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.