November 2022 - 10

" Swiss " Team Wins Spingold
Zimmermann wins a thrilling final by 1 IMP
By Amy Casanova
It's been three
years since the
Spingold Knockout
Teams, the
premier event
of the Summer
NABC, was last
contested. This
year, Pierre
Zimmermann
of Switzerland
recruited four
members of the
2019 first- and
second-place
teams and
formed a super
squad. Playing with Michal Klukowski,
Piotr Gawrys, Sebastiaan
Drijver, Sjoert Brink and Fernando
Piedra, ZIMMERMANN prevailed
over STREET (Paul Street, Nicolas
L'Ecuyer, Ron Pachtmann, Piotr
Pawel Zatorski, Andrea Manno and
Massimiliano Di Franco), an international
squad captained by Street, who
lives in Florida. ZIMMERMANN
led by 1 IMP with six boards left to
play. The tension of the match was
amplified by the opportunities for a
tie or comeback win and the slowness
of the play. The margin of victory
remained 1 IMP when the last boards
ended up as pushes.
The top seeds took care of business
until the Round of 32, when, most
notably, top-seeded NICKELL lost to
the No. 32 seed HANS by 7 IMPs, and
No. 6 LEVINE was ousted by No. 27
FELDMAN by 4 IMPs.
No. 15 STREET defeated the team
captained by Gary Donner of Bluffton
SC. Donner played with Cecilia
Rimstedt and teammates Marion
Michielsen, Per-Ola Cullin, Brad
Moss and Joe Grue. (Donner died in
August of pancreatic cancer.) Here is
10 | Bridge Bulletin | November 2022
Rimstedt led
the lK, won by
declarer with the
ace. Next came a
club to the king
and ace. Donner
now switched to
the Q, and the
defense was able
to take two spades,
a club and a heart
for down one.
The match was
Winners of the Spingold Knockout Teams: Sebastiaan Drijver, Fernando Piedra, captain
Pierre Zimmermann, Michal Klukowski, Piotr Gawrys and Sjoert Brink
a board he bid and defended accurately
to earn his team 7 IMPs.
Dlr: North  A 10 9 4
Vul: Both k Q J 10 8 3
l A 7 5
' 6
 Q J 5
k A 7 6
l 6 4 3
' A 9 7 3
 K 8 2
k 4
l K Q 10 9 8 2
' Q 10 2
 7 6 3
k K 9 5 2
l J
' K J 8 5 4
West North East
3NT Dbl
Pass
South
Donner L'Ecuyer Rimstedt Street
1k 2l
3l
Pass
4l 4k All Pass
Donner tried 3NT and ran to 4l
when he was doubled. North then,
bid 4k. With two outside aces opposite
a vulnerable two-level overcall,
he judged well to pass. At the other
table, South jumped to 4k after the
2l overcall, West bid 5l, and South
doubled for down one.
tied at the half.
STREET led by 11
after the third set
and took charge
in the fourth, winning 117-78.
In the other semifinal match, ZIMMERMANN,
the No. 4 seed, pulled
away from BRAMLEY (Bart Bramley,
Bob Hamman, Kit Woolsey, Peter
Weichsel, Liam Milne and Andy
Hung) in the fourth quarter after a
close early match. They won 137-98.
Board 17 started the inflow of IMPs
with a double-partscore swing.
Dlr: North  J 4 2
Vul: None k 9 5 4 2
l J 7 2
' 8 6 3
 A 5
k K Q 8 6 3
l A K Q 10 5
' K
 10 9 8 7 6
k J 10
l 9 8 4 3
' 10 7
 K Q 3
k A 7
l 6
' A Q J 9 5 4 2
West North East
Pass
2NT
Pass
Pass
(1) Could be short
South
Woolsey Drijver Bramley Brink
Pass
1'(1)
3l 3k
4' All Pass
November 2022

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