Transnational Semi-final

Jansma v Lavazza

Midway through the 32-board semi-finals of the Transnational Teams, ZHUANG led BRACHMAN by 42 IMPs, while the other match saw Italy’s LAVAZZA ahead of the Dutch JANSMA team by just 1 IMP at 12-11. Naturally, we chose to follow the closer of the two matches and that proved to be the right thing to do as the lead changed hands on a number of occasions during the second half.

Board 2. Dealer East. N/S Vul.
	ª - © A K Q 7 6 4 ¨ K J 3 2 § 7 6 3
ª J 7 4 © J 10 9 5 3 ¨ A 8 7 § 8 2		ª K 10 9 5 2 © 8 ¨ Q 9 4 § A Q 9 5
	ª A Q 8 6 3 © 2 ¨ 10 6 5 § K J 10 4

West	North	East	South
Lanzarotti	Verhees	Buratti	Jansma
		Pass	Pass
Pass	1©	1ª	Pass
Pass	2©	Pass	2NT
Pass	3¨	Pass	3©
Pass	3NT	All Pass

West	North	East	South
De Wijs	D'Avossa	Muller	Ferraro
		1ª	Pass
2ª	3©	Pass	3NT
Dble	All Pass

Bauke Muller opened the East hand with 1ª and Simon De Wijs raised to 2ª. When Mario D’Avossa overcalled 3©, Guido Ferraro took a shot at 3NT, doubled by De Wijs. De Wijs le a spade to the king and ace and Ferraro tried a diamond to the jack, losing to the queen. A spade was returned and Ferraro won the queen then played a second diamond. De Wijs won the ¨A, cashed the ªJ and led a club to his partner’s ace. The spades were cashed and that was two down for –500.

Andrea Buratti passed as dealer at the other table but later overcalled 1ª. His opponents bid slowly to 3NT but here nobody found a double. A spade was led to the nine and queen and Jan Jansma tried two top hearts, getting the bad news, then played a club to his jack followed by a diamond to jack and queen. Back came a spade and Jansma won the ace and played a second diamond. Massimo Lanzarotto took his ace, cashed the ªA, and led a club; the same down two but here only –200 so 7 IMPs to JANSMA, who moved into the lead at 18-13.

Board 7. Dealer South. All Vul.
	ª K Q 7 5 4 3 © - ¨ 9 8 5 § K J 7 6
ª J 8 6 © K J 7 3 ¨ Q 10 3 § A 10 2		ª A 10 9 © A Q 9 5 4 2 ¨ A J 7 2 § -
	ª 2 © 10 8 6 ¨ K 6 4 § Q 9 8 5 4 3

West	North	East	South
Lanzarotti	Verhees	Buratti	Jansma
			Pass
Pass	1ª	2©	Pass
2ª	Pass	3¨	Pass
3©	Pass	3ª	Pass
4§	Dble	Pass	Pass
Rdbl	Pass	4¨	Pass
5¨	Pass	6©	All Pass

West	North	East	South
De Wijs	D'Avossa	Muller	Ferraro
			Pass
Pass	2ª	3©	Pass
4©	All Pass

D’Avossa opened with a weak two bid in third seat and the auction was swift and simple. Four Hearst made 11 tricks for +650.

Louk Verhees opened only 1ª and his opponents conducted a slow and complex auction to the small slam. After a spade lead to queen and ace, Buratti drew trumps and had to rely on the diamond finesse. When the ¨K proved to be offside he was down one for –100 and 13 IMPs to JANSMA, increasing the lead to 32-14. A touch unlucky for the Italians, perhaps, as the finesse was through an opening one-level opener.

