World Junior Pairs

By Barry Rigal

The venue this July for the fifth World Junior Pairs was Tata in Hungary, situated 50 miles outside Budapest. The location was an Olympic Sports camp – excellent facilities and very comfortable surroundings. The organizers had endeavored to ensure that everyone who wanted to could afford to play, by holding the camp in a relatively inexpensive venue in a country that was easily accessible from most of Europe, and as a result there were nearly 200 pairs participating. Scoring was by Barometer, so everyone played the same deals at the same time, and the updated results were available after every four deals.

The USA had sent five of the six players from the team that will be favorite in the WJT in Paris in August, and two of the partnerships (Mignocchi/Bathurst and Kranyak/Grue) went quickly towards the head of the table. Here are some of the more stimulating deals from the event.

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

Kranyak as West opened 2©(hearts and another, weak) and played there on the lead of a top diamond, on which South, Lo Presti discouraged with the six. When Sbarrigia continued with a second diamond, declarer was back in control on the hand. The spade shift came now, and Kranyak ruffed the second spade, lead a heart to the jack and king, ruffed the next spade, crossed to the ©A, and advanced the §Q, covered all round. He led out the ©Q to leave Lo Presti with the master trump, and ran the clubs. When Lo Presti ruffed in he had no spade left to lead, so declarer had eight tricks.

The most challenging defense is to play spades at trick two and three. When declarer ruffs, his only chance to make the hand is to play a diamond himself, not to take the trump finesse. If he plays a heart to the jack, South wins his ©K and plays a third spade. Declarer can ruff and unblock the heart ace then start running the clubs. But at some point South can ruff the fourth club, and lead a diamond to his partner to let him cash the fourth spade, on which South’s diamond loser goes away.

The Americans continued their fine form towards the end of the session:

Board 19. E/W Vul. Dealer South.
	ª Q 5 2 © K 10 9 6 ¨ J 10 7 3 § 7 6
ª A 9 7 © Q 7 5 3 ¨ Q 8 5 § A 9 2		ª 8 3 © A J 8 2 ¨ A 9 4 § K Q 8 4
	ª K J 10 6 4 © 4 ¨ K 6 2 § J 10 5 3

It appears impossible to stay out of trouble with the E/W cards here; 4©looks down at least one trick does it not? Well, Kranyak passed the West hand, and that apparently got his side off to a good start against Katerbau and Rehder of Germany, who at that point were in third place. But Grue as East opened 1©in fourth chair, and now when South overcalled 1NT (modified Michaels) Kranyak jumped to 4©. On a low club lead Grue put up the §A, ran the ©Q, covered all round, then led a low diamond from hand to dummy’s queen (good!) and tried a heart to the eight (better!). Now he had ten tricks by simply arranging a spade ruff in hand, and virtually all the matchpoints.
To set the hand, South had to win the ¨K at trick two. Once he ducked, even if North had split his heart honors at trick four, Grue would simply have won, cashed the §K, and then gone to dummy with the ªA to lead a third club, after which the defense are helpless. When North discards, Grue can win, then cash the ¨A for his side’s eighth trick, followed by ruffing the fourth club with the ©7 to ensure two more trump tricks for his side.
John Kranyak promptly retaliated by scoring up a thin game of his own.

Board 23. All Vul. Dealer South.
	ª K J 10 7 © J 6 ¨ A 9 4 3 2 § K 10
ª 5 3 © K 7 5 4 2 ¨ K 7 § J 9 7 6		ª A Q 9 6 © A Q 9 3 ¨ 10 5 § A 5 4
	ª 8 4 2 © 10 8 ¨ Q J 8 6 § Q 8 3 2

Kranyak reached 4©as West, after opening 2©to show hearts and a minor. Florine Pluot of France found the trump lead that gave nothing away, but tended to suggest she had awkward tenaces in the other suits. Kranyak drew two rounds of trumps then led a spade to the queen and cashed the ace. The winning line is a little double-dummy: ruff a spade, cross to the §A and ruff the last spade, then exit from hand with a club. North must win her club king and is endplayed!! (Note that if declarer follows this line North might just unblock the §K under the ace; now might declarer lead a club to the nine? North would win and would still have a spade to exit with. Declarer would still be left with two diamond losers and a club.)

