North East South Sementa Gromov Bocchi Dubinin after winning the queen at trick one. Thus at least one — Pass Pass Pass defensive trick was lost, and then a diamond ruff-and- 2{1 Pass 2]2 Pass sluff spared declarer the heart guess, plus 140 for 3}3 Pass 3{4 Pass North/South. 3[5 Pass 4{6 Pass At the other table, Amir Levin read the bidding well 4[7 Pass 5}8 Pass and, rather than a spade, which would have helped 5{9 Pass 6}10 Pass declarer considerably, he started with the jack of hearts. 6{11 Pass 7] Pass In case North has a doubleton heart honour and the Pass Pass spade ace, declarer might duck in dummy, but 1. Strong unbal. or bal. 23+ Pachtmann considered this scenario unlikely and 2. 5+HCP; no 6+suit with two top honours covered with queen. He was right, as the suit blocked! 3. Natural, might be a two-suiter 4. Relay Perhaps Roll should have switched to spades after 5. Five clubs and four hearts winning his king of hearts, hoping to induce a misguess. 6. Setting hearts After the heart continuation, everything became clear 7. RKCB for declarer. South won the ace and ten of hearts, but 8. Zero key cards was unable to cash a fourth trick. Thus the only chance 9. Asking for the queen of hearts for declarer was to finesse clubs and play for the ace 10. Queen of hearts and the queen of spades of spades in South and the queen of spades with 11. We have it all, pick a contract

14 That was an impressive auction by the Italian pair, who, Lauria, did not take too long about the play. He won after a highly artificial sequence, came to rest in the the diamond lead with dummy’s ace, drew three excellent grand slam. The question was – what line to rounds of trumps and then led a spade to dummy’s take in declaring it? ten. When this held, the rest was very easy: ace of spades, queen of diamonds to the king, king of spades Dubinin led the nine of hearts. With limited entries to ruffed away and the losing diamond discarded on the the West hand one has to be very careful in planning ace of clubs. the play. Additionally, it would be very nice to learn something of the distribution of the opponents’ cards Since Brink-Drijver in the other room, quite rightly before making any decision regarding , ruffing on statistical grounds, stayed out of the grand slam, finesses or whatever line we might choose. Bocchi ran the VINCI team gained 11 IMPs. the nine of hearts to his ten and played the queen of Quarterfinal – GREECE vs. LAVAZZA spades. When South didn’t cover he eventually (Horton) overtook with the ace and ruffed a club, deciding to play for the king of clubs to be in either of the hands The Open Teams quarterfinal between LAVAZZA and in at most a four-card suit. Declarer then played a GREECE featured a wonderful deal where declarer diamond to the ace, ruffed a club, played a diamond to had to find a number of elegant moves in order to the queen and ruffed a third club, leaving; bring home his contract. [7 Board 14. Dealer East. Neither Vul. ]5 [ K Q J 2 { 10 8 ]9 8 3 }K 10 {6 [ 10 [ J 9 8 4 } K J 9 8 2 ]A K 6 ]— [7 5 4 [6 {— {K J ] A 10 7 5 4 ] Q J }A Q }— { A Q 10 { K 9 7 3 2 [K 6 3 } 10 3 } A Q 7 5 4 ]J 8 [ A 10 9 8 3 {7 ]K 6 2 }— { J 8 5 4 }6 Bocchi cashed the king of diamonds and pitched a spade from dummy. Next, he ruffed a spade in dummy, West North East South and pulled trumps. When the king of clubs didn’t drop Filios Bilde Papakyriak Duboin it was one down and 17 IMPs to ERA. ——1{1[ Double 2NT1 3} 3{ In the other match, VINCI also bid the grand slam. 3[ 4[ Pass Pass At the start of the round, the teams were in seventh 5{ Pass Pass Double and eighth place, respectively. Their lead over the Pass Pass Pass sixteenth-place team, however, was small enough that 1. Spade support a big loss would probably lead to the losing team failing In the other room, Sementa and Bocchi had stopped to qualify, whereas a near draw would see both teams in four diamonds, so a swing was inevitable. South into the last 16. cashed the ace of spades and, when North followed West North East South with the king, he continued with the nine. Declarer Versace Nowosadzki Lauria Kalita ruffed and played the jack of hearts, covered by the — Pass Pass Pass king and ace. Declarer cashed the ace of diamonds, 2}1 Pass 2]2 Pass returned to hand with a heart to the queen and played 3]3 Pass 4{4 Pass a diamond to the ten. When that held, he cashed the 4[5 Pass 5}6 Pass ten of hearts, pitching a club and continued with the 5{5 Pass 5[7 Pass seven of hearts, discarding another club, South ruffing 7] Pass Pass Pass and exiting with the ten of spades. Declarer ruffed – 1. Strong, artificial, game-forcing but with the king of diamonds, so that he could cross 2. Spades and 8+ HCP to dummy with a diamond, cash a heart and only then 3. 4 hearts and longer clubs take the club finesse to land his contract and collect 9 4. Slam try in hearts IMPs on the way to victory. 5. Control 6, Control, but denies spade control “Impressive. Even the Hideous Hog couldn’t have 7. Queen of spades, grand slam try played it better,” noted Michael Rosenberg.

