| On the last
day Fergani (Kamel Fergani, Jeff Blond, Jurek Czyzowicz, Douglas
Fraser, Nicolas L'Ecuyer) had a very good day and quickly rose in
the standings while Thurston and Carrière continued to solidify
their grasp on one of the qualifying spots. With one match to go,
Thurston could enjoy their bye knowing they would be playing the
next day. Carrière was in a comfortable position and Murray
needed a miracle.
The leaderboard:
Thurston* 280
Carrière 270
Fergani 257
Fourcaudot 253
Gartaganis 251
Murray 231
* no bye yet
Many close results emerged as the round robin wound down. Murray
was victorious (17 - 13), but not by enough. Meanwhile
both Carrière and Fergani suffered small losses and moved
to 283 and 270 respectively. Gartaganis had a narrow win to add
16 VPs to their total. That meant Fourcaudot needed only a tie
to claim the last qualifying spot. The Hanson foursome (Larry
Hansen, Anne Harper, Sue Cressman, Rolland Laframboise) from Thunder
Bay, Ontario were more than Fourcaudot could handle, however,
and they managed just 13 VPs.
The final round robin standings were:
Carrière 283
Thurston 280
Fergani 270
Gartaganis 267
Fourcaudot 266
It appeared that Fourcaudot had missed qualifying
by the slimmest of margins, but they had one last hope. An appeal
by Fourcaudot of an earlier result had been deferred and a committee
was quickly convened. After hearing the case, the appeals committee
upheld the director’s ruling so the final standings remained
unchanged.
Hands From The Round Robin
Murray suffered back-to-back 8 - 22
losses against Thurston and Gartaganis. In the Gartaganis-Murray
match, Gartaganis reached 4
while their opponents rested in a partscore.
West
Graves |
North
NicholasG |
East
Baran |
South
JudithG |
| - |
- |
Pass |
1NT(1)
|
| Pass |
2 |
Pass |
2
|
| 2NT |
4 |
Pass |
Pass
|
| Pass |
|
|
|
(1) 11-13 HCP |
Graves led the A
and switched to the 4.
Judith Gartaganis won the King and led a spade to her Queen and
a spade back (Graves pitched the  5).
Baran won the 
K with the Ace and decided to give partner a ruff. Judith was
now in control. She won the diamond continuation with her Ace,
ruffed a club, pitched a diamond on the J
and cross-ruffed spades and clubs to make ten tricks. East does
no better by returning a diamond rather than a spade. Declarer
ducks the diamond and wins the
J return (best for the defense) in dummy. The diamond loser goes
on the high spade and a club loser on the soon-to-be established
fifth spade so only two club ruffs are needed.
Strangely enough the defense does better by playing the K
at trick two. Declarer can win the Ace and draw three rounds of
trumps (necessary to avoid a diamond ruff) ending in the dummy.
Now declarer can run the
9 through East. If East ducks two rounds of spades, declarer leads
a diamond toward the Jack. A club ruff and the J
become the two entries needed to establish another spade trick
to make the contract. The winning defense is for East to take
the first round of spades and lead clubs through declarer. This
prematurely removes dummy’s fast entry while the spades are
blocked and sets up a fourth trick for the defense.
On the last day, Gartaganis faced off against Willis, one of the
perennial contenders. The match was a high-scoring affair with
57 IMPs changing hands. The following hand contributed to the
Gartaganis win. At one table Balcombe-Campbell reached 5
after a “Texas transfer in competition” misunderstanding,
conceding a doubled two-trick set for - 300. At
the other table:
MacDonald led the 2
to East’s Ace. Willis returned the 10
which Judith Gartaganis won with the King. Declarer now led the
2
and inserted the 8 when West smoothly played the 4. Declarer played
the Ace and King of diamonds (pitching the Q)
and ran clubs. The defense was helpless and Gartaganis picked
up +790 for a 10 IMP gain on the board. Even if West plays
the Q
at trick three and continues hearts to force the dummy, declarer
can still prevail. Cash the Ace and King of diamonds and ruff
a diamond (West is guaranteed to have at least three diamonds
since he has no more than three clubs and three hearts).
