Russia vs Poland
Open Round 2
Sunday afternoon's second match on Vugraph was the encounter between
Russia and Poland. This proved to be a low-scoring match with much
good play from both sides. You will find a few examples below, as
well as some of the more costly mistakes.
The first board to be shown un Vugraph traditionally was board
19. Here, Petrunin found a very nice squeeze to land his heart game.
Board 19. Dealer South. E/W Vul.
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|
ª
J 8 7
© A K 8 7 3
¨ 8 7 6
§ K 9 |
ª
A
© Q 6
¨ K J 10 9 3
§ Q 10 8 7 3 |
![Bridge deal](../../../graphics/Hand/board3.gif) |
ª
K Q 10 6 5 4 3
© 9 4 2
¨ 5 4
§ 4 |
|
ª
9 2
© J 10 5
¨ A Q 2
§ A J 6 5 2 |
Open Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Martens |
Gromov |
Lesniewski |
Petrunin |
|
|
|
1NT |
Pass |
2¨ |
2ª |
Pass |
3¨ |
3NT |
Pass |
4© |
All Pass |
|
|
|
Martens led the ªA and exited with a trump. Petrunin ran this to
his queen, drew two more rounds of trumps and played the §K and
another, running it to West when East showed out.
Endplayed for the first time, Martens made the best return of the
¨J to Petrunin's queen. Now Petrunin ruffed a club and led the last
trump, on which he threw his losing spade, squeezing West in the
process. If he threw a club, declarer's suit would get established;
a diamond discard would enable declarer to play ¨A and another to
endplay West again. Very well done. Russia +420.
Closed Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Krasnosselski |
Balicki |
Dubinin |
Zmudzinski |
|
|
|
1§ |
1¨ |
1© |
2ª |
3© |
Pass |
4© |
All Pass |
|
Here the contract was played from the other side of the table,
so Dubinin could lead his singleton club, which ran to the ten and
king. Zmudzinski next cashed the ©A and then used his entry to dummy,
the §A, to take the heart finesse. He also drew the last trump and
then exited with a spade to West's bare ace. Endplayed now, West
had to continue diamonds, but on play again with the third round
of that suit, he could safely play on diamonds, so declarer had
to go one down as there was no way to dispose of the spade losers.
Russia +50 and 10 IMP's for an early lead.
Board 1 was a push, but a strange one.
Board 1. Dealer North. None Vul.
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|
ª K 5
© 10 6 3
¨ 10 6 4
§ Q 7 6 4 2 |
ª A 6 3
© A K J
¨ 9 7 3
§ A J 5 3 |
![Bridge deal](../../../graphics/Hand/board3.gif) |
ª Q 10 8 4
© 9 8 5 2
¨ A 8 2
§ 10 9 |
|
ª J 9 7 2
© Q 7 4
¨ K Q J 5
§ K 8 |
Open Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Martens |
Gromov |
Lesniewski |
Petrunin |
|
Pass |
Pass |
1¨ |
Dble |
Redble |
Pass |
1© |
Dble |
Pass |
2ª |
All Pass |
Lesniewski ducked the first diamond, but won the heart switch with
the ace. Next, he led a low spade off dummy, Gromov playing low.
Declarer inserted the 10, losing to the jack. Petrunin returned
a spade, ducked to Gromov's king. Gromopv continued a diamond, the
ace winning. Lesniewski then took a club finesse, won by Gromov
with the queen, and another diamond went to south's jack. A second
club was won by dummy's ace and the ªA was cashed, but as the clubs
broke 5-2 declarer could not avoid losing a trick to the ª9 for
one down.
Closed Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Krasnosselski |
Balicki |
Dubinin |
Zmudzinski |
|
Pass |
Pass |
1¨ |
Dble |
2¨ |
Dble |
Pass |
3¨ |
Pass |
3© |
Pass |
4© |
All Pass |
|
|
This was not a success either, but in more normal fashion when
declarer lost the four obvious tricks after a diamond lead. No swing.
Poland missed a game due to some surprising bidding on Vugraph:
Board 5. Dealer North. N/S Vul.