15 Footnote: Declarer’s line was elegant, but suppose declarer played the queen of spades, Zhao could ruff South had started with a doubleton king of hearts? and cash his other high trump, but declarer would Then, after cashing the ace of diamonds, declarer does have the rest for plus 590. At the other table, the best to take the club finesse. He can then cash the ace contract was the same, but it wasn’t doubled – and it of clubs and the queen of hearts, ruff a club, ruff a didn’t make. spade and play a club, at which point South has no West North East South defence. Dai Doxiadis Yang Roussos Semifinal – GREECE vs. CHINA (Manley) 1}1 2} 3} 4} 4] Pass Pass Pass Board 14. Dealer East. Neither Vul. 1. Precision; 16+ HCP [ J 9 8 2 ]7 Doxiadis led the ace of clubs, ruffed in dummy. {8 7 Declarer cashed the ace of hearts at trick two, played } A K J 9 5 2 a diamond to his king and played a heart to dummy’s [ A K Q [ 10 7 6 4 king. All of a sudden, the contract was looking very ] 10 9 8 4 ] A K 6 3 shaky. Declarer played a spade to the ace, cashed the { K Q 6 { J 10 5 3 2 king of spades and tried the queen, but South ruffed, } Q 10 8 } — cashed the queen of hearts and played a club. Soon [5 3 the defenders were claiming plus 150 for three down. ] Q J 5 2 That was a 12-IMP swing to the Greeks. {A 9 4 } 7 6 4 3 SENIOR TEAMS West North East South Final - WOLFSON vs. KAMINSKI (Carruthers) Kontomitros Chen Koukouselis Zhao — — Pass Pass The two oldest players in the senior teams event met 1}1 2} Double Pass each other in the final. Benito Garozzo is 89 and Amos 3] 4} 4] Double Kaminski 87. Pass Pass Pass Both teams had survived close semifinals, WOLFSON 1. 2+ clubs 54-50, by hanging on after a significant halftime lead of Chen led the ace of clubs, ruffed in dummy. 19 IMPs over VAN EIJCK, KAMINSKI 70-67, after Kontomitros played a diamond, Zhao winning with the staging a furious comeback against VITO, having been ace. South played a spade next; declarer won with the down 48-17 at the half. ace and ruffed another club in dummy. He then cashed The teams were WOLFSON: Jeff Wolfson/Neil the ace of hearts and played a diamond to his king. The Silverman (USA), Benito Garozzo/Marco Masoero queen of clubs was covered by North’s king and ruffed (Italy) and KAMINSKI: Amos Kaminski/Yeshayahu Levit, with dummy’s king of hearts. A spade to the king was Leonid Podgur/Avi Kalish, Adrian Schwartz/Shalom followed by a diamond to dummy’s jack. This was the Zeligman (Israel) ending: Board 12. Dealer West. NS Vul. [J 9 [7 ]— ]Q {— { A K J 5 }9 5 } A K 10 8 7 3 2 [Q [10 7 [ J 9 5 2 [ 10 4 3 ] 10 9 8 ] — ] K J 9 5 4 ] 8 7 3 2 {— {10 5 { 10 6 { 9 8 3 }— }— } 9 5 } Q J 6 [— [ A K Q 8 6 ]Q J 5 ] A 10 6 {— { Q 7 4 2 }7 }4 When declarer led the ten of diamonds from dummy, West North East South Zhao (South) had no answer. Declarer had eight tricks Podgur Garozzo Kalish Masoero and needed only two more. If Zhao ruffed high, declarer 2]1 Double 3] 4] would have had two natural heart tricks. In practice, Pass 6} Pass Pass Zhao ruffed with the five and was overruffed. When Pass 1. Hearts and any other suit, weak

