Norway
v. Poland
Open Series Round 6
On Tuesday afternoon, the first match on
Rama was the big clash between two of the strongest teams present
here, so a good and aggressive match was odds-on. Would it live
up to the expectations of the Rama audience? Well, it certainly
did at the start, as on the first four boards 16 undoubled undertricks
were registered against only one contract made, a humble 2§.
At that stage, Norway were 10-6 up when board 5 hit the screen:
Session 6. Board 5. Dealer North. N/S
Vul.
|
|
ª K 4 2
© K 8 4
¨ Q 10 8
§ K Q J 5 |
ª 10 9 6 3
© 9 5 3 2
¨ K 9 4
§ 9 6 |
![Bridge deal](../../../graphics/Hand/board3.gif) |
ª Q 8 5
© A Q 7
¨ A 7 5 3
§ 10 8 3 |
|
ª A J 7
© J 10 6
¨ J 6 2
§ A 7 4 2 |
Open Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Kwiecien |
Helness |
Pszczola |
Helgemo |
|
1§ |
Pass |
1NT |
All Pass |
|
|
|
This was a very safe contract, certainly
when the spade lead brought the seventh trick immediately. Declarer
went after the diamonds, but correct defence restricted him to
one overtrick only. Norway +120.
Closed Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Groetheim |
Lesniewski |
Aa |
Martens |
|
1§ |
Dble |
Redble |
Pass |
Pass |
1¨ |
Pass |
Pass |
3NT |
All Pass |
|
Adan Zmudzinski, Poland
|
|
Much more action in the Closed Room.
Terje Aa found a take-out double, but the hand belonged
to the opposition. One Diamond might have gone three off,
but the Poles would have nothing of it. As Marcin Lesniewski
did not hold a minimum hand, he boldly jumped to 3NT when
1¨ came round
to him. All would have been well for Norway had the right
defence been found but this was not easy at all. Aa did
well to lead a low diamond to partner´s king, and
Groetheim did well to find the heart switch. Now all Aa
has to do is to play ¨A
and another, but how can he possibly guess that declarer
has jumped to 3NT holding only three diamonds? So Lesniewski´s
aggression paid off. Poland +600 and 10 IMP´s back
for them to go into the lead: 16-10.
It stood at 22-17 to Poland five boards
later, when it was Norway´s turn to steal a game.
|
Session 6. Board 11. Dealer South. None
Vul.
|
|
ª A 7
© 8 7 6 2
¨ K J 9 7 6 2
§ 5 |
ª K 8 6
© Q 10 3
¨ A Q 4
§ K 10 9 2 |
![Bridge deal](../../../graphics/Hand/board3.gif) |
ª J 10 9
© J 9
¨ 10 8 5
§ A Q J 6 4 |
|
ª Q 5 4 3 2
© A K 5 4
¨ 3
§ 8 7 3 |
Open Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Kwiecien |
Helness |
Pszczola |
Helgemo |
|
|
|
Pass |
1§ |
1¨ |
Pass |
1ª |
Pass |
Pass |
2§ |
All Pass |
With all those jacks, there is little perspective
in the East hand. So Pszczola quietly bided his time when Helness
overcalled 1¨ after
the Polish Club. When 1ª
came round to him, he settled for 2§
as the final contract. Well judged, as game is really far away.
Nine tricks, Poland +110.
Closed Room: |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Groetheim |
Lesniewski |
Aa |
Martens |
|
|
|
Pass |
1NT |
Pass |
3NT |
All Pass |
The Norwegians had other ideas. Their 14-16
NT in combination with the good five-card suit in responder´s
hand made their auction understandably automatic. So was North´s
lead: a simple fourth-best from his best suit. When dummy´s
¨8 won the first
trick and the spade finesse of the queen came off, Groetheim had
nine tricks in the bag with time to come to an overtrick when
the defence tried to defeat the contract by switching to hearts.
Norway +430 or 8 IMP´s and in the lead again, 25-22.
