NEWSLETTER AUSTRALIAN BRIDGE FEDERATION INC. EDITOR: Stephen Lester NO. 141 JANUARY 2010 Approved for Print Post S65001/00163 ABN 70 053 651 666 Spring National Festival 2. You hold lQJ754, k10932, j 2, iA82. You are last to speak, with the opponents vulnerable. The bidding starts 1k on your left, double from partner, 2j on your right. What do you do? 3. You hold lA872, k7, jQJ9872, i72. You are second to speak, with no one vulnerable. The bidding starts 1k on your right, pass (?) from you, 4k on your left, passed back to you. What do you do? 4. You hold l542, kJ5, jAQ9862, i62. You are last to speak, vulnerable against not. The bidding goes 2k on your left, 2l from partner, 3NT on your right, all pass. What do you lead? 2009 Spring National Open Team winners: Andrew Peake, Bruce Neill, Sartaj Hans and Avi Kanetkar 5. You hold lK, kAJ10763, j104, iK974. You From the Convener are second to speak, with everyone vulnerable. The he entry numbers were better for the Open bidding starts pass, 1k from you, 1l on your left, T Teams and the Dick Cummings Open Pairs 2l from partner, 4l on your right. this year. Entries to the Manzoni Women’s Teams and the Bobby Evans Seniors’ Teams were dis- What do you do? appointing. Unfortunately, the Restricted Teams l k j i was cancelled due to a lack of entries. 6. You hold J4, 109, AQ108, KQJ73. You are last to speak, with everyone vulnerable. The bidding The 2009 event was held for the final time at starts pass-pass-1l on your right, 2i from you, 2l the Hakoah Club in Bondi. A new venue will be on your left, 3j from partner, 4l on your right, back found for next year. The 2010 Spring Nationals to you. are provisionally set for October 20 - 28; please mark these dates in your diary. What do you do? Kim Neale 7. Finally, a play problem. You are in 6l with no Problems opposition bidding, on a low club lead. Here are some problems from the Spring National You Dummy Open Teams Finals. Try them before you read the lA 10 3 lK Q 8 7 6 report which follows. kK 7 6 2 kA 3 j10 4 jA K J 6 l k j i 1. You hold 853, KJ8653, K, KQ5. You are i8 7 6 4 iA Q dealer, with the opponents vulnerable. The bidding k k starts 1 from you, 2 (spades + minor) on your left, You take the club finesse. RHO wins and returns a k l l 3 (weaker than 2 ) from partner, 4 on your left. low trump. What do you do? What is your plan? he Spring Nationals in Sydney fall in a busy part the final, I look at BBO to see the last board in play T of the bridge calendar, and don’t feature as big a at the other table. field as the Summer Festival. There are 36 entries for At our table, I open an 11-count and we subside in 2l, the Open Teams, but the top tables feature plenty of two off for -200. Our teammates get higher, reaching a Australian experts. 24-point 3NT. At a quick glance, I predict that declarer The qualifying is a nine-round Swiss of 20-board will misguess lJ and go two off. But when Sartaj is matches. To get into the top four, our team has to declarer, never give up hope! He guesses everything win the last match against the previously undefeated right to make nine tricks! GUMBY. In fact, a 23-9 win takes us into second place. 9 IMPs in, instead of the 9 IMPS away I was forecasting. Phew! That gives a glow to the score-up, and leaves NEILL The qualifiers are: leading GUMBY by 24 IMPs (87 to 63), after 32 of the scheduled 64 boards. 1. 169 Gumby, Lazer, Robinson, De Livera 2=. 161 Neill, Kanetkar, Peake, Hans The third segment brings an avalanche (or perhaps a 2=. 161 Antoff, Simpson, Appleton, Reynolds tsunami) of IMPs. What would you have done on these 4. 157 Morrison, Hinge, Weston, Wilkinson problems from the swing boards? Before you read on, you might like to try the problems on page 1, if you Just missing out in a tight finish are: haven’t already done so. 5. 156 Smee, Quittner, Auerbach, Kiss Problem 1 6. 155 Lilley, Nagy, Klinger, Hoffman, Haughie, Lazer and Hans, as dealer, with the opponents Braithwaite vulnerable, hold l853, kKJ8653, jK, iKQ5. The 7=. 154 Noble, Bilski, Brown, Prescott, Burgess, bidding starts 1k from them, 2k (spades and a minor) Jedrychowski on their left, 3k (weaker than 2l) from partner, 4l on 7=. 154 Giura, Hughes, Quail, Hills their left. 9. 153 Rothfield, Gold, Ebery, Browne, Bagchi 10. 