Our first visit to the Senior Championship followed the fortunes of one of the favourites for the title, Poland's Julian Klukowski and Aleksander Jezioro.

This was the first board to arrive at the table:

Board 27. Dealer South. None Vul
	ª 8 5 © A J 6 5 4 ¨ A 10 8 § J 5 2
ª 9 4 2 © K 9 8 ¨ J 9 4 3 § 9 8 7		ª A Q 10 7 6 © Q 10 3 ¨ Q 2 § Q 10 3
	ª K J 3 © 7 2 ¨ K 7 6 5 § A K 6 4

West	North	East	South
Wala	Jezioro	Jauniaux	Klukowski
			1§*
Pass	1©	1ª	1NT
Pass	2§*	Pass	3§
Pass	3NT	All Pass

Julian Klukowski		The Polish pair reached a thin game and West led the four of spades. East put in the queen and declarer won with the king and played a diamond to the eight and queen. East played back the seven of spades and declarer put up the jack and played a diamond to the ten. When that held he cashed the ace of diamonds and East pitched a spade. Declarer returned to hand with a club to the ace and cashed the king of diamonds, discarding a heart from dummy. East decided to part with a club, so declarer was in a position to make his game via six tricks in the minors plus three in the majors. However, he preferred to try for an endplay, playing the ace of hearts and another. That was not a success and he was one down.

Board 28. Dealer West. North/South Vul
	ª J 5 3 © J 8 6 4 2 ¨ J 9 8 4 § 4
ª 10 4 © 7 3 ¨ A 6 2 § Q 9 6 5 3 2		ª A 9 8 2 © A 5 ¨ K Q 5 § K 10 8 7
	ª K Q 7 6 © K Q 10 9 ¨ 10 7 3 § A J

West	North	East	South
Wala	Jezioro	Jauniaux	Klukowski
	Pass	1NT	Dbl*
2§	Pass	2ª	Pass
3§	All Pass

South's double promised either clubs or a two suiter excluding clubs, and it looks as if East thought that his partner's bid might have had some conventional overtones. No damage done and declarer soon claimed the obvious ten tricks. With a heart lead holding declarer to eight tricks in notrumps, +130 looked to be a fair result for the Belgium/Polish alliance.

Board 1. Dealer North. None Vul
	ª K 10 © A 5 4 ¨ K J 5 4 § A 9 3 2
ª 8 5 4 © K 10 9 6 ¨ Q 8 6 § Q J 10		ª Q 9 7 3 © Q J 3 ¨ A 9 2 § 7 5 4
	ª A J 6 2 © 8 7 2 ¨ 10 7 3 § K 8 6

West	North	East	South
Jelmoni	Jezioro	Bettinetti	Klukowski
	1NT	All Pass

With an awkward lead, East tried the three of spades, which ran around to declarer's ten. A diamond to the ten lost to the queen and West switched to queen of clubs. Declarer won in hand with the ace and after unblocking the king of spades played the jack of diamonds. When that held he played a low diamond to East's ace. He took the club return with the king, cashed the ace of spades and played a club. That gave him nine tricks when the suit divided 3-3, the ace of heart being the entry for the long club.

Board 2. Dealer East. North/South Vul
	ª K 6 5 3 © 8 7 ¨ 10 7 5 4 § 6 4 2
ª 8 2 © A 9 6 3 2 ¨ J 8 § A Q 8 7		ª J 9 4 © K Q 10 ¨ Q 9 2 § J 10 5 3
	ª A Q 10 7 © J 5 4 ¨ A K 6 3 § K 9

West	North	East	South
Jelmoni	Jezioro	Bettinetti	Klukowski
		Pass	1NT
All Pass

Some intrepid souls would probably get into the action with the West cards, but here West wisely held his peace and led the two of hearts. East took the trick with the queen and cashed the king, West following with the six. After giving the matter due consideration East switched to the jack of clubs. That cooked declarer's goose and he was three down, -300.