Declarer now reverts to clubs. Although West holds one more trump
than either North or South he can do nothing to get an extra trick.
The end position is:
Declarer leads a good club and West can fold his cards. If he
ruffs low, declarer overruffs and leads a diamond, trumping with
the 10.
Suppose West overruffs with the Ace to return a trump. Declarer
wins and cashes the good club (there are no more trumps outstanding)
to make ten tricks. If West overruffs and plays a heart, then
declarer scores her two trumps separately.
The next-to-last round featured several entertaining opportunities
for unusual gains. In the Klimowicz-Cafferata match (which Klimowicz
won 17 - 13), Jones-Crosby reached 5
doubled.
On the actual auction there is an argument for bidding slam with
the West hand once partner cuebids 4.
However, Crosby decided to be conservative. Crosby-Jones were
delighted when their contract made with an overtrick for +650.
Unfortunately, that only cut their losses to 8 IMPs - the
opponents made the same number of tricks in 5
redoubled! This was just one of two deals from the 16th round
where successful redoubled contracts were a common occurrence.
With the fourth and final qualifying spot on the line, the last
hand of the round robin turned out to be crucial in the Gartaganis-Priebe
match:
West
Balcombe |
North
Richardson |
East
Campbell |
South
Lee |
| - |
- |
1NT(1) |
Pass
|
| 2 |
2 |
2(2) |
Pass
|
| 4 |
Pass |
Pass |
Pass
|
| |
|
|
|
(1) 11+ - 14 HCP (2) 5-card suite |
Balcombe showed keen judgment by moving over a weak NT and then
jumping to game. After winning the King of Hearts lead with the
Ace, Campbell guessed both spades and diamonds correctly to bring
home the contract. Meanwhile, at the other table North opened
3
in fourth seat and, when that was passed out, made his contract.
+13 IMPs for Gartaganis – just enough to secure the last
qualifying spot.
Semi-finals
Carrière, having finished first, chose
Gartaganis as their opponent leaving Thurston to grapple with
Fergani. The Thurston-Fergani match was close all the way. At
the halfway mark of the 64-board semi-final, Thurston led 48 – 44.
Thurston had a big third quarter to increase the lead to 30 IMPs
(98 – 68). Fergani recouped some of that difference
in the fourth quarter, but fell short. The final tally was 123 – 107
for Thurston, earning them a spot in the final.
In the Carrière-Gartaganis match, there
were some unusual similarities. Both teams were four-person squads
and all four pairs played a strong club system. The first swing
occurred early. Interference over a strong club auction drove
North-South into the inferior contract of 3NT.
West
Carrière |
North
NicholasG |
East
Marcinski |
South
JudithG |
| - |
- |
Pass |
1(1)
|
| 1(2) |
Pass(3) |
3 |
Pass(4)
|
| Pass |
3NT |
Pass |
Pass
|
| Pass |
|
|
|
|
(1) strong club
(2) either Hearts or a 3-suiter excluding Hearts
(3) 0-7 HCP with 0-2 controls
(4) no clear bid - either balanced or a penalty double of
hearts
|
Declarer won the opening heart lead with the
Ace and played a low diamond to his King. When East discarded
a spade it became a matter of holding the undertricks. Although
5
would involve the same diamond guess, +300 rated to be a fine
result for Carrière. At the other table:
West
Balcombe |
North
Turner |
East
Campbell |
South
Carroll |
| - |
- |
Pass |
1(1)
|
| 1
|
Double(2) |
4 |
Double(3)
|
| Pass |
Pass |
Pass |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
(1) strong club
(2) semi-positive 5-7 HCP
(3) pass would have been forcing
|
The auction began in a similar fashion, but Campbell
applied more pressure by leaping to 4.
