40 English Bridge December 2016 www.ebu.co.uk
T
he seeding committee for the Gold Cup did
a great job, with all eight top teams reaching
the quarter-finals. Allfrey beat Senior; Brock
beat Cope; de Botton beat Price and Gillis beat
Mould.
The semi-finals were both close. Brock defeated
Allfrey, the number one seeds, by 22 IMPs. They
took an early lead and maintained it throughout.
This was a fine achievement for a team of only four
players. Gillis beat de Botton by 19 IMPs. So, Sally
Brock's squad, seeded 6th, were in the final for the
second year running. How would they fare? This
was an early board:
This was the bidding at the other table:
West North East South
Brogeland Jones Lindqvist Rosen
2´ 3´ Pass
6® All Pass
East's 3´ asked partner to bid 3NT with a spade
stopper. Boye Brogeland diagnosed the solid clubs
and leapt splendidly to 6®. Martin Jones did
wonderfully well to find the killing defence of ace
and another spade, putting the slam one down for a
loss of just 5 IMPs.
You may think that the opening lead did not
matter, since declarer has only 11 tricks. Not so.
Suppose South had led the ™K at the first table.
Declarer could win, draw trumps and play the
tA-K-Q, throwing two spades (rather than his
heart loser). He ruffs dummy's last diamond and
plays a spade to the jack, king and ace. North is then
end-played!
This deal from the 5th set had interest in both the
bidding and the play:
Digging for gold By David Bird
Gold CupGold Cup
click
link
Love All. Dealer North.
´ A Q 9 6 5
™ 2
t J 9 8 6 5 4
® 7
´ K 10 8 7 ´ 4 3 2
™ 10 4 ™ A J
t A K Q 2 t 10
® 6 5 3 ® A K Q J 10 8 4
´ J
™ K Q 9 8 7 6 5 3
t 7 3
® 9 2
N
W E
S
Love All. Dealer North.
´ 10 6
™ Q 5
t K Q J 10 7 6 4
® 8 7
´ Q 9 ´ A J 3 2
™ J 8 6 3 2 ™ K 10 7 4
t 9 3 2 t A 5
® A 6 2 ® J 10 3
´ K 8 7 5 4
™ A 9
t 8
® K Q 9 5 4
N
W E
S
West North East South
Brock Erichsen Myers Gillis
Pass 1® 4™
Dble Pass 6® Pass
Pass Dble All Pass
Sally Brock's negative double suggested length in
spades. Espen Erichsen made a Lightner double of
6®, inviting a lead of dummy's suit (spades). Simon
Gillis duly led the ´J, Erichsen overtaking with the
´Q. A continuation of ace and another spade,
ruffed by South, took the slam two down for +300.
West North East South
Zia Myers Hanlon Brock
3t Dble Pass
4™ All Pass