Don’t give up!

September 12th, 2009  ~  Mike Yuen  ~  No Comments 

After working as NPC all last week, I had to play in the Transnational Open Teams. My team-mates were Josef Harsanyi, Susan Culham, Pony Nehmert, Maurice De la Salle and Dan Jacob. 

The format is Swiss, 15 rounds of 10 boards, top 8 qualify for the KO. The following two hands were lessons in not giving up when all seems lost.

Round 11. Board 16. Dealer West. E-W Vul.

West Pony				East Michael
♠	Q976			♠	AJ104
♥	J72			♥	AK
♦	A32			♦	KQJ10
♣	K97			♣	AJ8

 The auction was simple and direct.

2♣  Strong. 2♦ Waiting. 2NT 22+.

The lead was the diamond nine. I could see six spade was cold with the spade finesse for seven. However I was in six No-trump. After the spade finesse lost at trick two, I had to find the winning line.

This was my line.

As everybody could take a simple club finesse, I decided to play for a squeeze. I was happy to push the board as our opponents were in six spade making.

Three boards later, Pony and I were in another tough spot.

Board 19. Dealer South. E-W Vul. 

West Pony				East Michael
♠	QJ			♠	AK10432
♥	AK8432			♥	J7
♦	J654			♦	K
♣	2			♣	AKJ10

This was the auction. 

4NT-RKC. 5♣-1 or 4. 5 ♦-queen ask. 6♥-king of heart and queen of spade.

Pony made the key bid of 3♠ , that got me thinking slam with some certainty.

South led the spade eight, I decided to win in the dummy and took the club finesse to the jack. If that won I would ruff the club ten and claim.

However the club finesse lost! Much to my surprise, LHO returned the heart queen. I gratefully took this with the heart ace. Having given a second chance, I proceed to make the slam. Here was my line.

This was the first time I made two slams via squeezes in the same match!

Day 7 of The World Team Championship

September 6th, 2009  ~  Mike Yuen  ~  No Comments 

Saturday 7th September.

Sunny and very warm here.

It was nice to see Ray and Linda Lee got here safe and sound. Good to have more friendly faces over here.

Hard to believe we have been here a week already. To-day is the last day of the round robin and we are not in any position to qualify for the KO stage. So we will play the rest of the matches for pride.

In match 13 vs Australia. Board 6. Susan and Kiz bid well to earn us a slam swing on the following hand.

Dealer: East Vul: E-W		North
		♠	3
		♥	87
		♦	KQJ82
		♣	J9532
West Susan				East Kiz
♠	J8			♠	AKQ642
♥	A9542			♥	3
♦	106			♦	A754
♣	AK84			♣	Q10
		South
		♠	10975
		♥	KQJ106
		♦	93
		♣	76

This was their auction. 

2NT-minors. 4NT-RKC ask. 5♥ 2 key cards. 6♦ ask for diamond control.

The lead was the heart king, Kiz made 12 tricks for +1430, as our opponents were in 3NT for +690. We won 12 imps.

Match 19 vs Pakistan.Pamela-Karen in the closed room and Kiz-Susan in the open room. Both pairs played like they can, and we had our first blitz for the tournament. Scored the full 25 VP.

Match 20 vs Sweden.Joan-Barb in the open room and Kiz-Susan in the closed room. Sweden has a talented young team so this match will be exciting. As expected they bid a lot, they won 21-9 VP.

Match 21 vs Brazil.Karen-Pamela in the closed room and Kiz-Susan in the open. Both of our pairs played well, we came out on top, won the match by 21-9 VP.

It is appropriate that we play our host Brazil in the last match. The hospitality has been wonderful and we are enjoying our stay.  

The round robin is over for us. Our team didn’t start well and found the form too late to make a mark in the tournament.

I like to thank Barb, Karen, Kiz, Joan, Pamela and Susan for having me as their NPC, it has been a pleasure.

Team Meeting.

September 5th, 2009  ~  Mike Yuen  ~  No Comments 

            Team in uniform                                                                  Team meeting

Day 6 of The World Team Championship

September 5th, 2009  ~  Mike Yuen  ~  No Comments 

Friday 4th September.

Cloudy and warm.

Vince Oddy arrived this afternoon. Barb is happy to see him and we are glad to have one more cheer-leader in our corner.

There are 2 more days and 6 matches to go, we are in 14th place on the leader board. We need over 56 VP per day to give ourselves a chance. Lets put on our game faces and go for it.

With distributional hands, is best to show your suits early in the auction, so that partner can evaluate his/her hand in competition.  

In Match 15. Board 3.  

Dealer: South Vul: E-W		North Joan
		♠	Q94
		♥
		♦	KQJ98632
		♣	63
West				East
♠	K83			♠	J6
♥	AJ108632			♥	K95
♦	3			♦	A7
♣	87			♣	KJ10952
		South Barb
		♠	A10752
		♥	Q74
		♦	104
		♣	AQ4

 This was the auction. 

1NT was weak. 2♦ 1 major.