Board 3. Dealer South. East/West Vul
	ª Q 10 4 © 10 6 3 ¨ J 10 6 5 2 § Q 8
ª A 9 8 5 © A 9 4 ¨ A K 7 3 § 6 2		ª 3 © K 8 2 ¨ Q 9 8 § A K J 7 5 4
	ª K J 7 6 2 © Q J 7 5 ¨ 4 § 10 9 3

West	North	East	South
Fleischmann	Jezioro	Seka-Leimer	Klukowski
			Pass
1NT	Pass	2ª*	Pass
3¨	Pass	3NT	All Pass

Two Spades was a one round force but it did not get East/West anywhere near the good slam in clubs. Declarer won the opening heart lead in hand and played a club to the jack. She then ran the clubs, but North/South made no mistake and collected one trick in the wash.

Board 4. Dealer West. All Vul
	ª K 10 8 6 4 © K Q 10 6 5 ¨ K 10 § Q
ª Q J © A J 7 ¨ A Q J 8 3 § 7 6 5		ª A 7 3 2 © 3 ¨ 7 6 5 4 § K 10 9 3
	ª 9 5 © 9 8 4 2 ¨ 9 2 § A J 8 4 2

West	North	East	South
Fleischmann	Jezioro	Seka-Leimer	Klukowski
1¨*	2¨*	Pass	Pass!
Dbl	2©	2ª	3©
Dbl	All Pass

If our reporter's command of German and Polish is correct - okay we admit everyone spoke in English -One Diamond could have been short and Two Diamonds was Michaels, promising the majors. South did not see it that way and passed. West doubled to confirm she really had the suit and North, seeing the possibility of a misunderstanding, decided to run. With everyone totally confused West doubled the final contract. The opening lead of the ace of spades did declarer no harm at all and after winning the second trick with the king of spades declarer played the king of hearts. West won and tried the queen of diamonds. Declarer put up the king, crossed to dummy with the ace of clubs and took the trump finesse. That was eleven tricks and a rather good score.

There was an interesting piece of play and defence on this deal at another table:

West	North	East	South
Pochron	Hirst	Omernik	Jourdain
1NT	2§*	Dbl*	2©
Pass	Pass	2NT	All Pass

Two Clubs promised both majors but it was not obvious that either North or South should bid again. North led the king of hearts and when declarer ducked switched to the queen of clubs. Declarer ducked this but South put up the ace and played back a heart. Well done, although as the cards lie it was not necessary as careful defence will hold declarer to se4ven tricks.

Board 5. Dealer North. North/South Vul
	ª 10 2 © K 10 ¨ A J 10 9 7 3 2 § 9 6
ª A Q 9 6 © A J 8 7 6 5 ¨ K § 5 4		ª K J 7 4 3 © Q 4 3 2 ¨ 4 § 7 3 2
	ª 8 5 © 9 ¨ Q 8 6 5 § A K Q J 10 8

West	North	East	South
Mundula	Jezioro	Tessitore	Klukowski
	3¨	Pass	5¨
Dbl	Pass	5ª	All Pass

South's direct jump to game pushed East/West beyond the limit of their cards. On this kind of deal a plus score is usually worth a reasonable percentage of the matchpoints.

Board 6. Dealer East. East/West Game
	ª Q 9 8 6 4 © 7 ¨ 9 4 § A Q 10 9 2
ª 5 © K Q J 9 8 ¨ K 10 5 2 § K J 4		ª K 7 3 © A 6 2 ¨ A Q J 8 7 6 § 6
	ª A J 10 2 © 10 5 4 3 ¨ 3 § 8 7 5 3

West	North	East	South
Mundula	Jezioro	Tessitore	Klukowski
		2¨*	Pass
2NT*	3§	Dbl*	4§
5¨	All Pass

There was nothing to the play, declarer losing only to the two black aces. You can understand why North bid Three Clubs, but perhaps South should have tried Three Spades over the double as a sort of fit non-jump.

North/South can make a lot of tricks in spades as was demonstrated at another table:

West	North	East	South
La Guardia	Hirst	Giuffredi	Jourdain
		1¨	Pass
1©	Dbl	2¨	2ª
3ª*	4ª	Pass	Pass
5¨	Pass	Pass	5ª
Dbl	All Pass

West led a top heart and switched to a diamond. East won and returned the suit, forcing declarer to ruff. He ruffed a heart and advanced the queen of spades. When that held he played a spade to the ten followed by a club. When West played low declarer put in the ten. Now he could return to hand with the ace of spades collecting East's king and repeat the club finesse.

A steady session saw our featured pair finish the day in ninth place.