North-South doubled and, after the K
lead and a club switch, declarer cruised home with ten tricks.
A surprise 7 IMP gain for Gartaganis. The first quarter ended
with Gartaganis leading by 25 IMPs (35 – 10).
The second quarter was played to a virtual tie, with aggressive
bidding paying off for Carrière on the next hand.
West
Carrière |
North
NicholasG |
East
Marcinski |
South
JudithG |
| - |
- |
1(1) |
2
|
| Pass(2) |
4(3) |
Pass(4) |
5
|
| Pass(5) |
Pass |
5NT |
Pass
|
| 6 |
Pass |
6 |
All Pass
|
|
(1) strong club
(2) negative
(3) splinter (!)
(4) forcing
(5) interest in competing
|
At one table Balcombe-Campbell arrived at 4S
making eleven tricks. At the other table, North’s eccentric
splinter bid did not stop Marcinski-Carrière from rocketing
into the magic 6S. In fact, after the lead of the K,
declarer made all thirteen tricks (pitching a heart on the Q
and ruffing a heart). At the midpoint of the match Gartaganis
led by 26 IMPs (66 - 40).
The third quarter saw 100 IMPs exchange hands
as Gartaganis picked up another 24 IMPs to increase the lead
to 50 IMPs (128 – 78).
The final quarter provided plenty of fireworks.
A common theme in this match was the reluctance of the players
to allow their opponents uninterrupted strong club auctions. Against
Gartaganis, Carroll-Turner bid to 4
early in one auction, removing room to explore for a grand slam
that was bid at the other table. A well-deserved gain of 11 IMPs.
Marcinski won the quarter 48 - 38, but it was not enough.
Gartaganis won the match 166 – 126. There were several potential
swings in the last quarter. On the next hand, both tables reached
4.
West
Balcombe |
North
Carrière |
East
Campbell |
South
Marcinski |
| 1(1) |
Pass |
1(2) |
1(3)
|
| Double(4) |
Pass |
2 |
Pass
|
| 3 |
Pass |
4(5) |
Pass
|
| Pass |
Pass |
|
|
|
(1) strong club
(2) 0-4 HCP
(3) unspecified 2-suiter
(4) takeout
(5) optimistic acceptance!
|
| |
Based on the auction, Campbell played for the
heart length in the North hand. After leading the King he later
finessed the 9.
The strong hand declared the contract at the other table. With
no interference bidding to guide him, Campbell’s counterpart
led a heart to the Queen at trick two. Win 10 IMPs for Gartaganis.
Had the hearts split 2-2 with the Jack in the South hand, Carrière
would have gained 10 IMPs – a 20 IMP swing.
The following hand had similar potential.
West
Carroll |
North
NicholasG |
East
Turner |
South
JudithG |
| - |
2(1) |
2NT |
Pass
|
| 4 |
5 |
Pass |
Pass
|
| Double |
Pass |
Pass |
Pass
|
| |
|
|
|
|
(1) 11-16 HCP with at least 9 cards in
the minors
|
| |
At the first table Balcombe-Campbell conceded
(500 in 5
doubled. At the other table, Gartaganis bought the contract for
5
doubled. After ruffing the opening K
lead, Nicholas Gartaganis led a spade, playing the King when East
ducked. The favourable lie of the minor suits now allowed declarer
to make eleven tricks (ruff a heart and lead a club; win any return;
pull the outstanding trumps ending in the dummy and play a diamond
to the Queen or 10). Even if East wins the A
he still has a problem. There is a danger that the spade suit
will provide five tricks if declarer holds a doubleton spade.
One of East’s options is to continue spades to cut declarer
off from the spade suit. If he does so, declarer can play the
Jack to establish the suit (whether or not West covers) and therefore
secure four diamond pitches (with the Q
as the entry to dummy). If East subsequently tries to strand the
spade suit by sacrificing his club trick (duck the K
when trumps are led towards the Queen) declarer can change tactics
by playing on diamonds, thereby losing only a diamond and
a spade. The winning defense is to win the A
and return a red suit. Declarer then has an inescapable loser
in each minor. Had 5
been defeated Carrière would have won 12 IMPs instead
of losing the 6 IMPs that –750 cost them.