Session 6. Board 13. Dealer North. All
Vul.
|
|
ª Q 10 8 3
© 9 8 3
¨ A Q 6 5
§ 8 4 |
ª A K J 6 5
© K
¨ K 8 7 3
§ K 9 5 |
![Bridge deal](../../../graphics/Hand/board3.gif) |
ª 7 2
© 10 7 6 5 2
¨ 10 2
§ A J 10 6 |
|
ª 9 4
© A Q J 4
¨ J 9 4
§ Q 7 3 2 |
Open Room: |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Kwiecien |
Helness |
Pszczola |
Helgemo |
|
Pass |
Pass |
Pass |
1ª |
Pass |
1NT |
Pass |
2¨ |
Pass |
2ª |
Pass |
3§ |
All Pass |
|
|
Natural bidding by the Poles on this misfit
hand; Kwiecien gave it one more try with his maximum, but the
message was not lost on Helness when Pszczola passed 3§.
A merciless trump came out in a split second and a second trump
followed when he got the lead in diamonds. The eventual penalty
was a mere 400 on this indifferent partscore hand.
Closed Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Groetheim |
Lesniewski |
Aa |
Martens |
|
Pass |
2¨ |
Pass |
2ª |
All Pass |
|
|
The Norwegians avoided any problems when
Aa elected to open a Multi (?) in second seat. The standards required
for this opening bid are subject to inflation very much, and here
we see the effect of it. Groetheim could bid 2ª
to show a strong hand, but as 2ª
was not forcing Aa was happy to pass it. Eight tricks were duly
made when the defence led trumps into declarer´s tenace
in an attempt to stop the diamond ruffs. Norway another +110 or
11 IMP´s out of the blue.
The board below is included as a pretty example
of the advantage of the tempo, the right to strike the first blow
at notrumps. Whoever is entitled to play the first card can make
seven tricks.
Session 6. Board 15. Dealer South. N/S
Vul.
|
|
ª 10 9 5 3
© A K 5
¨ A 9 8 4 2
§ 7 |
ª A 6 4
© Q J 10 4
¨ J 6 3
§ Q 9 6 |
![Bridge deal](../../../graphics/Hand/board3.gif) |
ª K Q 2
© 9 8 2
¨ K 7 5
§ A 10 4 3 |
|
ª J 8 7
© 7 6 3
¨ Q 10
§ K J 8 5 2 |
Open Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Kwiecien |
Helness |
Pszczola |
Helgemo |
|
|
|
Pass |
Pass |
1¨ |
Dble |
1NT |
Dble |
All Pass |
|
|
This old adage did certainly apply when South
had to try for his seven tricks, but that was virtually impossible
to see. The defence led hearts, won in dummy. South then did well
(not too problematic after East´s double) to play a diamond
to the queen, a diamond to the ace and another diamond, clearing
the suit. The heart return then established seven tricks for the
defence before declarer could come to his possible club trick.
Poland +200.
Closed Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Groetheim |
Lesniewski |
Aa |
Martens |
|
|
|
Pass |
1NT |
All Pass |
|
|
Here, Lesniewski led a diamond to Martens´
queen, after which the suit was cleared. A heart went to the king
and the diamonds were cashed. North exited with a club. It is
normal to run this to the queen, and that´s of course what
West did. When South produced the king, the contract was one down.
Please note that the double-dummy play of rising with the ace
works: North has to win the next top heart and is out of clubs.
Poland +50 and 6 IMP´s back.
Session 6. Board 16. Dealer West. E/W
Vul.
|
|
ª A 9 3
© A K 10 5 4
¨ 6
§ A J 10 8 |
ª K Q 10 7 4
© J 8 3
¨ K Q 7 4
§ 2 |
![Bridge deal](../../../graphics/Hand/board3.gif) |
ª J 5 2
© 6
¨ A J 10 9 5 2
§ 7 6 4 |
|
ª 8 6
© Q 9 7 2
¨ 8 3
§ K Q 9 5 3 |
Open Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Kwiecien |
Helness |
Pszczola |
Helgemo |
1ª |
2© |
2ª |
4© |
Pass |
4ª |
Pass |
5§ |
Pass |
6© |
All Pass |
|
As 4ª
was a cuebid, 5§
was the cuebid Helness was waiting for, and not a suggestion to
play in the suit. The fate of the heart slam thus hinged on the
lead. As you can see, only a diamond lead beats it. On any other
lead, declarer draws trumps, pitches his diamond on the clubs
and ruffs a spade in the end. When Pszczola led his trump, the
play thus was quickly over: Norway +980.
