Austria v Poland – Girls Round 2

I would rate Austria as one of the favourites for the Girls title, while it would be a major surprise if Poland ever put out a bad team, so we could hope for a good match on vugraph on Monday morning. For the purposes of this report, we will concentrate on the vugraph table itself.

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

West	North	East	South
Gogoman	Grabowska	Grumm	Krawczyk
-	Pass	Pass	2¨
Dble	Pass	Pass	2ª
Dble	Pass	3§	Pass
3©	3ª	4©	Pass
4NT	Pass	5§	Pass
5©	All Pass

Iris Grumm, Austria

Joanna Krawczyk opened with a multi and, when Anna Gogoman doubled, 2¨ came back to her to correct to her major. Gogoman doubled again and followed up by showing a powerful hand when she next bid her hearts. Iris Grumm was willing to support the hearts in competition but now Gogoman took her a little too seriously and asked for key cards, swiftly signing off when she received a very disappointing response.

Five Hearts was too high, of course, even before the bad trump split came to light. Ewa Grabowska cashed the top diamonds then switched to a spade for the ace and back came the ªQ. Gogo man ruffed and played a trump, preparing to claim. The five-zero split meant that was not possible. She seems to have lost concentration now because the end result was down four, which seems to be one too many; –200.

In the other room Maj/Zegilewicz only got to 3© on the East/West cards, down one for –50 but 4 IMPs to Poland.

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

West	North	East	South
Gogoman	Grabowska	Grumm	Krawczyk
-	-	-	Pass
1§	Pass	1ª	Pass
2ª	Pass	3ª	Pass
4§	Pass	4¨	Pass
4©	Pass	5¨	Pass
5NT	Pass	6§	Pass
6ª	Pass	7ª	All Pass

One Club was strong and the response showed three controls. Spades were bid and supported then, after an exchange of cuebids, Gogoman tried 5NT. Whatever that asked for, she did not like the response, but Grumm went on to seven anyway on the strength of her queens, which surely had to be enough if partner was trying for seven; +2210 and a flat board as the same contract was reached in the other room.

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

West	North	East	South
Gogoman	Grabowska	Grumm	Krawczyk
-	-	-	Pass
1NT	Pass	2§	Pass
2©	Pass	3§	Pass
3©	Pass	3NT	All Pass

	Ewa Grabowsa, Poland

3NT was made at the other table and one can see how that might be. Here, Grabowska led a low spade and Gogoman played low from the dummy. Krawczyk took the ªA and returned the jack, overtaken by the queen. Declarer ducked that and now the ªK was knocked out.

It seems easy from here. Declarer is safe if diamonds are no worse than four-two simply by playing four rounds of the suit. But Gogoman cashed one club then three rounds of diamonds. She could still have recovered by cashing another club then exiting with a diamond to endplay North, but that wasn't a very likely play. In practice, she now took the heart finesse and was one down. A poor effort for down one, –100 and a deserved loss of 12 IMPs.

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

West	North	East	South
Gogoman	Grabowska	Grumm	Krawczyk
1©	Pass	1NT	Pass
Pass	2©	Dble	2ª
Pass	Pass	Dble	All Pass

In the other room the Polish East/West pair bid freely to 3NT, which failed by two tricks for –100.

Here, the 1© opening could have been canape, and Grabowska balanced with 2© as North. Looking at a maximum for her 1NT response, Grumm started doubling and doubled again when 2ª came around, ending the auction. Krawczyk finessed on the heart lead so could pitch a diamond loser on the ©A before playing a trump, but that still left her with three spades, two diamonds and an eventual club to lose; down one for –100 and 5 IMPs to Austria.

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

West	North	East	South
Gogoman	Grabowska	Grumm	Krawczyk
-	Pass	1¨	1ª
2©	4ª	5©	Pass
Pass	5ª	Dble	All Pass

Opening 1¨ on hands like this one is part of the price one pays for playing a strong club system. Grumm bid a very aggressive 5© over 4ª with what was essentially a weak no trump hand, then doubled when Grabowska took the push to 5ª. The opening bid now cost the overtrick as Gogoman led a diamond, allowing declarer to win, draw trumps and cash the diamonds for +750. However, as the contract in the other room was 4ª doubled, making eleven tricks for +690, that was worth just 2 IMPs to Poland.

Board 11. None Vul. Dealer South.
	ª K J 10 7 © K J 8 4 ¨ 8 6 5 § A 4
ª A 9 8 4 © A Q 10 7 3 ¨ K 10 § J 9		ª Q 6 3 2 © 6 2 ¨ A Q § K Q 7 6 2
	ª 5 © 9 5 ¨ J 9 7 4 3 2 § 10 8 5 3

West	North	East	South
Gogoman	Grabowska	Grumm	Krawczyk
-	-	-	Pass
1ª	Dble	2NT	Pass
3©	Pass	4ª	All Pass

Gogoman's 1ª opening was canape in normal Blue Club style, and she got the hearts into the game at her next turn as a game try, accepted by Grumm.

Grabowska cashed the ace of clubs and switched to a diamond, won with the queen. Gogoman played a spade to the ace and a second spade to Grabowska's king. She returned the ªJ to dummy's queen but Gogoman simply unblocked the clubs, crossed to dummy with the ¨A, and ran reverted to clubs. Grabowska was powerless. Her take-out double had marked the position of the king of hearts so there was no way to avoid an eventual endplay; ten tricks for +420.

In the other room Poland in 3NT, failing by three tricks for –150 and that was 11 IMPs to Austria.

Board 16. E/W Vul. Dealer West.
	ª J 9 7 © 10 9 7 4 ¨ K 10 7 6 § 10 5
ª A 10 8 5 4 © A Q 6 ¨ 8 § A K Q 2		ª 2 © K 3 2 ¨ Q 9 5 3 2 § J 9 7 6
	ª K Q 6 3 © J 8 5 ¨ A J 4 § 8 4 3

West	North	East	South
Gogoman	Grabowska	Grumm	Krawczyk
1§	Pass	1¨	Pass
1ª	Pass	1NT	Pass
2§	Pass	3§	Pass
3©	Pass	5§	All Pass

The strong club showed to good effect on this one. After Grumm had shown a negative with her first response, Gogoman could bid out her shape very economically, enabling Grumm to value her hand well for the jump to 5§.

Even after the good trump lead, declarer could ruff three spades in dummy then give up a diamond, win the return and draw trumps for twelve tricks; +620.

In the other room, Poland played 3NT, as did many pairs around the room, and that contract was a trick short; –100 and 12 IMPs to Austria.

The match result was 43-28 IMPs to Austria, converting to 18-12 VPs, a decent result against what i suspect will prove to be one of the better teams in the tournament.