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English 2020 פברואר 198 גיליון 55 The premier division of the Israeli Team championship includes 12 teams. The first stage is a round-robin. The top eight teams continue in a knock-out format, while the bottom four are involved in relegation playoff matches. In this article we report some interesting hands from the round-robin stage. The knockout stages are covered in the Hebrew section of this magazine. While at Matchpoint Pairs one usually attempts to play slams in NT aiming for the highest possible score, at IMP Teams experts usually look for a 4-4 fit, even in a minor suit, in order to maximize their chances of making twelve tricks with the help of some ruffs. The following deal was an exception. Six notrump was makeable, but every pair in slam made the unfortunate choice of diamonds as the trump suit. Board 14. Dealer East. Vul None Q5 AJT6 KT86 A86 K82 J73 85 Q9732 J32 Q4 JT542 973 AT964 K4 A975 KQ Playing the Two over One system, the bidding could start: West North East South Pass 1♠ Pass 2♣ Pass 2 ♦ Pass 3 ♦ Having established a game force in the first round of bidding, North-South locate their 4-4 diamond fit at the three level. Since South has 16 HCP, considerably more than a minimum, he should show some slam interest and start cue-bidding. North is likely to co-operate with 14 HCP and almost nothing wasted. This deal was played at twelve tables. Most North-South pairs were cautious. Seven of them stopped in 3NT. All the other five pairs who bid beyond 3NT reached diamond contracts. Four of them reached the diamond slam, but they could not avoid a trump loser and a spade loser. One down may be good bridge, but in this case it was very costly. The fifth pair was lucky to stop in 5 ♦ , just making with a small loss compared to 3NT, making with overtricks. Please note that 6NT was a much better contract (although not laydown). Declarer makes four spade tricks, two diamond tricks and three club tricks. In order to make it he has to find the heart queen or… receive a heart lead. In the above deal, looking for a 4-4 fit in a minor suit proved to be a false trail. In the following one, playing in a 4-4 fit in a major suit (which is considered almost sacred by bridge teachers) proved to be disastrous. Israeli Team Championship 2019 (Part 1) // Joseph Engel