Kranyak actually led a diamond to the king and ace, before ruffing a spade. When North won and returned the ªK, John was back in business. He ruffed, led a club to the ace and ruffed the fourth spade, then exited from hand with a diamond. South had to win, and could lead a club to allow her partner to take that trick. But North had no clubs left, and had to play a diamond, to concede a ruff and discard, allowing dummy’s third club to be discarded.
Daniel Ortmann/Nielsen demonstrated a different sort of technique, against the Turkish pair, Anter and Ozbek, who were at that point in the top 10.

Deal 15. N/S Vul. Dealer South.
	ª Q J 8 5 © J 6 5 ¨ 9 § 10 9 7 4 3
ª A 10 2 © A Q ¨ A K 6 5 4 § A 6 5		ª 9 6 4 © K 8 4 3 2 ¨ 10 3 § K 8 2
	ª K 7 3 © 10 9 7 ¨ Q J 8 7 2 § Q J

West	North	East	South
DON	Anter	Gjaeldbaek	Ozbek
			Pass
2NT	Pass	3¨	Pass
3©	Pass	3NT	All Pass

Daniel won the club lead in hand and unblocked the hearts, then ducked a diamond to South. Now was the right time to play back a club, but reasonably enough Ozbek tried a second top diamond. When Nielsen found the bad news there, he led the ª10 out of his hand. It was critical for the defense to break declarer’s communications, but Ozbek won his ªK and played a third diamond. Declarer won in hand and crossed to the §K to cash out the hearts. This was the ending:

	ª Q J © - ¨ - § 10
ª A 2 © - ¨ 4 § -		ª 9 © 2 ¨ - § 8
	ª 7 3 © - ¨ 8 § -

On the last heart South had to pitch a spade to keep diamonds guarded. Daniel could throw his diamond away now, and squeeze North in the black suits. +460 earned him 171 matchpoints.

The following deal gives plenty of scope for interesting play both by declarer and the defense. The leaders of the event after the second session were sitting East/West.

Board 19. E/W Vul. Dealer South.
	ª K 6 2 © K 9 8 7 6 ¨ Q 8 4 3 § 3
ª A 10 9 5 © Q J 2 ¨ K J 5 § A 8 2		ª Q 8 7 4 © A 4 3 ¨ A 6 2 § K 7 5
	ª J 3 © 10 5 ¨ 10 9 7 § Q J 10 9 6 4

West	North	East	South
Azizi	M-R	Yener	Dirksen
			3§
Dble	Pass	3NT	All Pass

Yener reached 3NT here, having carefully avoided the 4-4 spade fit. In 3NT it looks right to win the first club for fear of a red-suit switch and guess the spades well. In fact Yener ducked the first club, won the next, then misguessed spades reasonably enough by winning the ªA and passing the ª10. When the defense misguidedly pressed on with clubs, declarer won and endplayed North with the third spade. Back perforce came a heart. Declarer won in hand and cashed the fourth spade, squeezing North down to the ©K9 and ¨Q84. Now if declarer has been counting the hearts, he can exit with ©A and another heart, to endplay North to lead diamonds into the tenace, for nine tricks.

By contrast, Ophir Reshef of Israel played 4ªas West, on an unopposed sequence, on the lead of the singleton club. He won in hand and sneaked the ©J through, then led a second club towards the §K. North ruffed, but found himself endplayed, so hoped for the best by exiting with the ©K. Declarer won in dummy, cashed the ªA, then played a third heart, ruffed by South with the now-bare ªJ. (If declarer had drawn a second trump before playing the third heart, North would have won, but would have had a safe heart exit.) As it was, all that South could do was to exit with a diamond; declarer ran it to the ¨A in dummy, cashed the §K, and played a third trump. North won his ªK, but had to lead into the diamond tenace. Would you believe you could make 4ªby losing three trump tricks – but no trick in either clubs, hearts or diamonds!

Ron Hoffman and Alon Birman of Israel were playing together, and Ron gave me a nice play by his partner, David Birman’s son. I guess: like father like son.