Board 9. Dealer North. E/W Vul.
	ª A 4 © A 9 6 ¨ 2 § A K 10 9 8 7 5
ª Q J 7 6 5 2 © 7 5 3 ¨ Q 10 4 3 § -		ª K 8 © K Q 10 8 2 ¨ A 9 8 6 § 4 3
	ª 10 9 3 © J 4 ¨ K J 7 5 § Q J 6 2

West	North	East	South
Lanzarotti	Verhees	Buratti	Jansma
	1§	1©	1ª
2ª	2NT	3ª	4§
4ª	5§	All Pass

West	North	East	South
De Wijs	D'Avossa	Muller	Ferraro
	1§	1©	2§
2ª	Dble	Pass	2NT
Pass	3§	All Pass

	Louk Verhees, The Netherlands

A trifle conservative from D’Avossa, I would have thought. Having received club support, I might have been tempted to try 3NT – there are, after all, nine running tricks if the opposition cannot take five diamonds before you get in, and the opposition have bid two other suits, not diamonds. The no trump game would indeed have made, but 3§ plus two for +150 proved to be a useful result as it turned out.

In the other room, Jansma’s 1ª bid denied four spades, so Lanzarotti was just making a natural spade call. After a competitive auction, Verhees declared 5§ on the lead of the king of hearts to his ace. He played a diamond at trick two and Buratti played low without a hitch. Verhees put in the jack, losing to the queen, and back came a spade. Declarer won the ace and drew trumps, ruffing two diamonds along the way in hope of dropping the ace. When nothing good materialised in diamonds, he had to go one down for –50 and 5 IMPs to LAVAZZA, closing to 19-34.

Verhees was a little unlucky in that once Buratti turned up with both the missing trumps he rated to have only three diamonds, having overcalled 1© and supported spades at the three level, so there seemed to be good chances that the ace would ruff out. It’s a hard life sometimes, isn’t it?

Board 11. Dealer South. None Vul.
	ª 7 6 4 2 © 6 ¨ A 9 6 5 § J 10 3 2
ª A Q 10 8 5 © A K 8 ¨ J § K Q 6 5		ª K 9 3 © Q J 9 7 4 3 2 ¨ 10 8 § 4
	ª J © 10 5 ¨ K Q 7 4 3 2 § A 9 8 7

West	North	East	South
Lanzarotti	Verhees	Buratti	Jansma
			1¨
Dble	3¨	4©	5¨
Pass	Pass	5©	All Pass

West	North	East	South
De Wijs	D'Avossa	Muller	Ferraro
			1¨
Dble	3¨	4©	5¨
6©	All Pass

The two auctions were identical up to West’s decision over 5¨. De Wijs made the decision himself, jumping to 6©, while Lanzarotti made a forcing pass and left it to partner. And when Buratti made the obvious-looking decision to bid on, Lanzarotti was not tempted to raise to six.

Against Buratti, Jansma led the singleton spade and there were twelve tricks for +480. Against the slam, Ferraro cashed the ace of clubs then switched to the king of diamonds; one down for –50 and 11 IMPs to LAVAZZA; 32-34.

Board 12. Dealer West. N/S Vul.
	ª K Q 10 7 © K 9 8 3 ¨ 10 § A 8 7 5
ª A 9 6 © A Q J ¨ A K Q 9 2 § J 6		ª J 4 © 10 5 4 2 ¨ J 8 7 6 3 § K 3
	ª 8 5 3 2 © 7 6 ¨ 5 4 § Q 10 9 4 2

West	North	East	South
Lanzarotti	Verhees	Buratti	Jansma
2NT	Pass	3§	Pass
3¨	Pass	3NT	All Pass

West	North	East	South
De Wijs	D'Avossa	Muller	Ferraro
2§	Dble	3¨	Pass
3NT	All Pass

Lanzarotti’s 2NT showed 21-22 but promised a five-card suit, other than clubs. Buratti asked for the suit then settled for 3NT, against which Verhees led the king of spades. Lanzarotti won the ªA and cashed the diamonds, ending in hand. Having watched the discards closely, he now judged to play a club towards the king. Verhees won the §A and the defence cashed the spades, then Verhees exited passively with a club to the king and Lanzarotti had to take the heart finesse for his contract; down one for –50.

The contract and opening lead were the same in the other room and declarer again won and played out the diamonds. There is a problem with the play record now because it stops before the key moment and I could not discover what happened in time to include it here. Something dramatic must have gone wrong in the defence, however, as De Wijs emerged with an overtrick for +430 and 10 IMPs to JANSMA, ahead now by 44-32 with four boards to play.

