Conditions make Easter trials unsatisfactory for players needing a break

Press, 29 April 1981, Page 14

Conditions make Easter trials unsatisfactory for players needing a break

CONTRACT BRIDGE

J.R. Wignall

The New Zealand Women's Team to visit Australia next month will consist of four South Island members and one pair from Wellington. Proving that their experience at the World Bridge Olympiad in Valkenburg last year had stood them in good stead, Mrs K. Boardman and Mrs J, Evitt of Christchurch were the comfortable winners of the trials held over Easter.

The runners up were Mrs R. P. Kerr and Mrs A. Schwartz of Dunedin who appear to have struck up a successful partnership in a comparatively short time. The third pair will be Mrs J. Kinsella and Mrs C. Harries of Wellington. It is a promising team which certainly has the ability to beat 'its Australian counterpart but may not find it easy.

The open trials resulted in a win for an Auckland team consisting of J. Evitt, A. J. H. Moore, D. Mathews and L. Wright. The third pair will be P. H. Marston (Christchurch) and G. M. Sims (Auckland). The team will meet a touring Australian side in the first week-end of May.. The conditions under which the trials were held left a considerable amount to be desired and there was a feeling in some quarters that the compression of over 24 hours of strenuous bridge

into the period from late Friday afternoon to late Sunday evening introduced a certain random element that was not desirable. Meal breaks of 30 minutes and finishing times well after midnight are hardly conductive to the best of concentration. Be that as it may the winning team was by far the most consistent over the week-end although by and large it must be said that the standard of bridge elsewhere was somewhat lower than one might have expected. The winners, for example, stumbled into a final contract of six clubs played by South on the hand below and much of their winning mar gin in this particular game was collected when West selected the lead of a diamond.

After winning in hand with the queen, the declarer at high speed played off 'the king, discarding dummy’s only heart and had little difficulty collecting all but one of the remaining tricks. After a heart lead of course the optimistic slam contract would have been defeated when the defence took tricks with the aces of hearts and clubs. By contrast Mrs Boardman produced a piece of sparkling dummy play to earn a fine result on the following deal:

North-South arrived in the good contract of three no-

trumps which however appears doomed by the lie of the cards, and in fact most declarers were defeated. Against Mrs Boardman, West led a low spade and dummy's eight won the first trick. A heart to the ace and a heart to the queen followed. East taking her king. The queen of diamonds return held the next trick and a low diamond was also ducked to, West's king. Another spade was won by the declarer s king, the queen was cashed, and dummy reentered with a club to the ace. Now the ace of spades was made and the position had become:

It was now’ a simple matter to lead a diamond to the ace and a diamond to the jack to put East on play and force her to concede- two trick# to dummy's jack and nine of hearts.