Finals
The Thurston-Gartaganis final had some interesting
features. This was the first final in which both teams had a female
member. Only once before had a woman (Mary Paul in 1993) been
on the winning CNTC team so either Judith Gartaganis or Gloria
Silverman was about to join a rather exclusive club. The rarity
of seeing women in the latter stages of the CNTC is attributable
to the predilection of the World Bridge Federation to hold segregated
events. This has convinced most women to participate in the Canadian
Women’s Team Championship and has reinforced the false impression
that women lack the ability to be competitive in open events.
For the first time ever, the Finals of the CNTC
were broadcast as a live internet Vugraph on Bridge Base Online.
Bridge Base is the brainchild of Fred Gitelman, who was on site
handling the technical details and providing expert commentary
during the broadcast. The broadcast also allowed other experts
and viewers to comment as the match proceeded. From the reactions
of spectators who followed the broadcast, it was an exciting and
entertaining show. Both the Canadian Bridge Federation and Fred
Gitelman deserve congratulations for the Vugraph’s success.
One can only hope that future championships continue to feature
this coverage.
Gartaganis struck early in the first quarter
of the 72-board final.
West
Roche |
North
NicholasG |
East
Silverman |
South
JudithG |
| - |
- |
1 |
Pass
|
| 1 |
Pass |
2 |
Pass
|
| 3 |
Pass |
3NT |
Pass
|
| Pass |
Pass |
|
|
| |
| |
West
Balcombe |
North
Altay |
East
Campbell |
South
McKinnon |
| - |
- |
2
(1) |
Pass
|
| 2 |
Pass |
2NT(2) |
Pass
|
| 3NT |
Pss |
Pass |
Pass
|
| |
|
|
|
| (1) promises 6 or more clubs |
| (2) non-minimum |
Both tables reached 3NT with the lead of the
4.
At one table Silverman chose to win the A
and run clubs hoping for something good to happen in the end position.
At the other table Campbell won the K
and led the Q.
He created the illusion that he was trying to establish his ninth
trick (the defense could infer a running club suit) so McKinnon
won the A
and switched to hearts. A 10 IMP gain for Gartaganis. Three
hands later Gartaganis reached 4
in an uninformative auction.
West
Roche |
North
NicholasG |
East
Silverman |
South
JudithG |
| - |
1NT(1) |
Pass |
4
|
| Pass |
Pass |
Pass |
|
| |
West
Balcombe |
North
Altay |
East
Campbell |
South
McKinnon |
| - |
1 |
Pass |
1
|
| 2 |
Pass(1) |
Pass |
Double
|
| Pass |
2 |
Pass |
4
|
| Pass |
Pass |
Pass |
|
| (1) denies 3+ spades |
| |
Roche led the A
and switched to clubs hoping to establish a fourth defensive trick.
When Judith Gartaganis won the Ace and led spades, Roche grabbed
the Ace to continue clubs. Declarer ran home with eleven tricks.
The same contract was defeated at the other table when Balcombe-Campbell
adopted a less busy defense. A 13 IMP gain for Gartaganis.
Thurston recouped 9 IMPs when Roche-Silverman doubled 2S
for +500 following a weak NT opening where Gartaganis had no safe
landing spot. The first quarter ended with Gartaganis leading
by 11 IMPs (41 – 30).
The second quarter followed the same pattern.
Gartaganis scored heavily on aggressively bid games, but lost
a number of partscore swings. It ended with Gartaganis adding
another 23 IMPs to lead by 34 IMPs (86 – 52).
In the third quarter Thurston began to whittle
away the Gartaganis lead. On board 39 Roche-Silverman reached
3NT after the opponents opened 2.
