West led !J against the slam and dummy was a slight disappointment to declarer. It looked as though everything would depend on which defender held the ace of clubs.South found a neat way to improve his chances. South’s next bid of 34 showed an interest in progress beyond game (a bid of 44 would have been the sign-off) but denied any singleton.
North cue-bid 4!, and Roman Key Card Blackwood revealed that an ace was missing so South settled for Six Spades. One of the arguments that will never be settled is whether, in defence, it is more important to signal length or encouragement/discouragement. A number of compromises have been suggested but clearly East-West were not on the same wavelength on this deal.
Science was at work in the bidding when South’s opening bid of 14 was greeted with a response of 2NT – agreeing spades and forcing to game. Instead, she gave up her queen for two rooks with 2.Qxe3 Rxe3 3.Rxe3, but after 3…Qb1+ 4.Kf2 g6 5.a3 Qc1! 6.Rde2 Qd1! White was struggling. The end came abruptly with 7.Re7 Qxd4+ 8.Kg3 g5 9.R7e5 Qh4 mate.The moral is clear: with this Queen’s Gambit pawn structure, White must either play a minority attack with b4 and b5, or plan a central advance with f3 and e4 If you try for both at once, you end up with neither.. The best combination came on the women’s board and brought Oxford their only win.
Emilia Holland (Cambridge, playing White) had drifted into a passive position from a Queen’s Gambit. In the diagram, she played 1.Rd2 to keep the black queen out of d3, but was surprised by 1…Rxe3!
After 2.Rxe3 Qb1+ White regains the rook to stay a pawn ahead. The world’s oldest continuing chess fixture, the annual Oxford- Cambridge match was played for the 114th time last weekend at the RAC Club (with sponsorship from the law firm Watson, Farley & Williams) and saw Cambridge winning by 5-3 to go one ahead in a series dating back to 1874. The theatre needs him there, too.Thelma Holt’s new RSC production, `Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching towards the Somme’, opened last night at the Barbican.. Consequently, under his stewardship there was enormous variety.Richard Eyre’s great quality was his humanity.
