Round 9, Russia - Poland

by Jos Jacobs

Mariusz Puczynski, Poland

Though the two teams did not really bother the scorers on Vugraph, strange things happened there from time to time. At a certain stage, knowing that on BBO the running score in the match was supposed to be 8-7 to Russia after 14 boards, I took a quick glance at the Vugraph screens only to see the score in this match, after the same 14 boards, standing at 8-5. Half a minute later, while I was still in the Vugraph, the score had dropped even further and stood at 8-2 now. Of course, I was quite intrigued by these reverse developments, so I stayed there until the next board hit the screen. By then, suddenly, all was well again. To my experience, Gianni Baldi’s Vugraph show is a joy to watch as it has always been over recent years, but I will never understand the intricacies of what is really going on inside those machines from time to time.

Five of these scattered Polish IMPs came from board 2:

Board 2. Dealer East. N/S Vul.
	ª A 10 7 3 © 10 5 3 ¨ A K 4 3 2 § 4
ª K 8 4 2 © A 6 ¨ 10 8 6 5 § 7 3 2		ª Q 5 © Q J 7 ¨ 7 § A K Q J 9 6 5
	ª J 9 6 © K 9 8 4 2 ¨ Q J 9 § 10 8

The most interesting contract is 3NT by West. This needs a low diamond lead by North to beat it, a far from automatic move if the defenders know that dummy will contain a running club suit. If North leads a more normal top diamond, the suit is blocked.

In our featured match, neither team came anywhere near this challenging gamble.

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Kholomeev	Balicki	Zlotov	Zmudzinski
		2§	Pass
2NT	Pass	3§	Pass
Pass	Dble	3NT	Dble
Pass	Pass	4§	Pass
Pass	4¨	All Pass

2§ was natural and 2NT a multiway transfer to 3§. When Balicki made a balancing double, Zlotov tried to express the full value of his hand by announcing 3NT. When Zmudzinski doubled this, East made the wise move of retreating into 4§, as on the ¨Q lead from the South side 3NT would definitely have gone down. The auction then inspired Balicki to make one further move to 4¨, and there it rested. As declarer was short in trumps at trick two, eight tricks were the limit. Russia +200.

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Chmurski	Gromov	Puczynski	Petrunin
		1§	Pass
1ª	Pass	2§	Pass
3§	Pass	3©	Pass
3ª	Pass	4§	Pass
5§	All Pass

Once the bidding at the three-level revealed that the EW hands did not contain any wasted values in diamonds, West could see that even game might have a chance. He proved right, as with the help of the heart finesse 11 tricks were no problem. Poland +400 and 5 IMPs.

On board 8, Russia equalized when the Poles overbid to a hopeless game. From then on, the Vugraph scoreboard was troubled only by itself, as explained above, and not by the players until near the end.

This was board 18:

Board 18. Dealer East. N/S Vul.
	ª A J 10 6 3 © A K Q ¨ 10 7 4 § 9 3
ª 9 5 © 7 6 2 ¨ A K 8 2 § A J 8 4		ª Q 7 2 © J 9 5 3 ¨ J 9 5 § 7 5 2
	ª K 8 4 © 10 8 4 ¨ Q 6 3 § K Q 10 6

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Kholomeev	Balicki	Zlotov	Zmudzinski
1§	1¨	Pass	1ª
All Pass

When Zmudzinski could not make any more positive move over the transfer overcall, Balicki called it a day. Nine tricks in a quite reasonable contract, Poland +140.

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Chmurski	Gromov	Puczynski	Petrunin
1§	1ª	Pass	2¨
Pass	3¨	Pass	3NT
All Pass

	Alexander Petrunin, Russia

In the Open Room, the Russians showed there was much more in this deal than one might expect. After the natural overcall 2¨ promised some extra values and 3¨ asked about a diamond stopper to reach 3NT from the right side of the table.

This was a touch-and-go contract, but Petrunin made no mistake after the favourable lead of a low club to the ten. He crossed in hearts and ran the ªJ to successfully keep East out of the lead. Nine tricks, Russia +600 and 10 IMPs. The stalemate had finally been broken.

On the next board, Poland got their partial revenge when the transfers so freely used by these teams for once backfired:

Board 19. Dealer South. E/W Vul.
	ª A 6 5 © A K 10 8 5 ¨ A K 10 4 § J
ª 8 4 2 © Q J 2 ¨ J 8 § A K Q 10 2		ª K 10 9 © 9 7 4 3 ¨ 7 3 § 9 8 7 6
	ª Q J 7 3 © 6 ¨ Q 9 6 5 2 § 5 4 3

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Kholomeev	Balicki	Zlotov	Zmudzinski
1§	Pass	1¨	Pass
1©	All Pass

Zlotov showed his four-card major with a transfer, which Kholomeev accepted without any enthusiasm. Balicki did well to pass throughout and was rewarded with four vulnerable undertricks. Poland +400. Please note how difficult it is nowadays to find even quite decent club fits.

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Chmurski	Gromov	Puczynski	Petrunin
1§	Dble	Pass	1¨
Pass	1©	Pass	1ª
Pass	2©	All Pass

When Gromov made his presence felt at his first turn, the Poles were out of trouble. Here too, one wonders why North could not show his second suit over 1ª. As a result, a cold game in diamonds was missed, Russia scoring a mere +140 to lose 6 IMPs where they might have tied the board.

The final result of this tight match thus became 18-13 or 16-14 in V.P. to Russia.