october.indd

English 55 The fi nal of the Israel Team Cup took place on July 30, 2016 between the teams captained by Yaniv Zack and Micha Mark. At the end of last month's article we saw a deal, played midway through the match, were in one table Ilan Bareket (North) made 3NT. This was the play at the other table: Board 8, Dealer West, Vul None West North East South Barel D. Yadlin Zack I. Yadlin Pass Pass 1 ♦ Dbl Pass 1NT Pass 2NT Pass 3NT All Pass Michael Barel passed throughout, so Yaniv Zack had no option but leading a small diamond. Declarer took a losing club fi nesse, and Zack persisted with diamonds (failing to fi nd the highly-inspired switch to the SxQ). Now Doron Yadlin had an opportunity to shine by entering his hand with a club and leading the ♥ K, which would have forced East to take his ♥ A prematurely. Instead he decided to play for a doubleton ♥ A at East's hand (a very reasonable line) by leading a low heart to the ♥ Q and then playing small hearts from both hands. This proved costly when Barel won the ♥ T and switched to a spade, as the defenders had already fi ve top tricks: a spade, two hearts, ♦ Q and ♣ K. Five boards later, Zack's team took the lead for good when Assaf Lengy decided to overcall a 1 ♣ opening with 2 ♦ only while holding a mediocre hand with a 7222 distribution. He ended up being doubled for minus 200, while Israel Yadlin, who selected a standard 3 ♦ overcall with the same cards, had to suffer a penalty of 500. In the fi nal deal of the second session, the lead was extended when Lengy was able to exploit a slight defensive error, making 1NT, while his teammates competed to an untouchable contract of 2 ♠ . The trend continued at the start of the fi nal session: Board 17, Dealer North, Vul None ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ 3 A8632 QJ9 KQ75 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ 874 KQJ T764 T83 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ AJT9 T75 852 A64 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ KQ652 94 AK3 J92 West North East South Lubinsky Barel Mark Zack Lengy D. Yadlin Bareket I. Yadlin 1 ♥ Pass 1 ♠ Pass 2 ♣ Pass 2 ♦ Pass 2NT Pass 3NT Pass Pass Pass South had used "Fourth Suit Forcing" before bidding 3NT, which usually indicates a fi ve- card spade suit. Therefore Micha Mark's lead of the ♠ J was unlikely to be helpful. Barel won two rounds of clubs before switching to hearts, and there was no way that the defense could come to fi ve tricks – contract made. At the other table, after an identical bidding sequence, Ilan Bareket selected the unbid diamond suit for his lead, thereby creating a threat of developing a diamond trick for the defense. Declarer could Israel Team Cup Final part 2 Ram Soffer