Fun deals at the U26 Transnationals!
This is MKB with the rest of my summer of bridge! After the Junior World Championships in Italy, we did not put the cards away just yet: I headed to the U26 Mixed Transnationals with Romaric, then the U26 Open with Clara Bouton – my Girls’ partner for three years until this year.
Two distinct goals:
- U26 Mixed: to make the most of partnering Romaric to keep our great rapport from Salsomaggiore going – and why not try for a medal at the same time?
- U26 Open: to have the pleasure of playing with Clara again, with whom I had shared so many great moments in the Girls’ team, and for us to go up against more experienced players than those we were used to in the women’s category.
These transnationals were also an opportunity to come across pairs from all over the world, to play in strong Pairs games and to be more relaxed than in an official championship… all while trying to get a good result, of course!
A defence deal from the U26 Mixed
We were on defence against a 4♠ contract. Left-hand opponent had shown a minimum hand and Romaric led the 5 of hearts.
When West plays a small heart from the dummy, we win with our king and the 9 appears on our left. What should we play back?
With count, we know that there is no use in continuing hearts. The best return is a club, hoping to make the offside king. By returning a club, we did indeed make a club, a heart, a diamond and a spade, whereas if we had returned a heart, it would have given away the contract.
The full deal:
We came third in the qualifier, then in the middle of the pack in the U26 Mixed, a bit disappointed as we had been aiming for a medal.
We were very happy for our friends Nao and Ninon, who ended up winning the B-final ✨
Green against green: bid over the top!
Let’s move on to a deal from the U26 Pairs opposite Clara. I was fourth in and had to choose whether to pass or make a take-out double.
I had no hope for game but we might have been making a part-score or have had a sacrifice against a making 2♠… The only bad outcome would be to go one down when they were also making their contract.
Green-against-green, I decided to double for take-out and we went down one, a good sacrifice because we would not have been taking more than five tricks against 2♠!
Note: as I can double with weak hands, especially when short in spades, it would be dangerous to say 3NT on the other side of the table!
The last time I played in Salsomaggiore with Clara, it was in 2022 for the Girls’ World Transnational Pairs. We were pretty much out of the running before the final session but we clung on until the end… and after a final session of over 70%, we had clinched our first international gold medal! A complete surprise and a real joy to share that moment together 💛 Since then, we have also been Europeans champions and World vice-champions together.
We start with a double… after a pre-empt!
I decided to open 3♠ with 6-4 and a good-quality spade suit. When my partner said 4♠ and my opponent bid 5♣, my double was indeed penalties! I only had two tricks but my partner, who was vulnerable, would surely have at least one defensive trick for having bid game.
By so doing, I really helped Clara double the opponents’ 5♥! That was an excellent gain since 4♠ was going down our way.
All four hands:
Watch out: at green against red, many play that a double means the opposite: « I have no defensive tricks but some distribution; let’s defend unless you have enough defensive tricks to take the opponents’ contract down. »
What would you open? Spoiler: it will change everything
Some would open 1♦, others 1♥… I am not sure that I would do the same thing every time myself! With five such lovely hearts, I decided to open my five-card major this time. A good decision on this deal, as my left-hand opponent overcalled 2♦!
I let them play in that contract and they went -5 after not really counting my shape… a funny deal with all sorts of contracts at the different tables: half of the contracts were doubled and in every suit!
The famous 3NTXX -5…
On this deal, I didn’t really know what to bid. With East’s double showing 4 or 5 cards in hearts, I preferred to pass rather than bidding my hearts or my spades. I told myself that if West bid 1NT, a 2♣ reopening by me would probably be a major two-suiter with more hearts than spades.
Then, when East showed some strength, I passed again to see where they would end up. I said to myself that I would double NT with all these hearts behind the dummy. That is therefore what I did on the following turn. The opponents seemed to have diamonds well stopped, which implied that Clara had points elsewhere.
West’s redouble didn’t really worry me so much as tell me that they were not in agreement about its meaning. And when I saw the king of hearts lead (double was asking partner to lead dummy’s suit) and that the king of spades was in the dummy, I knew we’d be taking plenty of tricks…
A small crowd gathered around the table when the other juniors saw the contract that had been played. When the deal concluded at 2200 to us, everyone erupted into laughter – even our opponents, who had, of course, got 0% on the deal!
And to finish, my deal of the year with Clara: the destructive 4♦ two-suiter!
Green-against-red, you want to pre-empt quickly to the 4-level rather than saying 2♦ as a major two-suiter and then continuing with a pre-empt… And you can by bidding 4♦ as a destructive major two-suiter!
Clara and I have had this bid in our system for years and thought we would never have the right hand for it. It was fun not only to be able to bid it but also to collect 100% by playing 4♥ doubled +1!
(I have never been so happy to have not opened with my nice eleven-count first-in and green-against-red!)
4 medals for France in the Open Pairs!
In the U26s, Nao got a second medal (bronze this time), playing with Baban. As for us, we were happy with our sixth place, a completely respectable result for a first go at the U26s together.
In the other categories, Luc and Romaric deserved their gold medal in the U31 Pairs with a 10% lead over those in second place! In the Girls’, Maeva and Elise also finished on the top podium. Clément and Maximilien finished as bronze medallists in the U21 category.
A really nice championship
That concluded the two weeks in Salsomaggiore! Featuring: really nice partners, delicious Kinder frozen yoghurts, great team atmosphere amongst the other players… I hope the next two championships I have left as an U26 player will be as cool as this one!!
What did you think of my article?
Don’t hesitate to leave me a comment; I reply to every one! And until the next article! ♥
