The meetings ended a few days ago World Bridge Games in Buenos Aires with a new reason for pride for the Italian bridge which brought its top national team once again to the top of the world bridge. The our blues, By Franco, Donati, Manno, Percario, Sementa and Versace together with their captain Pierfrancesco Parolaro They climbed onto the second step of the podium by winning a silver of absolute value. To surpass them, but only in an exciting final part of the race was the Polish formation. It is therefore necessary to illustrate a piece taken from these chronicles.
We are at the 27th episode of the column "Play with champions” for all Bridge enthusiasts, the result of the collaboration between FIRST online , Italian Bridge Game Federation. Every Saturday will be the occasion to test yourself with the highest level Bridge with the publication of a particularly interesting hand, which will be played at an international level or highly spectacular. Competitive bridge is fun for everyone. You can see the previous deals by clicking on the banner on the front page, or here.
Hand number 27: Giovanni Donati in the semi-final against Argentina
Among the many, I have chosen a hand masterfully played by the youngest of the team, Giovanni Donati, in the semifinal against Argentina and rewarded by the live praise of Berry Rigal, certainly one of the most esteemed bridge commentators ever. After South's spade opening and North's conventional 2NT response - showing a suit support and at least one game attempt - East doubled and after West's three diamonds the bid ended with four spades. The Q♦ lead was won in hand by Giovanni with the A♦. It seemed really difficult to make the heart losers disappear, yet Donati found a way to do it, leaving his opponents defenseless. Could you do the same in his place? The solution next Saturday.
The solution to hand number 26 on Saturday 2 November
Leonardo cashed the A♠ on which the 4♠ and 8♠ arrived and continued with the K♠ and a third round of trumps, while East discarded diamonds, so that the defense could not choose which side to hold the trick. West in lead with the J♠ did not find the club return that would have weakened the player's communications, but continued with the J♥ that reached South's K♥. The twelve tricks at this point were almost assured. Even in the absence of the three and three hearts, if the holdings in the two red suits had been separate, the double compression scheme would have worked. If instead only one opponent had held the clubs, it would have been sufficient for him to have the holding in one of the two red suits. Finally, the player could have won, but only by reading the situation, if the Q♦, together with the fourth of hearts, had been in West. Leonardo cashed all the trumps by discarding two clubs from dummy while East got rid of the last diamond and one club. Then, in succession, he drew two more rounds of hearts and finally the K♦. On this last card East found himself hopelessly squeezed between hearts and clubs.
