7th European Open Championships
Results Bulletins Videos EBL Facebook Mixed Teams
July 1, 2015 Tromso Norway
Yesterday the White House team won the European Mixed Teams Championship, in a close ending against the AJ Diamonds team, only a 9 IMPs difference. It was not the first time that the two teams faced each other, as they met in the Round 9 of the Round Robin. In this encounter White House also defeated the runner-up by 10 IMPs this time in a 10 board’s matchs. These are the two boards that helped the Champion to win their first encounter:
The first board produced the first swing of the match.
Board 21, Dealer North, N/S Vulnerable
Hop from White House opened 1
and Sarniak chose to begin with a double, Wortel showed her spade suit, and after West’s pass, North supported his partner’s suit. Sarniak now showed his club suit with extras, Wortel informed his partner about her six spades and competitive hand. West said 4
but when Hop closed the game in spades, nobody complained.
Sarniak won the club lead with her K, and played the 
A and K to continue with a small diamond, the declarer won the trick, draw trumps and claimed the contract. +620
At the other table West wasn’t so pleasant: Bakkeren produced the first difference in the bidding when he said 4, instead of 3, showing a club offensive hand and inviting his partner to play 5. When South said 4
, Christina Lund Madsen in West, with no defensive tricks and four clubs to the jack sacrificed in 5, that were doubled.
The declarer lost the first 4 tricks: 1 spade and three diamonds, and claimed the rest = -300.
That was 8 IMPs for team White House.
The difference increased in the following board:
Bakkeren opened 1, and South competed with 1, Lund Madsen showed his five hearts suit and Bakkeren supported his partner. West continued with a diamond cue bid which North doubled. East with no diamond control passed and Christina closed the heart game. 
At the other table the drama unfolded differently:
Sarniak chose to open her hand with 1NT, her partner started with a heart transfer, and after her 2 response, committed the cardinal sin of asking the keycards with two immediate diamond losers. (Or was it intended as quantitative? – in which case West might have passed – and gone in minus there as well! Mark Horton)
The 5 response, showing two keycards without the queen = the ace of spades and the ace of clubs, led him to declare the slam without diamond controls. The defenders were not mistaken and punished declarer making the first two tricks (A y K) for one down.
The hand was 13 IMPs for WH. In board 9 A J Diamond was able to add 10 IMps but it wasn’t enough.