43rd GENERALI EUROPEAN BRIDGE CHAMPIONSHIPS
DAILY BULLETIN

Editor: J.-P. MeyerCo-Editor: M. HortonWeb Editor: Th. Matziaris
No.: 1 • Saturday, 14 June 1997

The US Trials | Vilamoura Revisited | Top Ten Forecast


Bienvenuti In Italia!

Over the next fortnight nearly 750 competitors will be participating in the largest International Bridge Championship that has ever taken place. You, the competitors come from 36 different countries of Europe and the Levant. From as far west as Iceland, and as far east as Russia. From as far north as Norway and Finland and as far south as Portugal and Israel.

The 43rd Generali European Bridge Championships shall be celebration of all that is best in skilful and sportsmanlike competition. A Championship of this size and quality takes a great deal of organization and a great deal of financial support.

The European Bridge League has been helped to an enormous degree in the preparation of the Championship by the Federazione Italiana Gioco Bridge. The help has been at a very high technical level which I am sure you will greatly appreciate and enjoy over the next fortnight. So can we please have a round of applause for the Italian Bridge Federation and their charismatic and tireless President Gianarrigo Rona.

On the financial aspect of the Championship I have two thank yous to make, and I hope that you will join me in making them.

First, we must thank the City of Montecatini Terme for providing this splendid venue including the Grand Hotels La Pace and Vittoria. And, in particular, the Congress Centre.

And second, -and most of all - we must thank our sponsor, the Generali Group, whose generosity enables us to stage the 43rd Generali European Bridge Championships. I would ask all of you to show your appreciation to the Generali Group and to the City of Montecatini Terme.

That just leaves me to say that I am pleased to declare the 43rd Generali European Bridge Championships open. Thank you very much and have a good game.

The U.S. Trials: The Main Final

Deutsch becomes the U.S I team From the Daily Bulletins edited by Henry Francis.
Abridged & with comments by Patrick Jourdain (GB)
)

Eighteen teams entered the American Trials in New Orleans to select two teams for the Bermuda Bowl in October. The bottom-seeded eleven teams played a preliminary two-day Round-Robin. The top four then went into a knock-out, where they joined by seeds 4-7, then seeds 2 & 3 (including the reigning Bermuda Bowl champions led by Nick NICKELL) in the quarter-finals, and the top seed DEUTSCH in the semi-final. The winner would become the U.S. I team.

Meanwhile, the other teams were dropping into a repechage, from which one would re-emerge to challenge the loser of the main-final for the position of U.S. II. The top two seeds made it through to the main final: 8 sessions of 15 boards. Deutsch became the winner after 105 boards when Nickell conceded 259-180 behind. Here is the story by Henry Francis with comments added in italics. The Deutsch team began disastrously:

The biggest swing occurred on the very first board when Eric Rodwell, with help from the defense, managed to bring home a heart slam while Nickell and Richard Freeman found a defense to defeat 5 hearts in the other room.

Board 1. None. Dealer North.
A K
A Q J 9 8 3
8 3
K 9 4
Q 10 8 9 6
6 K 7 5 4
10 7 6 Q 5 2
Q J 10 7 5 2 A 8 6 3
8 7 6
9
9 7
K J 9 8 5 4 2

Open Room

West North East South
Nickell Martel Freeman Stansby

1 Pass 1
Pass 3 Pass 4
Pass 4NT Pass 5
Pass 5 All Pass

Freeman led his top spade to the ace and Chip Martel immediately ruffed a club, crossed back to his spade king and ruffed another club. He ruffed a spade with the queen as Freeman discarded a diamond. Next he cashed the trump ace and got out with a trump to Freeman's king. Freeman cashed the ace of clubs and led a diamond, locking declarer in dummy. He showed his 7 and 5 of hearts to Martel, and Chip conceded down one.

Martel should have cashed AK earlier. Then the defence cannot obtain the trump promotion.

Closed Room

West North East South
Rosenberg Meckstroth Deitsch Rodwell

1(1) Pass 1(2)
3 3(3) 5 5
Pass 5 Pass 6
All Pass

(1) Artificial, strong and forcing.
(2) Either 11-13 balanced or 5+ spades and 8+ high card points.
(3) 5+ hearts.


Michael Rosenberg's opening lead of the club queen was covered by the king and ace and ruffed.

The slam can now be made by using spade entries to ruff the second club, and finesse the J to pitch the last club on the third diamond. However, relying on Kx onside:

Eric Rodwell led his trump 10 and overtook with the queen. Deutsch took his king and, though the defence could now cash two clubs, exited with another trump, on which Rosenberg discarded a spade. Rodwell drew trumps, cashed the top spades, then crossed to dummy with a diamond to get a club pitch on a good spade. So NICKELL started with 14 IMPs.

Board 4 had its points of interest.