16 Podgur/Kalish made life difficult, if not impossible for defending seven notrump than he’d have been Garozzo/Masoero. Plus 1370. defending seven hearts without the lead and rubbed salt into the wound with a double. He led the ace of West North East South diamonds and was later squeezed in the black suits to Wolfson Levit Silverman Kaminski hold the North/South loss to minus 100. Pass 1} Pass 1[ Pass 2{ Pass 3{ West North East South Pass 4NT1 Pass 5[2 Wolfson Schwartz Silverman Zeligman Pass 7{ Pass Pass — — Pass 1{ Pass Pass 1] Pass 2NT 1. RKCB Pass 3} Pass 3NT 2. 2 key cards and the {Q Pass Pass Pass In the other room, life was still not exactly easy, but Zeligman was having none of it, refusing even to prefer the Israelis had enough methods to find the fit and hearts, whatever the unalerted three clubs meant. On settle in the diamond grand slam. The Podgur/Kalish a club lead he made 12 tricks for plus 490 and an 11- interference and Polish Two-Bid had won KAMINSKI IMP win. 13 IMPs. Board 26. Dealer East. Both Vul. Board 22. Dealer East. EW Vul. [J 9 3 [ A J 8 7 ] K 10 6 2 ] A J 10 3 {K Q {Q 6 3 } Q 9 8 2 }6 3 [ A Q 4 2 [ K 10 [ K 10 5 4 [ 3 2 ]J ]A 9 ] 7 2 ] 9 8 5 4 { A J 10 3 { 9 8 7 6 5 { A 9 { 8 7 5 4 } A K 5 4 } J 7 6 3 } Q 8 7 5 2 } 10 9 4 [ 8 7 6 5 [Q 9 6 ] Q 8 7 5 4 3 ]K Q 6 {4 2 { K J 10 2 }10 }A K J West North East South West North East South Kalish Garozzo Podgur Masoero Kalish Garozzo Podgur Masoero — — Pass Pass — — Pass 1{ 1}1 Pass 2{2 Pass Pass 1] Pass 2NT 3{ Pass 3NT Pass Pass 3}1 Pass 3]2 4} Pass 4] Pass Pass 3[ Pass 4} 4[ Pass 5{ Pass Pass 4{ Pass 4[ Pass Pass Pass 5NT3 Pass 7] 1. Precision Pass 7NT Pass Pass 2. 5+ diamonds, 8+ HCP Double Pass Pass Pass The play in five diamonds offered options. Masoero led 1. Checkback the ten of clubs. Podgur won, came to the ace of hearts 2. 3-card heart support and took a diamond finesse. Garozzo won and played a 3. Pick a slam (North) or Josephine in hearts heart, ruffed in dummy. This was fine defence: it made it (South) look to Podgur as if Garozzo was trying to protect his Garozzo/Masoero had a misunderstanding about the partner’s king-third of diamonds. Still not knowing the meaning of five notrump. A small slam is makeable in club layout (South could have had ten-nine to some four denominations, but is not good in any of them. If combination), Podgur crossed to the king of spades and Kalish had led a heart against, say, six notrump, that took another diamond finesse. There was no recovery would have alerted Masoero to the nature of his hand from that play and he was one off for minus 100. and might well have resulted in declarer making the West North East South contract, either on two spade finesses or one spade Wolfson Schwartz Silverman Zeligman finesse and a black-suit squeeze. — — Pass Pass Ironically, the slam likeliest to make was six spades, 1} Pass 1{ Pass since it needed the lie of the cards that actually existed, 3]1 Pass 5{ Pass whereas the other three slams all had losing options Pass Pass available to declarer. Kalish was on firmer ground 1. Splinter

17 Silverman won the club-ten lead with the ace in West North East South dummy and made it look easy by cashing the ace of Gotard Versace Eggeling Pramotton diamonds. He lost a trick in each minor for plus 600 — — Pass 1{ and plus 12 IMPs. 1] 2} Pass 2{ Pass 2[ Pass 3{ Pairs Events Pass 3NT Pass Pass Pass Mixed Pairs Qualifying (Rigal) East led the ten of hearts. When West overtook it Board 7. Dealer South. Both Vul. with the jack, Versace won with the king. He unblocked [6 4 the queen of diamonds, crossed to dummy with a club ]Q 3 2 and cashed the ace of diamonds. When West discarded { A Q 5 3 } A K J 7 the nine of clubs, the contract appeared to be hopeless, [ K 8 5 3 [ A Q J 10 7 but declarer was not ready to give up. He discarded a ] K 6 ] A 9 5 4 heart from hand, then played dummy’s queen of spades, {K 7 2 {J covered by the king and ace (if West withholds the } Q 9 8 3 } 10 6 2 king, declarer plays another spade, covering West’s [9 2 card). ] J 10 8 7 { 10 9 8 6 4 With West now out of the game, declarer played two }5 4 further rounds of clubs, discarding hearts from West North East South dummy and putting East on lead. She could cash a Reim L.Berkowitz Zimmermann D.Berkowitz second club and the spade jack but then had to — — — Pass surrender three tricks to either declarer or dummy Pass 1NT 2}1 Pass one way or another. 2[ Pass Pass Pass 1. Majors To have any chance of defeating three notrump, West must keep his club holding intact, so that he can win The defenders needed to take a club ruff to get four the third round of clubs. However, that is not quite tricks easily (club. club, club ruff, diamond) but, at trick the end of the story. Had declarer cashed the master one, David Berkowitz’s five of clubs was not easy to read. It could have been from two, three, or four when diamond in dummy before playing the spade queen, West followed with the eight. Lisa Berkowitz shifted West can pitch two spades. Then if East simply follows to a spade, and now declarer has a very nice resource, suit upwards, retaining the jack-nine of diamonds, knowing there was a 15-17 notrump to her left. declarer plays the queen of spades as before, and after Andrea Reim won the trump, played the ace, king and that exits with the ten of spades, pinning West’s nine. another heart, ruffing high in hand, then drew a second Then, if East cashes the jack of diamonds and exits trump and exited from her hand with a low diamond. with the nine, declarer follows with dummy’s eight (!) North won with her queen, and had only the minors after which East must surrender three tricks to left, so could not avoid conceding the tenth trick. declarer. East can counter this by unblocking the nine Minus 140 would have been almost a dead average, of diamonds so that dummy can be thrown in with with one third of a top riding on the overtrick. the six. Mixed Pairs Semifinal (Horton & Canali) If Versace had erred by cashing the second diamond, Board 10. Dealer East. Both Vul. the defence is simpler. If West pitches a spade and a [ A 10 7 5 heart, West can cover the queen of spades and, if ]K 5 2 declarer continues with the king and another club, {Q East allows West to win and the defenders take the } K 7 5 3 2 rest. Alfredo’s beautiful play netted the partnership an [ K 9 4 3 [ J 6 2 88% score and a sixth place finish on their way to the ] A Q J 9 6 ] 10 final. { 4 { J 9 6 5 3 } J 9 6 } Q 10 8 4 Mixed Pairs Semifinal (Melander) [Q 8 To find boards where declarer executes an elimination ] 8 7 4 3 and endplay is common stuff. It’s rarer that you find { A K 10 8 7 2 one made by the defence. }A