Board 13. Dealer North. All Vul.
	ª K 10 7 5 © Q 4 ¨ A Q 10 9 § Q J 3
ª Q 4 © 10 9 ¨ K 7 6 2 § A K 8 7 5		ª 9 8 6 3 © A J 7 6 3 2 ¨ 8 4 § 9
	ª A J 2 © K 8 5 ¨ J 5 3 § 10 6 4 2

West	North	East	South
Lanzarotti	Verhees	Buratti	Jansma
	1¨	Pass	1NT
Pass	Pass	2©	Pass
Pass	2ª	All Pass

West	North	East	South
De Wijs	D'Avossa	Muller	Ferraro
	1NT	Pass	3NT
All Pass

D’Avossa stretched to open 1NT and Ferraro raised him to the 23-point game. Muller led a low heart to the nine and queen and D’Avossa played a spade to the jack and queen. Back came a heart. D’Avossa picked up four diamond tricks and cashed the spades for +600.

There was never any question of game being reached at the other table, where Verhees opened 1¨ and eventually competed to 2ª over the opposing 2© contract. Buratti led his club to the king and jack and Lanzarotti switched to the ©10, run to the king. Verhees ran the ¨J then repeated the diamond finesse. The good news in his key side-suit persuaded Verhees to play spades from the top. When the queen fell under dummy’s ace on the second round, he continued by cashing the jack then taking another diamond finesse. The diamond got ruffed but the defence just had two aces to take from there; +140 but 10 IMPs to LAVAZZA; 42-44.

JANSMA picked up 1 IMP on Board 14 to lead by 45-42, then on Board 15 Buratti/Lanzarotti played 3¨ just making while De Wijs/Muller were one down in a 22-point 3NT which, after the opening lead, required a winning diamond play holding ¨KJ1064 opposite ¨A872. There were ¨Q95 over the longer holding and it was not normal to get them right; 4 IMPs to LAVAZZA, and the lead by a single IMP at 46-45.

Board 16. Dealer West. E/W Vul.
	ª 9 8 7 © A K 9 2 ¨ 4 § K Q J 9 2
ª J 4 3 © 10 ¨ J 9 8 6 2 § 10 5 4 3		ª A K Q 10 2 © J 5 3 ¨ A 7 § A 8 7
	ª 6 5 © Q 8 7 6 4 ¨ K Q 10 5 3 § 6

West	North	East	South
Lanzarotti	Verhees	Buratti	Jansma
Pass	1§	Dble	1©
Pass	3©	3ª	4¨
4ª	Pass	Pass	5©
Pass	Pass	Dble	All Pass

West	North	East	South
De Wijs	D'Avossa	Muller	Ferraro
Pass	1§	Dble	1©
Pass	3©	3ª	4¨
4ª	All Pass

And so to the final deal. D’Avossa/Ferraro competed up to the four level but then let their opponents play 4ª. After a club lead, there was no way to avoid four losers in 4ª for –100.

The auction got up to 4ª again in the other room. At this point the Dutch North/South pair had to double to win the match, as one down would then have earned them 3 IMPs and a win by 2 IMPs. Passing 4ª out might also win the match but only if South could find a trump lead, necessary hold declarer to one ruff and get the contract down two – hard to find that lead, of course, when holding a singleton in a side-suit. But Verhees passed the decision round to Jansma and he went for 5©, hoping that one or other contract was making. Of course, Buratti doubled.

Lanzarotti led a spade and Buratti played three rounds of those. Not quite certain if he might run into an over-ruff, Jansma pitched his losing club at trick three. Buratti cashed the ace of diamonds then played a fourth spade, ruffed with the six, ten and ace. Jansma cashed the ©K then played the king of clubs for the ace and ruffed. He ruffed a low diamond then threw the last diamond loser on a club before picking up the trumps; down two for –300 and 9 IMPs to LAVAZZA.

Having only just survived the qualifying stage after a big win in the last round, LAVAZZA was now in the final, where they would meet ZHUANG, who beat BRACHMAN by 91-40 IMPs in the other semi-final.