Bulletin Number 1

Thursday 17 February 2011

The tournament will take place 18 – 20 February 2011 at the Moscow City Golf Club.

Slava Grinyuk competition ever

(slava is Russian for organised in memory of
‘fame’) was a a deceased friend. The
talented Russian Russian participants
bridge player, who named it the best bridge
died an untimely event held in Russia in
death in his thirties. 2007. Encouraged by
Annual tournaments this success, the
in his memory have tournament has gone
been held in Moscow from strength to strength
since 2003. In 2007, the Slava Cup and this year Organizing Committee
Memorial attracted a number of Chairman Pavel Portnoy and his team
leading bridge players from France, have assembled another world class
Italy and Poland. The winners were field.
World and European champions
After everyone has enjoyed tonight’s
Fulvio Fantoni and Claudio Nunes.
opening banquet in the Savoy the
The then WBF President José
players will begin the serious
Damiani also played in the
business of the weekend at the
tournament, giving it even greater
magnificent venue, the Moscow City
status. He praised the event, noting,
Golf Club.
in particular, that it was perhaps the
most high-standard bridge

Moscow City Golf Club, February 18‐20, 2011

 2

1. J. Pshola – M. Kvechen

2. O. Herbst – I. Herbst

3. V. Holomeev – J. Hyuppenen

4. T. Ponomareva – V. Gromova

5. A. Gromov – A. Dubinin

6. A. Kowalski – R. Zaleski

7. P. Tushinsky – P. Gavrish

8. G. Narkevich – A. Zhmudzhinsky

9. S. Poroshin – D. Volkov

10. T. Bessies – A. Walker

11. R. Pahtman – E. Ginassar

12. L. Lowry – A. Versace

13. P. Zimmerman – F. Moulton

14. B. Brogellan – E. Selesmende

15. S. Brink – B. Driver

16. B. Mueller – S. De Vis

Moscow City Golf Club, February 18‐20, 2011


B. Shuhmeyster – P. Karlicov
I. Radyukevich – O. Timokhovitch
A. Kostin – B. Kravchenko
A. Gerasimov – I. Pogonov
A. Soloviev – V. Rodin
K. Derevianko – A. Chumakov
G. Matyshko – M. Hven
M. Lebedeva – I. Khazanov
O. Vorobeychikova – M. Rosenblum
M. Shaltts – G. Hansen
B. Rekunov – D Rogov
S. Chubarova – A. Radohleb
A. Gulevich – E. Honicheva
V. Minin – A. Nikitina
G. Rybnikov - D. Nikolaenko
U. Andreev – S. Kozlov
E. Zapadinsky – O. Kazantsev
S. Ershov – S. Orlov
V. Andreev – V. Kychanov
D. Prokhorov – V. Tatarkin
Moscow City Golf Club, February 18‐20, 2011
3
M. Krasnosel – E. Gladysz
A. Koshelev – K. Perehrest
A. Gudkov – S. Volkov
J. Vinogradov – V. Samokhin
O. Galaktionova – S. Stolbovsky
I.Semenov – V. Sliva
V. Druts – A. Shudnev
C. Zienkiewicz – A. Mityagina
P. Homerov – M. Litman
N. Zhenova – A. Kondrashenko
A. Riskin – L. Beazer
S. Rybin – I. Bekesevich
M. Bakal – P. Vorobey
O. Rovyshin – J. Chumak
E. Vaynikonis – A. Orlovich
A. Gainullin – A. Naimushin
S. Georgiev – D. Georgieva
J. Bereslavskii – A. Fayustov
T. Nohaeva – T. Tazenkova
M. Salmin - A. Gonyaykin
 4

Back to the Future

We take a look at some of the action from last year’s tournament.

In Round 2 the players had to cope with this deal:

Dealer South
N-S Vul
♠ J5
♥ 82
♦ J93
♣ QJ8764
♠ 63 ♠ A K Q 10 9 8 7 4 2
♥ J975 ♥ 6
♦ AQ2 ♦ K
♣ K952 ♣ A 10
♠ —
♥ A K Q 10 4 3
♦ 10 8 7 6 5 4
♣ 3

West North East South

Dubinin Piekarek Gromov Smirnov
2♣*
Pass Pass 4♠ All Pass

2♣ 5-11, 5/5 in hearts and another

East-West fell short of the target - +480.

