Polish avalanche
With 12 boards to go in their IOC Grand Prix semi-final match against
Poland, Norway trailed by only 7 IMPs - seemingly in a position
to pull out a win. They didn't reckon with Polish stars Michal Kwiecen
and Jacek Pszczola, who had a very impressive set on Vugraph as
the Poles rolled over their opponents and into the final of the
4th IOC Grand Prix.
Norway's troubles started on the first deal.
Dealer North Both vul
|
|
ª Q 10 7
© A Q 9 6
¨ A J 3
§ J 9 7 |
ª A J 9 2
© J
¨ 10 8 7
§ K 10 6 3 2 |
|
ª K 8 6 3
© K 10 7 4 3
¨ 6 4
§ 8 4 |
|
ª 5 4
© 8 5 2
¨ K Q 9 5 2
§ A Q 5 |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Helgemo |
Balicki |
Austberg |
Zmudzinski |
|
1§ |
Pass |
2¨ |
Pass |
2NT |
Pass |
3NT |
All Pass |
|
|
|
North's 1§ opener was the Polish variety - possibly showing a strong
hand. The 2¨ bid was necessary because 1¨ would have been negative.
Per Erik Austberg, East, led a low heart against the notrump game
and it wasn't long before Cezary Balicki was claiming nine tricks
for plus 600.
West |
North |
East |
South |
Kwiecen |
Helness |
Pszczola |
Furunes |
|
1© |
Pass |
2¨ |
Dble |
2NT |
3ª |
3NT |
All Pass |
|
|
|
Warned by Tor Helness' 1©
opener and guided by his partner's aggressive takeout double of
2¨, Pszczola started
with a low spade. Kwiecen won the ace and returned the 2. The Vugraph
commentators predicted Helness would make the correct play in spades,
but after long thought he put up the queen and was down one for
a 12-IMP swing to Poland.
Kwiecen played expertly on the third deal of the set to help his
side to another 3 IMPs.
Dealer South N/S vul
|
|
ª 6 5 4 3
© K Q
¨ 9 5 3
§ 9 8 5 4 |
ª K 8
© A J 10 9 4 3
¨ A Q 6
§ Q 2 |
|
ª A 9 7 2
© 8 6
¨ K J 7
§ A 7 6 3 |
|
ª Q J 10
© 7 5 2
¨ 10 8 4 2
§ K J 10 |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Helgemo |
Balicki |
Austberg |
Zmudzinski |
|
|
|
Pass |
1© |
Pass |
1ª |
Pass |
2NT |
Pass |
3NT |
All Pass |
Geir Helgemo managed nine tricks in this odd game for plus 400.
West |
North |
East |
South |
Kwiecen |
Helness |
Pszczola |
Furunes |
|
|
|
Pass |
1© |
Pass |
1ª |
Pass |
3© |
Pass |
4© |
All Pass |
Helness started with the ¨3 to dummy's jack. Kwiecen ran the ©8
to Helness' queen. Another diamond came back, won in dummy with
the king, and Kwiecen guessed well by going up with his trump ace
on the second round of the suit. As the cards lay, he could have
made 12 tricks by simply ruffing out South's ªQ J 10, but instead
he ran trumps, reaching this ending:
|
ª
6 5 4
© ---
¨ ---
§ 9 8 |
ª
K 8
© ---
¨ A
§ Q 2 |
|
ª
A 9 7
© ---
¨ 7
§ A |
|
ª
Q J 10
© ---
¨ ---
§ K J |
On the play of the ¨A,
South was done. In practice, he pitched the ªQ.
Kwiecen played a club to the ace, a spade to the king, noting the
fall of the jack, and a spade to the ace. Only two IMPs, but Kwiecen
and Pszczola seemed to be in a zone, confident that every move they
made would be right.
Most of the other swings were created in the bidding, such as this
deal.
Dealer North None vul
|
|
ª J 9 8 6
© 7 3
¨ 10 9 8 3 2
§ 5 4 |
ª K Q 7 3
© Q J 9 8
¨ A
§ A K J 10 |
|
ª A 10
© A K 6
¨ K J 5
§ Q 9 8 7 3 |
|
ª 5 4 2
© 10 5 4 2
¨ Q 7 6 4
§ 6 2 |
West |
North |
East |
South |
Helgemo |
Balicki |
Austberg |
Zmudzinski |
|
Pass |
1NT |
Pass |
2§ |
Pass |
2¨ |
Pass |
3§ |
Pass |
3¨ |
Pass |
3© |
Pass |
3ª |
Pass |
4§ |
Pass |
4NT |
Pass |
6NT |
All Pass |
|
|
On Vugraph, Kwiecen and Pszczola took a rosier view of their prospects.
West |
North |
East |
South |
Kwiecen |
Helness |
Pszczola |
Furunes |
|
Pass |
1NT |
Pass |
2§ |
Pass |
2¨ |
Pass |
2ª |
Pass |
3§ |
Pass |
3¨ |
Pass |
3ª |
Pass |
4§ |
Pass |
5§ |
Pass |
5NT |
Pass |
7§ |
Pass |
7NT |
Pass |
Pass |
Pass |
The opening spade lead gave declarer 15 tricks. The only mystery,
according to Vugraph commentators, was how long it would take Pszczola
to claim. The betting line appeared to be seven seconds.
Later in the match, on five straight deals, there
were cold slams there for the bidding, giving Norway a chance for
a swing or two to get back into the match. Poland did miss a couple
of the slams, but so did Norway. On the slams bid by Helgemo and
Austberg in the closed room, Kwiecen and Pszczola were right there
with them. The net result on the five slam deals was 2 overtrick
IMPs to Norway. There would be no comeback for the Scandinavians.
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