August 2016 - 21

Maple Leaf Maneuvers
Meet the winners of the 2016 Canadian
National Team Championships.

If there had been parimutuel betting
at the 2016 Canadian National Team
Championships, the payoffs for picking
winners would have been minimal, as
pre-event favorites captured all three
of the major events.
Women's Teams, winners of
the Ruth Gold trophy: EATON:
Joan Eaton-Karen Cumpstone,
Ina Demme-Katie Thorpe, Lesley
Thomson-Sondra Blank
Senior Teams, winners of the
Sam Gold plaque: CARRUTHERS:
John Carruthers-Joey Silver, George
Mittelman-Robert Lebi, Boris Baran-
Pierre Daigneault
Open Teams, winners of the Mark
Molson trophy: L'ECUYER: Nick
L'Ecuyer-Zygmunt Marcinski, Kamel
Fergani-Frederic Pollack, Judith
Gartaganis-Nicholas Gartaganis
Subject to ratification by the CBF
Board and the WBF, these three teams
also earned the right to represent Canada in their respective divisions at the
2016 World Bridge Games in Wroclaw,
Poland, Sept. 3-17. Don't bet against
any one of these fine squads ending on
the medal podium in Poland!
At the Table: Highlights and
Lowlights
As usual, there was one freaky
deal that was the talk of the nine-day
tournament (played May 21-29 in a
very comfortable venue at the Delta
Toronto East): "What did you do on
Board 25 in Round 10?"

BY PAUL THURSTON

Dlr: North ♠ Q 10 3
Vul: E-W ♥ 10
♦94
♣ Q 10 9 7 6 3 2
♠A7654
♠-
♥92
♥AKJ87654
♦K3
♦AQ765
♣AKJ4
♣-
♠KJ982
♥Q3
♦ J 10 8 2
♣85
After North opens 3♣, what should
East do with his red monster? Does
anyone have a system to cover 0=8=5=0
shape with that strength? Many Easts
simply despaired of ever being able to
bid accurately or scientifically (but
stay tuned!) and chose the all-in overcall of 6♥.
Many Wests in this situation thought
that whatever East might need for a
grand slam, they had it, and indeed
there were several successful boosts to
the seven level.
Personally, I'm of a more conservative bent and feared the somewhat
tender diamonds might prove a weak
spot at the six level, so Keith Balcombe
and I had this auction:
West
4NT

North
3♣
Pass

East
4♥
7♥!

South
Pass
All Pass

As evidenced by Balcombe's advance
via Blackwood, we don't treat jump
overcalls (especially at adverse vulnerability) like 4♥ as chopped liver
- although I would admit this one was
based on a better hand than most!
Over Blackwood, I had no idea how

to show this many key cards plus two
voids, but I did expect that partner
would likely have something in every
suit outside of hearts (including the
♦K) to use the convention, so I bid
what I thought we could make.
As for the possibility of a scientific
way to introduce that East hand, one
pair actually did have an agreement
that (almost) covered the situation:
West
Pass!

North
3♣
Pass

East
4NT

South
Pass

By agreement, East's intervention was an extension of the unusual
notrump that showed a red two-suiter.
Perfect! Except there was no agreement about whether this use of 4NT
was forcing, and West decided that
with no great fit for either red suit
and stoppers in the black suits, he had
found a place for the partnership to
play. Not so perfect after all!
Contrary to the old joke ("How do
you defend against a Canadian slam?
Cash your two aces and wait for your
trump trick!"), not all slam bidding on
display at the CNTC was inept. Two
examples featured a meat-and-potatoes approach that was instructional as
well as successful.
North
♠A2
♥K97
♦KQ76
♣KQJ7

South
♠ K Q J 10 8 6 3
♥Q
♦AJ83
♣2

1♣
1NT
4♥
Pass

1♠
4♣
4♠
August 2016 Bridge Bulletin

21
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of August 2016