150 M. Bourke, Smith, Van Riel, Beale Hans passes, and scores -650. Lazer bids 5k, which will go for -500 (possibly -300, if the opponents don’t GUMBY chooses MORRISON for the 64-board semi- take their club ruff). Seems like a good proposition, final, leaving NEILL to play ANTOFF. Neither match but he loses 5 IMPs when Gumby is not sure who’s is close, and GUMBY faces NEILL in the final, also saving against whom, and doubles, holding l62, over 64 boards. GUMBY has an 8 IMP start, since they kQ742, jA8, iJ9632, when the opponents press on finished 8 VPs ahead in the qualifying. to 5l. The defence takes just two diamond tricks for For GUMBY, Ian Robinson and Arjuna deLivera have -850. 5 IMPs to NEILL. had an excellent track record over the last few years, Problem 2 and played at the Bermuda Bowl this year. They are After two quiet boards, Gumby and Peake, last to speak playing Acol with four-card suits. Pauline Gumby and with the opponents vulnerable, hold lQJ754, k10932, Warren Lazer play a fairly standard system with five- j2, iA82. The bidding starts 1k on their left, double card majors, but conventionally open 1i with clubs from partner, 2j on their right. unbalanced, or 17-20 balanced, and 1j with diamonds, Gumby bids 2l, and ends in 3l when the opponents unbalanced, or 11-13, balanced. compete to 3j, which would have made. One down For NEILL, Avi Kanetkar and Bruce Neill play simple for -50. Standard. Sartaj Hans and Andrew Peake, are playing Peake bids 3l, and ends up defending 4k, because de a strong club system they call “Mini-Meck”. (Sartaj Livera, whose 1k opening could have been a four-card has been scouting out the Meckstroth-Rodwell style suit, bids 4k to show his fifth heart when his partner from match reports, etc.) They seem to be having huge doubles 3l for takeout. That goes two off, -200. A fun, but are not in danger of winning the Speedball pickup for the faster auction: 6 IMPs to NEILL. Award. As we wait for them after each segment, it is a delight Problem 3 to be able to see the running results on Matt McManus’s Neill and de Livera, second to speak, with no one superb web presentation. (Have a look on abf.com.au, vulnerable, hold lA872, k7, jQJ9872, i72. and follow the links to the Spring National results.) In Against Neill, the bidding starts 1k on his right, pass the final, this is supplemented by a BBO broadcast. from him, 3j (invitational raise) on his left, pass, 3k After Avi Kanetkar and I finish the second quarter of on his right. He bids 4j, 4k on his left, 4l from partner 12 on l109543, kA2, jA10, iK1083. you, if they were the other way round, 4l might make l Well done by Kanetkar to realise that the reason for the other way!) Lazer goes on to 5 , duly doubled for bidding 4j now, after passing earlier, was likely to be -800. 7 IMPs to NEILL. a side spade suit. Making 10 tricks, +420. Problem 6 Against de Livera, the bidding starts 1k, pass from Last to speak, with everyone vulnerable, Lazer and l k j i him, 4k on his left, passed out. Anyone for a takeout Hans hold J4, 109, AQ108, KQJ73. double? 4k makes 10 tricks, -420. Another pickup for Against Lazer, the bidding starts Pass-Pass-1l on his the faster auction: 13 IMPs to NEILL. right, 2i from him, 2l- 3j- 4l, back to him. He j l Problem 4 passes, as does everyone else. Any votes for 5 ? 4 You hold l542, kJ5, jAQ9862, i62. You are last to makes an overtrick, -650. speak, vulnerable against not. The bidding goes 2k on At the other table, there is a lot more bidding. Peake your left, 2l from partner, 3NT on your right, all Pass. opens 1j in second seat on l---, kA862, jKJ97654, Gumby leads a spade, and Kanetkar claims nine tricks i104. De Livera bids a conservative 4l with – seven clubs, and the two major suit aces. -400, when lAKQ109852, kKQ5, j---, i82. Hans bids 4NT. a diamond lead would have taken the first six tricks. Peake bids 5l, showing Key Cards, and Hans settles j In the other room, de Livera opens 2j (multi) and for 6 . after two rounds of bidding, ends in 4k. That is two After the Key Card auction, de Livera fails to picture down after a diamond lead. -100, 11 IMPs to NEILL. that partner also has an ace! So he leads a high spade, (A trend is emerging.) no doubt hoping for a fast spade trick and a slow heart Problem 5 trick.