This is our last visit to the 2023 Fall NABC in Atlanta, Georgia. It is time for the final of the Soloway Trophy, between #7 STREET (Paul Street, Delray Beach FL; Nicolas L’Ecuyer, Montreal QC; Ron Pachtman, Kfar Saba Israel; Piotr Zatorski, Gdansk Poland; Andrea Manno and Massimiliano di Franco, Palermo Italy) and #5 ZIMMERMANN (Pierre Zimmermann, Michal Nowosadzki, Seb Drijver, Sjoert Brink, Jacek Kalita and Michal Klukowski, Geneva Switzerland).

The format is a 60-board match divided into four 15-board segments. As usual, we start with some problem: Firstly, with both sides vulnerable, you are South holding:

What action, if any, do you take?

Next, with neither side vulnerable, you are sitting in the West seat with:

What do you bid?

Finally, with only your opponents vulnerable, you hold as West:

What action, if any, do you take?

While you mull those over, we start in the opening stanza with both South players declaring 3NT on the same opening lead. The contract is hardly a thing of beauty…

Paul Street might have passed 2♠, but that’s not how the game is played these days. When he did not do so, the bidding inevitably wended its way to the spot that is the usual destination with a combined 23 HCP and no fit.

Zimmermann led the♥J, and declarer immediately played three rounds of the suit, establishing the thirteenth heart as a winner. Knowing that declarer almost certainly held only one spade, Zimmermann now exited with the ♠Q. Street won and cashed the ♥9, both defenders throwing a diamond whilst declarer released a club. Which minor would you now play from dummy?

Street led the club to his queen. Zimmermann won with the ♣K and continued spades, declarer winning in dummy and throwing a diamond from his hand. The VuGraph play record ends here with declarer claiming seven tricks, although it seems likely that he would make eight from this position. What he can no longer do is make nine. N/S -200.

Switzerland’s all-Polish pair reached the same game, and the play began with the same first five tricks. In dummy, having cashed his heart winner, Michal Klukowski (left) led the ♦J, covered by queen, king and four. Having noted East’s discard of the ♦8, Klukowski now continued with the ♦10, pinning the nine.

Andreas Manno won with the ♦A and continued with a spade to the king. With two winning diamonds in his hand, Klukowski could afford to take the club finesse for an overtrick now. It lost and the defenders cashed their spade winner, but Klukowski had nine tricks via two spades, the ♣A and three winners in each red suit. A magnificent N/S +600 and 13 IMPs to ZIMMERMANN.

The Bermuda Bowl champions won the first stanza 33-23. They then won a dull second set 14-7 and thus led by 17 IMPs at the halftime break. By the midway point of the third stanza, the match score had advanced to 49-36 in favour of the Swiss. Then The Great Dealer awoke and produced a run of three consecutive boards on which the destination of the trophy was effectively settled. Both South players had to decide whether to take action on the first this week’s problems.

Sjoert Brink did not open the South hand. His 1NT response to Bas Drijver’s fourth-seat 1♠ opening then ended the auction. Andreas Manno’s only four-card suit was clubs, so he led one against 1NT. Unfortunately for the Italians, that was the only lead to allow declarer to make seven tricks. N/S +90.

Ron Pachtman (right) liked his hand enough to open a weak 2♥. Piotr Zatorski raised to 4♥ and that left Klukowski to find the winning opening lead. I think it is safe to say that everyone would rule out a heart or a club, which left a choice between the pointed suits.

Klukowski chose a spade, and the defenders could only watch as declarer quickly disposed of three clubs from his hand. Pachtman then played a diamond to the jack and king, and a second diamond. Kalita won and played a high spade, but Pachtman ruffed with the ♥J and then ruffed a diamond with dummy’s low trump. All that was left was to drive out the ♥A and claim ten tricks. N/S +620 and 11 IMPs to STREET, closing the margin to just 2 IMPs.

