The round robin drew to a peaceful conclusion as
the final match was played. The teams at the wrong end of the table,
France & China, were in opposition, and the boards were dull. Poland
faced USA on VuGraph, but there was little to excite the audience.
Board 3. Dealer South. East-West Game
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|
ª
A Q 9 7 2
© A Q 5
¨ A 8 6 5
§ 10 |
ª
J 10 8
© K J
¨ K Q 9 7 3
§ A 6 2 |
|
ª
K 4 3
© 7 3
¨ J 2
§ Q J 9 7 5 4 |
|
ª
6 5
© 10 9 8 6 4 2
¨ 10 4
§ K 8 3 |
Closed Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Freeman |
Tuszynski |
Nickell |
Jassem |
|
|
|
Pass |
1¨ |
1ª |
All Pass |
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East led the §Q,
and although the contract can be made at double dummy, declarer did
not find a winning line, and went one down.
Open Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Kwicien |
Meckwell |
Pszczola |
Rodwell |
|
|
|
2¨ |
Pass |
4§* |
Pass |
4¨ |
Dble |
4© |
All Pass |
|
After a typical Meckwell multi, 4§ asked South
to bid 4¨. East led the ¨J, West played the queen, and North took the
ace. Meckstroth now played a club for the jack, king and ace, and West,
who could have defeated the contract by continuing with clubs to force
declarer, switched to the ªJ for the queen and king. East went back
to clubs, but it was too late. Declarer ruffed, and could arrive at
eleven tricks by ruffing out the spades and finessing in hearts. Alas,
declarer, probably getting ahead of himself, played the ace of hearts
first, and that changed things completely. He was in a hopeless position
and finished two down. That was four rather fortunate IMPs for Poland.
Notice that an initial club lead will not defeat
4© if declarer simply
plays on spades. He will lose only one spade, one club and one heart.
Board 6. Dealer East. East-West Game
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ª
K J 5
© 8 7 3
¨ A K Q 10 6 2
§ 3 |
ª
10 7 4 2
© K J 6 5
¨ 8 3
§ J 10 9 |
|
ª
A Q 9 8
© A Q 10 9
¨ 7
§ K Q 8 7 |
|
ª
6 3
© 4 2
¨ J 9 5 4
§ A 6 5 4 2 |
Closed Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Freeman |
Tuszynski |
Nickell |
Jassem |
|
|
1§ |
Pass |
1© |
2¨ |
4¨ |
5§ |
Pass |
5¨ |
Dble |
All Pass |
|
|
|
|
5¨
was the obvious two down, and although a major suit game played by East
might be defeated by inspired defence, it reality it was a good save,
repeated elsewhere.
Open Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Kwicien |
Meckwell |
Pszczola |
Rodwell |
|
|
1§ |
Pass |
1¨ |
2¨ |
Dble* |
4¨ |
Dble* |
All Pass |
|
|
The Poles stopped off a level lower, so they only
collcted +100., and the USA had 5 IMPs.
Board 12. Dealer West. North-South
Game |
|
ª
A Q 4
© K Q 4
¨ K J 7 6 4 3
§ 2 |
ª
J 9 7
© A J 9 3
¨ A 9
§ A Q 10 6 |
|
ª
10 6 3
© 6 5
¨ Q 10 8 2
§ J 5 4 3 |
|
ª
K 8 5 2
© 10 8 7 2
¨ 5
§ K 9 8 7 |
Closed Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Freeman |
Tuszinski |
Nickell |
Jassem |
1NT |
2§* |
Pass |
2¨ |
All Pass |
|
|
|
A transfer to diamonds made South the declarer,
and West led the seven of spades. You may not believe it, but with South
as declarer, 2¨ cannot
be defeated, but declarer did not find a winning line, going one down.
Open Room |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Kwiecien |
Meckstroth |
Pczcola |
Rodwell |
1NT |
Dble |
Pass |
2§ |
Pass |
2¨ |
Pass |
Pass |
Dble |
Redble |
All Pass |
|
The stakes were a fraction higher here!
Meckstroth's double was a three way bid showing
a long minor, the majors or a strong hand and required a 2§ response,
then 2¨ showed a long diamond suit.
Pczcola lead the ª6
taken by dummy's king. Declarer next played the ¨5
from dummy, Kwiecien ducked, and Meckstroth won with the king. Declarer
cashed his two spades and lead the 2§,
East winning with the jack as declarer ducked in dummy. East continued
with a club ruffed in hand by declarer who now exited with a small trump
to West's ace. West was now faced with the problem of what to lead and,
not that it mattered, after considerable reflection he chose a small
heart, declarer now made the correct guess of playing small and thus
made his contract for a score of +760 as opposed to -400 winning 14
IMPs instead of losing 7.
If Kwiecien had gone up with the ¨A
at trick two and returned a spade or a trump, the timing would have
been wrong, and the contract would have ben defeated. On the other hand,
declarer can always get home by not playing the ªK
at trick one.
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