2012 Monaco Cavendish the Teams Gran Final

Zimmermman Team won the final to team Cronier: 47 to 43.50 and is the Champion of  the 2012 Monaco Cavendish. The third place went to Israel Jr.

Completed the 7 rounds of the qualifying stage, the two best placed teams: Cronier 1st and  Zimmermman second, played the final: 2 sets of 10 boards each.

The team Cronier began the final with a carryover of 2 IMPs and at the end of the first 10 boards was 14 IMPs above. The difference in favor came from two 3NT boards, played and done by Cronier Team while Zimmermman went down on one of them and only played 1NT in the other.

In the second board of the last 10 boards Cronier added 14 IMPs more when they played and made a 4 contract hearts while in the other table Team Zimmermman went 3 down in 3NT. However since the fourth board Zimmermman added: 9-10-10-4-2 IMPs and won the Cavendish 2012.

 Helness opened 1NT and de Tessieres preempted 3, Helgemo double but Helness closed the 3NT game. The lead was the 7, Helness won the trick with the Q, to continue with a little heart. North won with his ace and returned a diamond: 3 down. In the other room Allavena opened 1, Nunes also bidded the diamond preemtive but Palau showed his heart suit, his partner closed the heart game. The lead was a diamond and South after winning the lead with his A, switched to a spade. Declarer won with his A and played another trump, North took the trick with his trump ace to reurn a spade, his partner ruffed…but declarer won the rest of the tricks. The board scored 14 IMPs for the team Cronier.

From this point till the end of the match the team Zimmermman set foot on the accelerator and in the following boards scored 35 IMPs to win the Cavendish:

Palau passed, Fantoni opened 1NT (weak), Nunes transfered, Palau doubled with diamonds, Fantoni invited his partner to game but Nunes refused. Fantoni ended 1 down. In the other room H-H bidded and made 4 when Helgemo opened West hand with a 1 bid, Cronier was left without a good call and prefered to pass. Helness continued with 1 and Helgemo supported his partner’s suit: 2. Now Cronier doubled, but too late…Helness redoubled and when de Tessieres mentioned his hearts Helgemo declared the spade game. Declarer lose a spade, a diamond and a club to end with 10 tricks.

 The next board was another 2 digits swing for the Team Zimmermman: Fantoni passed, Allavena opened 1 but passed over his partner’s 2, declarer scored +110.

In the other table things were a lot different: Helness vulnerable opened 1NT and Helgemo looking for much needed points closed the 3NT.

 Declarer won the 6 lead with dummy’s J and continued with the heart finesse in the next trick. South won the trick with his Q and played his A and , Helness won in his hand with the K and played the 10 and now the defense made a mistake, South played the A to continue with his 4. Helness covered North ‘s Q with his A. He continued playing all his hearts, a club to the J and claimed 9 tricks. If the defender would have covered the 10 with his Q the position would have been:

If declarer playes the K…he wont be able to win another club trick and goes 1 down …if he doesent cover, next trick he will have to use his spade stopper and will go two down.

 Next important swing was board 27: Both tables played the same 4 contract. As Helness showed diamonds during the bidding, his partner lead his A and repeated diamond playing his 7, West won the trick with his K and continued with his Q. Declarer won with the A, played K and Q and continued with a club, when Helness played his 10, de Tessieres played the A and went down.

 In the other room, the first two tricks were the same, but Allavena in the third round played his K, Nunes covered with the A. Declarer played trumps, played three hearts round and a club from dummy, Allavena played his Q…and Nunes claimed. Zimmerman added 6 IMPs more in the next boards and took over the Cavendish 2012.

 It is striking that in both hands that gave the victory to the team Zimmerman the decisive play was after the 10 appeared over the table, so we went to see the meaning of this card and we found that:

1) Right: Represents the luck in gambling.

2) Reversed: Irresponsibility that bring problems later.

So we know that the Helness played it Right and de Tessiers played it inverted …

How are you going to play it next time?