The One and Only Defence by Brian Senior

Source: IBPA Bulletin Nov 2019 Here is a deal from thes 27th European Youth Team Championship in Stokke, Norway, this past summer. It comes from the Under-26 match between the Netherlands and Poland, two of the favourites for the title. At one table … Board 31. Dealer South.NS VUL.

	6 8 3 J 9 7 5 A K Q 10 6 4
K Q J 9 A Q 7 5 4 K 10 6 9		7 3 2 K J 2 A Q 8 2 8 7 2
	A 10 8 5 4  10 9 6  4 3  J 5 3

West	North	East	South
J. Patreuha	Kiljan	P. Patreuha	Tijssen
			Pass
1	3	3	Pass
4	Pass	Pass	Pass

Kiljan cashed the king of clubs, then switched to his spade. Though he was given his ruff, that was all for the defence; ten tricks for minus 420. At the other table …

West	North	East	South
Sprinkhuizen	Marcinowski	De Leon	Sobczak
			Pass
1	2	2NT1	Pass
4	Pass	4	Pass
Pass	Pass

1 Limit raise in hearts, 3 + trumps.

Marcinowski led his singleton spade, knowing that there could be at most one club to be cashed. Sobczak won with the ace and dealt his partner a ruff. Marcinowski underled the ace-king-queen of clubs to put South back in with the jack to give him a second ruff. Very nicely done and the outcome was down one for minus 50 and 10 IMPs to Poland. Jos Jacobs reported that the same defence was found by 15-year-old Ronald Goor of the Netherlands in their match against Germany in the Under-21s.

Don’t forget to follow us @

• WBF Official Youtube Page
• WBF Facebook Page
• WBF Instagram
• WBF Youth Instagram