Poland v The Netherlands – Open Round 24

by Jos Jacobs

Poland, starting Tuesday’s play in third spot, had consolidated their position well with two wins, 23-7 v Wales and 16-14 (not including penalties) v Belgium. The Netherlands, holding the last Estoril berth in the morning, meanwhile had gone down 11-19 to Hungary and 14-16 to Greece, so they badly needed a decent result in this match to stay in the hunt. The Dutch were off to a good start, scoring 2 IMPs on a nice partial, but this was Board 2.

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

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Puczynski	De Wijs	Chmurski	Muller
		Pass	Pass
Pass	2NT	Pass	3©
Pass	3ª	Pass	3NT
All Pass

Mariusz Puczynski, Poland

Bartosz Chmurski led a club, which De Wijs won in hand with his king to create a sure entry to dummy with the §J10. Next, he led the ªQ which Puczynski allowed to hold. The ª9 he then took with his ªK, suggesting to declarer that spades were going to break. He returned a diamond to partner’s ace, and another diamond came back, declarer winning. De Wijs’ next move was a club to the §10, but Chmurski rose with the queen and returned a club. De Wijs must have felt disappointed when the ªA did not draw the jack, but the only thing he could do now was to take the heart finesse. When this too failed, he had to concede one down for –100.

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Verhees	Tuszynski	Jansma	Kowalski
2©	Dble	Pass	2ª
Pass	3NT	All Pass

In Jansma/Verhees’ methods, 2© showing majors can be as weak as it was here. The pre-empt backfired a little this time, as it induced Jansma to lead the ©J. Tuszynski ducked this, but won the ©K continuation with the ace. He crossed to the ¨J and finessed the §J, East winning his queen. Had Jansma simply continued hearts there would have been no story to tell, but he returned a club, trying to disrupt declarer’s communications. Tuszynski won this in hand, Verhees discarding the ª4, and drove out the ¨A. Jansma won this, only to play the ª7 ducked by declarer. Verhees could win his ªK, but that was the end of the defence. Poland had sneaked a vulnerable game through the Dutch defence for a great +600 and the first big swing of the match; 12 IMPs. We had a new leader in the match.

A different approach to the requirements needed for an opening bid formed the basis of yet another double-figure swing on the next board:

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

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Puczynski	De Wijs	Chmurski	Muller
			1§
1©	2©	Pass	2NT
Pass	3NT	All Pass

	Simon de Wijs, Netherlands

Here, Muller could open the bidding, so Puczynski could introduce his hearts, after which De Wijs forced/invited with 2©, raising 2NT to three at his next turn.

West led the ©Q, won by Muller’s king. Next came the §J, covered with the king and won by the ace.

In accordance with old stratagems, Muller’s next move was to run the §6. When this held, his chances had improved significantly. He next ran the clubs and followed this by leading a spade to the king and ace, having noted the discard of a spade by East. The defenders can take three more spade tricks now but, with the finesse of the ¨K still there to add to the squeeze possibilities on West, Muller was no longer in danger; The Netherlands a fine +430.

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Verhees	Tuszynski	Jansma	Kowalski
			Pass
Pass	1§	1ª	2ª
Pass	2NT	Pass	3NT
All Pass

Here, Jansma introduced his spades for the simple reason that he was given the chance to do so, and led a spade himself when 3NT was played from the North position. This lead meant that the first thing declarer had to do after winning was to guess the clubs. Tuszynski crossed to the ©K and led the §Q, covered by king and ace. When the §10 did not appear under the jack, he conceded one down. The Netherlands had +50 and 10 IMPs to level the match.

On Board 6, Muller/De Wijs missed a cold game due to a bidding problem after an adverse 1NT opening bid to lose 10 more IMPs. There were a few nice partscore swings either way as well. Look at Board 8, for example:

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

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Puczynski	De Wijs	Chmurski	Muller
1¨	1ª	2©	3ª
All Pass

Nothing special, but the defence was pretty. East led the ©A and shifted to the ¨3, low from a doubleton. West won the jack, cashed the ©Q and continued with the ¨A and a diamond. When North ruffed this high (how was he to know that ruffing with the seven would do?) he was down one, losing four tricks in the red suits plus a trump; –50.