Board 4. All. Dealer West.
K J 10 8 7 2
K 10 5
9 6 2
6
A Q 9 5 4
7 A Q J
A J 10 4 8 7 3
Q 10 9 8 7 5 3 J 4 2
6 3
9 8 6 4 3 2
K Q 5
A K

Closed Room

West North East South
Rosenberg Meckstroth Deitsch Rodwell

1 1 1NT 2
3 3 3NT Dble
4 Pass 4 Dble
5 Pass Pass Dble
All Pass

Who can blame Rosenberg for running from 3NT doubled? His suit is broken and it appears that he has only two entries. But strangely enough, the lie of the cards is such that the defense can come to no more than four tricks. Every card is right for declarer.

Rosenberg, of course, intended to stop in 4 clubs, but Deutsch thought differently, offering a cuebid in hearts. Rosenberg signed off in the club game, but he was one level too high Rodwell led the diamond king and had to come to three tricks.

Open Room

West North East South
Nickell Martel Freeman Stansby

1 2 2NT Pass
5 Pass Pass Dble
All Pass

Nickell also saw no future in notrump. He lost the same obvious three tricks for a push on a board that could have been a major gain for DEUTSCH.

(To be continued...)

Vilamoura Revisited

There was no shortage of excitement at the 42nd Generali European Championships, which were staged in Vilamoura, Portugal. The first event, as this year, was the Ladies Pairs Championship. A pair from this year's host country was responsible for one of the best auctions.

Dealer North. North-South Game
J 8
A J 6 3
K 10 7 2
K J 10
9 4 K 7 6 2
Q 9 5 4 10 7
A Q 6 5 4 J 9 8 3
7 6 8 5 3
A Q 10 5 3
K 8 2
A Q 9 4 2

West North East South
Spaghetti Mirolli

1 Pass 2
Pass 2 Pass 2
Pass 2NT Pass 3
Pass 3NT Pass 4
Pass 4 Pass 6
All Pass

One Club promised 12-18 points without a five-card suit. The conventional response of Two Clubs was forcing to game and the reply showed a balanced minimum. The remainder of the auction was natural and when North made a cue bid in support of clubs South was able to bid a slam that was missed at most of the other tables.

There was a dramatic finish to the event, which was only decided on the very last board. This is what happened at the table where the pair lying second was playing:

Dealer East. Game All
7
J 7 5 4 3
A 2
A K 8 7 5
9 8 2 A J 6 5 3
A Q 6 2
K Q J 6 5 3 10
Q 6 3 J 10 9 2
K Q 10 4
K 10 9 8
9 8 7 4
4

West North East South
Nehmert Rauscheid

Pass Pass
1 1 1 3
Pass 4 All Pass

Pony Nehmert and Andrea Rauscheid were trailing their teammates, Sabine Auken and Daniela von Arnim by just 8 MP when the final board settled on the table. East led her singleton ten of diamonds and declarer won with the ace. Correctly deciding there was no genuine way to make the contract, Pony Nehmert went for a little schwindel. She led her singleton spade and East went up with the ace. When she failed to find her partner's entry Pony was able to discard her losing diamond on the king of spades. Now the defensive overruff was only to save an overtrick. +620 gave the German pair 23 MP. Would it be enough?

West North East South
von Arnim Auken

Pass 2
3 4 ???

Two Diamonds promised 3-10 points and 4-4 or better in the majors. Now the spotlight was on Sabine. If she passed and allowed the contract to make, her side would score only 4MP. Defeating the contract would increase the number of MP to 13 - still not enough to win. With no idea that the title was on the line, Sabine doubled and led her diamond. Declarer won and played a trump to the eight and ace. Daniela won and continued the suit, ensuring one down. +200, 22MP and Gold instead of silver! Don't bet against them retaining their title!

France won the Ladies Teams in convincing style. Germany, who went on to win the Venice Cup, was second and Israel third. An exciting finish saw Great Britain capture the remaining qualifying place. There are many stars in the Women's event. Few shine brighter than Austria's Maria Erhart does.

Dealer North. Love All
A
7
K 9 8 6 5 4 3
A 7 3 2
9 8 7 5 3 10 6 2
10 8 6 4 A J 9 5 2
2 Q 10 7
K Q 5 9 8
K Q J 4
K Q 3
A J
J 10 6 4

West North East South
Handley Erhart Landy Lindiger

1 Pass 1
Pass 2 Pass 3NT
Pass 4 Pass 4
Pass 4 Pass 4NT
Pass 5 Pass 6
All Pass

The redoubtable Sandra Landy led the ace of hearts and continued the suit. At the other table, some spirited defensive bidding by Doris Fischer and Terry Weigkricht had resulted in Nicola Smith and Pat Davies stopping in 3NT, so there was a lot resting on the outcome.

Maria discarded a club on the second heart and crossed to the ace of spades. Reasoning that Sandra was more likely to cash an ace with a potential trump trick, she finessed the jack of diamonds. After cashing the ace, she was able to discard all her losers on dummy's major suit winners before returning to hand with the ace of clubs to draw the last trump. +920 and a routine 10 IMPs for Maria and Austria.