18 Board 25. Dealer North. EW Vul. Mixed Pairs Final (Soffer) [J 3 2 Board 11. Dealer South. Neither. ]J { A Q 7 5 4 3 [ Q 10 6 } K 10 4 ] A Q J 10 4 [ K 8 7 [ 10 6 4 {Q 7 ] A Q 7 3 ] 9 8 5 4 }9 3 2 { K 10 9 { 8 2 [ A J 3 [ K 9 5 2 } 6 3 2 } Q J 9 5 ]9 8 6 ]K 5 2 [ A Q 9 5 { J 6 2 { K 10 9 5 ] K 10 6 2 } A 8 7 5 } J 6 {J 6 [8 7 4 }A 8 7 ]7 3 West North East South { A 8 4 3 Bylund Ginossar Strömberg Barr } K Q 10 4 — 1{ Pass 1] West North East South Pass 2{ Pass 3NT Klukowski Oigarden Zmuda Simonsen Pass Pass Pass — — — Pass West, with most of the defence’s assets, went for the Pass 1] Pass 1NT most-passive alternative by leading the six of clubs. Pass Pass Pass Declarer followed with dummy’s four, which went to the nine and declarer’s ace. From declarer’s perspective, One might easily spot seven tricks for East/West in she had two clubs, five diamonds (most often) at least the defence against one notrump: two spades, three one heart and for sure two spades. Game should have diamonds, one heart and one club. However, after a pretty good chance to make. normal play, the Poles beat this contract by two However, it was pairs, so declarer had to try to take as tricks. Which East/West card took the eighth trick many tricks as she could. Indeed, 50 tables managed for the defence, and how did this come about? to make 10 tricks and 10 tables even made 11 tricks! They started with the only lead that gives away the So, nine would have been under average. contract – according to Deep Finesse – a low club. What would have been your plan as declarer? When East’s club jack was captured by South’s king, things looked bright for declarer. He continued with Barr went for diamonds by playing the jack and, when it was covered with the king, she won with dummy’s a heart finesse to the queen, winning the trick. ace to continue with the ace of diamonds and a third At this point, declarer could have made the contract round to set up the suit. West continued with clubs: by the double dummy play of leading the ten or jack three, ten, jack, seven. East shifted to a heart. Declarer of hearts from dummy. Not being forced to make probably wished that she had played slightly differently any discards from his own hand, declarer would when West won with the queen to put a third club have been able to re-enter dummy in spades. on the table. That reduced dummy to jack-third in spades and the remaining three diamonds. However, at trick three, declarer led a very normal nine of clubs from dummy – ducked as well. The Declarer could cash out her diamonds and then had to play a spade; when the finesse lost to West’s king he three of clubs followed and the defenders at last still had the ace of hearts to cash for one down. won their first trick. Zmuda discarded the two of spades, so Klukowski played a low diamond and That was beautiful defence by Bylund/Strömberg, who dummy’s queen was covered by the king and ace. were rewarded with 213 of the 262 points available. Declarer cashed his queen of clubs and repeated What should declarer have done? Double dummy, you the heart finesse. (Had he played the ace of hearts, have to duck the opening lead, allowing East to win it would have been a routine one down and we with the nine. On the likely heart switch, declarer plays low and allows East to win with the queen of hearts. would not have had any story, but bridge players When a club comes back, declarer wins in dummy are always optimistic.) and plays a diamond to the jack and king, establishing After the king of hearts won, Zmuda played a low the suit. Declarer wins the club return and sets up a diamond, taken by West’s six. Klukowski cashed the heart for nine tricks. That great play delivers a score jack of diamonds and led a spade to Zmuda’s king. below average – bridge life sucks sometimes. These were the last three cards:

19 [Q 6 [K 7 6 ]A ]— {— {9 7 }— }— [A J [9 [ A J 4 [ 10 5 ]9 ]2 ]6 ]7 {— {10 {10 {— }— }— } — } 10 9 [8 7 [Q 9 8 ]— ]— {8 {6 }— }4 When Zmuda played the ten of diamonds, Klukowski There were two lines for the defence to prevail: (i) discarded the nine of hearts and dummy was squeezed. West could have discarded a heart rather than a After some thought, declarer decided to keep the diamond on the third club. Now when East pitches queen of spades guarded, so the answer to our quiz is his penultimate club on the third diamond West can that East’s deuce of hearts became the eighth trick win the ten of diamonds and play a fourth diamond. for the defence. East discards his last club and the can no longer Anna-Maria Torlontano Pairs (Rigal) be made; (ii) but, in the ending shown, East can ruff in Board 17. Dealer North. Neither Vul. on the third diamond to play a club and ensure two [ K 7 6 2 trump tricks for his partner. ]K 9 2 Women’s Pairs Final (Bird) { 9 7 5 4 }J 3 Board 12. Dealer West. NS Vul. [ A J 4 [ 10 5 [K J 9 ] Q J 6 4 ] A 10 7 5 ]A Q { K 10 3 2 { J 8 { A 10 9 8 4 3 } Q 8 } 10 9 7 6 5 }Q 3 [ Q 9 8 3 [ 4 3 [ A 10 7 2 ]8 3 ] J 6 3 2 ] K 10 8 5 {A Q 6 {K 6 2 {7 5 } A K 4 2 } J 9 8 2 } K 7 4 West North East South [ Q 8 6 5 Dinkin Shuster ]9 7 4 — Pass Pass 1[ {Q J Double 2[ Pass Pass } A 10 6 5 Pass West North East South Michael Shuster and Sam Dinkin play an unusual system Adut Puillet Yavas V.Bessis with four-card majors in third seat, hence the choice Pass 1NT Pass 2} of actions. After a top heart lead, ducked, and a second Pass 2{ Pass 3NT heart to the king and ace, East accurately shifted to Pass Pass Pass the jack of diamonds. Shuster took the ace and returned the queen of diamonds. He ruffed the next Carole Puillet won the heart lead with the queen. Some heart, played the ace, king and a third club, ruffing in declarers led a diamond from hand at this stage, scoring the dummy as West discarded a diamond, then exited only nine tricks. Puillet played the king of spades, in diamonds. hoping to start diamonds from the dummy and finesse successfully. Dilek Yavas won with the ace of spades This was the ending as the diamond was led (See top and knocked out the ace of hearts. Declarer crossed of next column): to the queen of spades and led the queen of diamonds, East discarded a heart and West won with his ten to covered by the king and ace. A diamond to the jack play a heart. Declarer ruffed in hand after East pitched and a spade to declarer’s jack allowed the diamonds a club, then led the last club to execute a Devil’s Coup. to be run. East held both black-suit guards and had to If West had discarded, declarer would have ruffed low. surrender a twelfth trick. She bared the king of clubs Ruffing with the ace of spades was obviously futile, and Puillet scored the ace and queen for a fine plus and, when West ruffed with the jack, declarer could 690 and 82%. Excellent! overruff and finesse against the ten.

