One round before the end, the two overnight leaders were scheduled to meet. This is what they did:

Board 23. Dealer South. Game All ª A 10 4 3 © A 3 2 ¨ 9 § Q 10 8 4 3 ª K J 7 ª 9 5 2 © 7 6 4 © Q 10 8 5 ¨ K 8 2 ¨ 7 5 4 § A K 7 6 § J 9 5 ª Q 8 6 © K J 9 ¨ A Q J 10 6 3 § 2

Langeland led the ©8 to dummy's nine. Mariani simply continued with the ¨AQ, Helgemo winning the third round. Now, in teams play, a low club looks obvious, but in pairs it's a different story. After Helgemo cashed the A we had lost the chance to see what Mariani would have done had he been faced with a low club continuation straight away. In the actual ending, Mariani made a second overtrick when Helgemo blanked his ªK to avoid being thrown in. It did not really matter however: 660 was worth 141 MP's but 630 would have been good for 130 MP's anyway.

On the other board of the round, the Norwegians got something of a revenge when Langeland found the best lead against a normal-enough game contract.

Board 24. Dealer West. Love All ª K J 8 6 © 2 ¨ 10 9 5 3 § A 10 8 7 ª 7 4 ª 9 3 2 © Q 8 4 3 © K J 9 7 ¨ A 7 4 ¨ J 8 6 2 § Q 9 5 2 § K 4 ª A Q 10 5 © A 10 6 5 ¨ K Q § J 6 3

When the opponents have found a late fit, a trump lead often is best. So it proved here as well. When Helgemo played a second trump after winning the ¨A, Mariani successfully ran the ¨10 to make ten tricks. After the trump lead and continuation, you have to play double-dummy to get the overtrick. What about finessing the §9 and running the ¨10 as well? Losing only 420 gave the Norwegians 85 MP's back, but Mariani-Buratti stayed right on track to their title.

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