World Junior Pairs & Camp in Poland

Barry Rigal prepared this report, which is reproduced by permission of Bridge Magazine.

The venue for the 2001 World Junior Pairs was selected as Stargard Poland, relatively close at a couple of hundred miles away, to the border from Germany. That gave me an opportunity to spend a day in Berlin and do some sightseeing, which was all to the good of course (but to lose my passport in the process, thereby setting in motion a harrowing chain of events that I will not bore even the most sensitive of readers with).
It also resulted in logistical nightmare for the Polish Bridge federation; the fact that the authorities had to ferry large numbers of people from Berlin to Stargard over the course of a 48-hour period resulted of necessity in a significant delay in the opening ceremony. Happily, that was really pretty much the last thing to go wrong with the Pairs event, and the camp that followed at Insko, a picturesque resort town 50 km away. But a special debt of thanks must go to Radoslaw Kielbasinski and to the team of helpers and translators who managed to cope with the needs of 250 fractious juniors without losing their patience or their sunny demeanours.

When the bridge started two of the ante-post favourites were definitely Gloyer-Schifko, the former defending his title, and Driver-Sjoert Brink who had shown themselves to be one of the top Dutch pairs over the last five years.

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

West	North	East	South
	Pass	Pass	1NT
Pass	2¨	Pass	2©
Pass	Pass	Dble	All Pass

Kees Tammens, who is well known as both Captain and Coach of the Dutch Junior players - apart from being a top class player in his own right - showed me this deal, as a good start for his Dutchmen.

N/S were generally managing to go plus here, but after the weak no-trump and transfer to hearts, Bas Drijver reopened with a take-out double and Sjoert Brink converted this to penalties.

Of course the defence do have six top tricks so long as they are careful, but Brink made sure of going plus on the deal by leading a passive diamond rather than broaching a black suit. Drijver took the ten with his king and shifted to a top club, to the queen and king. Sjoert returned a diamond, and declarer played a trump to the bare ace, letting Drijver shift to a low spade to the queen.

Back came a third diamond, on which declarer pitched a spade. When he knocked out the king of hearts, a third trump came back to put declarer in hand. When he played the ace of clubs and ruffed a club he was at the crossroads. A spade to the nine would lead to down one and a fair board; a spade to the king would result in down two. There are reasons to get this right I think. The strongest argument is that East's initial pass argues for his not having the top spade once he has produced eight points outside that suit - but declarer got it wrong and had to lose a third spade in the ending for - 300 and 211/216 for the Netherlanders

The next board that I watched saw one of the top US junior pairs in action against one of the leading Israeli Junior pairs.

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

West	North	East	South
Reshef	Campbell	Ginossar	Feldman
	Pass	2ª	2NT
Pass	3NT	All Pass

Game is hardly a thing of beauty here, requiring as it does, something pretty friendly in the club suit, but Feldman and Campbell reached it against Reshef and Ginossar of Israel. In situations like this, the success or failure of a tight game turns momentum as well as a huge number of matchpoints. Feldman ducked the eight of spades in dummy, but Ginossar thoughtfully put up the ten - just in case.

Feldman won perforce and crossed to the king of diamonds - note that either leading the ten out of his hand to tempt a cover or even starting clubs by leading a low one from hand has some merit. But in any event a diamond to the king and a club to the queen passed off peacefully enough. Now when Jason cashed the ace of clubs Ginossar thoughtfully dropped the king - the card he was known to hold and that started Feldman optimistically thinking about overtricks. He actually ducked a diamond, and Ginossar won his jack and cleared the spades, and when Feldman played a third club the defence could cash out for down two and a near top.

At the end of the first session The Austrians Schifko and Gloyer had taken an early lead and had maintained it. The top ten, not surprisingly, was well stocked with Polish pairs.

This next deal offered the opponents of various Israeli pairs a chance to do
something clever - one as declarer, one on defence.

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

West	North	East	South
			1NT
Pass	3NT	All Pass

Both the partnerships had done well in the last European Schools Tournament. Playing against Jakub and Krzysztof Kotorowicz on a highly uninformative defence Noga Tal led a passive diamond and declarer passed the club jack, which Noga ducked. On the next club Dana Tal pitched a suit preference seven of hearts. So Noga took her club winner and played ace and another spade. Dana knew to duck this, and now declarer cashed off the diamonds and all but one of the clubs ending in hand. Now he had to decide whether to take the heart finesse or not; if it worked he would collect +460 and an excellent result, but if it lost he would have only +400 and a moderate result. Had he known how many matchpoints +430 would have been worth he might have settled for that But he took the heart finesse and let Dana cash her remaining spade winner for nine tricks and only 70/216 for N/S.
Why would 430 have scored well? 3NT by North is a far less attractive affair -- and some pairs managed to make declarer in the South seat uncomfortable too. Witness Pekny and Vozabal of the Czech Republic, who did well on defence against Reshef and Ginossar. On a more informative auction (1¨-l© -2NT-3NT) Pekny as elected to lead a low spade from his ace. Ginossar did the best he could by putting up his jack but Vozabal ducked, contributing an encouraging spot, and Pekny got in with his king of clubs to cash out the spades for down one.

