Israel vs Poland

Open Round 34

The first match on VuGraph, Friday morning, was the Israel v. Poland encounter. Israel were out of contention for the top five spot, except if a number of miracles would occur, and Poland were in 5th position, 16 V.P. ahead of Sweden and thus by no means safely booked for Bali. As both teams had been doing well during these weeks, another good match was in sight and so it proved.

After five boards, Poland led 5-0 on overtricks but then Israel struck in a peculiar way:

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

Open Room
West	North	East	South
Martens	Kalish	Lesniewski	Podgur
		Pass	Pass
1§	2NT	Pass	4¨
Pass	4©	Pass	5¨
Pass	6¨	All Pass

As 2NT showed the two lower of the remaining suits, 4©, a forward-going move for sure, might well have become the final contract. There is much to say for a direct jump to 6¨ over 4¨, but in the end the Israelis landed on their feet for a fine +920.

Closed Room
West	North	East	South
Barel	Balicki	Aviram	Zmudzinski
		Pass	Pass
1§	1©	2ª	Pass
Pass	4¨	Pass	5¨
All Pass

In the Closed Room, Balicki was lucky to at all get a second chance of showing a suit. As Zmudzinski could not possibly be aware of partner's exact distribution, slam was out of the question for him. Poland thus only mustered +420 and lost 11 IMPs.

§¨©ª

In the Romania v. Liechenstein match, one North also decided to overcall 1©. When East felt he did not have enough points to introduce his spades, North played there and just made 7 tricks…

ª©¨§

The next board saw Poland come back to 8-11 on an extra undertrick but then, three consecutive boards swung the match Israel's way:

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

Open Room
West	North	East	South
Martens	Kalish	Lesniewski	Podgur
Pass	1¨	Dble	2¨
2ª	3¨	3ª	All Pass

Sensible non-vulnerable bidding with both East and West holding a little in reserve. Poland +170.
Please note the daring 3¨ by Kalish. This might have gone three off had someone doubled it, but as it was, it changed the meaning of 3ª from invitational into more competitive.

Closed Room
West	North	East	South
Barel	Balicki	Aviram	Zmudzinski
Pass	1§	Dble	Pass
1ª	Pass	2ª	Pass
3NT	All Pass

With the §K well-placed, as could be expected from North's opening bid, and with all the club intermediates present, this contract was no problem at all and in fact better than 4ª as the latter might go down on a heart ruff had the layout been different. The Polish Club did not work well here, as Zmudzinski could not compete like his Israeli counterpart did as South. Israel +400 and 6 IMPs.

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

Open Room
West	North	East	South
Martens	Kalish	Lesniewski	Podgur
	2¨	Pass	2ª
Dble	Pass	4©	All Pass

As the club fit never came to light after the spade Multi, the Poles were allowed to play an undisturbed 4© for +650.

Closed Room
West	North	East	South
Barel	Balicki	Aviram	Zmudzinski
	Pass	Pass	2§
2¨	4ª	Dble	All Pass

Here, North did not open his unpromising spade suit, so Zmudzinski opened a natural 2§. When West overcalled 2¨ only and Balicki introduced his spades, the VuGraph audience thought this should imply a club fit as North had not opened. When North surprisingly passed, the Poles lost 800 and 4 IMPs instead of going down only 300 for an 8-IMP gain. Israel 21-8 up now.

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

Open Room
West	North	East	South
Martens	Kalish	Lesniewski	Podgur
		Pass	Pass
1§	Pass	1ª	Pass
2§	Pass	2¨	Pass
3¨	Pass	3NT	All Pass

Holding only queens and jacks, Lesniewski could not find any good forward-going bid popposite his partner's minor suit reverse. He might have been well off in settling for 3NT, as 6¨ by East will go down on a heart lead, and probably on many other leads as well. Poland +660.

Closed Room
West	North	East	South
Barel	Balicki	Aviram	Zmudzinski
		Pass	Pass
1§	Pass	1ª	Pass
2¨	Pass	3¨	Pass
3©	Pass	3NT	Pass
4§	Pass	4¨	Pass
4ª	Pass	5¨	Pass
6¨	All Pass

The Israeli natural auction placed the declaration in the West hand. North now had to lead, and had he selected a trump the contract might still have gone down. As EW had not clearly shown their heart control, Balicki led the ©10 which immediately paved the way to 12 tricks: four spades, two hearts, five diamonds and the §A. In view of the auction a lucky, but also a deserved swing to Israel who increased their lead to 33-8.

The Poles hit back with a successful partscore on both tables to score 6 IMPs, but then the Israelis showed good defence:

Board 14. Dealer East. None Vul.
	ª A K 6 © Q J 8 ¨ 10 7 6 3 § 7 6 3
ª J 2 © K 10 7 6 5 4 3 ¨ 9 2 § A J		ª 10 9 8 © A 9 2 ¨ 8 4 § K Q 5 4 2
	ª Q 7 5 4 3 © - ¨ A K Q J 5 § 10 9 8

Open Room
West	North	East	South
Martens	Kalish	Lesniewski	Podgur
		Pass	1©
2©	2ª	Dble	3©
Pass	3ª	All Pass

On a trump lead, Kalish made ten tricks in peace, Israel +170.

Closed Room
West	North	East	South
Barel	Balicki	Aviram	Zmudzinski
		Pass	1ª
3©	3ª	4§	4¨
Pass	4ª	All Pass

With the hearts 3-0, a club lead is vital to give the defence any chance at all. Michael Barel did find the §A lead and continued the suit. For Aviram is was then easy to see that the ªJ or better with his partner would defeat the contract, so he played the 4th round of clubs, which West duly ruffed with the jack. Well done, one down, Israel +50 and 6 IMPs more: 39-14 now. This is where it still stood when the last board nearly halved the Israeli advantage:

BAREL Michael, Israel

Board 20. Dealer West. All Vul.
	ª A © Q ¨ 10 9 7 6 2 § Q 10 8 6 5 2
ª K 5 2 © 8 7 6 5 2 ¨ K § K 9 7 4		ª Q 10 9 4 © A 10 3 ¨ J 8 4 3 § J 3
	ª J 8 7 6 3 © K J 9 4 ¨ A Q 5 § A

Open Room
West	North	East	South
Martens	Kalish	Lesniewski	Podgur
Pass	2NT	Pass	5¨
All Pass

A wild 2NT for minors opening in 2nd position, vulnerable, by North led to a bold jump to game by South. Nobody was nasty enough to double this so the costs were only 400.

Closed Room
West	North	East	South
Barel	Balicki	Aviram	Zmudzinski
Pass	Pass	Pass	1ª
Pass	1NT	Pass	2©
Pass	3§	All Pass

A quiet natural auction brought the Poles in a more sensible contract which was made when Balicki correctly played the §Q from hand at the second round of trumps, felling the jack. Poland another +110 and 11 IMPs.

The final score: 39-27 to Israel, 17-13 V.P. Poland had lost, but their chances of qualifying were not yet really in danger.