After only a few boards, we saw new leaders. Cieslak-Moszynski, who were already leading the field if the carryover is not taken into consideration, finally took over the lead in the official rankings as well. This morning, they had a good, be it sometimes lucky session. Here are some more boards from it. On board 12, they bid very aggressively to a thin game which was just on when both major suits broke decently.

J. Cieslak

Board 12, Dealer West, North-South Vul.   ª 9 8 5 © J 7 ¨ J 7 6 4 § K J 9 7 ª K Q 6 4 2 © K 9 5 ¨ 3 § A Q 10 5 ª J 3 © A Q T 6 3 ¨ 10 9 8 5 2 § 6   ª A 10 7 © 8 4 2 ¨ A K Q § 8 4 3 2

West	North	East	South
Cieslak	Lesniewski	Moszynski	Martens
1ª	Pass	1NT	Pass
2§	Pass	2¨	Pass
2ª	Pass	4ª	All Pass

2§ was explained at the table as a non-minimum hand, hence East's bold jump to game. As only four pairs were in game and made it, the leaders scored 49 out of 52 matchpoints here.

On board 19, the leaders again did well:

Board 19, Dealer South, East-West Vul.   ª Q 10 9 5 © 7 3 2 ¨ - © A K Q 6 4 2 ª A 6 © J 9 ¨ Q 10 8 4 3 2 § 8 5 3 ª 2 © K Q 10 8 6 4 ¨ A K 9 5 § 10 7   ª K J 8 7 4 3 © A 5 ¨ J 7 6 § J 9

West	North	East	South
Cieslak	Haller	Moszynski	Laanemae
			Pass
2¨	3§	3©	3ª
Double	Pass	4¨	Pass
Pass	4ª	All Pass

EW might have saved here in 5¨ vulnerable against not for only 200. When Cieslak led a heart, Laanemae could make only 11 tricks for a poor score (10-42), as many pairs went on and got doubled in the process.

On board 21, David Birman brought the leaders' good run to a sudden halt when he was one out of eight declarers to bring home a bold 6NT.

Board 21, Dealer North, North-South Vul.   ª K 4 © J 9 4 ¨ K Q J 8 2 § A 9 5 ª J 7 5 © K Q 10 8 3 ¨ 10 7 § 7 4 2 ª 9 8 6 3 © 2 ¨ 6 5 4 3 § K 10 8 3   ª A Q 10 2 © A 7 6 5 ¨ A 9 § Q J 6

West	North	East	South
Cieslak	Birman	Moszynski	Zeligman
	1NT	Pass	2§
2©	Pass	Pass	3©
Double	4¨	Pass	6NT
All Pass

Miszynski led a heart, an obvious singleton. So David Birman could win the ace and run the §Q. Moszynski won his king, but had no hearts left. He returned the ª8 on which declarer played low from dummy, winning in hand with the king. After cashing all his minor suit winners he then had to guess where the ªJ was: oroginally third with West or with East's four-card suit. After an agonising huddle he guessed right and could chalk up 1440. Well done.

On board 23, a tactical move paid off for the leaders.

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

West	North	East	South
Cieslak	Janssen	Moszynski	Wens
			Pass
4© (!?)	4ª	5©	Double
All Pass

Certainly in second position, opening 4© would not have been everybody's choice. North made a light overcall which deceived his partner when he had to find the proper action over the automatic 5©. The double was not a success and the leaders could add another clear top.

The other board at this table was probably the most interesting board of the session.

Board 24, Dealer West, None Vul.   ª A 9 2 © A 10 2 ¨ A 9 3 § A K Q 2 ª 7 4 © K Q J 8 ¨ 8 2 § J 10 9 7 5 ª 10 8 3 © 7 6 5 4 3 ¨ Q J 10 7 5 § -   ª K Q J 6 5 © 9 ¨ K 6 4 § 8 6 4 3

The interesting contract to play is 6ª. Of course, you can play as if you were in 6NT, as for example Dano de Falco did. He ducked the first heart, but then got a club ruff... Bas Drijver from the Netherlands adopted a different plan. He won the first heart, drew trumps (this looks a good idea...) and cashed a top club. When he got the bad news, he simply ducked a diamond to rectify the count for the simple squeeze on West. Nicely done. Please note that a club lead always defeats the spade slam on the immediate ruff. After that, you will have to duck a diamond as well to go down only one trick.

J. Moszynski

On the last board of the session, the leaders further increased their lead when their opponents helped them into the best contract:

Board 26, Dealer East, All Vul.   ª 5 4 3 © A Q J 7 ¨ 9 8 4 2 § K 10 ª K J © 8 3 ¨ J 10 7 6 5 § Q J 8 2 ª A 9 7 6 © K 9 ¨ A K § 9 7 6 5 3   ª Q 10 8 2 © 10 6 5 4 2 ¨ Q 3 § A 4

West	North	East	South
Cieslak	Garvey	Moszynski	Carroll
Pass	Pass	1§	Pass
1¨	Pass	1ª	Pass
2¨	Pass	Pass	2©
3§	All Pass

Well, in 2¨ you can score 8 or 9 tricks and with the ¨Q coming down there also are eight tricks at no-trumps. With clubs as trumps, 10 tricks is the limit, 130 beating all 120's and 110's. So we can only say that South's balancing action was the stepping stone EW needed to reach the top spot once again: -90 is worth 39.5 to NS, -100 brings them 33.3 and -130 meant NS had to be content with only 14.6 mp.