West North East South

Kowalski Welland Tuszynski Zia
4♥
Pass Pass 5♠ Pass
6♠ All Pass

In the Encyclopedia of Bridge an opening bid of Five of a Major is described as perhaps the
rarest opening bid (so rare that it is not even mentioned in Eric Crowhurst’s Acol Index). It is
described as showing eleven tricks, missing only the two top honours.
In this variation on a theme East used his dramatic jump to show a hand too good for a simple
Four Spades and West did the rest.

Moscow City Golf Club, February 18‐20, 2011

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This masterpiece is from Round 4:

Dealer West
N/S Vul
♠ Q6432
♥ K5
♦ K Q 10 5 4
♣ K
♠ J9 ♠ 10 8
♥ Q986 ♥ A 10 4 3 2
♦ 962 ♦ AJ873
♣ Q 10 9 7 ♣ 6
♠ AK75
♥ J7
♦ —
♣ AJ85432

West North East South

Narkiewicz Welland Buras Zia
Pass 1♠ 2♠* 3♥*
4♥ 4♠ Pass 5♠
Pass 6♦ Pass 6♠
All Pass

East led the ace of hearts and continued with the two. Declarer won in hand, crossed to dummy
with a trump and played a club to the king. When both defenders followed to a second trump
declarer could claim, +1430.

West North East South

Kholomeev Gromov Khiuppenen Dubinin
Pass 1♠ Pass 2♣
Pass 2♦ Pass 3♠
Pass 4♣* Pass 4♦*
Pass 4♥* Pass 5♣*
Pass 5♦* Pass 5NT
Pass 6♠ All Pass

Here too East cashed the ace of hearts, but he then switched to a devilish three of diamonds!
Declarer ruffed and crossed to hand with the king of clubs. The key to the hand is to decide
which black suit is breaking, but here declarer did not even have an overcall from East to help
him. With spades 2-2 the winning line is to cross to dummy with a trump and ruff a club high. If
Spades were 3-1 and clubs 3-2 then drawing two rounds of trumps with the queen and king
followed by a club ruff would deliver the goods.
When declarer opted for the latter line he could not recover, -100.

Moscow City Golf Club, February 18‐20, 2011

 6

Lightning struck in Round 5:

Dealer West
All Vul
♠ J4
♥ Q9874
♦ —
♣ 10 9 8 5 4 2
♠ A732 ♠ K865
♥ AKJ652 ♥ —
♦ 93 ♦ A K 10 7 6 2
♣ Q ♣ AK6
♠ Q 10 9
♥ 10 3
♦ QJ854
♣ J73

West North East South

Kotorowicz Welland Kalita Zia
1♥ Pass 2♦ Pass
2♥ Pass 2♠ Pass
4♣* Pass 4♦* Pass
4♥* Pass 4NT* Pass
5♥* Pass 6♠ Pass
Pass Dble All Pass

That was well bid by East-West, but there was a fly in the ointment. North’s Lightner double
made it easy for Zia to lead a diamond (he chose the jack) and each defender scored a trump trick
for +200.

In Round 8 the leaders continued their good run with some grand designs:

Dealer North
Both Vul
♠ KJ72
♥ AKJ8
♦ J
♣ KQJ8
♠ 9843 ♠ 10 6 5
♥ Q4 ♥ 76532
♦ 7652 ♦ K9
♣ 753 ♣ 962
♠ AQ
♥ 10 9
♦ A Q 10 8 4 3
♣ A 10 4

Moscow City Golf Club, February 18‐20, 2011

 7

West North East South

Matushko Welland Khokhlov Zia
1♣ Pass 1♦
Pass 2NT Pass 3♣
Pass 3♦ Pass 3♠
Pass 3NT Pass 4♣
Pass 4♥ Pass 4NT*
Pass 5♠* Pass 5NT*
Pass 7♣ All Pass

2NT was 18-19 once South supported clubs the players exchanged cue bids before South
checked on key cards.
East led the two of clubs and declarer won in hand with the eight, unblocked dummy’s spades,
and cashed the top hearts. When the queen fell he ruffed a heart with the ace of clubs and drew
trumps, +2140.