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

West	North	East	South
		Pass	1§
1ª	2§	Pass	3NT
All Pass

Both North and South were not hanging back during this auction, though the final contract has some play. When a low club was led to trick one dummy’s queen held the trick, and Alon cheered up. Now came a diamond to the ace bringing both good and bad news (though it might have been a false-card, these things are easier to spot in the post mortem).

Now came a heart to the jack and a spade to the queen. Alon won the spade return and cashed off the spades, setting up West’s long spade, then led a diamond to dummy. In the five-card ending West had his master spade, the guarded king of hearts, and §AK10. What was he to discard? When he selected a small club, Alon threw him in with a club to lead hearts into his tenace at trick 12. Contract made!

Board 7. All Vul Dealer South (rotated 180 degrees).
	ª A K 3 2 © J 10 9 5 ¨ A 8 § 9 7 5
ª Q 10 9 5 © 7 ¨ 9 7 6 5 § A K 3 2		ª J 7 4 © 8 4 2 ¨ K J 10 4 2 § J 4
	ª 8 6 © A K Q 6 3 ¨ Q 3 § Q 10 8 6

West	North	East	South
	1§	Pass	1©
Pass	2©	Pass	4©
All Pass

The action from the Israeli table was relatively typical; when Yener declared four hearts the defense cashed the club ace-king as East echoed in clubs, and took the ruff, then shifted to diamonds – but it was too late. Declarer had a home for his diamond loser on the fourth club. That was 94/186 for the Israelis, effectively a dead average.
Contrast what happened when Guillaume Grenthe was East against another pair of contenders, Kapala and Brede of Poland. On the lead of the club ace he discouraged with the four, knowing that his partner would shift to diamonds. And that was duly what happened. Declarer had to duck the diamond – he did not know about the club jack being on side – and Guillaume won his ¨K and reverted to clubs to get the ruff and set the game for what was very close to a top.

Brede and Kapala eventually finished seventh but even at the end were working hard for a medal.

Board 26. All Vul. Dealer East.
	ª A J 4 © Q 10 ¨ A Q 6 3 § J 10 4 2
ª 10 7 2 © 6 3 ¨ K 10 7 5 2 § Q 7 6		ª K Q 5 3 © 7 4 2 ¨ J 9 8 § 8 5 3
	ª 9 8 6 © A K J 9 8 5 ¨ 4 § A K 9

West	North	East	South
		Pass	1©
Pass	2§	Pass	3©
Pass	4¨	Pass	4NT
Pass	5ª	Pass	6©
All Pass

6©is a fair spot – on a non-club lead slam is excellent, on a spade lead it is at least playable. Stefano Uccelli led an obedient spade to his partner’s queen (a good moment for a deceptive ªK perhaps) and Ruggiero Guariglia returned the §5. Reading the position excellently, Brede hopped up with the ace, ran five rounds of trumps, then unblocked his second top club, finessed in diamonds, and pitched his club on the ¨A. Now he ruffed a club back to hand, and when the §Q fell he had his twelfth trick.

That was not a top; witness what happened to Flemming Clausen and Sehr Jensen of Denmark.

West	North	East	South
	Jensen		Clausen
		Pass	1©
Pass	2§	Pass	3©
Pass	3ª	Pass	4§
Pass	4¨	Pass	4©
Pass	4NT	Pass	5¨
Pass	5©	Pass	6©
Pass	7©	Dbl	Pass
Pass	Rdbl	All Pass

Sehr Jensen’s bidding might appear to come from a different planet, but pity poor West. Faced with what seemed to be a Lightner double position he sat for ages before leading… a low club. Now declarer had four clubs, six hearts and two aces – so he still needed the diamond finesse; but that was no problem either. 7©redoubled and made!

When the event was completed the provisional scores showed that the Israeli pair, Azizi and Yener (who had led by two tops with eight deals to play) had been caught at the wire by Jerome and Guillaume Grenthe of France. However the numbers were so close that the scores were rechecked, and a scoring error reversed the result. In third place were Bas and Bob Drijver of the Netherlands, the latter playing his first serious international tournament, while in fourth place, less than one top out from the Gold Medal, were John Kranyak and Joe Grue.