Match 14 - Poland

The Polish team is regarded as one of the hot favourites to win WYC. They are vastly experienced, having played in the past few WYC as a team. As described by some of the other teams, they are virtually 'machines' when it comes to bridge, smooth and flawless in terms of technique. So much so that, the general feeling is that we would do well to survive them and not lose too many points.

Many people have asked what is the most important aspect among declarer's play, defence and bidding. In my opinion, the higher the level of bridge , the more the importance of bidding. Most great players have terrific card sense and impeccable technique in card play. Thus, it takes many sets of hands before you find a hand that is decided purely based on superior card play. Sure they exist, and when you get them right, you do have a good sense of satisfaction. However, the frequency of such boards are too little that it is more practical you concentrate on your bidding agreements :)

Many a times, the board is already decided in the bidding. By bidding, I do not mean bidding system. What is clearly more important is bidding judgement. The final decision at the end of a bidding sequence, whether you can visualise the optimal contract after the series of 'conversations' you and your partner had in the bidding.
Of course, the more defined your system, the more infomation you have about your partner's hand. Bear in mind though, your opps also have the same amount of information as you... sometimes it doesn't pay to go 'daisy-picking' (as in the words of Hugh Kelsey), just bid when you know where are you going to end at.

At imps play, players are trained to bid all the close games, especially when vulnerable. However, in very tight matches, the deciding boards are not the games, most regular partnerships can bid them all. Instead, it is the slam bidding and partscore bidding where the experts show their superior judgement. Imo, it is in these areas where the Italians are pretty superior, and this is one of the key reasons why Lauria/Versace, Bocchi/Duboin are considered among the top few pairs in the world now.

Well, in our match against Poland, there were lots of slams (a good chance to match your slam bidding against the machines):

♠ A 4
♥ 6 5
♦ A K Q J 4
♣ K Q 8 6


♠ K Q J 6 3
♥ K Q T 8
♦ 9 8 6
♣ A


With South dealer, what would you bid to?

Well, of the 18 pairs in the youth category, only 3 managed to reach the superior slam in NT. In fact one pair reached 7D and made it!

The two tables in our match reached the reasonable 6D but when West led his singleton H and ruffed the H return, you can bet both N/S pairs were not too pleased :) Still, a push.

A couple of boards later:

♠ A 2
♥ T 7
♦ A Q 5 4 2
♣ K 9 7 5


♠ Q J 7 6 5
♥ A J 8 4
♦ K T 8 3
♣ -

South deals

Well, the Polish really bid their slams (ala Meckwell) and they reached the thin 6D at our table. The K of S was onside but (un)fortunately was singleton... so after a trump lead, there was no way home. Our teammates were in the easier 3NT for 13 imps.

Before we can catch our breath:

♠ K Q 9 6 4
♥ 3 2
♦ K J 3
♣ K Q 7

♠ A 8
♥ A K J 8 5
♦ A 7 5 4
♣ A 2

South deals, your contract?

Our teammates were in the obvious 6NT which made 13 tricks easily when S were 3-3 and H Q onside. The opps at our table had a slight misunderstanding in the bidding (yes, it can happen even to the 'machines') and over-reached to 7S! The same circumstances meant the same 13 tricks and 12 imps away.. arghh..

I thought we were in some slam bidding competition when yet another hand came up:

♠ A J 7 6 4
♥ 9
♦ A 9
♣ K T 8 6 3


♠ K Q T 8 3
♥ J 8 7 4
♦ 7 5
♣ A J

South deals

Both tables reached the very good 6S contract on a D lead.

Perhaps tired from the continous string of slam bidding, our teammate didn't plan his play well enough and proceeded to draw 2 rounds of trumps , then found that he had to guess the clubs to make the contract. Almost inevitably, he got it wrong and went 1 off.

Of course, 'machines' do not face the same problem and played impeccably by cashing only 1 round of trump before starting on clubs, the upside is that he was able to set up the 5th club(clubs were 4-2) and have sufficient entries to enjoy the discard. Good play and 14 imps reward for that.

It wasn't all about slam bidding:

♠ T 4
♥ 9 7 6 5
♦ 6 4 2
♣ A 9 8 7


♠ A Q 9 7
♥ J
♦ A Q J T 7 3
♣ K T

Buras and partner at our table reached the pushy contract of 5D (a good contract, imo, excellent judgement... They were the only one in the whole field to bid it)

On a trump lead , how would you play the S suit for only 1 loser?

Well, Buras, not unreasonably tested the clubs to no avail, before going for the dbl-finesse and found both honours offside. As West, I had: KJ52 of S and dblton trump. So the winning play is to pin the 8 trebleton in East, although it is not clear why he should even consider playing it that way.

After negotiating all the tough slams, you would have thought the following hand is easy:

♠ 7 3
♥ J 7 5
♦ K 3
♣ K Q 8 6 4 2


♠ J 8 6
♥ A K Q T 8 6
♦ Q J 6
♣ A

South deals.

Well, our teammates got lost somewhere and rested in 3NT which had no chance when their opps cashed out the S suit. Our Opps were in the normal 4H which made 11 tricks for an unexpected 11 imps loss.

At the end of 20 boards, it was virtually even honours and there were only 4 imps between us. The score was 51-55 imp (14-16 VPs). I cannot say we were unhappy with such a small loss but we all knew we have squandered a good chance to win against a quality team. Might we have the chance to play them again to break the tie? Well, at least we were still up there with the rest of qualifying contenders:

1 USA 1 264
2 ISRAEL 247
3 POLAND 246
4 NORWAY 245
5 FRANCE 243
6 EGYPT 240
7 SINGAPORE 239
8 ITALY 236