B_NOV_20

2020 נובמבר 207 גיליון 47 Generation Games is a special event initiated by the Israel Bridge Federation a few years ago with the purpose of bringing more young players into competitive bridge. The rules specify that the age difference between the two members of each pair should be at least 20 years. In addition, unless they are family relatives, one of them has to be a junior (under 26 years). As all other recent bridge tournament in Israel, Generation Games 2020 was an online event which took place on September 11. Twenty pairs completed two rounds of Matchpoint Pairs. The best result in the first round, and third place overall, was achieved by Hanan Aalsvel – Ami Zamir. Board 12. Dealer West. Vul N/S Q72 AKQ65 65 952 KJ65 T98 T4 7 AKT743 QJ92 4 AKJ87 A43 J9832 8 QT63 West North East South Aalsvel Zamir 1 ♦ 1 ♥ 2♣ 3 ♥ Pass Pass 4 ♦ 4 ♥ Pass Pass Dbl All Pass South made the mistake of bidding the same hand twice. If his hand was worth a four hearts bid opposite his partner’s overcall, he should have bid it in the first round, applying considerable pressure on East-West. At the table East had time to show both his club suit and diamond support. West could bid five diamonds over four hearts, but he avoided it with his 11-point opening, and wisely so. Three our of four pairs failed in 5 ♦. Instead, Hanan Aalsvel let his world class partner (long-time member of Israel’s Junior team) make the final decision. Ami Zamir (East) also had only 11 HCP, so he decided to take the likely plus. Doubling was important in order to beat the score other pairs might achieve in a diamond partscore. East led ♣A. Had he realized partner had a singleton, he would have given him a ruff for +500 and an absolute top. Ami played more cautiously and switched to a spade. Declarer escaped for one down, but plus 200 was still worth 78% of the matchpoints for East-West. However, a strong first round of 65.43% for Aalsvel-Zamir was followed by a subpar second round, and they could finish only third. The winning pair Moshe Lavi – Aviv Zeitak was much more consistent, scoring over 64% “Generation Games” // Ram Soffer English