An Interclub semi-final in Italy
This weekend, we played the final stage of the Italian Women’s Interclub Championship, after winning the qualifying stage held in January with our Top One team. The team was made up of the two of us, Federica and Valentina Dalpozzo, as well as Antonella Novo, Monica Buratti, Elena Ruscalla and Margherita Costa.
The championship is played over four sessions: seven qualifying rounds, followed by the finals for 1st–2nd, 3rd–4th, 5th–6th and 7th–8th place.
The first qualifying rounds were quite difficult. The team did not play very well and, between a few mistakes and a bit of bad luck, we were unable to stand out. We lost two matches quite heavily, while two others were almost tied. After four rounds, however, we were still in last place.
Disappointed by this result, but still very motivated, we started the fifth round determined to react. We finally claimed our first victory of the championship, scoring 12 victory points. Unfortunately, that still was not enough to move us out of last place.
In the seventh round, played on Friday afternoon, we finally managed to bounce back with a very nice win: 19 VPs.
A delicate decision for Federica… and 11 IMPs at stake
One amusing board came from an opponent’s mistake, which then left me facing a difficult decision. I was sitting West:
South opened 1♠, I doubled, showing any distribution, and North bid 3♥. Vale passed and my right-hand opponent also passed, probably because of a forgotten agreement in this situation.
I then found myself in a very delicate position: we were vulnerable against non-vulnerable opponents. We might have been able to make game… and going down would not cost them very much.
The real problem was whether I could later bid 5♥, because I knew my opponents would almost always bid 4♠ once their misunderstanding had been cleared up.
With this hand, it was possible to make 6♥… but also to go heavily down in 4♥. I could have chosen to play in a standard way and return to the “basic” situation, but I thought my partner probably had something in Diamonds, without being very strong in high-card points, since she had passed over 3♥.
I finally decided to pass, hoping not to be able to make 5♥. The play was quite simple: the contract went six down, for 300 points to us. Fortunately, my partner only had the Ace of Diamonds.
At the other table, our opponents played 5♥ and went two down. We therefore gained 11 IMPs on this board. I was lucky, but at that moment I could not really know whether I was going to make 5♥.
A decisive final qualifying round
The last round was played on Saturday morning. We were then 10 victory points away from the quarter-final qualifying spots. We needed a big win, while also hoping that the direct matches between the other teams would produce favourable results for us.
On Friday evening at dinner, we had to decide who would play the following morning. In a great team spirit, we decided to draw lots using toothpicks: whoever picked the shortest ones would sit out the round.
Well, the two of us picked the longest ones, while Elena and Margherita got the medium-length toothpicks. Let’s just say fate did its job: the next morning, we played an excellent match, winning by a superb 18–2 VPs, which allowed us to move up to fourth place, with a six-point lead over the team in fifth.
A defence under pressure against 3NT
Another interesting board came up when our opponents were playing 3NT. We were defending.
I was sitting West. The bidding started as follows:
I led a Heart. When I saw dummy, I was almost certain that declarer could not make her contract. She won the trick, and Vale played the 9, which allowed me to know that she did not have the Jack.
Declarer played a Diamond. I took Vale’s Queen with my King, because I wanted to play Spades before anything else. Looking at all four hands, it probably would not have changed anything if Vale had won and returned a Heart, but of course I did not know that she held five Hearts.
I then did not think enough: I played the Ace of Spades and then another Spade. It would have been better to play a small Spade, because I had the 10. But that is what happened: declarer won with the King and played the Ace of Diamonds.
She then played another Diamond and I felt a little stuck. In fact, I really was: I had put myself in a difficult situation and now had to guess which Jack Vale held — hoping she had one, otherwise I had given the contract away.
I played Spade to watch her discards. Declarer played another Spade, I discarded a Heart, and Vale discarded the 6 of Hearts. I then decided that she had to hold the Jack of Clubs. When declarer played yet another Spade, I discarded the King of Clubs, and then on the Ace of Clubs I played the Queen.
Result: one down. It was a difficult board from my side, because I could not count the points precisely. Looking back at the hand now, it is quite funny: in reality, the contract could never make.
Over to Vale: two nice boards to analyse
Now it is my turn, Vale, to tell you about two nice boards.
A good read of the distribution
The sequence began with 1♥ by Fede in South, then 2♣ by West. I doubled, East passed, and Federica bid 2♦. After West passed, I bid 2♠, showing a limited hand with at least five Spades. My sister then bid 3♣, fourth suit, and I concluded with 3NT. Everyone passed.
The lead was the 8 of Clubs, taken by West with the King, who then returned the 9 of Spades. East won with the Ace and switched to a small Diamond to dummy’s Jack, while West discarded a Club.
The situation was then quite favourable for me, because I was almost certain that the Queen of Hearts was onside, thanks to West’s switch.
I played the Queen of Spades, Diamond to the Ace — West discarding another Club — then the King of Spades, discovering the 4-2 break. I then knew that West had either a 4-3-0-6 or a 4-2-0-7 distribution.
With the first distribution, I had to play Spades to force her to give me the ninth trick. With the second, I had to take the Heart finesse. I chose the second option, mainly because I trusted my first impression: the Queen of Hearts had to be in East. This decision allowed me to make 10 tricks.
A well-judged Diamond slam
On this board, we were all vulnerable. The bidding started with 1♦ by me, then 1♥ by Fede. I then bid 2♣, a kind of Gazzilli, and Federica responded 3♥, showing an invitational hand with six Hearts. I then bid 4♦, and she replied 5♦. At that point, I had to guess whether she held two or three Diamonds, or the Queen of Diamonds. I finally bid 6♦, hoping to find a good dummy.
The lead was a Spade to the Ace, followed by another Spade. The contract then became quite easy to make, and we were able to write 1370 on the score sheet.
I was still a little lucky: on a trump lead, you have to choose between discarding two Spades and hoping for the Jack of Clubs to be doubleton or third, or discarding one Spade and one Club while hoping for the Ace of Spades to be in North.
A well-deserved cup
Unfortunately, in the final for third place, we lost heavily. But despite that defeat, we were very happy with our run, with the atmosphere in the team and with everything we experienced during this championship.
We had a lot of fun, enjoyed ourselves throughout… and came home with a cup!
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