Group One Comebackers (Part 2)

After Group One Team cut the deficit to 31 IMPs, there was still more work to be done. To complete the turnaround, they needed an even stronger set than their fifth.

They got straight to work, and after just the first three boards of the final segment, the deficit had been reduced to single digits.

Much like the fifth set, the first board of the segment produced another game swing in Group One Team's favor.

After a straightforward auction, 3NT became the final contract. Kalita led the ♥Q, which Zatorski won after Klukowski contributed the ♥K. Unfortunately for declarer, the contract appeared doomed once diamonds were revealed to be 5–1. Recognizing no obvious route to nine tricks, declarer eventually cashed out and conceded one down.

On the actual layout, however, 3NT was cold. Had declarer ducked the opening lead, they could later have endplayed South in the black suits, forcing a favorable return and bringing the contract home (as shown in the image below). However, this would also require Zatorski to pop the ace of hearts at trick two if Klukowski were to return a second heart, making the line of play more unrealistic than it may look.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/dfaa69_083ca690feb14368888beeff14f649c8/720p/mp4/file.mp4

At the other table, a sequence of artificial bids eventually brought the partnership to 5♦, a contract that remained cold despite the brutal diamond break.

After picking up 3 IMPs on Board 14, Group One Team struck again on Board 15 with another significant swing.

In the closed room, Starkowski and Kwiecień reached 4♥ after the opponents opened with a Multi 2♦. Knowing that partner held a six-card spade suit, Jagniewski led a low spade from ♠Q4. Gawel contributed the ♠K, forcing Starkowski to win with the ace.

Declarer inevitably had to lose 1 spade, 1 heart, and 2 clubs.

Afterwards, declarer cashed the ♥A and then attempted to run the diamonds. However, on the third round, Gawel ruffed with the ♥10, and Starkowski was left with four losers and no realistic way to reduce them.

At the other table, the auction was duplicated, and the queen of spades was led. Kalita cleverly ducked this trick, and at this point Zmuda needed to find a shift to defeat the contract. After some thought, she chose a diamond switch, which ultimately allowed Kalita to pitch one of dummy’s club losers.

Kalita won trick two in his own hand, cashed the ♥A, crossed to dummy with a diamond, and took the spade finesse. When he cashed the ♠A at trick six, Zmuda was forced to ruff with the ♥K, conceding a natural trump trick.

Losing only one spade, one heart, and one club, +620 gave Group One Team another 12 IMPs, and reduced the deficit to just 4 IMPs with 9 more boards to play.

The bleeding did not stop here for Szlem Gdańsk. Group One Team ultimately took the lead after two more game swings on Boards 20 and 21.

Playing a 14–16 NT range, Gawel chose to upgrade his West hand and opened 1NT. This allowed the partnership to reach 3NT, which comfortably made 11 tricks as both black-suit queens and the ♦K were favourably placed for declarer.

However, playing Polish Club, Zatorski was unable to upgrade and open 1NT given their 15–17 range. The East–West pair instead followed a straightforward inverted minor auction, which ended in 3♦ when East signed off there.

They too were able to take 11 tricks, but only for +150. This result gave Group One the lead, 143–136.

On the next hand, Group One Team struck again for another 11 IMPs. Jagniewski opened with a sound 3♥ preempt from second seat, and Gawel raised to 4♥.

Declarer unblocked the spade, and took a second club hook given south's 4th best lead.

A club lead from Kwiecień allowed Jagniewski to eliminate his diamond losers using his established spades. North was able to ruff the ♠K, but the defense could only come to two tricks.

Conversely, Zmuda opened 1♥, which Kalita overcalled 2♦ after Zatorski’s 1♠ response.

Zmuda rebid 2♥, and Zatorski followed with 4♣, likely a first-round control bid. Despite Zmuda’s 4♥ signoff, Zatorski continued with a Keycard ask, which ultimately placed them in 5♥ after Zmuda showed one keycard.

Unlike the other room, Kalita’s 2♦ overcall made the opening diamond lead straightforward. Zmuda was left with three unavoidable losers: two diamonds and one trump.

Group One Team were suddenly leading by 18 IMPs, and despite a 1 IMP gain for the opposition on Board 22, it was too late to mount a recovery, as the final two boards were too flat to produce any swings.

In the end, their resilience paid off. They wiped out a 58 IMP deficit, conceding only 4 IMPs while scoring 79 of their own.

They went on to win the final comfortably against a team they had also previously come back against, by roughly 80 IMPs. Congratulations to Group One Team for winning the tournament, as well as to Szlem Gdańsk, who went on to secure the bronze medal!