No one objects to a slice of lady luck – and there was a huge portion of it on this deal from
Round 9:

Dealer South
Both Vul

♠ Q 10 5
♥ 93
♦ AQ954
♣ K 10 2
♠ AKJ987 ♠ 6432
♥ AJ865 ♥ K72
♦ — ♦ 82
♣ 95 ♣ Q643
♠
♥ Q 10 4
♦ K J 10 7 6 3
♣ AJ87

West North East South

Smirnov Kalita Piekarek Kotorowitc
1♦
2♦* 2♠* 3♠ Pass
4♠ Pass Pass 4NT*
Pass 5♦ Pass Pass
5♠ Dble All Pass
_
2♦ Majors
2♠ Diamond fit
4NT Minors

Moscow City Golf Club, February 18‐20, 2011

 8

Declarer had to lose two clubs and a trump, -200. With Five Diamonds likely to be made that
looked like the Par result. However....

West North East South

Von Arnim Welland Auken Zia
1♦
3♣* 3NT 4♠ 5♦
5♠ 6♦ All Pass

3♣ Majors

3NT without a stopper in both suits was ambitious (maybe 3♠ should show a stopper plus a
diamond fit?) but it did suggest that North might hold a heart honour. Anyone for the ace of
hearts lead?
When West led the king of spades declarer ruffed, crossed to dummy with a trump, ruffed a
spade, drew the outstanding trump, played a club to the king and ran the ten of clubs, +1370.

The opening lead is frequently a critical moment. It certainly was on this deal from Round 10:

Dealer North
East-West Vul
♠ A743
♥ K
♦ 10 4
♣ J 10 6 5 4 2
♠ K9 ♠ Q 10
♥ 10 9 8 7 ♥ 6432
♦ Q932 ♦ AK85
♣ 983 ♣ AKQ
♠ J8652
♥ AQJ5
♦ J76
♣ 7

West North East South

Ponomareva Welland Gromova Zia
Pass 1♣* 1♠
Pass 4♠ Dble All Pass

1♣ Precision

Most pairs would have some way of showing two suits over the strong club, but it did not matter
here.
With all four hands on view it’s easy to say West should have led a diamond. (Looking at the
West hand alone you might lead that suit because of the presence of the diamond queen.) When
West was seduced by her hearts and led the nine declarer won in hand, cashed two more hearts
pitching dummy’s diamonds and then gave up a club. He could not be denied ten tricks, +590.

Moscow City Golf Club, February 18‐20, 2011

 9

Remarkably, the simple overcall quickly paid another big dividend:

Dealer West
None Vul
♠ QJ942
♥ 7
♦ A743
♣ 10 6 5
♠ 65 ♠ 10 7
♥ A K 10 4 3 ♥ QJ965
♦ Q ♦ 10 8
♣ AKJ73 ♣ Q942
♠ AK83
♥ 82
♦ KJ9652
♣ 8

West North East South

Narkiewicz Hackett Buras Hackett
1♥ Pass 4♥ All Pass

There were three tricks to lose, +420.

West North East South

Ponomareva Welland Gromova Zia
1♣* 1♠ Pass 4♦*
Dble 4♠ All Pass

4♦ Fit jump
There were three tricks to lose, +650.