East had to guess which major partner held, decided to double for penalty. Joan made 11 tricks for +550.

At the other table, Susan (west) bid her hearts and the partnership was able to save at 5♥ X over 5♦.  Down 1 for -200. We won 8 imps.

Match 16 vs Denmark. Joan-Barb in the open room and Pamela-Karen in the close room. It was a close match, we won 16-14 VP. We moved up one place, we are now 13th.

You hold ♠ K42 ♥ 1076 ♦ J875 ♣ 843 your partner opened 1NT weak, RHO X for penalty. What do you bid?

Barb bid 2♦ showing diamonds and hearts. LHO bid 2♠ went all pass. This time luck is with us, Barb’s bid stole the pot. Karen and Pamela at the other table bid and made 4 ♥ for a big gain.

These are the hands.

Match 16. Board 29. 

Dealer: North Vul: All		North
		♠	A10853
		♥	J94
		♦	96
		♣	J106
West Barb				East Joan
♠	K42			♠	QJ6
♥	1076			♥	32
♦	J875			♦	AK1042
♣	843			♣	Q95
		South
		♠	97
		♥	AKQ85
		♦	Q3
		♣	AK72

Match 17 vs Germany. Kiz-Susan in open room and Joan-Barb in the close room.

Germany had an amazing record in the Venice Cup. Since 1989 they have played in all of them only once failed to make it to the quarter finals. Won gold medal twice and silver medal thrice.

It didn’t go well for us and we lost 21-9 VP. That pretty much ended our chance to qualify for the quarter finals.  

Match 18 vs Venezuela. Kiz-Susan in the close room and Pamela-Karen in the open room. We played bad and lost 22-8 VP.

The day started with such high hope as we were on a roll, but it was not to be. Lets play with heart to-morrow and move up the leader board.

Just an idea, there should be a mercy rule in these championships. At the end of each day during the round robin, the last placed team is allowed to resign. Otherwise forcing them to play meaningless matches would only give them the chance to be king makers.

At the table.

September 4th, 2009  ~  Mike Yuen  ~  No Comments 

 Our team at play.

        Barbara                                                                   Joan.

     Kiz                                                                               Susan.

     Karen                                                                             Pamela.

Day 5 of The World Team Championship

September 4th, 2009  ~  Mike Yuen  ~  No Comments 

Thursday 3rd September.

We have sunny day in the morning and rain in the afternoon.

To-day is the half way point of the round robin matches, we are in 15th position with 161VP, 31VP out of 8th place.

Match 12 against USA2, Karen (west) and Pamela (east) got to 3NT in this hand. Karen then found the way home.

*Two club-majors, North found the unlucky lead of a spade. Any other lead would have given her side a better chance.

Match 13 vs Australia. Kiz-Susan in the close room and Pamela-Karen in the open room. The hands were wild, not less then 4 small slams and 1 grand slam. Our team got the better of it and won 22 much needed VPs.

Match 14 vs China. This match was on Vugraph-Our Game, the Chinese version of BBO. Joan-Barb in the close room and Pamela-Karen in the open room. They played well and beat us 22-8 VP.

Match 15 vs USA 1. Joan-Barb in the open room and Kiz-Susan in the close. Both pairs had a good match and we won 22-8 VP. Now if there are more US team in this event, maybe we be leading.

For the day we won 52 VP, 28 VP out of 8th. There are 6 matches left, 150 VP for the taking.

It is heart warming to find a honest taxi driver in Sao Paulo. For the last few evening we have been going out to dinner after the game. The taxi ride home costed 35 Reals-they always drive us over the bridge to cross the river. Last evening the taxi driver took us on a short cut via a back road without using the bridge, the fare came to 15 Reals! We were so happy, we gave him a 5 Reals tip.

Day 4 of The World Team Championship

September 3rd, 2009  ~  Mike Yuen  ~  2 Comments 

Wednesday 2nd September.

Another sunny and warm day here.

We have played below our potential. All of our careless mistakes costed us big time! For us to make it to top 8 position, we need an average of 18 VP per match from this point forward. It is possible as we have 12 more matches to play.

To-day we play another three matches. Karen and Pamela will sit out the first match as they have close ties to New Zealand.

Match 10 vs New Zealand. Kiz-Susan in the close room, Joan-Barb in the open. We won the match 16-14. This slam helped our cause. 

Dealer: West Vul: All		North
		♠	7432
		♥	K852
		♦
		♣	109854
West Barb				East Joan
♠	AK106			♠	Q5
♥	7			♥	QJ6
♦	AKQ4			♦	J109863
♣	QJ72			♣	A6
		South
		♠	J98
		♥	A10943
		♦	752
		♣	K3

 Joan and Barb had a nice auction to the diamond slam. 

Three diamond was limit raise. Three spade Q-bid. Four club Q-bid. 4NT RKC and five club was 1 or 4.

With the spade jack coming down, there was twelve tricks. +1370.

The New Zealand pair stopped at three no-trumps made eleven trick for +660, our team won 12 imps.

