The Magic Imp
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday September 14, 2002
What a difference an Imp can make. This year's Open Interstate Teams was won by just one Imp. The same result occurred in the 64-board final of the Computer-Bridge World Championships After a 20-board round-robin and 48-board semifinals, Jack (Hans Kuijf, Netherlands) faced Wbridge5 (Yves Costel, France). Jack had won in 2001 and Wbridge5 had been second in 1999. For more details about past championships, see the www.ny-bridge.com/allevy/Montreal website.
With one board to go, Jack led by
5 Imps.
This was the last board:
West dealer; E-W vulnerable.
NORTH
' AQ94
? KQ32
? 10
? K642
WEST EAST
' K65 ' 105
? 8764 ? A109
? A96 ? J854
? 1087 ? AQJ9
SOUTH
' J873
? J5
? KQ732
? 53
When Jack held the North-South cards, the contract was 4S, one down. This was the auction at the other 'table':
West North East South
Jack WB5 Jack WB5
Pass 1C Pass 1D
Pass 1H Pass 1S
Pass 2S All pass
Lead: C7
With the CA offside, declarer has two clubs and two red aces to lose. If WB5 could come to nine tricks, the result would be a tie. East won the first trick and switched to a trump. Declarer now reasonably enough led a heart to the jack and a heart back to the king and ace. Back came another trump, taken in dummy. A diamond to the king and ace was followed by a third trump and so declarer was limited to eight tricks for +110 and + 4 Imps. Jack had won the championship by the narrowest of margins.
Had WB5 led a diamond from dummy at trick 3, nine tricks were available. West can win and play another trump but East has no more trumps to lead when in with the HA. No blame attaches to WB5 as it is a matter of guesswork which red suit to tackle first.
One Imp also separated the Rigal and Forrester teams in the Power Rosenblum K-O Round of 64. With two boards to go, Rigal led by 4. On the final board Forrester picked up 4. The difference arose on the penultimate board:
West North East South
1D Pass 1S 4H
Pass Pass Pass
Lead: SA
At both tables the SA was led. Hating ace leads against suit contracts (except from A-K suits), my choice would be a club. At trick two one West continued with the DA and a diamond to East's king. Declarer had the rest for +420.
At the other table, West switched to the D2 at trick 2. West was hoping to catch East with DK-x and score three diamond tricks to defeat the contract. East played the king and had to decide what to return. When the club switch came, declarer made the rest via CA, HA, HK, CK, club ruff and two discards on the spade winners. That was worth +450 and the magic Imp.
Answer to yesterday's problem:
East should return a diamond. When partner switches to a new suit, a low card switch asks for that suit to be returned. A high card shift asks partner to play back some other suit. The D2 switch definitely asked for a diamond back.
There is another clue. Declarer would have captured the DK if possible. Therefore West has the DA. If a club switch was desired, West could also have played DA and another diamond.
Tip for bridge writers: Don't be redundant; don't use more words than necessary; you do not need to do that; it is most superfluous.
© 2002 Sydney Morning Herald
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