PolScapes
IMPRESSIONS
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| REMINISCENCES
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by Alexander Wagner
IMPRESSIONS
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| REMINISCENCES
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My memories of Krzysiek Wagrodzki go as far back as 1964 or 1965 when we played against each other for the first time. But it was only in 1966 when we became friends.
In 1966 he teamed up with Julek Klukowski, one of the top two or three Polish players at this time. I'd been playing with the same group of friends for years and had a nagging feeling we weren't improving fast enough. I wanted to raise my game beyond second or third league level, asked him and Julek if I could watch them play for some time and ask occasional stupid questions. They agreed, and since then for several months I followed them everywhere they went, saw all the tournaments they played, listened to all their discussions, went with them to parties, restaurants and horse races (I hated horse races!), asked countless questions, and learned all the time. Whenever Krzysiek had some spare time, we used to sit in a coffee shop or in his place, me asking questions and him trying to answer them, which was slowly becoming harder and harder, since I learned all the time. Of course I met all their friends from the famous "Juvenia" team and learned from them too. As it happened, in 1968-69 one of the "Juvenia" guys became my last partner in Poland before I left for Israel, and in spring 1969 we even played in Polish trials. Needless to say, it became possible thanks to endless patience and good will of Krzysiek and Julek, and the additional hours Krzysiek invested in a guy only a couple of years younger than himself, who could have one day competed with him for a place in the national team. I guess he must have liked me and thought I had some talent, I know I liked him and his ever present easy-going disposition very much.
The most improbable picture of Krzysiek from this period which stayed firmly carved in my mind are the two of us sitting in his place, next to a window, preparing a new framework for the Polish trials. I don't remember why him or why me, what I do remember is the place, the situation and the snow outside the window.
In November 1981 we met again. Because of the circumstances we hadn't been in touch for twelve years, but he was one of the very few people I called the moment I arrived in Warsaw. Within a couple of hours we met in a coffee shop close to his office (he skipped work, I left my family under false pretenses) sitting there for hours, drinking sour coffee - no sugar that day! - and talking for hours. Finally he invited me to play with him next day in the Open Pairs Championship of Warsaw instead of playing with his regular partner, Janusz Polec. I tried to decline, my previous obligations considered. Inevitably next morning the three of us met in the Forum hotel. I insisted on playing as little as possible and had to leave after a couple of hours, and the only hand from this day I can still recollect isn't the best example of his game. I'll let Julek Klukowski tell you more about Krzysiek and his game, but I still want to share with you this hand that without Krzysiek simply would never have happened.
During all the years we'd known each other we hadn't played many hands together, but playing with him always made me try to be more imaginative than usual, think more, take calculated risks, and first of all, keep a poker face and full composure in all situations. The following hand is a perfect example of it all.
Krzysiek, wherever you are now, if you can hear me - I want you to know that your time and lessons had not been wasted! This hand belongs to you too.
10 S W N E
876 ---------------------------
AQJ109 1S p 2D p
KQJ10 2S p 3C p
2 J9876 3NT p p p
AJ543 N Q2
65 W E K32
98654 S A32 West led the 4 of hearts.
AKQ543
K109
874
7
South could hope for six spade tricks, one heart and one diamond. The heart 4 was surely the fourth best, and the crucial question was whether West had four or more hearts. If West had only four hearts, the declarer should play a club. But South knew Krzysiek (West) was one of the best players around and correctly assumed it was highly improbable he would lead from four hearts to AJ only. Now declarer could either give up or try to make 9 tricks. He could finesse diamonds and if the King was on side, he would hopefully take either 12 tricks (spades 3-3, diamonds 3-2), or 10 (spades 3-3, diamonds 4-1 or 5-0) or only 9 (spades 4-2 or worse, but diamonds 3-2). And if the diamond King was off side there was a fair chance East had no more hearts and the club Ace! So he took the first trick with the heart King and finessed diamonds.
I took with the King, saw the spade split, and realized that South had only 8 tricks: three spades, one heart, and four diamonds. At this point I could have returned heart for two down, but I wanted more. So I let the declarer enjoy it for a while and played the Jack of spades, forcing South to cash his top three spades and to do some deep thinking. South reasoning was as follows: East couldn't have another heart since he hadn't played it, and he surely had the club Ace since he hadn't tried to reach his partner in clubs. By the way, I couldn't agree more with his conclusions, I would have probably reasoned like this myself!
He played his club to the 10, I took with the Ace, but then came the unexpected in shape of the 2 of hearts! Can you imagine the declarer's shock and dismay? Down four, and an absolute top.
This story isn't about bridge. It is about a kind of friendship that time can't touch. That's why Krzysiek could say to me after the deal was over, very softly and with a smile on his face: "Kaziu, oszalales?" ("Have you gone mad?"). I guess I did, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself in the process. Later he admitted he enjoyed it too. Krzysiek, the most important thing I learned from you was to try to enjoy the game as much and as often as I could. I nevet forgot it, and I never will.
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