This is board 2 in the final session of the Swiss Pairs.
David Arundel writes: “We went into match 9 in the lead. After seven boards we felt we were losing the match and we couldn’t afford to lose the match badly if we were to still have a chance of winning the event. On board 1 our opponents had bid and made 6NT which had only been bid by one other pair
We were sitting NS and this was the auction:
3H was aggressive, but justified in the circumstances of the match – our only chance to turn the match around.
The opening lead was a deceptive H3, won by the 9, and with all of the queens well placed we made 12 tricks for 100% of the match points. It transpired that no-one else had bid a slam, though several players made 12 or 13 tricks. This turned the match round to a narrow 11-9 victory, putting us back into the lead going in to the final eight boards. And we managed to hang on to our lead, winning our final match 12-8 to end 4 VPs ahead of Andrew Urbanski and Colin Jones.”
Chris Benneworth