20 Open Pairs Final (Rigal) proved too difficult for 14 of our 17 declarers, a few of them managing only eight tricks, doubled Board 16. Dealer West. EW Vul. or not. [A K 4 ] 10 5 3 Board 29. Dealer North. Both Vul. {A Q 9 [ K J 10 9 8 5 3 2 } A 8 6 5 ]4 [ Q J 10 9 6 3 2 [ 5 {7 5 4 ] 8 6 4 ] K Q 7 2 }K { — { J 8 5 4 3 [A Q 7 [6 } K 3 2 } J 7 4 ] A K 8 6 5 2 ] 10 9 3 [8 7 { 6 { Q J 10 8 2 ]A J 9 } A 8 7 } Q 10 9 6 { K 10 7 6 2 [4 } Q 10 9 ]Q J 7 West North East South { A K 9 3 Wildavsky Ezion Lewis Zamir } J 5 4 3 2 3[ 3NT Pass Pass Our three successful declarers, Combescure, Paske Pass and Dai, all got the lead of the king of clubs from North. Marshall Lewis led his partner’s suit, and declarer This did not give away a trick, but at least it made the captured the ten with the ace and immediately led club position clear for the declarers; without that lead a club to the nine – a very good start. Adam they might have misread the club position. They won Wildavsky won with his king and continued spades, with their ace, cashed one top trump and led a leading the jack (carrying some sort of mild suit diamond. South won and returned a spade, but now preference?). What was Lewis to discard? He declarer won, cashed his other top trump and ruffed inferred from declarer’s failure to play on diamonds a spade. It would not have helped South to overruff as that he had the ace-queen-nine of the suit, so the he would have to continue with either a diamond or a strip-and-endplay was looming on him for 11 tricks. club, so South did best to discard. This simply Accordingly, he discarded king of hearts, trying to postponed the evil day for South though, as declarer look like a man who was creating an entry for now led dummy’s jack of diamonds, throwing a spade partner. Declarer fell for it; he finessed in clubs, if South did not cover. After that, declarer ruffed a unblocked the queen, came to the ace of diamonds diamond in hand and put South on lead with the last and took his ace of clubs, then cashed queen of trump, compelling him to return either minor to diamonds, finessed in diamonds, and ran the declarer’s advantage. If South covered the jack of diamonds to throw East in with the fifth diamond. diamonds, declarer ruffed and exited with his last In the two-card ending, Lewis had the queen-seven trump, again putting South on lead to declarer’s of hearts left and Wildavsky his master spade and advantage. one heart. When Lewis led his low heart, declarer rose with dummy’s ace, trying to drop Wildavsky’s putative, now-bare, queen. Declarer thus had to settle for ten tricks. 2017 Yeh Bros Cup Had Lewis not made this ‘unblock’, declarer would Held July 3-7, 2017, in Tokyo. The results were: surely have reached an ending where after two spades, one heart, three diamonds and four clubs, 1. Huub Bertens/Curtis Cheek $175,000 he could have thrown East in with a heart honour Fred Gitelman/Eric Kokish to lead into dummy’s diamond tenace. That would 2. Josef Blass/Jacek Pszczola $48,000 have been for 11 tricks. Eric Greco/Geoff Hampson Minus 430 was worth a good score for East/West; Jacek Kalita/Micahal Nowosadzki minus 460 would have been well below average. 3. Vincent Demuy/John Kranyak $16,000 Open Pairs Final (Jacobs) John Hurd/Joel Wooldridge On the following board, 17 of 26 East/West pairs 4. Geir Helgemo/Tor Helness $8,000 played in four or five hearts after North had pre- Krzysztof Martens/Pierre Zimmermann empted in spades. Only one of the pairs in four Lorenzo Lauria/Alfredo Versace hearts was doubled and went down but, on the There will be a report on this event in next other hand, only one pair in five hearts escaped month’s IBPA Bulletin. the double, but also went down. Making 11 tricks

21 IBPA ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING & AWARDS August 2017 (Date TBD), Lyon, France

Proposed Agenda

1. Remembrance of members deceased since last AGM 2. Minutes of the AGM and Awards held on 10th September 2016 in Wroclaw, Poland (see Bulletin 624 January 2017, page 17) and matters arising 3. Officers’ reports: President (Barry Rigal), Chairman (Per Jannersten), Secretary (Herman De Wael) 4. Appointees’ Reports: Editor (John Carruthers), Liaison Officer (TBD), Membership Secretary (Dilip Gidwani) 5. Treasurer: Accounts for the year ending 31st December 2016, budget and proposal regarding subscriptions for the year 2018; Auditor’s report for 2016 (Richard Fleet) 6. Elections Officers already elected to 2018: • President: Barry Rigal (USA) • Chairman: Per Jannersten (Sweden) • Exec Vice-President: Jan van Cleeff (Netherlands) • Organisational Vice-President: Dilip Gidwani (India) • Secretary: Herman De Wael (Belgium) • Treasurer: Richard Solomon (New Zealand) Proposed for annual election are: • Honorary General Counsel: David Harris (England) • Honorary Auditor: Richard Fleet (England) Automatically continuing without election are the Presidents Emeriti: Tommy Sandsmark (Norway) and Henry Francis (USA) Election of Executive Members: Already elected to 2018: Geo Tislevoll (New Zealand); Jerry Li (China); Ron Tacchi (France) Already elected to 2019: Brent Manley (USA); David Stern (Australia); Tadashi Yoshida (Japan) Nominees for Election to 2020: John Carruthers (Canada); Marek Wójcicki (Poland); Gavin Wolpert (USA) Appointees: • Awards Chairman: Brent Manley (USA) • IBPA Bulletin Editor: John Carruthers (Canada) • Membership Secretary: Dilip Gidwani (India) 7. The IBPA Annual Awards 8. Any other competent business

targets, unless it is part of the curriculum, it won’t get Correspondence taught. The Editor reserves the right to abridge and/or edit correspondence. Approximately three years ago, our club was struggling Email: [email protected] to recruit new members. Due to attrition we were experiencing a shortfall in member numbers. We run Dear Sir, classes every year at the bridge club – trying to recruit new members for lessons is extremely difficult. Re: Bridge and the National Curriculum. I am hoping the IBPA can take it on board and discuss I am passionate about bridge and, being a late starter, I the possibilities. Can any of your members make can see the benefits and rewards of teaching bridge in suggestions? schools. However, with teachers’ workload and moving Regards, Dave Parkin [email protected]

