For the sixth day of the EBU Spring Overseas Congress, sponsored by First for Bridge, tournament Director Chris Benneworth talks through an interesting board from the first day of the Swiss Teams:
As we approach the end of the Congress, Saturday is the last day for exploring Cala Ratjada and its immediate surroundings. Unfortunately, the weather isn’t as good as it has been, so several players made use of the heated indoor swimming pool and spa. There’s a local market on Saturdays, about a twenty-minute walk from the hotel and close to the harbour, so that was an option for some others – it’s a typical local market at this time of year – mainly food and clothes stalls rather than those designed for the tourist – they come once the holiday season starts. But it’s a pleasant walk and a taxi back from the harbour costs only about 6 euros.
We decided to create a hall of fame with photographs of the winners of each section on the wall outside the playing room, to remind us of who had won each event during the week.
Saturday afternoon and evening saw us back to the more serious green-pointed events of the Congress. The first six rounds of the Swiss Teams saw two teams (Murphy and Randall) separated by only two VPs, and a gap of 18 to the third placed team. But there’s certainly all to play for on the final day.
This was an interesting board in match 1 (board 8, love all)
The points are balanced and N/S can make ten tricks in spades and E/W can make nine tricks in hearts.
Making 4S doesn’t look easy, but it was achieved at two tables (one declarer even managed to make 11). Most tables played in a heart contract, making 9 or 10 tricks
How can you make 4S on the lead of the AH?
It would appear that the par contract is 5Hx – 2, but there is only one score of +300 on the traveller and that’s for 6Hx - 2.
In one match both 4S and 4H made at different tables, giving a double game swing on the hand.
And here’s a little more from Ilona Buttinger, who visited the caves of Drach: “The very popular limestone caves in Porto Cristo are well worth a visit, taking an hour or so to walk through. The highlight of the tour culminates in a vast cavern with a lake, where you are treated to an ethereal 10-minute classical concert. The musicians arrive on illuminated boats which glide silently across the water. Be aware that there can be a large number of people in each timed entry (up to 350).”