{"id":12822,"date":"2019-09-23T18:30:26","date_gmt":"2019-09-23T16:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/funbridge.com\/blog\/?p=3434"},"modified":"2021-02-10T13:05:48","modified_gmt":"2021-02-10T11:05:48","slug":"funbridge-exclusive-tournament-milan-macura-imp-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/funbridge.com\/blog\/en\/funbridge-exclusive-tournament-milan-macura-imp-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Analysis of the IMP Exclusive Tournament #3 of Milan Macura"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The third \u201cweekly exclusive tournaments\u201d are over. We know the winners and you can watch and read the bridge board commented.<\/strong>

If you have not played these tournaments yet, you can find them under \u201c<\/strong>Get started\/Practice > Exclusive tournaments\u201d <\/strong><\/em>and search for Milan Macura.<\/strong>

Both the IMP and MP tournaments start on Saturday and end on Thursday when I am making the videos.<\/strong> <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In IMP tournament, we also did not beat the record from the last week, but still 583 players played all deals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best player, before I played live, was Jean-Pierre from France with +52 IMPs, followed by Paul from Canada with +49 IMPs and Klaus from Germany with +41 IMPs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is the top 10 leaderboard<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Bridge
Bridge board commented – Top 10 Leaderboard<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I scored +6 IMPs and took 195th<\/sup> place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I did not make any fatal mistake, but also didn\u2018t hit the jackpot doubling opponents when they bid crazy in E-W.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surprisingly, my best score (+8) resulted from making 2♠ on board 2 when I decided to open 1NT with this hand:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Your hand<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The reasons why I decided for 1NT and not for 1♦ are rebid issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, this hand is semi-balanced with two small clubs, but what would you bid after your partner responds 1♠ to your 1♦ opening?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

2♦ seems to be too strong and we can miss the heart fit if partner is weak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rebidding 2♥ is also risky because partner with 8 HCP will force into 3NT which will most likely go down. Opening 1NT has all possibilities for reaching a good partscore (1NT, 2♠ -if partner has 5+♠- or 2\/3♥) as well as for the best game contract (4♥, 3NT, 4♠). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this baord, partner had a very weak hand with six spades so she transferred to spades and that was the final contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About 50% of declarers made it, others went -1 or -2.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

3♣ from E-W makes 11 tricks and -2 IMPs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most interesting hands came on boards 4 and 5.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

You can watch the discussion about board 4 in the video, but you can misplay board 5 with me here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You open 1NT and partner jumps to 4♥ which is natural sign-off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

East leads ♠J, how do you declare?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

You are missing ♥A and ♦A so it seems you cannot lose two club tricks. There is no reasonable chance other than playing the club towards the queen and hope the ♣K is with West. But, once you play the Q♥ to draw trumps, West wins and plays the ♠Q, East ruffs and returns a trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is your plan now? <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

You already lost two tricks and the ♦A is still\nto come. You have an extra winner in spades which can be used for a club\ndiscard, but that is still not enough. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I saw the following chance: playing the small diamond from Kx. If East has the ace, he cannot win the first trick because he will establish me both ♦Q and ♦K and a potential discard. Still, I need the ♣K in the East hand \u2013 I do not have entries to unblock the ♦K if West returns a ♣. If East does not play the ♦A, I can win the queen and discard the ♦K on the ♠K. The plan worked so I didn\u2018t lose the diamond, but the ♣K was in East so I lost two club tricks instead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you analyze the board a bit deeper, you\nwill realize that West already had 6♠ and 2♥ so he is holding\nonly 5 cards in the minors. If ♦A and ♣K are with East, you can squeeze him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, instead of the small diamond, you sacrifice your ♦K. East has to win and cannot switch to clubs if he holds the ♣K. He should return another diamond which you win in South, cash the ♠A discarding a club in North and ruff a diamond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is the final ending<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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The end<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

When you play the last\ntrump from North, East is forced to discard either the diamond winner or the ♣J. In either case you discard the other suit to end up\nwith one extra winner. Seems like a very simple squeeze. But, realizing you can\nget to the position at trick four is not easy, even for experts under time\npressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

East cannot defend\nhimself against the squeeze, but if you will play from open cards, West can\nbreak the squeeze in the third trick. Instead of giving partner a spade ruff,\nhe should play the ♣10. That\nbreaks the communication in clubs and declarer has to lose a heart, a diamond\nand two club tricks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every strategy has a\ncounter-strategy. It is just up to you and your partner if you are able to choose\nthe best one and find alternatives based on the declarer\u2019s or defensive play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only 71 players made the contract, the rest of the field went minimum one down.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Bridge
Bridge board commented – Most played contracts<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

If you like this board, have a look on board 4 in the video which we analyzed together with followers on the live stream: <\/p>\n\n\n\n