Interstate Teams Championships
This year’s interstate teams championships will begin tomorrow (Monday, 10 July) morning in the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre and culminate there in simultaneous two-team grand-finals on Thursday and Friday.
Representing the ACT in the four divisions are: open – Christy Geromboux and Sebastian Yuen, Brad Coles and David Appleton, Malcolm Carter and Bernard Waters captained by Stephen Fischer; women’s – Di Hawke and Lesley Gunson, Natasha Jacobs and Erin Tewes, Pam Crichton (playing captain) and Julia Hoffman; seniors Alexander Hewat and George Stockham, Paul Nelson and Bill Tutty, Peter Grant and David Hoffman (playing captain); youth – Dev and Diya Shah, Ken Takizawa, Alexis Wilsmore, Zara Chowdhury, Jade Wilkinson (playing captain)
The potential field in each division contains one team from each state and mainland territory but, sadly, the Northern Territory is totally unrepresented. The resulting bye in each open, women’s and seniors qualifying round does not occur in the youth championship, from which the absence also of Tasmania creates time for three round robins of five matches instead of two of seven matches.
Today's deal was board 11 in each of last year’s finals, when the host city was Adelaide. Competing for the seniors title were the ACT and NSW. At one table after the diagrammed Acol auction in which (because a 1NT opening bid would systemically have shown 12 to 14 high-card points) the 1NT rebid promised at least the stronger balanced hand David Hoffman actually held and Sean Mullamphy's raise to 2NT was invitational, ♦J was led to 4-2-K against David Hoffman's 2NT contract. The play continued ♣5-3-A-4, ♣J-6-Q-2, ♣10-K-♠4-♣7. Four rounds of hearts would have held declarer to the eight tricks he needed; but after ♦6 to 5-3-A, ♣9-♠5-6-♥3, ♣8-♥2-5-♦7, ♦Q-♥7-♦8-9, ♠2-8-A-3, ♦10-♥4-10-Q, ♠7-J-K-9, ♠10-Q-♥6-9, ♥A-8-K-J he finished up with two overtricks.
The resulting NS table-score of plus-180 generated a larger IMP-gain than it might well have done after their NSW counterparts at the other table climbed into an unattractive no-trump game contract. Their uncontested auction went Pass-1NT-2♣-2♦-2NT-3NT against which Bernie Waters led ♠5 to 4-J-K. Next came ♣5-2-J-K, ♣A-7-8-3, ♥5-3-J-Q. Declarer's surprising heart shift was an attempt to avoid immediate defeat by fooling EW into looking elsewhere for winners; but the play continued ♥A-6-4-10, ♥2-8-K-♣9, ♥9-♣10-♥7-♠6, ♠3-10-Q-A, ♦4-2-Q-6, ♦K-J-8-3, ♦A-♠8-♦5-7, ♠2-9-7-♦9, ♣K-♦10-♣4-Q and 3NT went two down instead of only one down and seven IMPs to the ACT instead of six. That was (just) more than half of the 12-IMP margin by which the ACT led NSW at the end of the first session. However, the lead changed hands late in the third session after which, despite a fightback in the fifth and last, it was NSW that won the match by nine IMPs (117-108) and collected the gold medals.
Of the other six declarers on the same deal, one replicated Hoffman's result. Four were in 3NT, taken two down once and one down twice but somehow let home at one table in the youth final. The result in the other table in that match was even stranger. The contract was 3♥ played by one of the successful declarer's EW which duly went three down undoubled. Had it instead been doubled the actual, already lower than expected, swing of six IMPs in one direction would have become three IMPs in the other.
Visit abfevents.com.au/events/anc/2022 for much more about last year’s interstate teams championships including detailed results, daily bulletins and cost-free bid-by-bid card-by-card online bridgebase.com coverage of selected tables from the finals.
There are links at abf.com.au to continually updated news from this year’s corresponding festival in Perth which continues until 20 July and contains a range of all-comers tournaments for players of every standard. Convenor Robina McConnell, who can be contacted at bina360@hotmail.com or 0400 943 367, hopes to be able to include all eight interstate teams finals in the BBO coverage which can be “watched” either directly at bridgebase.com or, with additional expert commentary, via bridgetv.com.au.
For readers in Canberra and surrounds, BFACT is running its annual Inter-Club Teams event at the Canberra Bridge Club on Sunday 16 July. The event has attracted entries from clubs at Cootamundra, Cooma and the Southern Highlands, as well as five Canberra clubs. There are 4 divisions: Senior, Intermediate, Restricted and Novice. Details are here. Entries after Sunday 9 July are at the discretion of the tournament director.