Drijver and Brink were keeping up the pressure on the Austrians in second place. Here was one that got away from their opponents.

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

West	North	East	South
			1ª
Pass	3ª	Dble	Pass
4©	Pass	Pass	Dble
All Pass

Best defence is to lead spades till the cows come home and force declarer, but North led a top spade and shifted to a club, letting Drijver win in hand and lead a heart to the nine and queen. Back came a second spade, ruffed in dummy, and South then won his ace of hearts to lead a third spade. But Drijver ruffed and drew trumps and then had the rest. Note though that South might have had a resource; perhaps he should have ducked the nine of hearts - a lot easier to do in theory than at the table. But since declarer has the spade loser left he cannot draw trumps, and if he plays to ruff a spade, then when South gets back on lead in trumps the defence have control to force declarer again.

Going into the final set the Austrians only serious threats were the Dutch. In the end Gloyer and Schifko managed to see their opponents off by a top and a half with another fine set B the margin was a very comfortable one at the end. This was an example of their accurate slam bidding.

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

West	North	East	South
		1ª	2©
3§	Pass	4§	Pass
4¨	Pass	4©	Pass
5§	Pass	6§	All Pass

A brave bid by Gloyer to raise to slam, but with his spade controls and extra distribution he could not really settle any lower. While there was a danger that they were off two aces, his partner figured to have two first round controls to make the slam try. As the cards lay, with North having the king of diamonds, and in any event a natural heart lead, 12 tricks were a formality.

Final scores:

The Junior Camp took place down the road from the Pairs venue. The Post Office Recreation Camp at Insko was both comfortable, and well situated for a junior bridge event. Distractions were sufficiently far away that in some of the events, such as the inaugural Individual event, the attendance was higher than the number of juniors, since the camp organisers and directors joined in too.
From that event Miltos Karamanlis demonstrated that greed is a terrible thing but occasionally the rewards are excessive.

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

It is a moot point as to whether to move with the East cards over a 15-17 no-trump. The hand is hardly worth an invitation, but the lure of Stayman to find a better fit is rather strong. Miltos reached 3NT after his partner tried an invitational sequence, and on a heart lead he would have been comfortable enough but North hit on the diamond lead. Miltos won the eight with his jack and tried the queen of spades, ducked naturally enough by South. Now declarer unblocked all three hearts and led the jack of spades to the king. Best is to duck (though the defence has to be careful even after that) but South took his ace of spades and now the contract is cold. But South shifted to a club and Miltos reasonably ducked this, not aware that spades were 3-3 and that he had nine tricks. Now North won his king of clubs, and could set the hand by cashing out diamonds but how could he do that? Instead he found the disastrous spade continuation. Miltos won the ten, cashed his heart winner, and finally led the thirteenth spade, having retained A106 of clubs. What was South to keep in the three-card ending? If he kept only one club Karamanlis could overtake the queen of clubs and would have the rest. Had South pitched his ace of diamonds Miltos would have exited with a diamond and North would have been forced to give dummy the last two tricks. So South kept two clubs and came down to the bare ace of diamonds. Miltos cashed the queen of clubs and exited with a diamond, and South was endplayed to concede trick 13 to the ace of clubs B a true stepping-stone squeeze.

One of the best defences by a junior and certainly one in the running for an award this year was found by Haraldsson and Manolis.

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

West	North	East	South
Manolis	Grue	Haraldsson	Reshef
Pass	1§	Pass	1ª
Pass	2¨	Pass	3¨
Pass	3©	Pass	3ª
Pass	4¨	Pass	4NT
Pass	5ª	Pass	6©
All Pass

Manolis found the diamond lead B by no means automatic but the best chance for the defence, and Haraldsson made the first good play for the defence when he false-carded with the jack at trick one. While declarer can make by drawing only two rounds of trumps before setting up clubs Reshef clearly followed the best single-dummy line by drawing all the trumps and leading the jack of clubs from hand. Manolis played the nine to show an odd number and Haraldsson ducked, essential step number two for the defence. Now Reshef crossed to the top diamond in dummy, absorbing the bad split, and led the king of clubs, covered and ruffed. Declarer had just one chance left, when he cashed the ace of spades, preparatory to exiting with a spade to endplay East. That would have worked but Haraldsson unblocked his king of spades under the ace and now declarer had no chance anymore.

Nick Brink, playing with Gitte Bruno, found an ingenious way to squeeze a quart out of a pint pot on the following deal. He needed some co-operation from his opponents but after all you are entitled to a little help from your friends!

