| 9th World Youth Team Championship | Page 7 | Bulletin 8 - Wednesday 27 August 2003 |
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Denmark vs Poland Semi-final Segment 2 (Boards 17-32) The first session of the semi-final between Denmark and Poland had seen the danes add to their 16-IMP carry-over advantage so that they led by 69-30 overall afer 16 deals. Segment 2 saw a determined fightback from Poland.
Over the Polish Club opening, Bjorg Houmoller overcalled 1ª and Jonas competed gently to 2ª. Krzysztof Kotorowicz now bought the contract in 3¨. Bjorg led a spade to the queen and ace so the fifth defensive winner was established at the start; down one for –50. Boje Henriksen opened with a weak no trump and now Piotr Lutostanski could conveniently get both his majors into the auction in one go. That convinced Krzysztof Buras to make an aggressive leap to 4©, liking his four-card heart support, two aces and useful spade holding. There is some work to do but it appears that 4© can be made, but Buras was not put to the test as Henriksen saved in 5¨, easily doubled by Buras. The opening lead of the queen of spades again ensured that there would be no defensive slip-ups; three down for –500 and 10 IMPs to Poland.
Houmoller’s weak no trump caught Jakub, who made a very aggressive double and the Poles were in big trouble when Jakub had to run to 2§. Not liking the sound of that, Krzysztof redoubled for rescue and Krzysztof eventually played 2© doubled. North cashed the top hearts then switched to a spade for South’s king. The ©Q was cashed and the defence switched to diamonds, coming to one trick in that suit plus two clubs; down two for –500. That would be just fine for Poland if their North/South pair could bid and make game on their combined 25-count. Given a free run, Buras/Lutostanski duly reached the normal spade game but there was no real chance to make this with two spades and two diamonds to be lost; down one for –100 and 12 IMPs to Denmark.
For Denmark, 2§ could have been various strong hands and 2¨ was a relay. Now 2NT showed 18-20 balanced and 3© was a transfer, the 3© completion showing a doubleton heart. Four Clubs was a natural slam try and 4¨ a cuebid. Bjorg settled for 5§ now because she had only a mild slam try. Jonas passed because he had a good hand but had not heard any cuebid from partner. Jonas made twelve tricks for +420. Lutostanski could open the South hand to show a weak two-suiter including hearts. Over the 2NT enquiry he showed a maximum with clubs as the second suit and Buras simply bid the slam. The openin glead was the king of spades and Buras won the ace and drew three rounds of trumps, then played a spade to the nine and ten. Henriksen switched to the queen of diamonds to declarer’s ace and now the jack of spades ruffed out the king. At this point declarer has seen West show out of both black suits and, having had no opposition bidding, has no strong indication that the diamonds are breaking so unevenly. There appears to be a good case for playing a heart to the jack next, as West will often hold four hearts and declarer can only ruff once in either hand. This would, of course, hav eled to defeat, so Buras did something very good for his side when he instead followed the simple line of ace, king and a third heart for a ruff, establishing the suit; +920 and 11 IMPs to Poland.
Again we see a Pole able to show a weak two-suiter by opening two of a major. The 2ª response was pass or correct and 3¨ showed the second suit. The hands fit together very well and Krzysztof came to eleven easy tricks for +150. Lutostanski opened the South hand at the other table, an aggressive action with that pattern and only an 11-count at the prevailing vulnerability. Diamonds were never mentioned as Marquardsen opted for a simple 1© overcall rather than take his side to the three level to get both suits into the game. At his second turn, Marquardsen had some extra shape but potentially wasted club values and did not feel inclined to compete further. Had he bid 3¨, that would have been a game try for hearts after his partner’s cuebid raise, making that an unattractive option. When 2ª came around, Henriksen had good values but had already shown support with only a doubleton heart and he too felt unable to do any more. Marquardsen led the queen of clubs and Lutostanski won the ace, drew trumps in two rounds and played a diamond off the dummy. Henriksen went in with the ace and switched to ace and another heart. With the clubs still blocked after three rounds of hearts, there was an eventual endplay for the overtrick; +140 and 7 IMPs to Poland.
The two auctions were identical as far as 3§, where Bjorg decided to call it a day while Lutostanski went on to 3NT. After a spade to the ace and a spade back, Bjorg went after diamond ruffs and just lost two trump tricks; +130. The lead to 3NT was a heart to East’s jack. Henriksen switched to a low spade to declarer’s king and Lutostanski played ace and another club to Marquardsen’s queen. A spade was ducked to declarer’s queen and he gave up a second club. Now the defence took the spades and the contract, which had never really looked on from declarer’s point of view, drifted two off for –200 and 8 IMPs to Denmark.
Both Souths declared 3NT. Marquardsen led a heart, which Lutostanski ran to Henriksen’s king. A secon dheart was won by the queen and now declarer crossed to the ¨10 to run the §J, but Marquardsen went up with the ace and cleared the hearts. Now Lutostanski cashed out the diamonds before running the §10 to the queen. A heart was cashed, West winning the eight, and now he had to return a spade; down one for –100. Krzysztof simply led a spade at trick one and Bjorg won the king in hope of blocking the suit if East had queen doubleton. She cashed some diamonds then tried the heart finesse and ended up down four; –400 and 7 IMPs to Poland.
Lutostanski opened a 15-17 1NT and played there. He won the heart lead with dummy’s queen and ran the nin eof clubs to the queen. The hearts were cleared and then declarer cleared the clubs. He had nine tricks now when the spades divided evenly; +150. Bjorg opened 1§ as 1Nt would have been weak and then invited game opposite the 1NT response. Jonas accepted the invitation and his 3NT ended the auction. Jakub led the jack of spades and Jonas won the ace and played a heart to the queen, Jakub won the ace and switched to alow diamond for the queen and ace. There was no way to overcome that defence and Jonas was two down for –200 and 8 IMPs to Poland. Midway through the semi-final, Poland had closed right up to Denmark and now trailed by only 88-95 IMPs. |
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