Prague Day 2 - Double Trouble

Board 18 in the 8th match of the Swiss looked like a dream for both sides, yet the hands refused to produce a game for either. Neither side can make a game contract, despite the shapely holdings, particularly in North and West. North-South fall short by one diamond, two spades, and a spade ruff in 4♥, while East-West lose three immediate club tricks in 5♦.

Across all 39 matches, this board produced an average swing of 7.21 IMPs, even though 10 matches pushed the board. Remarkably, not a single table managed to make a contract!

This board produced an explosive sequence between the two top contenders: the Polish Swiss Zimmermann and Israel’s Bridge Trainer.

Closed Room: 

West	North	East	South
Klukowski	Noga Tal	Kalita	Dana Tal
		3♦	X
3♠	4♥	P	P
5♦	P	P	X
AP

Similar to many other pairs using a 2♦ Multi, Kalita opted for a preemptive 3♦ rather than passing conservatively. After South’s double, Klukowski made a natural 3♠ bid to suggest a lead-direct, allowing Noga Tal to compete with 4♥. When the auction returned to Klukowski, he bid 5♦, which was doubled. The defense cashed the first three tricks immediately, resulting in –100 for Zimmermann.

Photo credit: European Bridge League (Facebook)

On the other hand, this occurred in the Open Room:

West	North	East	South
Lengy	Nowosadzki	Bareket	Nowak
		3♦	X
5♦	5♥	P	6♥
X	AP

At this table, the auction started similarly, but West (Assaf Lengy) immediately raised his partner to 5♦. North (Michał Nowosadzki) was then forced to bid 5♥ to show his strength, after which South (Kamil Nowak) ambitiously bid 6♥. The contract was doubled and went down three tricks. +800 for Israel gave them a massive 14-IMP gain on this board.

Meanwhile, in the other broadcasted match between HOBAA and Sayin Abim, the closed-room auction was intense:

Closed Room:

West	North	East	South
G Ho	Yilmaz	W L Ho	Kubac
		3♦	X
5♦	5♥	P	P
5♠	X	6♦	X
AP

Over Yilmaz’s 5♥, Gordon Ho (HOBAA) competed with a 5♠ bid, which eventually escalated to 6♦ redoubled. The contract went down three for –300, while 5♥ would have gone down only two.

Open Room: 

West	North	East	South
Zorlu	Sze	Ucar	Chiu
		3♦	X
5♦	5♥	P	P
6♦	P	P	6♥
X	AP

After Zorlu’s phantom 6♦ bid, Chiu attempted to compete to slam with 6♥. The decision proved costly, ending –800 for North-South and awarding 15 IMPs to Sayin Abim, who went on to dominate the match 58–10.