Modalfa v Computerland, Semifinal

by Peter Ventura

Bridge Club Modalfa from the Netherlands and Computerland AZS Wroclaw from Poland were lucky not to face any of the two strong Italian teams in the semifinal. Computerland had an relatively easy run to the semis while the Dutch were close to lose their ticket to it. But here they were, playing for the right to meet the stronger Italian team in the final.

The first swing came on the very first board.

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

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Olanski	Paulissen	Starkowski	Nab
	Pass	1§	1¨
Pass	1ª	Dble	3ª
4©	4ª	Dble	All Pass

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Bakkeren	Balicki	Bertens	Zmudzinski
	Pass	2§	Pass
2¨	Pass	2NT	Pass
3¨	Pass	3NT	Pass
4¨	Pass	4©	All Pass

Both Nab and Paulissen made good decisions on this board. First Nab overcalled 1¨, giving N/S a way into the auction, then Paulissen bid 1ª instead of a simple 2¨-bid. With no defensive values Paulissen took the sacrifice although he knew they were playing on 4-4. When the trump suit split nicely Paulissen was only down two for -300.

Bakkeren transferred twice in the Closed Room and Bertens finally listened. The play in 4© was dull; +420 and 5 IMPs to the Dutch.

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

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Olanski	Paulissen	Starkowski	Nab
			Pass
Pass	1¨	Pass	1ª
Pass	2NT	Pass	3NT
All Pass

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Bakkeren	Balicki	Bertens	Zmudzinski
			Pass
Pass	1§	Pass	1¨
Pass	1NT	Pass	2§
Pass	2¨	Pass	3NT
All Pass

In the Open Room Starkowski led a small heart. Paulissen played low and let West win the first trick with ©J. Back came a spade and declarer won the ace then cashed three diamond tricks. Paulissen was in need of two more tricks and he found the right line by playing a heart to the king, leaving East out from the play. ©K held the trick and declarer won two more diamond tricks then established a club trick by letting §J run; Modalfa +430.

Balicki won ©K at trick one, the right line if hearts are split 4-3, but now, as the cards lay, he had to go down; -50 and 10 IMPs to Modalfa Amsterdam.

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

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Olanski	Paulissen	Starkowski	Nab
	Pass	1¨	Dble
Rdbl	2§	2©	3§
4©	Pass	Pass	5§
Dble	All Pass

The same contract was reached at both tables and it was even more ‘obvious’ for Olanski to double since his partner had opened the auction.

In the Closed Room the defence cashed their two red tricks; Computerland +550.
In the Open Room Starkowski led ¨A then switched to a spade. When you know by the auction that declarer has only one heart it could be a good idea to cash a trick rather than play a spade when ªA lies in dummy. However, declarer won the king, drew trumps, played ªA and ruffed the next spade. Now came ¨Q and the defence had to surrender; an overtrick gave +650 and that was worth 3 IMPs for Modalfa.

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

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Olanski	Paulissen	Starkowski	Nab
		1§	Pass
1ª	Pass	2¨	Pass
2©	Pass	2NT	Pass
3¨	Pass	4ª	All Pass

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

Starkowski opened with one Polish-style club. On Easts strong club-bid West showed canapé in spades and diamonds. Perhaps Olanski should have corrected to 5¨ but it seems as if they were not that close to the six-level.

6¨ is a better contract than 6ª since you can handle a 4-1 split in spades as one spade will go on a high heart. The Dutch pair Bakkeren/Bertens found the slam after a natural bidding sequence where 1§ could be short and West showed longer diamonds by definition.

After the first segment the Modalfa were in leading positing by 31 IMPs to 14. But in the next session of 12 boards, things started to happen for Computerland.

The Polish team won 10 IMPs on board 15 in a tricky 3NT, when Golebiowski/Kwiecinski got a little help from the defence whereas Balicki/Zmudzinski defended nicely. Then came a bunch of part score swings for Computerland and they left Modalfa behind more and more.

Here came another 11 IMPs for Computerland.

Board 19. Dealer South. E/W Vul.
	ª 10 2 © 2 ¨ Q J 9 § A Q 10 9 7 4 2
ª 7 3 © Q 9 7 4 3 ¨ A K 10 4 § J 8		ª A Q J 8 6 5 4 © A J ¨ 8 3 2 § 3
	ª K 9 © K 10 8 6 5 ¨ 7 6 5 § K 6 5

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Golebiowski	Paulissen	Kwiecinski	Nab
			Pass
Pass	3§	4ª	All Pass

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Bakkeren	Balicki	Bertens	Zmudzinski
			Pass
Pass	2§	3ª	Dble
Pass	4§	All Pass

I am not an expert on the Dutch system and as it seems 3ª in the Closed Room was a bid something in between a pre-empt and a normal overcall. I can understand Bakkeren for not compete with 4ª if he suspected his partner to have weak cards. Balicki bid 4§ and was left to play there. The defence had four obvious tricks – one down.

Kwiecinski got a club lead to the ace and Paulissen tried the best he could do by playing a heart. Kwiecinski could afford to lose one heart trick but not two, so he correctly jumped up with the ace to play ªA and another trump. A diamond loser could later on be pitched on ©Q – just made and that was +620 and another 11 IMPs to Computerland.

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

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Golebiowski	Paulissen	Kwiecinski	Nab
			1¨
Pass	1ª	Pass	3ª
Pass	4ª	All Pass

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Bakkeren	Balicki	Bertens	Zmudzinski
			1¨
Pass	1ª	1NT	3©
Pass	4§	Pass	4¨
Pass	4©	Pass	4ª
All Pass

As a double dummy problem you can make 6¨ or 6ª but in practice it is harder to succeed. Balicki/Zmudzinski were on their way to slam after Zmudzinski’s 3© splinter, but they stopped in 4ª after a very long hesitation. Bertens ‘sandwich-bid’ 1NT, showing the other two suits, could help the declarer to find the right track, i. e. declarer can let the ¨J run towards the hand. Despite that information Balicki made an ordinary finesse. No show for the vugraph audience at all! Balicki made an overtrick which was not found at the other table, so Computerland gained another IMP.

In fact Modalfa only scored 2 IMPs in the second segment compared to Computerland’s 45! That gives us a score of 59-33 halfway through this semi. The rest was an afternoon walk for Computerland…