The 43rd World Bridge Championships are being held at the "Cite Centre de Congres" in Lyon, outside of which there is an enormous statue of a "Russian Bear". We enter today's play, confident in the belief that three lions on the shirt will be more than enough to cope with a lone bear!
At the half-way stage of our quarter-final we are leading the Russians by 133 IMPs to 98. There are 48 boards to go so this is a significant but not, as yet, decisive advantage.
Having clear bidding agreements in a well organised system can reap big rewards. This is illustrated by the following hand that helped us to establish our lead.
At one table, the opening bid was 1C, indicating a strong hand or a weak NT - the "Polish Club" system. Nevena Senior overcalled 1H and East showed her clubs. Some confusion ensued in that, East's bid was merely competitive and West became worried that East had a string of clubs but a poor hand. This uncertainty led to the slam being missed.
At the half-way stage of our quarter-final we are leading the Russians by 133 IMPs to 98. There are 48 boards to go so this is a significant but not, as yet, decisive advantage.
Having clear bidding agreements in a well organised system can reap big rewards. This is illustrated by the following hand that helped us to establish our lead.
| ♠ A 8 ♥ K Q 8 5 4 ♦ J 8 2 ♣ J 7 2 | ||
| ♠ K Q J T 7 6 4 3 ♥ A ♦ A Q ♣ T 6 |  | ♠ - ♥ T 9 3 ♦ K T 5 3 ♣ A K Q 8 5 4 |
| ♠ 9 5 2 ♥ J 7 6 2 ♦ 9 7 6 4 ♣ 9 3 | ||
At one table, the opening bid was 1C, indicating a strong hand or a weak NT - the "Polish Club" system. Nevena Senior overcalled 1H and East showed her clubs. Some confusion ensued in that, East's bid was merely competitive and West became worried that East had a string of clubs but a poor hand. This uncertainty led to the slam being missed.
In contrast, Fiona Brown and Sally Brock bid:
1S 2C (FG)
3S 4C (cue-bid)
4NT and on to a nicely bid slam
Fiona's jump to 3S announced that spades were playable opposite a void. This was a useful agreement to have because it enabled Sally to cue-bid 4C with confidence. In a standard system, a 3S rebid is necessary, merely to indicate a non-minimum opening, so this board can be seen as being a good hand for the treatment that 2C is forcing to game.
Indeed, it was one of two hands in the second stanza of the match when our pair bid a making slam with a very strong suit opposite a void!
The overnight scores, after 48 boards, in each of the quarter-finals are given below:
Sweden 97 Israel 107 - the winners of this match are our potential semi-final opponents
Russia 98 England 133
Indonesia 101 Poland 103
China 88 Netherlands 70
Looking forward to a good day's play !
Derek :)
1S 2C (FG)
3S 4C (cue-bid)
4NT and on to a nicely bid slam
Fiona's jump to 3S announced that spades were playable opposite a void. This was a useful agreement to have because it enabled Sally to cue-bid 4C with confidence. In a standard system, a 3S rebid is necessary, merely to indicate a non-minimum opening, so this board can be seen as being a good hand for the treatment that 2C is forcing to game.
Indeed, it was one of two hands in the second stanza of the match when our pair bid a making slam with a very strong suit opposite a void!
The overnight scores, after 48 boards, in each of the quarter-finals are given below:
Sweden 97 Israel 107 - the winners of this match are our potential semi-final opponents
Russia 98 England 133
Indonesia 101 Poland 103
China 88 Netherlands 70
Looking forward to a good day's play !
Derek :)
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