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|
ª 10 5
© K 9 8 7 5
¨ A 10 6 5
§ J 3 |
ª J 8 7
© Q 10 2
¨ Q 2
§ A Q 8 6 4 |
![Bridge deal](../../../graphics/Hand/board3.gif) |
ª A K Q 9 3 2
© -
¨ 8 4 3
§ 10 9 7 2 |
|
ª 6 4
© A J 6 4 3
¨ K J 9 7
§ K 5 |
Open Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Martens |
Gromov |
Lesniewski |
Petrunin |
|
Pass |
1ª |
Pass |
2NT |
Pass |
3ª |
All Pass |
Eleven tricks of course, Poland +200.
In the Closed Room, the Russians produced a more normal auction:
Closed Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Krasnosselski |
Balicki |
Dubinin |
Zmudzinski |
|
Pass |
1ª |
Pass |
1NT |
Pass |
2ª |
Pass |
4ª |
All Pass |
|
|
Of course, the same 11 tricks were made, but +450 and 6IMPs to
Russia.
Another scoring chance was missed by both sides:
Board 9. Dealer North. E/W Vul.
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|
ª A J
© 10 7 5
¨ A 5
§ A J 10 7 5 3 |
ª Q 5 3
© 9 8 4 3 2
¨ 8 6 4
§ 9 6 |
![Bridge deal](../../../graphics/Hand/board3.gif) |
ª 10 8 2
© Q
¨ Q J 10 9 7 3
§ 8 4 2 |
|
ª K 9 7 6 4
© A K J 6
¨ K 2
§ K Q |
Open Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Martens |
Gromov |
Lesniewski |
Petrunin |
|
2§ |
Pass |
2¨ |
Pass |
2NT |
Pass |
3§ |
Pass |
3¨ |
Pass |
3© |
Pass |
3NT |
Pass |
6NT |
All Pass |
|
|
|
2§ was natura, but after that good start the relays did not work
to perfection. The early appearance of the ©Q, a relief for the
many who were in 7NT, made the play easy. Please note that 7§ is
a very good contract, as the spades can be established for the 13th
trick.
The Poles, however, did not get to the top spot either:
Closed Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Krasnosselski |
Balicki |
Dubinin |
Zmudzinski |
|
1NT |
Pass |
2§ |
Pass |
2¨ |
Dble |
3¨ |
Pass |
3© |
Pass |
4NT |
Pass |
5¨ |
Pass |
5ª |
Pass |
5NT |
Pass |
6NT |
All Pass |
|
|
|
After the 1NT opening, the full trick-taking potential of the hand
could no longer be described as exactly as needed to get to the
grand. No swing again.
Two boards later we had another small swing to Russia when they
found a good save in the Open Room:
Board 11. Dealer South. None Vul.
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|
ª 10 6 3
© 8 5 4 3
¨ K Q J 7 4
§ Q |
ª A Q J 4 2
© 9
¨ 8 2
§ A K J 10 5 |
![Bridge deal](../../../graphics/Hand/board3.gif) |
ª K 9 8 7 5
© 2
¨ A 9 3
§ 7 6 3 2 |
|
ª -
© A K Q J 10 7 6
¨ 10 6 5
§ 9 8 4 |
Open Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Martens |
Gromov |
Lesniewski |
Petrunin |
|
|
|
4© |
4ª |
5¨ |
5ª |
6© |
Dble |
All Pass |
|
|
Down one, Poland +100.
Closed Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Krasnosselski |
Balicki |
Dubinin |
Zmudzinski |
|
|
|
1© |
2© |
4© |
4ª |
5© |
Dble |
Pass |
5ª |
All Pass |
The slow approach by the Poles gave the Russians ample space for
exploration and judgement, and they did well in going on to 5ª.
Russia +450 and 8 IMPs.
Board 15 looked like a routine game, but
Board 15. Dealer South. N/S Vul.
