POLAND v USA 2
Cats On Hot Bricks - By David Lusk
The young Polish players are rarely still. The cards are constantly twitched, rotated, thumbed and fanned, then closed again. Alternatively, the last quit trick is picked up and dropped, an action rather reminiscent of that of a free-throw shooter in a basketball game. Occasionally, when waiting during a tempo break, the played card is spun like a top. The Americans, by contrast, are more sedate. They are distinctly less hyperactive, almost to the point of diffidence.
This contrast in demeanour is one fascinating aspect of the battle that unfolds at Table 6 in the eighth round of the tournament.
| Board 2. Dealer E.ast. N/S Vul. |
| | ♠ 10 9
♥ K Q 9 7 6 2
♦ A Q
♣ Q J 9 |
♠ Q 7 5
♥ A 8
♦ J 9 7 2
♣ 7 6 5 3 |  |
♠ A K J 8 6 4
♥ 10 5
♦ K 6 3
♣ 10 4 | | | ♠ 3 2
♥ J 4 3
♦ 10 8 5 4
♣ A K 8 2 |
| West | North | East | South
|
| Strzemecki | M. Rice | Madry | J. Rice
|
| | | 1♠ | Pass
|
| 2♠ | 3♥ | 3♠ | 4♥
|
| All Pass
| | | |
Lead: ♠A
On this auction it was always likely that North/South would be pushed to 4♥. Indeed, the auction was identical at both tables. There is a miracle defence available if East shifts to a low spade. West will come on lead and find the killing diamond switch. This defence was not found at either table and declarer, after dealing with the trump suit, had no need to take a finesse in diamonds when the club eightbecame available as a tenth trick. The swing was created when 4♥ was doubled in the Closed Room resulting in net +170 and 5 IMPs to Poland.
| Board 4. Dealer West. All Vul. |
| | ♠ A Q 8 7
♥ K 9 3
♦ K Q 8 3
♣ 9 8 |
♠ 10 4
♥ Q J 10 7 2
♦ A J 10 5
♣ K 5 | |
♠ K J 9 2
♥ A 4
♦ 9 7 6
♣ Q 7 6 2 | | | ♠ 6 5 3
♥ 8 6 5
♦ 4 2
♣ A J 10 4 3 |
Open Room
| West | North | East | South
|
| Strzemecki | M. Rice | Madry | J. Rice
|
| 1♥ | Dble | Rdbl | 2♣
|
| Pass | Pass | Dble | Pass
|
| Pass | Rdbl | Pass | 2♠
|
| Pass | Pass | Dble | All Pass
|
Closed Room
| West | North | East | South
|
| Hurd | Araszkiewicz | Crank | Buras
|
| 1♥ | Dble | Rdbl | 2♣
|
| Pass | Pass | 2♥ | All Pass
|
In the Open Room, once North chose to double, East/West kept the pressure on. It is hard for North/South to make anything more than five or six tricks in either black suit. The Polish pair kept the Americans on the rack, doubling both 2♣ and 2♠ in turn for penalties. There was no escape. Against 2♠ doubled, Strzemecki did well to lead the ♠10 to eliminate any chance for South to ruff a diamond or two in hand. Declarer took the ♠A and led the ♦K from dummy. West won and played another spade and East took the eight with the nine, cashed the king of spades before, rather curiously, leading the ace of hearts. Whether this was friendly or not, the damage was still 500 and a9 IMP swing to Poland when USA2 could only muster 110 at the other table.
| Board 7. Dealer South. All Vul. |
| | ♠ K 9 2
♥ 8 7
♦ A 10 7
♣ A Q 9 5 2 |
♠ A Q 6 4
♥ J 9 4 3 2
♦ J 8
♣ J 4 | |
♠ J 7 3
♥ A K 10 6 5
♦ Q 3
♣ 8 6 3 | | | ♠ 10 8 5
♥ Q
♦ K 9 6 5 4 2
♣ K 10 7 |
| West | North | East | South
|
| Strzemecki | M. Rice | Madry | J. Rice
|
| | | | Pass
|
| 2♣(i) | Dble(ii) | 4♥ | 5♣
|
| All Pass
| | | |
(i) Weakish with at least 5-4 in the majors
(ii) Apparently showing clubs
Jon Rice showed great faith in the quality of his partner’s hand and club suit by taking the push to 5♣. The friendly lay-out in the minor suits and the favourable placement of the ♠A makes 5♣ bullet-proof. West led a heart and East continued after winning the first trick. It should be noted that, after drawing trumps, Rice took the ace of diamonds first, catering for a 5-5 with West and a singleton diamond honour. The result was +620 to N/S. In the Closed Room, North was allowed to open the bidding but North/South sold out in 3♥, for +100, yielding an 11 IMP swing for USA2.
| Board 17. Dealer North. None Vul. |
| | ♠ J 9 6
♥ K 3
♦ A Q 10 5 4 2
♣ 5 3 |
♠ A 4
♥ J 10 9 6 4
♦ 9 7 3
♣ 9 7 4 | |
♠ K Q 10 5 3
♥ 8 5
♦ 8 6
♣ Q 10 8 6 | | | ♠ 8 7 2
♥ A Q 7 2
♦ K J
♣ A K J 2 |
Open Room
| West | North | East | South
|
| Strzemecki | M. Rice | Madry | J. Rice
|
| | 3♦ | Pass | 3NT
|
| All Pass
| | | |
Closed Room
| West | North | East | South
|
| Hurd | Araszkiewicz | Crank | Buras
|
| | 1♦ | 2♠ | Dble
|
| Pass | 2NT | Pass | 4NT
|
| All Pass
| | | |
In the Open Room, Jon Rice was almost certainly grateful to see such a nice dummy. (I wish that my partner’s non- vulnerable pre-empts were half as good.) Ultimately, he was also grateful that he received the lead of the ♥J rather than a spade. He eventually accumulated all of the tricks when East pitched too many clubs.
I’ll leave the comments to Richard Jedrychowski, who was kibitzing at the time: “I was taught to lead aces against these auctions.”
The bidding in the Closed Room was confusing to say the least. East led the ♠K, overtaken by West for a spade return and the first five tricks to the defenders. +520 and +100 converted to a 12 IMP gain to USA2.
| Board 18. Dealer East. N/S Vul. |
| | ♠ 9 8 4 3 2
♥ A 10 9
♦ J 10 8 7
♣ 4 |
♠
♥ K Q 8 7 5 4 3 2
♦ K 6 4
♣ Q 2 | |
♠ A 10 7 6 5
♥ J
♦ A 3
♣ A K 10 8 5 | | | ♠ K Q J
♥ 6
♦ Q 9 5 2
♣ J 9 7 6 3 |
Open Room
| West | North | East | South
|
| trzemecki | M. Rice | Madry | J. Rice
|
| | | 1♠ | Pass
|
| 2♥ | Pass | 3♣ | Pass
|
| 4♥ | All Pass
| | |
Closed Room
| West | North | East | South
|
| Hurd | Araszkiewicz | Crank | Buras
|
| | | 1♠ | Pass
|
| 2♥ | Pass | 3♣ | Pass
|
| 4♥ | Pass | 5♥ | Pass
|
| 6♥ | All Pass
| | |
No doubt Wojciech Strzemecki observed ruefully that his partner had presented the best dummy that he could have hoped for on this auction before he wrapped up an easy twelve tricks. In the Closed Room the point was not lost on Tim Crank and his raise to 5♥ as East earned his team 11 IMPs when Andrew Hurd pushed on to the cold slam.
Final score: USA2-54 Poland-49 (16-14 VPs) |
