Bridge

The European Transnational Championships were held last week in Prague, and were won by the gargantuanly strong Zimmerman team, but it was not plain sailing. They appeared to have lost their quarter-final to the Italian team Bianchi, but that doesn’t happen in Zimmerland. Twice during the 56-board, day-long match they asked for rulings against something the opps had or hadn’t done and twice the director ruled against them. They then went to appeal on both rulings and eventually won both sometime around midnight and emerged the winners by one IMP!

Their star player Michal Klukowski would get many votes as the strongest player in the world today. Just see how effortlessly he dealt with the following hand.

Michal in the South seat found out that partner had long Clubs and a card in Diamonds, and bid the slam.

West started with the ♠5 to the 10, Jack and Ace. Drawing trumps presented no problems and then came A, K and another Heart, ruffed in dummy. He re-entered his hand with a trump and ruffed his last Heart. Now came the ♠Queen from dummy and, when East played low, he discarded a Diamond. West won but had to lead away from his King of Diamonds – contract made.

How did Michal know the ♦K wasn’t with East, and simply play towards his Queen? He didn’t – not for sure – but when West elected to lead away from a King against a slam, he may have had a tricky lead and was therefore more likely to have the ♦K as well.

Or as Michal himself put it: ‘There was always the extra chance that East was too lazy to cover the ♠Queen in the end…’