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|
ª Q 6
© Q J
¨ 10 5
§ J 10 9 6 5 3 2 |
ª K 3 2
© A 9 8 3
¨ A K 9 4 3
§ 4 |
![Bridge deal](../../../graphics/Hand/board3.gif) |
ª J 10 8 7
© K 7 6 5
¨ Q J 7 6
§ A |
|
ª A 9 5 4
© 10 4 2
¨ 8 2
§ K Q 8 7 |
Well, on any lead you lose two spades and a heart. This proved
to be true on Vugraph too, but Lesniewski had his anxious moments
when Petrunin led a low spade. Gromov won the queen, returned the
suit and ruffed the third spade with the ©Q. Winning the club continuation,
Lesniewski now had to lay down the ©K and finesse the ©10 on the
next round to the applause of the Vugraph public. Well played by
both sides.
In the Closed Room, on a less imaginative lead, declarer was not
tested and in fact made an overtrick when North returned the ªQ
after winning his side's trump trick.
With only one board to play on Vugraph, Russia led 18-6 but this
was that last board:
Board 18. Dealer East. N/S Vul.
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|
ª 9 8 4 3
© 8 7 3
¨ J 8 7 4
§ 10 6 |
ª Q J
© K 6 5 2
¨ A K
§ Q 9 5 3 2 |
![Bridge deal](../../../graphics/Hand/board3.gif) |
ª K 7 6
© A Q J 10 9
¨ 5 3
§ A J 8 |
|
ª A 10 5 2
© 4
¨ Q 10 9 6 2
§ K 7 4 |
Open Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Martens |
Gromov |
Lesniewski |
Petrunin |
|
|
1© |
Pass |
2§ |
Pass |
2NT |
Pass |
3© |
Pass |
4© |
All Pass |
No problems and 11 tricks, Poland +450.
Closed Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Krasnosselski |
Balicki |
Dubinin |
Zmudzinski |
|
|
1© |
Pass |
2§ |
Pass |
2NT |
Pass |
3© |
Pass |
3ª |
Pass |
4¨ |
Pass |
5§ |
Pass |
6© |
All Pass |
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|
Well, this contract has some play, but not enough. With the §K
offside it had no chance at all, in fact. Poland +50 and the deficit
reduced to 18-17
Board 19 we described at the start of this report. When Zmudzinski
did not match Petrunin's play in 4©, the Russians got their lead
back: 28-17. Then came the last board:
Board 20. Dealer West. All Vul.
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|
ª 7 6 5 3
© Q
¨ A 6 5 4 3
§ K J 10 |
ª K 9
© 9 6 3 2
¨ 8 2
§ A 9 6 4 2 |
![Bridge deal](../../../graphics/Hand/board3.gif) |
ª A J 10 8
© J 10 7 4
¨ 9 7
§ Q 8 7 |
|
ª Q 4 2
© A K 8 5
¨ K Q J 10
§ 5 3 |
Open Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Martens |
Gromov |
Lesniewski |
Petrunin |
|
|
|
1NT |
Pass |
2§ |
Pass |
2© |
Pass |
2NT |
Pass |
3¨ |
Pass |
3NT |
All Pass |
|
Play was over very quickly here. Martens led a low club, Petrunin
called for dummy's king and when this held, claimed nine tricks.
Russia +600.
In the other room, however, intervention on a light twosuiter led
to a heavy loss for the Russians when the Poles found a perfect
defence:
Closed Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Krasnosselski |
Balicki |
Dubinin |
Zmudzinski |
|
|
|
1NT |
2§ |
Dble |
Redble |
Pass |
2© |
Pass |
Pass |
Dble |
All Pass |
|
|
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EW found a reasonable 4-4 fit and as they also held some promising
side suits prospects looked reasonable. The pattern changed dramatically,
however, when Balicki led the ©Q and switched to a low diamond.
Zmudzinski won and played three more rounds of trumps, North throwing
spades. Declarer was in dummy now and played another diamond, possibly
not his best move. South cashed his diamonds and exited with a club,
won by declarer's ace. The only thing declarer could do now was
cash out his winners and concede down four, 1100 to Poland and a
swing of 11 IMP's to tie the match at 28-28.
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