Moscow City Golf Club, February 18‐20, 2011

 10

This deal from Round 12 contained a simple defensive point:

Dealer East

All Vul
♠ 972
♥ Q863
♦ 9843
♣ K6
♠ J83 ♠ K54
♥ J94 ♥ AK5
♦ QJ6 ♦ K75
♣ AQJ8 ♣ 10 7 5 2
♠ A Q 10 6
♥ 10 7 2
♦ A 10 2
♣ 943

West North East South

Malinowski Kowalski Forrester Tuszynski
1♣ Pass
2NT Pass 3NT All Pass

North led the three of hearts which ran to declarer’s jack. He played the queen of diamonds and
when that held he continued with a diamond to the king. When that also scored he played a club
to the queen. North won with the king and switched to the seven of spades. Declarer put up the
king and South won with the ace, cashed the queen and played a third spade. Declarer had one
spade, three hearts, two diamonds and three clubs, +600.

West North East South

Khiuppenen Welland Kholomeev Zia
1♣ Pass
3NT All Pass

Here North led the eight of diamonds and when declarer

put up dummy’s king Zia took the ace and switched to the
six of spades. Declarer won with dummy’s king and took
the losing club finesse. North’s spade return gave Zia the
next three tricks, +100.
Here is how Zia described a vital deal from the last round in his column in The Guardian:

The Slava Cup in Moscow is one of the few remaining invitation pairs tournaments in the world,
and this year featured a very close finish. My American partner Roy Welland and I were well
clear of the field with a few matches to play. Then one of the top Russian pairs handed us a
serious thrashing early on the final day, and suddenly it was a three-horse race. England's Tony
Forrester and Artur Malinowksi, China's Jack Zhao and Fu Zhong, Roy and I could all win the

Moscow City Golf Club, February 18‐20, 2011

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tournament with a single board to play, and this was the problem that confronted the East-West
pairs.

Dealer West
None Vul
♠ AKQ5
♥ 76
♦ 9873
♣ J54
♠ J9863 ♠ 4
♥ A54 ♥ Q J 10 9 3 2
♦ AK62 ♦ 54
♣ Q ♣ K973
♠ 10 7 2
♥ K8
♦ Q J 10
♣ A 10 8 6 2

Every West opened the bidding with One Spade, every East responded 1NT. The Wests rebid
Two Diamonds, the Easts bid Two Hearts to show a weak hand with a long heart suit, and it was
up to the Wests to decide the fate of the Slava Cup and the destination of a lot of dollars. What
action would you have taken with those West cards?

Nobody passed, which would have been ultra-conservative – true, East might have a very weak
hand, but he might also have a hand just short of the values for an initial game force. Against
Roy and me, England's Jason Hackett solved the problem in typically forthright fashion by
jumping all the way to Four Hearts. At the other tables where the leading pairs were playing,
Zhao and Malinowski contented themselves with a raise to only Three Hearts. If they'd been
vulnerable they would probably have imitated Jason's leap to game, for bidding and making
vulnerable games is crucial at IMP scoring.

In the circumstances, they chose to leave the decision to their partners, and both Forrester and
Zhong could see no reason for accepting the invitation on the East hands. The question now was
whether optimism or pessimism would pay off; if North held the king of hearts, and if the
defenders could arrange to play two rounds of trumps before declarer could secure club ruffs in
the West hand, Four Hearts would fail and the pairs that had stayed out of it would pick up a
crucial swing. But South's actual heart holding meant missing the game cost our rivals just
enough points to keep us in first place.

Moscow City Golf Club, February 18‐20, 2011

 12

Organizing Committee Chairman Pavel Portnoy

Organizing Committee Vice Chairman Sergey Minko
Pavel Kuleshov, Valery Lyandin, Vitold
Organizing Committee Sliva, Vitold Brushtunov, Andrei Gromov.
Chief tournament director Leonid Greenbaum
Dennis Dobrin, Anton Osipov,
Tournament director Kursakov Anwar
Bridzherama Bridge Base Online
Editor Mark Horton
Typesetter Elena Gonchar, Pavel Portnoy Jr.

Schedule for Friday

12:00 round 1
13:20 round 2
14:40 round 3
16:00 LUNCH
17:30 round 4
18:50 round 5

In this issue
Headline 1
List the Top 16 2
List the Top 40 3
Back to the Future 4
Schedule for Friday 12

Moscow City Golf Club, February 18‐20, 2011