Final 2: Parioli v. Computerland AZS

On Sunday morning at 9.30 hrs. they kicked off for the second quarter of the final. Versace-Lauria would face Balicki-Zmudzinski in the Closed Room, whereas Olanski-Starkowski would have Fantoni-Nunes as their opponents on Vugraph.

The Italians of course started with a lead of 16-8 IMPs, and that was still the score when they reached board 15.

Board 15. Dealer South, NS Vul.
	ª A 10 6 5 © Q 5 3 2 ¨ A 10 2 § A 3
ª 9 3 © A K J 9 ¨ K Q 5 4 3 § Q 10		ª Q 8 4 © 8 7 6 ¨ J 9 7 § 8 7 5 4
	ª K J 7 2 © 10 4 ¨ 8 5 § K J 9 6 2

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Versace	Balicki	Lauria	Zmudzinski
			Pass
1¨	Dble	Pass	1ª
Dble	Pass	2¨	3§
Pass	3¨	Pass	4§
Pass	4ª	All Pass

Zmudzinski judged his black twosuiter just good enough for one more bid. This proved a winning decision when he found his partner with exactly the right cards, as had become likely from North’s 3¨ bid. Versace led the ©A and continued the ¨K, ducked in dummy. Versace then cashed the ©K before reverting to diamonds. Zmudzinski won the ¨A this time, played ªA and a spade to the jack, followed by a club to the ace and a club to the king. That was +620 to the Poles.

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Olanski	Fantoni	Starkowski	Nunes
			Pass
1¨	Dble	Pass	1ª
Dble	Pass	2¨	Dble
Pass	2ª	All Pass

Holding just a little in reserve, Fantoni made no forward move when Nunes showed his little extra with a double of 2¨. So game was missed, and Parioli had to be content with + 170, as loss of 10 IMPs. Computerland were in the lead by 18-16 IMPs.

And there it stayed for a long time. The next four boards again were flat, though not without some tension at times. Finally, on board 20, the Italians got their revenge when it was the Poles’ turn to miss game:

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

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Versace	Balicki	Lauria	Zmudzinski
1§	Pass	1©	Pass
2ª	Pass	3ª	Pass
4©	All Pass

Once again, like we saw earlier in this event, the jump bid to show a little extra worked very well, as the Italians reached game very easily. The contract is by no means 100%, but it’s the sort of game you want to be in, certainly when vulnerable. When the trumps behaved, eleven tricks were easy. Parioli +650.

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Olanski	Fantoni	Starkowski	Nunes
1§	Pass	1©	Pass
2§	Pass	Pass	2¨
2©	All Pass

Passing 2§ looks very conservative, and East might even have taken further action when his partner raised hearts after being given a second chance. Anyway, East’s pass of 2© was consistent with his earlier bidding, but making 9 tricks for +140 cost his team 11 IMPs.

Nunes found the excellent lead of the ªJ and declarer played safe. He won the ace and led a diamond. Fantoni won, cashed the two top spades played a fourth round of the suit enabling Nunes to ruff in front of dummy with the ©10. Parioli were back in the lead by 9 IMPs.

They lost about half their lead on the next board, but then came the big swing board of the session:

Board 23. Dealer South, All Vul.
	ª A 8 2 © K 10 ¨ K J 10 6 5 § J 5 4
ª 10 7 5 4 © 8 7 4 3 ¨ 9 § K 9 6 2		ª K J 9 6 3 © J 6 ¨ A 4 3 § Q 10 8
	ª Q © A Q 9 5 2 ¨ Q 8 7 2 § A 7 3

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Versace	Balicki	Lauria	Zmudzinski
			1©
Pass	2¨	Pass	2©
Pass	2NT	Pass	3¨
Pass	3©	Pass	4¨
Pass	5¨	Pass	6¨
All Pass

At the table, when the hand was over, Lauria offered the following explanation: “From the bidding, it was clear that NS would be short in spades. The red suits were out of the question anyway, so the only chance of success can be a club lead.”

Needless to say that he had in fact led the §8, which left declarer chanceless. When Balicki tried to discard clubs on the hearts, Lauria could ruff the third round and cash a club, so the contract was down two: Parioli +200.

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Olanski	Fantoni	Starkowski	Nunes
			2©
Pass	2ª	Dble	3¨
Pass	5¨	All Pass

The twosuited opening bid worked well for the Italians here, as it left West with far less information to find the winning lead. With only his partner’s double of 2ª to guide him, he elected the ª7 as his opening lead. As the clubs would go on the hearts once the ace of trumps had been dislodged, declarer’s road to a score of +600 had become easy. So Parioli chalked up 13 IMPs, the biggest swing of the morning session, to lead by 40-22 at half-time.

Final – Session 3

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

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Kwiecinski	Angelini	Golebiowski	Sementa
	Pass	Pass	1§
1NT	Dble	Rdbl	Pass
2¨	Pass	Pass	2NT
Pass	3NT	All Pass

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Versace	Balicki	Lauria	Zmudzinski
	Pass	Pass	1ª
Pass	1NT	Pass	2NT
Pass	3NT	All Pass

The Polish had the best start they could get, gaining 11 IMPs on the very first board in the 3rd session.
In the Open Room Sementa opened a strong club and Kwiecinski showed five diamonds and four clubs on the way to Sementa’s 3NT. West led a diamond to declarer’s king. Due to this fact it was a bit surprising that Sementa ran ©9 to Golebiowski’s jack. To give away a spade trick might have been preferable.

East found a nice club switch to West’s queen and dummy’s ace and back came another club to East’s jack. If Sementa would have let the spade return, that came now, run to dummy’s ten, he would have made his contract, but he jumped up with the ace to establish a diamond trick. West won the ace, returned a diamond and the declarer had to go down; Parioli –100.

In the Closed Room Balicki got a helpful heart lead and ©8 won the first trick. Next came a diamond to king and ace. Declarer let the club switch run to East’s jack, but won the next club to play another, establishing an extra club trick for ten tricks in total when Lauria was squeezed in the majors in the end; +430 and that was 11 IMPs to Computerland.