Had Klukowski happened upon a diamond lead, I’m sure Kalita would have won with the ace and switched to clubs, giving the defenders the first five tricks. Not that is mattered in the big scheme of things, as that 2-IMP deficit was as close as STREET was to get. To all intents and purposes, the next two deals put the match out of their reach…

Andrea Manno could not dredge up a response after South’s 1♠ overcall. Bas Drijver’s pre-emptive spade raise and Massimiliano de Franco’s double then left Manno with the second of this week’s problems. Should he bid clubs and, if so, how many? He answered that question by bidding game in his partner’s suit, but hearts was not the right strain on this layout. Even with trumps breaking 3-3 it didn’t take long for declarer to lose control.

Sjoert Brink (left) led a top spade, declarer ruffing and playing a heart to the queen. When North won with the ♥K and continued spades, Di Franco was in trouble. Declarer ruffed and switched his attention to clubs, getting them right by playing the ♣A and a second round to dummy’s king, but that didn’t solve his fundamental problem. Di Franco continued with a winning club, Brink ruffing and playing a third round of spades. Declarer tried pitching a diamond from his hand, so Drijver won and switched to a diamond. Declarer couldn’t avoid losing another trick in each red suit. E/W -200.

Piotr Zatorski raised only to 2♠ on the North hand. When East doubled, there was no reason for Klukowski to do anything other than bid his long suit at a minimum level. This galvanised Jacek Kalita (right), who jumped to 4♠, agreeing clubs and making a slam try. Klukowski’s 4NT showed a willingness to cooperate, so Kalita jumped to slam.Not content with a game swing for reaching the right game, Klukowski now had to find the ♣Q as well as doing something with his pointed-suit losers.

No problem, Klukowski won the diamond lead and played a heart to the queen and king. He won the diamond continuation, played two top clubs, bringing down the queen, and then set up the hearts with one ruff. He could now ruff two spade losers in dummy. His third spade and his diamond loser went on dummy’s long heart winners. A spectacular E/W +1370 and 14 IMPs to ZIMMERMANN.

The next deal was a bidding test for the North/South pairs.

Bas Drijver (left) opened with a vulnerable weak 2♠ in second seat. The VuGraph records say that Brink’s jump to 4♣ after Easts double shows spades and clubs, although whether that is shorthand for spades with a club control, rather than a club suit, is unclear. Drijver might perhaps have helped his partner by doubling West’s 4♦ bid, but he simply retreated to 4♠. However, Blackwood established that Drijver held an ace and, with the ♥A likely to be onside if Drijver held a doubleton in the suit, Brink decided he had enough to bid slam.

The play was easy. Two aces and ten trump tricks add up to twelve: N/S +1430.

That seemed straightforward enough, but things are rarely easy when playing against Klukowski and Kalita…

Zatorski had to start with a Multi to show his weak two opening, and Pachtman’s jump to 4♣ asked which suit his partner held. That left Klukowski with the last of this week’s problems. I’m sure that he never even considered passing. Neither was he content with a run-of-the-mill double or 4♦, but Klukowski got both of his suits into the auction with 4NT. This not only cramped the opponents’ for bidding space but, more importantly, paved the way for his partner to make the winning decision later in the auction.

Kalita initially gave preference at the five-level, but Pachtman tried again with a 6♣ cue-bid. Kalita was not prepared to defend now, and his decision to bid 7♣ left his opponents with no winning option. The best they can do is to collect their +500 and accept their 14-IMP loss. Zatorski’s decision to bid on therefore cost very little.

Having shown the minors in the bidding, Klukowski’s double asked for a heart lead, just in case there was somewhere to dispose of the loser if the defence didn’t cash it on the go. As it happens, there isn’t, but why take the chance?

Kalita led the ♥3 and declarer claimed his 12 tricks. N/S -200 and another 17 IMPs to ZIMMERMANN. ZIMMERMANN won the third stanza 32-23, so they led by 27 IMPs going into the last set. STREET won the final set 30-28, so the Bermuda Bowl champions added another title to their names, with victory by 108-83.

Congratulations to the winners of the 2023 Soloway Trophy: ZIMMERMANN
(l-to-r: coach Fernando Piedra, Michal Klukowski, Jacek Kalita, Pierre Zimmermann, Michal Nowosadzki, Seb Drijver and Sjoert Brink.)

We will be back soon with he best of the action from another major event broadcast on BBO VuGraph.