22 coordination with its partners. In addition to live event NEWS & streaming, the Olympic Channel works with its federation partners to present event coverage, VIEWS highlights, magazine shows, news coverage and original programming, providing an ancillary platform to distribute content that is complementary to current Italy broadcast and distribution arrangements. The Olympic Channel is a multi-platform destination where fans Two items of note from Italy hit the press this past can experience sport and the Olympic Games year month. ‘round, and is available worldwide via mobile apps First came the announcement that Lorenzo Lauria and for Android and iOS devices, at olympicchannel.com Alfredo Versace were moving to Monaco to join the and on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Zimmermann team and, one presumes, eventually to TBF Lauches Investigation play for Monaco. It appears that they will be eligible for the 2019 World Championships. In the meantime, The Turkish Bridge Federation has announced that it they will continue to play with Jimmy Cayne in the US has started an investigation into the illegal transmission Nationals. Their first engagement with Pierre of signals between a player, Salim Yilankiran and a kibitzer, Zimmermann was early this month in the Yeh Bros. Zafer Tigan. The issue arose at a tournament in Ankara Cup in Tokyo. on June 4, 2017, and was tracked at two subsequent tournaments. Second was the unveiling of Italy’s team for the upcoming in Lyon. The team will The TBF Management Board created a committee to comprise Massimiliano Di Franco/Andrea Manno, investigate and its report has been submitted to the Giovanni Donati/Alessandro Gandoglia and Benito TBF Disciplinary Board for action and to the Garozzo/Franco Masoero, with Ezio Fornaciari as NPC. department of Youth and Sports for information and It is likely they will have both the youngest (Donati) to fufill legal obligations. Results are forthcoming. and the oldest (Garozzo) players in the event.

Poland The Polish Bridge Union indeed found Balicki/ www.ibpa.com Zmudzinski guilty of unlawfully transmitting signals but has declined to exact punishment since the statute of limitations had run out. The full text of the ‘judgement’ This Bulletin: can be found at: You can access an electronic copy of this http://neapolitanclub.altervista.org/eng/pbu- Bulletin at www.ibpa.com/630pc.pdf department-discipline-decision-balicki-zmudzinski-full- text.html Subscriptions: You can apply to join the IBPA or renew your WBF Joins Olympic Channel subscription on the website by clicking on the On June 14, 2017, the WBF announced that it had appropriate button on the top of the homepage. reached a cooperation agreement with the Olympic Members’ Addresses: Channel to collaborate on content for the global platform. This new cooperation agreement brings the You can find fellow members’ contact details number of federation partners who have announced at: www.jannersten.org. If you have forgotten similar agreements with the your access code: [email protected] Olympic Channel to 54. The 2015 Handbook: “The To access the electronic version of the is delighted to join the Olympic Handbook, go to the IBPA website: Channel,” said President www.ibpa.com Gianarrigo Rona. “We feel sure that this move will serve to widen Personal Details Changes: the interest in Bridge, especially among young players, who Whenever your contact details change, please will be able to enjoy good coverage of events through the amend them as appropriate in the database Channel.” found at: www.jannersten.org In 2017, the Olympic Channel is scheduled to present or inform the Membership Secretary, nearly 500 competitions across 210 events in Dilip Gidwani: [email protected]