One country hoping to improve on their 1995 result will be Sweden, who came to the tournament as reigning champions, but never got into their stride. They did, however, have their moments:

Dealer East. East-West Game
A 7 2
6 3 2
J 9 7 4
4 3 2
9 K J 10
10 8 5 A K 9 7 4
A 3 K Q 10 8 6
A K J 10 8 6 5
Q 8 6 5 4 3
Q J
5 2
Q 9 7

West North East South
Swanstrom Gianardi Flodqvist Rovera

Pass 1 Pass
3 Pass 3 Pass
4 Pass 6 Pass
6 All Pass

In the other room Italy had, not unreasonably, stopped in game, so there was bound to be a major swing. South led a spade, taken by the ace and North returned a trump.

Declarer, reckoning that North would be reluctant to switch from a dangerous trump holding, went up with the ace of hearts and ruffed a spade. Sticking to her guns, she played a heart to the king for a magnificent +1430. The Italian ladies will be hoping for better luck this time! In the Open series it was this years host nation, Italy, who took the title.

Although no one knew it at the time, one of the key encounters took place in the very first round, when France played Sweden.

Dealer South. Love All
Q J 8
Q J 8 5 4 3 2
Q
K 3
K 9 6 5 3 A
A 10 9 7 6
J 10 9 8 2 7 6 5 3
10 5 Q 9 6 2
10 7 4 2
K
A K 4
A J 8 7 4

The contract at both tables was Four Hearts by North, West having overcalled One Spade. East cashed the ace of spades and had to find his partner's entry (a similar type of situation to the one we saw on the hand from the ladies pairs). Michel Perron tried a club, enabling declarer to get his losing spades away on dummy's diamonds, but Anders Morath found the trump switch that was necessary to defeat the contract.

The big surprise was Poland's failure to capture one of the qualifying spots. They have some of the biggest stars of the game, as witness this deal:

Dealer South. East-West Game
8 5 3
A K 9 7 5
9
A Q 10 8
K 4 2 10 7 6
8 4 J 6 3 2
A J 10 5 4 K 8 7 6 3
J 9 5 K
A Q J 9
Q 10
Q 2
7 6 4 3 2

As on the previous deal, both the North players declared Four Hearts.

For Poland, Gawrys led a low diamond and Lasocki won and returned the suit. Declarer ruffed in hand and took the losing spade finesse. Back came a spade and declarer won in dummy to play a club to the ten and king. Gawrys played a third diamond, ruffed in dummy while declarer discarded a spade from hand. He cashed the queen of trumps and played a club to the ace. East ruffed and the hand was out of control, the final result being three down. In the replay East started with the king of diamonds, a suit West had shown during the bidding. West dropped the jack and played the ace on the next trick, ruffed by Balicki, who also continued with the losing spade finesse. West continued the attack on declarer's trumps by playing a third diamond and Balicki ruffed in dummy, cashed the queen of hearts and played a club. West was a passed hand, but he had already produced theK and the A J. To the applause of the viewgraph audience Balicki went up with the ace of clubs for a spectacular +420.

Top ten Forecast
by Tipster

This prequel to a regular bulletin feature is for your enjoyment - just wait and see how wrong I can be! Whatever your country, please don't take exception to my erratic forecasting!

The Daily Bulletin in Rhodes was not very lucky when it came to making predictions - the eventual winners, France, not being expected to reach the last eight! So my ambiton is to give you the chance to recoup your losses with a daily forecast.

On this, the opening day of the Championships, you can take some interesting bets on who is going to win, who will win a medal, and last, but not least, gamble on the countries who will book their tickets for the Bermuda Bowl in October in Hammamet, Tunisia.

I take to win either Italy the reigning Champions, with home advantage, or France the Olympiad Champions but you will hardly make a fortune by backing either of these two runners, so I recommend Sweden, impressive winner of the Scandanavian Championship, or Denmark, who may collect a medal if they can overcome their legendary bad luck.

You can also back Norway & Poland to be in the first five. If you are looking for longer odds then I suggest you invest some lire on The Netherlands, Israel, Greece or Iceland. So, taking an enormous risk, and assuming the cards lie the right way, I predict the final standings will be:

1. Italy 6. Poland
2. France 7. Netherlands
3. Sweden 8. Iceland
4. Denmark 9. Israel
5. Norway 10. Greece

If you want to know the identity of Tipster, just forget it! The card with the name on is in the same safe used for the pre-dealt boards!

1. Italy 12. Portugal 23. Czech Republic
2. France 13. Norway 24. Hungary
3. Netherlands 14. Great Britain 25. Belarus
4. Sweden 15. Romania 26. Monaco
5. Poland 16. Turkey 27. Croatia
6. Israel 17. Germany 28. San Marino
7. Denmark 18. Ireland 29. Ukraine
8. Iceland 19. Spain 30. Switzerland
9. Austria 20. Lebanon 31. Lithuania
10. Greece 21. Russia 32. Slovenia
11. Finland 22. Belgium



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