MindZine - Bridge

The 6th European Mixed Championships were held from march 18th to 24th in Bellaria, near Rimini, Italy.

Bellaria is a resort town on the Adriatic coast and, out of season, it seemed very quiet and many of the restaurants and hotels were closed. Still, if you like Italian food then you would have no trouble in finding something to please you.

The Championships consisted of two separate events, the European Mixed Pairs and the European Mixed Teams.

First up was the Pairs, with a record entry of 456 pairs. After three qualifying sessions, the field was split in two, a final (roughly one-third of the total) and a consolation for the remainder. There was a carry-forward to these from the qualifying stage, and two more sessions to play to decide the final positions. The final was totally dominated by the experienced Italian pairing of Monica Buratti and Carlo Mariani, who won by a huge margin. Second were Marlene and Michel Duguet of France, and the bronze medal went to Elena Maitova and Tim Zlotov of Russia, the first ever medal for Russia other than at junior level at a European or World Championship.

There were 101 entries to the Mixed Teams. They played twelve rounds of Swiss Teams, ten boards per round, to decide which four teams would contest the semi-finals. The semi-finals and final were each of 32 boards, while the rest of the field played another four matches of Swiss to decide the minor placings. Team Maybach of Germany led at the end of the qualifying and chose to play Volina of Russia in the semi-final, a match which they won by a comfortable 101-50 IMPs. Meanwhile, Auken of Denmark defeated Tissot of France by 100-47 IMPs to set up a Germany v Denmark final.

There was a lot of interesting bridge played during the course of the Championships. Let me present to you just two deals, both from the Mixed Teams event. Let me start by giving you an opening lead problem.

North	South
1	2
2	3
3	3NT
7	Pass

One Club was Polish, showing either clubs, a weak no trump, or any strong hand, and Two Hearts a natural game force. North has shown a one-suited hand with spades.
What would your choice be holding:

	3 2
	A 10 5
	8 5 3 2
	K 6 3 2

We will come to that shortly, but a lot of IMPs swing on the decision you make.

When Madsen (Denmark) met Sandsmark (Norway) in Round 10 of the Swiss, Morten Lund Madsen thought that he was dreaming as the auction progressed on one board.
This was the board:

Board 6. Dealer East. E/W Vul

A K 10 8 5

K J 8 7 5

K 5

K 10 4

	N
W		E
	S

J 8 3 2

Q J 4 3 2

10 6 4 3

Q 9

A Q 10 9 7 3

A 9 7 6 5

9 6

A 2

J 8 4 2

West	North	East	South
	Madsen		Rahelt
		Pass	Pass
2	Pass	2NT	Pass
3	Pass	Pass	Dble
All Pass

West's Two Heart opening was weak with five hearts plus a four-card or longer minor. Lund Madsen was slightly surprised by the opening bid but he passed to see what would happen. When East asked for his partner's minor and West admitted to holding diamonds, Lund Madsen was even more surprised. Still, he had to pass again as a double would have been for take-out. Imagine his pleasure when he saw that Maria Rahelt had made a balancing double! Three Diamonds doubled made just three tricks for +1700 to the Danes, helping them to a 25-4 VP win in the match.

Meanwhile, Paul Chemla of France also enjoyed the above board, though not achieving quite the same score as Lund Madsen.

West	North	East	South
	Chemla		D'Ovidio
		Pass	Pass
Pass	1	2	Dble
Pass	2	Pass	2
Pass	4	All Pass

The opening lead was a low spade to dummy's ace. Chemla played ace, king and a third diamond, East pitching a club. He ruffed the diamond and led the 9, covered by the jack and king.
When the 7 fell, Chemla decided that the suit was probably breaking 5-1, especially given that East seemed to be long in both black suits from the bidding and his opening lead.
He continued by cashing the jack of diamonds, then exited with the king of clubs. East won the A but then made the fatal error of failing to cash the Q. Instead, he led a spade for Chemla to ruff. Chemla again exited with a club and East was obliged to lead a black card for him to ruff again.
Finally, Chemla played his last diamond and West had to ruff and lead into the A 10 at trick twelve to give the tenth trick.
Strangely, this fine effort was not matched at the other table. The Chemla team gained a 25-3 VP win and were right in the thick of the qualification battle.

Semi-final. Board 4.

Dealer West. All Vul.

A K J 8 7 6 5 4

A 4

A Q 8

Q 10 9

	N
W		E
	S

3 2

Q 9 4

A 10 5

9 7 6

8 5 3 2

10 9 7 5

K 6 3 2

K J 8 7 6 3 2

K Q J 10

J 4

West	North	East	South
Oelker	Gromov	Gladiator	Gromova
Pass	1	Pass	2
Pass	2	Pass	3
Pass	3	Pass	3NT
Pass	7	All Pass

Well, did you decide on the answer to the lead problem? If you led a spade, as did Anne Gladiator, I expect you will think that she was unlucky. Personally, I have seen this sort of thing happen too often and don't believe in leading a 'safe' trump against a grand slam. But then, of course, it is easy to say so afterwards, isn't it?

The trump lead gave the contract; +2210 and 13 IMPs to VOLINA as the Germans stopped in Six Spades at the other table.