23 World Bridge Calendar DATES EVENT LOCATION INFORMATION 2017 Jul 7-16 Danish Bridge Festival Svendborg, Denmark www.bridgefestival.dk Jul 8-15 26th European Junior Teams Samorin, Slovakia www.eurobridge.org Jul 10-19 Alaska Regional At Sea www.acbl.org Jul 13-16 Czech Open Pardubice, Czech Republic www.eurobridge.org Jul 15-27 Australian National Championships Canberra, Australia www.abf.com.au Jul 17-26 Indonesia National Championships Surabaya, Indonesia [email protected] Jul 17-30 59th World Bridge Festival Deauville, France www.deauville-bridge.com Jul 20-30 ACBL Summer NABC Toronto, Ontario www.acbl.org Jul 26-30 Hong Kong Intercity Hong Kong, China www.hkintercity.org/2017 Jul 27-29 Youth NABC Toronto, Ontario www.acbl.org Jul 28-Aug 6 23rd Swedish Bridge Festival Õrebro, Sweden www.svenskbridge.se/festival-2017 Jul 29-Aug 3 Chairman’s Cup Õrebro, Sweden www.svenskbridge.se/eng Jul 30-Aug 5 49th International Bridge Week Mautern, Austria www.bridgeaustria.at Aug 4-6 2nd Marit Sveaas Tournament Oslo, Norway www.bridge.no Aug 4-12 International Baltic Congress Sopot, Poland www.eurobridge.org Aug 4-13 EBU Summer Meeting Eastbourne, UK www.ebu.co.uk Aug 7-13 Norsk Bridge Festival Drammen, Norway www.bridgefestival.no Aug 9-13 Riga Invites to Jurmala Jurmala, Latvia Aug 12-26 World Team Championships Lyon, France www.worldbridge.org Aug 14, 16 Pro-Youth Simultaneous Pairs Clubs Worldwide www.worldbridge.org Aug 15-24 World Open Youth Championships Lyon, France www.worldbridge.org Aug 18-27 EBU Summer Meeting Eastbourne, UK www.ebu.co.uk Aug 19-24 World Computer Championship Lyon, France www.worldbridge.org Aug 26-Sep 3 Festival La Grande Motte La Grande Motte, France www.festivalsdusoleil.com Sep 2-13 56th International Festival Pula, Croatia www.pulabridgefestival.com Sep 8-10 Menpora & Governor KEPRI Cup Batam, Indonesia [email protected] Sep 8-17 Guernsey Congress Guernsey, Channel Is. www.ebu.co.uk Sep 8-17 Brazilian Open Bahia, Brazil www.bridgesaopaulo.com.br Sep 12-17 15th HCL International New Delhi, India www.hcl-bridge.com Sep 15-17 Vilnius Cup Vilnius, Lithuania www.vilniuscup.lt Sep 19-24 5th Euro University Championships Fuengirola, Spain www.fuengirola2017.eusa.com Sep 29-Oct 1 11th Minsk Cup Minsk, Belarus www.sportbridge.by Sep 30-Oct 4 21st International Bridge Festival Azores Is., Portugal www.fpbridge.pt Sep 30-Oct 7 New Zealand National Congress Hamilton, NZ www.nzbridge.co.nz Oct 6-8 Northern Lights Bridge Festival Siglufjördur, Iceland www.bridge.is Oct 9-15 EBU Overseas Congress Halkidiki, Greece www.ebu.co.uk Oct 18-26 Australian Spring Nationals Sydney, Australia www.abf.com.au Nov 6-12 20th International Festival Madeira, Portugal www.fpbridge.pt Nov 8-11 Lido International Festival Venice, Italy www.festivaldelbridgelidodivenezia.com Nov 9-11 16th European Champions Cup Riga, Latvia www.eurobridge.org Nov 9-11 4th Marbella International Marbella, Costa del Sol, Spain www.marbellabridge.com Nov 9-19 23rd Red Sea International Festival Eilat, Israel www.redseabridge.com Nov 20-23 Euro Small Federations Championship Monte Carlo, Monaco www.eurobridge.org Nov 23-Dec 3 ACBL Fall NABC San Diego, Ca www.acbl.org Dec 6-12 2nd SEABF Championships Jakarta, Indonesia [email protected] 2018 Jan 10-21 Summer Festival of Bridge Canberra, Australia www.abf.com.au Jan 27-Feb 2 59th Bermuda Regional Southampton, Bermuda www.bermudaregional.com Feb 14-18 Commonwealth Nations Championships Broadbeach, Australia www.abf.com.au Feb 16-24 57th Gold Coast Congress Broadbeach, Australia www.abf.com.au Feb 17-23 2nd European Winter Games Monte Carlo, Monaco www.eurobridge.org Mar 8-18 Spring NABC Philadelphia, PA www.acbl.org Mar 27-Apr 1 123rd Easter Regional Toronto, ON www.unit166.ca Apr 26-30 Australian Autumn Nationals Adelaide, Australia www.abf.com.au Jun 6-16 54th European Team Championships Ostend, Belgium www.eurobridge.org Jul 26-Aug 5 Summer NABC Atlanta, GA www.acbl.org Jul 27-Aug 5 24th Swedish Bridge Festival Õrebro, Sweden [email protected] Jul 29-Aug 3 Chairman’s Cup Õrebro, Sweden [email protected] Aug 9-18 17th World Youth Team Championships Wu Jiang, China www.worldbridge.org Sep 22-Oct 6 11th World Bridge Series Orlando, FL www.worldbridge.org Sep 29-Oct 6 New Zealand National Congress Hamilton, NZ www.nzbridge.co.nz Oct 25-28 9th World University Championships Xuxhou, China www.worldbridge.org Nov 22-Dec 2 Fall NABC Honolulu, HI www.acbl.org

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