marchnew_INT

English 54 Board 27. Dealer South, Vul None ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ AKJ873 Q A3 T965 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ Q AT6 QJ542 AKQ8 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ 65 J43 T86 J7432 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ T942 K98752 K97 - 18 HCP. West opens 1 ♦ with high expectations, even though his spade shortness is slightly worrying… West North East South Bessis Multon Volcker Zimmermann Pass 1 ♦ 1♠ Pass 4♣ Dbl Pass Pass RDbl Pass 4NT Pass 5♣ Pass 6♠ All Pass Bessis doubled his opponent’s splinter bid – well, he had both a good hand and good clubs. However, this double provided unexpected help for North-South. Multon could make a waiting Pass , indicating a good hand, and Zimmerman redoubled to show first control in clubs – obviously a void. By now Multon realized they had a slam, and even a grand was not out of the question. When they reached six spades, Bessis realized too that he didn’t have much of a defense besides the heart ace and he did well to resist the temptation to double. Franck Multon easily made the contract by developing dummy’s hearts. At the other table: West North East South Martens Cronier Allavena Lorenzini Pass 1 ♦ 1♠ Pass 3 ♥ Pass 4♠ All Pass This N/S pair were using a different convention, three hearts was a “fit jump” showing good hearts plus a 4+ card spade fit. The heart bid might have discouraged North. Martens did exceptionally well by keeping quiet and letting his opponents stop at game unhindered. His team was rewarded by 11 IMPs. So, judging by these hands alone, one might jump to the conclusion that in order to play like a real champion you must bid your 4-HCP hands very aggressively while showing great restraint with 18-HCP hands. I doubt whether our readers would reap great achievements by following such advice… Better accept the fact that champions sometimes make great decisions which we can hardly fathom.