Riga Round 28: Switzerland vs England

Switzerland was already in deep trouble, sitting a little over 15 victory points behind the qualification line. England, meanwhile, was in a much more comfortable position, sitting in 6th place and nearly a full match ahead of the teams chasing them.

Switzerland needed two massive wins to keep their Bermuda Bowl hopes alive, while England only needed to maintain their form and avoid a late collapse to secure their place among the qualifiers.

Paske	Kalita	Gold	Klukowski
		P	2♠
X	4♠	P	P
X	P	4NT	P
5♦	AP

While 4♠ would have only taken eight tricks due to an uppercut in the club suit, David Gold pulled to a two places to play contract despite his relatively weak red suits.

In the game contract, the English only had to worry about a spade and diamond loser, as Paske could ruff a club in dummy.

Multon	Byrne	Nowosadzki	Dyke
		P	P
1♦	P	1♥	1NT
3♠	4♠	X	AP

North-South landed in 4♠ after Kieran Dyke entered the auction with a Sandwich 1NT overcall, showing both black suits.

With Multon on lead against 4♠, a heart lead would have been the natural choice given his solid suit. From Nowosadzki's perspective, however, it may not have been clear whether to lead his partner's first suit or his own suit, which partner had supported during the auction. Unfortunately, he chose the ♦J, allowing Michael Byrne to discard a heart loser on the ♦A while also preserving the ability to take the spade finesse.

After losing 15 IMPs and extending their growing deficit from previous rounds, Switzerland finally bounced back on the next two boards, gaining 12 IMPs on each and beginning to recover some momentum.

Paske	Kalita	Gold	Klukowski
			P
P	3♣	X	5♣
X	AP

Kalita made a third chair preempt despite holding only a five card suit, but the decision paid off when they found the 5♣ sacrifice. West made a value showing double, but despite this information, Gold did not envision partner holding two and a half keycards if hearts were trump.

On the ♦K lead, Paske played the 6 to show a discouraging signal, and Gold immediately shifted to the ♠K. This allowed Kalita to lose only six tricks in the contract, escaping for −800.

Multon	Byrne	Nowosadzki	Dyke
			P
P	P	1♥	P
2♣ (1)	P	2♠	P
3♥	P	4♣	P
5♥	P	6♥	AP

1. Drury, 3+ hearts

The other table received no form of intervention from the English, allowing Multon and Nowosadzki to reach the favorable slam through a more straightforward Drury auction. Switzerland collected 12 IMPs on the board.

This was one of those hands where keycards were not the only factor to consider. North South held all four aces and kings, but slam would still be unlikely to succeed on most layouts. Even with a 3-2 trump split, declarer would need to avoid losing any diamond tricks, which appeared impossible with the ♦Qxx sitting offside.

We'll see if either side can apply the brakes before pushing too far toward an unmakeable slam.

Paske	Kalita	Gold	Klukowski
			1♦
P	1♠	P	3♠
P	3NT	P	4♣ (1)
P	4♠	P	4NT
P	5♥	P	5♠
AP

1. 4♠4♦(41)

Kalita's 3NT bid might have been some form of relay bid, but after his partner's 4♣ response, which showed shortness with only four diamonds, Kalita signed off. This likely showed concern in either diamonds or hearts. After asking for keycards, Klukowski simply signed off in 5♠, knowing that there could still be concerns in other suits alongside locating the trump queen.

In the play, Kalita took the spade finesse but still had to concede a diamond trick, eventually making 11 tricks for +450.

Multon	Byrne	Nowosadzki	Dyke
			1♦
P	1♠	3♥	4♥
P	4NT	P	5♦
P	5♥	P	5♠
P	6♠	AP

With the aggressive preempt from Nowosadzki, North was pushed toward keycard once his partner made a cuebid. Byrne was likely even considering grand slam had his partner shown up with the ♠Q, but ultimately settled in 6♠.

The play brought something very interesting. A club was led, taken by Byrne's king, and he played a trump to the ace. On the second round of trumps, Multon played low, a decision that allowed the contract to make. Declarer took the obvious finesse, played a heart to dummy's ace, and continued by playing a club to his king before cashing the ♥K and pitching a diamond from dummy.

At this point, Byrne drew the third round of trumps, played a diamond to the ace, and cashed the fourth club. Multon was now effectively endplayed. If he discarded a diamond, the contract would be secure. If he ruffed a spade, he would be forced to either concede a diamond trick or give declarer a heart ruff and discard. If he parted with his remaining heart, declarer could simply endplay him by playing a spade.

Multon chose to discard a heart, and declarer correctly continued with a spade.

However, when Multon returned a low diamond at trick 12, Byrne played a low diamond from his hand instead of the ace, allowing the defense to eventually defeat the contract by one trick. Switzerland gained 11 IMPs from the board.

Switzerland won the match by 23 IMPs overall. You would think that such a result would help close the gap to qualification, but it barely moved the needle. They remained behind France, the team sitting in 8th place, by essentially the same margin as before the match.

With only one round remaining, Switzerland needed something close to a miracle. Could they pull off a final-round hail mary and keep their Bermuda Bowl hopes alive?