Riga Round 26: Switzerland vs Denmark

Before this encounter, Denmark still trailed the gold medal position by around 12 victory points, while Switzerland was fighting to keep its Bermuda Bowl hopes alive. Having lost four consecutive matches, the Swiss had fallen five victory points behind eighth place and were in desperate need of a turnaround. Would this finally be the match that kept their qualification hopes alive?

Given the location of the ♣K, slam appeared to be an excellent contract. Even if West had held the ♣K instead, North South would still have had legitimate squeeze chances, making the slam a strong proposition regardless of the exact club position.

Multon	Hammelev	Nowosadzki	Tylvad
		P	1NT
P	2♣	P	2♥
P	2♠	P	2NT
P	3♣	P	3♦
P	3♥	P	3♠
P	4♣	X	P
P	XX	P	4♦
P	5♣	P	5♦
P	6♠	AP

The Danes reached the slam after a rather artificial auction beginning with a strong notrump and Stayman. The contract was effectively claimed early in the play, as Nowosadzki's double of 4♣ revealed that the ♣K was onside.

Schaltz	Kalita	Bilde	Klukowski
		P	1NT
P	2♥	P	2♠
P	5NT	P	6NT
AP

The Polish and Swiss reached 6NT through a much simpler auction. The declarer play, however, proved to be far more challenging than in the other room.

On the ♦J lead, Klukowski won in hand and cashed all five spade winners, pitching a diamond on the fourth round. On the fifth spade, however, he discarded a club instead. It appeared that he was playing for an endplay, but no such position existed, as the ♣K was onside from the start.

Klukowski then cashed his three heart winners before eventually conceding down one. Denmark picked up 17 IMPs on the board, deepening Switzerland's nightmare.

Then there was this board. East-West were always entitled to at least eleven tricks, and a twelfth would be available if North happened to lead a spade against 3NT. While Nowosadzki and Multon quietly played in 3NT, Klukowski chose to double the game at the other table. Declarer comfortably took eleven tricks, handing another 10 IMPs to the opponents.

It was a massive gamble by Klukowski. Had the agreements allowed it, Bilde might even have been tempted to redouble the contract. It was a completely unnecessary loss for the Swiss on what was arguably the most pedestrian board of the set.

Multon	Hammelev	Nowosadzki	Tylvad
		1♦	2♦
P	2♠	AP

Despite the potential rebid problems later in the auction, Nowosadzki still chose to open 1♦. North South eventually landed in 2♠ after a fairly typical Michaels style sequence.

On the ♠K lead, declarer won in hand and immediately attacked hearts. The ♥J lost to the queen, after which Multon cashed the ♣A and switched to his singleton diamond.

When declarer continued hearts, Nowosadzki won the ♥A and returned a high diamond. Declarer ruffed with the ♠10, ruffed another heart with his last trump, and then crossed to dummy by ruffing a club. After discovering the 4-1 trump break, he settled for eight tricks.

Schaltz	Kalita	Bilde	Klukowski
		1NT	2♣ (1)
3NT	AP

1. Majors

With several useful spot cards and no particularly convenient rebid available, no one could really blame Bilde for opening 1NT with his hand. Schaltz then jumped directly to game, relying on his long club suit as a source of tricks.

Instead of leading from his longest suit, Klukowski chose fourth best from his five card heart suit. Bilde rose with the ♥Q and immediately took the club finesse, establishing six club tricks. He later developed a diamond trick to finish with nine tricks, earning Denmark another 12 IMPs.

The Swiss were down nearly 50 IMPs mid match. But they were able to cut the deficit a little to minimize the damage and nightmare overall. This was one of the hands.

Schaltz	Kalita	Bilde	Klukowski
1♠	P	2♣	P
2NT	P	3♦	P
3♠	P	4♣	P
5♣	AP

Klukowski surprisingly chose not to overcall with his hand, hoping that the opponents would reach 3NT and allow him to cash his long heart suit. That possibility nearly became reality when Schaltz bid 2NT, but the Danes eventually steered toward a suit contract instead.

Schaltz raised his partner's 4♣ rebid to 5♣ with his minimum hand. After the ♥K lead, Bilde had to navigate the diamonds correctly, but even with the right guess, he still lost a diamond trick due to the unfavorable split.

Multon	Hammelev	Nowosadzki	Tylvad
1♠	P	2♣	4♥
P	P	4NT	P
5♦	P	6♣	AP

The pickup partnership for Switzerland landed in a 24 point, eight card fit 6♣ contract. Nowosadzki was reluctant to play in a potential 4-3 diamond fit at the five level, which ultimately led them into the thin slam.

The first two tricks were played in hearts, with declarer ruffing the second round. He then drew three rounds of trumps before playing a diamond to the king and successfully finessing North for the queen. After the finesse worked, declarer continued with a third diamond, discovering the 4-2 split.

He then returned to hand to finish drawing trumps, creating a squeeze against North. With two trump tricks remaining, North was forced to discard either two spades or one spade and one diamond. Either way, declarer would establish an extra trick, making either dummy's spades or his diamond in hand good.

Despite the silver lining from the final few boards, Switzerland still fell short, losing the match 36–56 in the end.