4th IOC Grand Prix Page 7 Bulletin 5 - Wednesday, 6 February  2002


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
Bridge deal 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
Bridge deal 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
Bridge deal 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
Bridge deal 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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