Dealer West Love All   ª A 7 6 5 © 9 ¨ A J 5 3 § K 6 5 4 ª J 4 © A J 7 6 3 2 ¨ 2 § Q 9 8 7 ª Q 8 3 © 10 8 5 4 ¨ Q 10 9 7 § J 10   ª K 10 9 2 © K Q ¨ K 8 6 4 § A 3 2

West	North	East	South
2©	Dble	3©	4ª
All Pass

Nick received the lead of the ace of hearts and a diamond shift, which he won cheaply in hand. Now he knew that diamonds were not splitting, the spades were likely to be 3-2, so he drew two rounds of trumps and cashed the king of hearts to pitch a club from dummy. Then he played the top clubs and exited with a third club to West, as East (mistakenly but quite understandably pitched a heart B wouldn't you?).

ª 7 6 © - ¨ A J 5 § - ª - © J 7 6 3 ¨ - § 9 ª Q © 10 ¨ Q 10 7 § -   ª 10 9 © - ¨ 8 6 4 § -

Now it was up to West to do the right thing, although any card that he played would give a ruff and discard, and it appears that whatever he does comes to pretty much the same thing. The winning defence is to play a club rather than a heart B and for East to pitch a diamond on this trick. In fact West did not rise to the occasion; he exited with a heart and Nick ruffed this trick, pitching a diamond from dummy, and got out with his last trump to East. That player had only diamonds left, and had to lead into the tenace in dummy and concede the rest.

On my final exhibit the fate of virtually all the Matchpoints on the deal hinged on an undertrick. When you double the opponents and you are at unfavourable vulnerability, you will often need to collect 800 if the field can make game with your cards or you run the risk of major embarrassment. And so it proved here.

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

West	North	East	South
Toutenel	Dana Tal	DeLoubens	Kranyak
1ª	Pass	Pass	Dble
Pass	Pass	2¨	Dble
All Pass

Kranyak's decision to go for the throat required his side to collect 800 since 3NT was going to make nine tricks comfortably enough, although 4ª can be beaten on the spade ruff. The defence started with a spade lead and declarer won the ace and ruffed a spade low, then led a heart up. Tal took her ace and tried a club to the ace for a low club to the jack and a third club. Now Kranyak cashed the king of heart and got out with a third heart as declarer pitched his last club. Declarer now had three tricks in the bag and needed two more to escape for B500.

ª K 7 5 © - ¨ Q 9 § - ª 10 8 6 © - ¨ K 3 § - ª - © - ¨ J 8 7 5 4 § -   ª - © 9 8 ¨ A 10 6 § -

There might be something to be said for leading a trump but the spade lead from dummy was ruffed with the seven and overruffed with the ten, and a heart back went to the queen of trumps as East impotently underruffed. Now came another spade and declarer misguessed to ruff with the jack (purists might see some element of restricted choice in South's decision to overruff with the nine B A96 or A106 is perhaps more likely than A109?). Anyway, when declarer ruffed high, John could overruff with the ace and lead yet another heart and that promoted Dana Tal's nine of diamonds for the fourth undertrick and all of the Matchpoints, whereas +500 would only have been worth 7/50.

One of the curiosities I noticed was the number of children of famous parents at the camp. This is especially true of the French juniors. For example in the team event the following deal appeared, demonstrating that the Bessis brothers have been well taught by their parents:

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

West	North	East	South
	Ginossar		Bessis
	1¨	2§	2©
Pass	2NT	Pass	3NT
All Pass

West found the effective lead of the ten of hearts, covered by the jack and queen. He won the spade shift and continued the suit, and Thomas Bessis won in hand and ran the eight of hearts, correctly ducked by East. Now it looks as though declarer has to find the queen of diamonds, but Bessis played a diamond to the ace and passed the ten of diamonds. When West won and cleared the spades Bessis simply took the queen in dummy, cashed the ace of hearts pitching a club, played off his top diamonds, and got out from hand with a low club, endplaying West to lead clubs at the end for declarer's ninth trick.

Finally, just in case you think the report has been focussing unduly on Bridge at the top, there were some less than serious goings-on from time to time. But few of them can have worked as well as the following.

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

Psychic transfers are a relative rarity these days. Athey and Nielsen found that using these methods had precisely a 1/13 chance of getting a good result B but when the chance came through, they recorded a relatively unusual result, of 2980.
It being the last round (although I am not sure that really constitutes an excuse!) John Athey as North heard his partner open a strong no-trump and decided to transfer into spades and bid 3NT to inhibit the lead. When his partner corrected to 4ª he tried 4NT and when he found out how many aces his partner he signed off in 6§. But the auction got a little out of control thereafter, finishing in 7NT**.

At this point while West was considering his opening lead North jocularly suggested that it probably did not matter, and so West offered his partner his hand B face down B and suggested he pick the lead. In what must constitute one of the most unkind fraternal acts since Cain and Abel East, picked out the king of clubs! Now all declarer needed to do was guess which major suit finesse to take, and with them both working that was not exactly a problem, to wrap up his 13 tricks.
I do not know whether E/W congratulated their opponents on their accurate bidding or not
As you will see, there are no indications of winners and losers at the camp (although I should point out that I won my first duplicate event as an unqualified senior in six years of trying!) the key to the success of the camp's activities was that everyone played with partners from different countries and almost everyone did their best to try new Bridge experiences, and make new friends. From that point of view and indeed every other aspect too, the camp was a roaring success.