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Verhees	Tuszynski	Jansma	Kowalski
1¨	Pass	2¨	Pass
2©	Dble	Pass	2ª
3©	Pass	Pass	3ª
All Pass

Here, South was declarer and West led a top diamond. The Dutch might well have copied the defence found at the other table, for West continued with the ©Q. Had he persisted with hearts, the defence would have given declarer the same problem as in the Closed Room, but West first cashed the ¨K, breaking up the communication line with partner. Thus, it was no longer possible to test declarer by playing a low diamond through him; Poland +140 and 5 IMPs.

The Dutch had their successes too, however:

Board 12. Dealer West. N/S Vul.
	ª Q 10 5 4 2 © 9 8 4 ¨ 9 4 § 9 3 2
ª 9 8 3 © A ¨ K J 8 3 § 10 7 6 5 4		ª J 7 © Q 6 5 3 ¨ A 6 5 2 § K Q 8
	ª A K 6 © K J 10 7 2 ¨ Q 10 7 § A J

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Puczynski	De Wijs	Chmurski	Muller
Pass	Pass	Pass	1©
Pass	Pass	1NT	Dble
2¨	2©	All Pass

When Chmurski did not open the bidding, the Poles had lost the initiative on this hand. East might have raised diamonds, but preferred to defend 2©. This proved the wrong decision when Muller managed to collect eight tricks in elegant fashion.

West led a club to the queen and ace and Muller immediately went after the side suit by playing a low diamond to the nine and ace. East cashed the §K and continued the suit, declarer ruffing. The ¨Q went to West’s king, and another club was ruffed all round the table. Muller then proceeded to ruff his third diamond in dummy and followed this by playing a spade to the ace and a spade back to the queen. When Chmurski did not ruff the third round of spades, Muller scored the ¨K as an unexpected seventh trick. Having only trumps left, he led low from his hand and thus even made an overtrick for +140 to the Netherlands, certainly a gigantic matchpoint score as well.

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Verhees	Tuszynski	Jansma	Kowalski
Pass	Pass	1§	Dble
1¨	Pass	2¨	2©
3¨	All Pass

Once East opened the bidding, the Dutch were a tempo ahead and thus managed to buy the contract at the three-level. With both minors behaving well, nine tricks were always there so the Dutch chalked up another +110 for a gain of 6 IMPs.

And:

Board 13. Dealer North. All Vul.
	ª Q J 9 6 5 © Q 10 9 ¨ 8 3 § 9 3 2
ª K 10 3 © K 7 6 5 4 2 ¨ 9 § 10 8 5		ª A 8 7 2 © - ¨ Q J 10 7 § A Q J 7 6
	ª 4 © A J 8 3 ¨ A K 6 5 4 2 § K 4

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Puczynski	De Wijs	Chmurski	Muller
	Pass	1§	1¨
1©	1ª	Pass	2©
Pass	2ª	3§	3¨
All Pass

After a normal enough auction, Muller lost the obvious five tricks and was one down for –100. Needless to say, 3§ makes easily.

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Verhees	Tuszynski	Jansma	Kowalski
	Pass	2§	2¨
3§	Pass	Pass	3©
Pass	3ª	All Pass

There was more action in the Open Room after the Precision-style 2§ opening bid by Jansma. Kowalski introduced both his suits, only to find out that the hand completely belonged to the opponents. Tuszynski was lucky to escape the axe when he bid 3ª. As he was celebrating his nameday on Tuesday, this probably was the present graciously offered to him by his opponents on the occasion. The contract itself, however, ended with three vulnerable undertricks for +300 to the Netherlands who thus won 5 IMPs.

The score now stood at 32-29 to Poland, the Dutch having managed to wipe out almost the whole of their deficit. On Board 17 we saw one more partscore swing, resulting from too much competition by the Poles, which saw the Dutch into the lead.

With two boards to go, the Poles leveled the match at 33-33 but on the penultimate board, the Dutch went on to seal their victory by 35-33 in IMPs but still 15-15 in VPs. This draw would not endanger either team’s chance of finishing in the top five.