Tenerife hands

Tenerife hands (13) - Run, rabbit, run

You are vul against not and you hold:

10 7 5 3 2
J 7
Q 10 9 4
J 2
RHO opens 3C and this is passed to partner who bids 3NT. You probably pass but then LHO doubles and this is passed out to you. Do you run to 4S -or do you stand your ground?

This was board 18 of 14th round in Tenerife (6th for the Ladies). Most of the men in the South place voted for partner, i.e. they passed the double. This was a day for running, though. The full deal was:

                             A K J 6
                             6 4 2
                             K J 
                             A 9 6 5

Q 9 4                                            8
A Q 10 9 8 5                                 K 3
A 5 2                                            8 7 6 3
7                                                  K Q 10 8 4 3

                             10 7 5 3 2
                             J 7
                             Q 10 9 4
                              J 2

As you see, 3NT is going to be slaughtered, while 4S is down two normally; no bargain but -500 is better than -1100 or -1400. In the Open there were a lot of 1100s or so; in the Ladies series there were a lot of 4S, a lot of 3NT undoubled but not one 3NT doubled. It is risky to draw conclusions merely from the scoreboards, but it seems that the Ladies are less inclined to double and/or more inclined to run :-)

There was one declarer, Andersson of Sweden, who made 3NT (undoubled) on a club lead. Swedish readers are urgently requested to find out and report how the play went!

Greece got the worst in this deal. Against Slovenia, they went for 1400 as N-S and... they sold out to 2S as E-W. This was 17 IMPs and in the very next board a blind lead against a vulnerable 3NT meant that Greece lost 13 IMPs more. 30 IMPs lost in two deals! A blitz? Yes, but not the one you might expect. You see, the Greeks had had rather the better of the previous exchanges, and they had not lost a single IMP up to this point. They won 96 to 30 or 25-2 in VPs.

Nikos Sarantakos

Back to the Tenerife hands page

Back to Nikos Sarantakos' bridge page