When both diamonds and spades behaved Thurston scored a game swing
(Balcombe-Campbell rested in 3,
just making). The third quarter ended with Thurston winning back
12 IMPs in a low scoring set (31 - 19).
As the last quarter began, the Gartaganis lead
was down to 22 IMPs (115 – 83). The players were
starting to suffer from fatigue and this made for a high scoring
and wild ending to the finals.
Thurston drew first blood when Altay-McKinnon
bid a spade slam which needed a 3-2 break in both majors. The
bad news was the heart suit broke 4-1, but the good news was that
McKinnon picked up the suit for no losers. Thurston won 11 IMPs
cutting the deficit in half. Gartaganis won back 5 IMPs when
Thurston was pushed one level too high in a partscore. Thurston
immediately recouped that loss by bidding a thin game – win
7 IMPs. The Gartaganis lead was now only 9 IMPs. Gartaganis
responded by bidding a notrump game at one table while their opponents
rested in 3
at the other table. That translated to an 8 IMP gain when Campbell
divined the 3-1 break in diamonds and located the Queen. The lead
was back up to 17 IMPs. On the next board Thurston found
a cheap save against a vulnerable game for a 10 IMP gain
that sliced their opponents’ lead to 7 IMPs. Thurston
picked up a net of 3 IMPs on the next few boards. Then Altay-McKinnon
bid 6
which needed trumps to split 3-2 with the K
onside. The King was offside (lose 10 IMPs) so the Gartaganis
lead was back up to 14 IMPs.
On board 64 Thurston landed in the best spot
of 5
while Gartaganis reached the non-making contract of 4.
West
Delogu |
North
Balcombe |
East
Thurston |
South
Campbell |
| 1 |
Pass |
1 |
Pass
|
| 2 |
Pass |
2 |
Pass
|
| 3 |
Pass |
5 |
Pass
|
| Pass |
Pass |
|
|
Notice that in 5
the 7
in the dummy gives declarer two chances as long as the trumps
are not 4-0. Win the diamond lead and play a club to the Queen.
Pitch a diamond on the Ace
and ruff a spade. Now play a heart. If North wins the trick and
plays a trump, insert the 7.
If it loses then trumps are breaking so a heart ruff provides
the eleventh trick. If the 7 holds the trick, ruff another spade
and pull the last trump ending in the dummy. Should South win
the first heart trick then a trump return cannot hurt declarer.
Thurston was now only 4 IMPs behind.
The next two boards were pushes. Board 67 gave
both sides an opportunity.
West
NicholasG |
North
McKinnon |
East
JudithG |
South
Altay |
| - |
- |
- |
Pass
|
| 1NT(1) |
Pass |
3NT |
All Pass
|
|
(1) 11-13 HCP
|
West
Delogu |
North
Balcombe |
East
Thurston |
South
Campbell |
| - |
- |
- |
Pass
|
| 1 |
Pass |
2 |
2
|
| 3 |
3 |
6 |
Pass
|
| Pass |
Pass |
|
|
Both South players chose to pass in first seat.
At one table Thurston took a gamble by bidding 6
after his partner opened 1
and the opponents competed in spades. Unluckily the opponents
had two cashing aces. Note that 5
fails even if South leads the Ace.
In that case, South must continue hearts to break up the subsequent
heart-diamond squeeze or endplay against North. At the other table
Nicholas Gartaganis opened a weak 1NT and was raised to 3NT. McKinnon
had to lead spades to push the board, but reasonably enough led
the 3.
The Gartaganis lead was back up to 14 IMPs.
On Board 68 the auctions followed a similar line
with one important difference.
West
NicholasG |
North
McKinnon |
East
JudithG |
South
Altay |
| 2 |
Pass |
3(1) |
3NT
|
| Pass |
Pass |
Double |
4
|
|
All Pass
(1) not Invitational
|
| |
West
Delogu |
North
Balcombe |
East
Thurston |
South
Campbell |
| 2 |
Pass |
3(1) |
3NT
|
| Pass |
Pass |
Pass |
|
| |
|
|
|
| 1) not
Invitational
|
Judith Gartaganis doubled 3NT, chasing Altay
into 4.