Closed Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Groetheim |
Lesniewski |
Aa |
Martens |
1ª |
Dble |
2ª |
Dble |
Pass |
4© |
All Pass |
|
When Lesniewski doubled at his first turn,
the Poles simply were not given enough room to explore any further,
so the slam was missed and Norway had gained 11 IMP´s more.
Critical readers may think at this moment:
"What´s the problem with this hand? You can always
make 12 tricks with clubs as trumps." True it is, but very
few pairs managed to do so. Elsewhere in this issue we will come
back to this aspect of the hand.
West |
North |
East |
South |
Groetheim |
Lesniewski |
Aa |
Martens |
1ª |
Dble |
2ª |
Dble |
Pass |
4© |
All Pass |
|
Back to our featured match. On board 18,
the inflatory Norwegian Multi scored again heavily when it suggested
a lead to partner:
Session 6. Board 18. Dealer East. N/S
Vul.
|
|
ª Q 4
© K 10 9
¨ J 9 4 3
§ K J 7 6 |
ª 9 6 2
© Q 8 2
¨ A Q 10 7
§ 10 8 4 |
![Bridge deal](../../../graphics/Hand/board3.gif) |
ª 7 3
© A J 7 6 5
¨ 6 5 2
§ 9 5 3 |
|
ª A K J 10 8 5
© 4 3
¨ K 8
§ A Q 2 |
Open Room: |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Kwiecien |
Helness |
Pszczola |
Helgemo |
|
|
Pass |
1ª |
Pass |
1NT |
Pass |
2NT |
Pass |
3ª |
Pass |
4ª |
All Pass |
|
|
|
With nothing to guide him, Kwiecien elected
to put a club on the table, so Helgemo could claim ten black tricks
very shortly afterwards. Norway +620.
Closed Room: |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Groetheim |
Lesniewski |
Aa |
Martens |
|
|
2¨ |
3ª |
Pass |
4ª |
All Pass |
|
In the Closed Room, Aa struck again with
his Multi. This time the suit was of good quality, so when Groetheim
led a heart he hit the jackpot straight away. One down, Norway
+100 and 12 IMP´s.
Session 6. Board 19. Dealer South. E/W
Vul.
|
|
ª 10 6
© 10 4 3 2
¨ A 10 7 4
§ 9 6 5 |
ª Q 9 7 2
© 9 6 5
¨ K Q J 5 3
§ Q |
![Bridge deal](../../../graphics/Hand/board3.gif) |
ª A J 8 5
© J 7
¨ 8 6 2
§ K 8 4 3 |
|
ª K 4 3
© A K Q 8
¨ 9
§ A J 10 7 2 |
Open Room: |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Kwiecien |
Helness |
Pszczola |
Helgemo |
|
|
|
1§ |
1¨ |
Pass |
1ª |
Dble |
2ª |
3© |
3ª |
4© |
All Pass |
|
|
|
Helness´ 3©
almost committed his side to game, so the spotlight turned on
the play. On a diamond lead, Helness won the ace and immediately
turned his attention to clubs, leading low to the ten and queen.
Kwiecien returned a diamond for dummy to ruff. Locked there, Helness
could do little better than draw two rounds of trumps, noting
the fall of the jack (good news) and play §A
and another. When Kwiecien was able to ruff the §A
the contract thus was one down in spite of an attractive line
of play. The alternative, playing for the ªA
to be right, may not be the best chance, but it would probably
have worked here
Poland +50.
Closed Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Groetheim |
Lesniewski |
Aa |
Martens |
|
|
|
1§ |
1¨ |
Pass |
1ª |
Dble |
2ª |
Dble |
Pass |
3© |
All Pass |
|
|
|
Martens followed the same line as Helness
did (a strong indication that Helness´ line was the best
available!) and thus came to the same nine tricks, this time scoring
140 more for Poland or 5 IMP´s.
The final result of the match was a good
win for Norway: 59-34 or 20-10 V.P.
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