Match 11 vs Argentina. Joan-Barb in the open room and Pamela-Karen in the close room. This was a roller coaster ride the whole match. At one point we were 20imps up and then on 3 boards we dropped 33 imps, ouch. We lost and ended with 10-20VP.

Match 12 vs USA1. We have Kiz-Susan in the close room and Pamela-Karen in the open room. Both pair played very well and we beat them by 20imps. Winning the match by 20-10VP.

We ended the day on a winning note that always make for a nicer dinner.

Day 3 of The World Team Championship

September 2nd, 2009  ~  Mike Yuen  ~  No Comments 

Tuesday 1st September.

Mostly sunny and very warm. 

We have settled in to a routine, breakfast in the main dinning room. They serve a delicious buffet, fresh fruits, juices, eggs cooked to you taste with bacon, sausages and ham. All kinds of fresh bread with jams of your choice.

Barb was selected for doping control. My advice to her-drink lots of water.

To-day is our moving day. We have three reasonable opponents and we are expected to do well against them.

Match 7 vs Italy. Susan-Kiz in the open and Karen-Pamela in the close. Special alert- the Italian coach at the table accused Kiz of slow play, she called the director got him barred from speaking. After the smoke cleared, we crushed them 16-14.

Match 8 vs Indonesia. Joan-Barb in the open and Kiz-Susan in the closed. It was not good bridge, we got beat 11-19VP.

Match 9 vs Japan. Karen-Pamela in the close room, Joan-Barb in the open. Both pairs played well. We won the match 18-12VP.

For the day we played average, left us with hope.

This slam earned us 13 imps. 

Dealer: West Vul: E-W		North
		♠	2
		♥	1096
		♦	QJ9752
		♣	1075
West Karen				East Pamela
♠	AK8			♠	J1094
♥	QJ8752			♥	K
♦	A3			♦	K1086
♣	KQ			♣	AJ92
		South
		♠	Q7653
		♥	A43
		♦	4
		♣	8643

 This was the auction. 

*3 club-transfer to diamond. 4 club natural. 4 spade natural. 4NT RKC for spade. 5 diamond 0 or 3 key cards.

With heart breaking 3-3 the slam came home. Our opponents, not unreasonablely stopped in 3NT.

Over heard last night-group of bridge players out on the town were confronted by a good looking woman on the street. She opened her coat revealing a naked body for all to see. While the players watched in amazement, their shoulder bags were cut and disappeared.

Day 2 of The World Team Championship

September 1st, 2009  ~  Mike Yuen  ~  2 Comments 

Monday 31st August.

Another sunny day and getting warmer. The playing area to-day was like a oven, somebody turn the heat on.

After the opening day jitter, we have settled into our game.

Match 4. vs Morocco. Karen-Pamela in the close room and Joan-Barbara in the open. There was not much in his set of hands and we have a 15-15 tie.

You are vulnerable, you hold ♠ K ♥ J7653 ♦ Q107 ♣ Q543.

LHO open 1♦partner overcall 1♠ RHO pass. I think 1NT is normal. It went all pass.

The lead is the ♦ 6. This are the 4 hands.

Dealer: Vul:		North
		♠	J10976
		♥	K82
		♦	2
		♣	K962
West karen				East Pamela
♠	AQ853			♠	K
♥	AQ10			♥	J7653
♦	J95			♦	Q107
♣	108			♣	Q543
		South
		♠	42
		♥	94
		♦	AK8643
		♣	AJ7

With the ♥ King wrong, 1NT has no play and went down 3. -300

At the other table, Barb competed to 2♦ made 3 for +110.  We lost 5 imps on this hand. Normal actions and we lost imps!

Match 5 vs France. This match we have Joan-Barb in open room and Kiz-Susan in closed room. The French, 2005 champions played double dummy and left us with 0 VP.

Match 6 vs Jordan. Pamela-Karen in the open and Kiz-Susan in the close. We had a close match, came away with 14 VP.

So far it has not been going well for us. With 15 more matches to play, there are still many chances. We know we are better then this, we need to settle down, play one hand at a time. Come what may. To-morrow is another day.

Thanks you for all the messages wishing us good luck and giving us encouragement.

The slam that never was.

August 31st, 2009  ~  Mike Yuen  ~  1 Comment 

Good bidding has it own rewards, just not imps this time.

Match 3. Board 1.  None Vul. Dealer North.

North Kiz
♠	106
♥	KJ1084
♦	KQ
♣	KQ72
South Susan
♠	Q2
♥	AQ963
♦	AJ10
♣	AJ6

*2NT is forcing ♥ raise. 3 ♥ waiting. 3NT serious-slam interest. 4♣ and 4♦ Q bids. 5♥ ask for ♠ control.

In a bidding contest you expect to earn a 10 for this auction.

In Sao Paulo, many Souths either just jump to 6♥ or after RKC then bid 6. Most were rewarded with 13 imps as many East didn’t find the killing ♠ lead.