That contract failed when Altay misguessed the diamond position.
Thurston still gained 5 IMPs when 3NT quietly went down five
tricks at the other table.
Gartaganis had a slim 9 IMP lead with four
boards remaining. Board 69 was a push. On Board 70 both sides
reached 3NT. Thurston defeated the contract at one table while
Gartaganis slipped on defense at the other table: +12 IMPs
for Thurston. Thurston had grabbed the lead for the first time.
With two boards remaining, the commentators saw little potential
for a swing and predicted that Thurston was destined to win.
The stage was set for the drama on Board 71.
West
NicholasG |
North
McKinnon |
East
JudithG |
South
Altay |
| - |
- |
- |
Pass
|
| 1 |
2 |
2NT |
Pass
|
| 4 |
Pass |
Pass |
Pass
|
| |
|
|
|
West
Delogu |
North
Balcombe |
East
Thurston |
South
Campbell |
| - |
- |
- |
1NT(1)
|
| 2 |
2NT(2) |
4 |
Pass
|
| Pass |
Pass |
|
|
(1)
11+-14 HCP
(2) Lebensohl
|
Gartaganis reached the normal contract of 4
at the first table. McKinnon lead the K.
Nicholas Gartaganis won the Ace and played a club from dummy.
Altay won his K
to return the Q.
McKinnon won with the Ace and continued hearts. In dummy with
the Q,
Gartaganis tried to take a club pitch on the K.
He was rudely surprised when Altay ruffed the King with the 8.
Gartaganis overruffed and had to decide whether or not to play
for all four spades in the South hand. Both the bidding (no
double by Altay) and the lead of the K
suggested that McKinnon had at least one spade and two clubs,
so declarer cashed the As
and cross-ruffed for ten tricks. Once he had cashed a high spade
and both defenders followed, declarer was guaranteed ten tricks.
At the other table Campbell chose to open a non-systemic weak
1NT holding the singleton Q
and Thurston-Delogu reached 4.
Balcombe led the A
and switched to a low heart from his doubleton King. Delogu won
the Ace and tried for a heart pitch on the K.
He was even more surprised than his counterpart when East ruffed
the King with the eight of spades. Declarer overruffed and led
clubs from his hand. Campbell won with the Ace(!) and returned
a heart which Balcombe won with his King. Balcombe got out with
a club. Delogu tried to cross-ruff clubs and diamonds, but when
the last club was led Balcombe was able to ruff with his J
for the fourth defensive trick. Gartaganis won a surprising 12 IMPs
to regain the lead with one board remaining. On another day declarer
would have recovered from the imaginative defense put up by Balcombe-Campbell.
He would deduce that, since West was known to have seven diamonds
and at least two hearts, the only possible layout to make the
contract would be to play West for three clubs and one spade
(i.e. cash one spade, take a pitch on the Q
and then cross-ruff).
The last hand was anticlimactic. Both tables
played in 1NT making with an overtrick. Gartaganis had won the
CNTC (152 – 143) by a narrow margin after a seesaw
fourth quarter battle with Thurston
Following a 17-year absence the CNTC trophy returned
to Alberta. This was the second CNTC win for Nicholas Gartaganis
(1982) and Gordon Campbell (1984) and the first for Keith Balcombe
(a wanna-be Albertan living in Ontario) and Judith Gartaganis.
Strangely enough, Keith and Gordon faced each other in the 1984
CNTC final and then, nearly 16 years later, established a successful
long-distance partnership. Another interesting feature of this
victory is the first-time win by a husband-wife partnership. Could
this be a compelling reason for other spouses to add competitive
bridge to their joint endeavours? Probably not, but stay tuned!
|
