WMSG: Women's Final

Continuing to select deals from the local and world events of October, this week it is the turn of the World Mind Sports Games. I did give full results but to remind you briefly, the English teams showed extremely well, coming second in the Open and Under-21s and winning the Women's event.

The English women were 47 IMPs ahead of the hosts, China, when the last sixteen deals of the 96 board match began. Naturally the trailing team trusts to fortune and tries every game and slam to retrieve the deficit. And the boards suited their speculations; some went awry but more were in China's favour than against and the gap narrowed.

Of course, the competitors don't know the score until they compare with their team-mates from the other room but experienced players keep a running tally of how the match is going. With many possible swings, what England wanted was a flat board and a quick reunion to score up. This was deal 96:

EW Vul.
Dealer West
  • 92
  • 4
  • AKJ982
  • 8732
  • K7
  • K10853
  • 764
  • Q105
N
W
E
S
  • Q1064
  • AJ976
  • 10
  • 964
  • AJ853
  • Q2
  • Q53
  • AKJ
West
North
East
South
Pass
3
Pass
3NT
End

The auction was the same at both tables as was West's lead, the heart five to the ace. Against England, the Chinese defender returned the seven to the queen and king. At trick three West continued the heart eight and the defence had their five tricks.

The seven was also returned by the English East but when the queen appeared, West thought of a different lie of the heart suit, something like:

  • 4
  • K10853
  • A76
  • QJ92

Winning the king and continuing the suit would not be good at all. Moreover, if East had an entry, a third heart from that side could take four tricks in the suit. With that construction – think of a layout like the diagram above but with East holding the diamond queen and three hearts – West, Heather Dhondy, backed her judgement and ducked.

Could East have avoided this? Whilst it is usual to return original fourth highest (here the seven) she might have considered the six spot. West would calculate that if partner had four then there was no benefit in ducking and clear the suit immediately.

The ensuing play cannot have been a pleasant experience as South reeled off ten tricks. Nor, I imagine, was the process of scoring up when, as more and more IMPs had to be written in the out column, there was the certain knowledge that there was a 'bad one' to come. But it was all right in the end; despite losing 10 on this last deal and 46 in the set, the English team had won by a single IMP.

If you are looking for some real thrills in bridge, head-to-head matches are where to find them. The Suffolk Knock-Out Teams is on Sunday 7th December; details from the Suffolk website http://www.suffolkbridge.co.uk/.

Published Saturday 15.Nov.2008