Norway v. France
Open Round 4

Another clash between two of the pre-championship favourites was shown on Rama on Monday early afternoon. Norway looked like operating in full gear, having just taken the maximum against Finland, whereas France got far less than that: 16-14 against Slovenia.

On the first board, there were nine easy tricks available at notrumps, but how to get there?

Board 1, Dealer North, None Vul.
	ª 10 © Q J 10 7 5 ¨ 7 § A 10 9 8 3 2
ª A J 7 6 5 4 © A K ¨ Q 9 4 2 § K		ª K Q 3 2 © 9 4 ¨ J 8 5 § Q 7 6 4
	ª 9 8 © 8 6 3 2 ¨ AK 10 6 3 § J 5

Neither pair managed, so no swing and one missed chance each.

On the next board, there was a swing when Norway clearly outbid the French:

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

Open Room
West	North	East	South
Soulet	Helness	Abecassis	Helgemo
		1ª	Pass
1NT	Pass	2§	Pass
2©	Pass	2ª	All Pass

A classic auction in French Standard bidding, with east just holding a little in reserve

Closed Room
West	North	East	South
Brogeland	Palau	Sælensminde	Allegrini
		1ª	Pass
1NT	Pass	2NT	Pass
3¨	Pass	3ª	Pass
4ª	All Pass

Here, 2NT showed a fair hand with a club suit. 3¨ was a transfer and 3ª obviously denied any heart interest. As they made 11 tricks at both tables, Norway scored 6 IMP´s.

A more substantial swing we saw when the French let through another game but this time vulnerable:

Board 5, Dealer North, N/S Vul.
	ª K Q 9 5 4 © Q ¨ K 9 3 § A Q J 2
ª 7 6 2 © J 10 7 4 ¨ Q 10 7 5 § 10 4		ª A © A K 8 6 ¨ A 8 4 2 § 8 6 5 3
	ª J 10 8 3 © 9 5 3 2 ¨ J 6 § K 9 7

Open Room
West	North	East	South
Soulet	Helness	Abecassis	Helgemo
	1ª	Dble	3ª
Pass	4ª	All Pass

Michel Abeccassis, France

3ª was weak, but Helness quite rightly evaluated his hand as being worth a shot at game. The play presented no problems when the defence forced declarer into a dummy-reversal. Two rounds of hearts, ªQ to the ace and another heart ruffed high. Cross in trumps, ruff the last heart with your last trump and the §K is the entry to dummy to draw the last trump. Four clubs, three heart ruffs and three trumps in dummy bring the tally to ten. Please note that the defence will prevail not only on an initial club lead, but even if East returns a club after winning his ªA, instead of a third heart, as the entry position will be fatally destroyed. Declarer needs three entries to dummy to ruff two more hearts and pick up the last trump, but there are only two available: a trump and the §K. Only when the defence plays a third round of hearts this third entry is no longer needed.

However true this may be, the defenders have to be careful till the end, as Louk Verhees proved in the Netherlands match v. Hungary. In with the ªA after two rounds of hearts, East correctly switched to a club for the nine, ten and queen. Verhees proceeded to draw trumps and cash all his clubs. On the trumps, for reasons only known to himself, East held on to all his diamonds, thus discarding all his hearts. Now look at the end position with West still to discard on the last club:

	ª K © - ¨ K 9 3 § -
ª - © J 10 ¨ Q 10 7 § -		ª - © - ¨ A 8 4 2 § -
	ª J © 9 5 ¨ J § -

If West discards a diamond, declarer will exit with the ¨K, forcing East to establish a diamond for him. If West discards a heart (as he did at the table) declarer will play a low diamond to East´s queen. On the forced diamond return (a heart would establish dummy´s last heart) declarer can insert the nine to land his contract, and that´s exactly what Louk Verhees did. Nicely played!

This ending would not have been possible, had East held on to one of his hearts. In that case, West can safely discard a diamond, as East will exit with a heart after winning the ¨A. As declarer has to ruff this in hand, the entry to the possibly established diamond goes out prematurely.

Closed Room
West	North	East	South
Brogeland	Palau	Sælensminde	Allegrini
	1ª	Dble	2ª
Pass	3§	Pass	3ª
All Pass

Though the §K figured to be a valuable card, South still did not feel he had enough to go to game, so in three it rested. Nine tricks only were made when declarer missed the dummy-reversal but played for a diamond ruff in dummy instead. Not that it mattered at all: 10 IMP´s more to Norway anyway.

A few boards later, the aggression changed directions:

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

Open Room
West	North	East	South
Soulet	Helness	Abecassis	Helgemo
	Pass	1§	Pass
1©	1ª	Pass	Pass
2¨	Pass	3¨	All Pass

Helgemo stayed quiet when his suit was opened to his right, so the auction came to a conclusion at a safe level. It looks as is declarer can hold his losses to three spades and a heart, we must keep in mind that he did not know anything at all about the wicked distribution. North led the ªAK and gave his partner a ruff. Next came the §K on which declarer discarded a low heart. The ©A and another followed, Helgemo winning the king and continuing another club. When Soulet ruffed this with the two, Helness could overruff unexpectedly with the three and return the ©J. Now, declarer has to decide whether South started with 2-2-2-7 or 2-3-1-7. With nothing to guide him, he guessed wrong again, ruffing high in dummy and thus promoting another trump trick for the defence. Down two. Norway +200.

Geir Helgemo, Norway

Closed Room
West	North	East	South
Brogeland	Palau	Sælensminde	Allegrini
	Pass	1§	4§
4©	All Pass

Allegrini jumped to 4§, a contract he might well have made. Brogeland apparently thought he was being talked out of anything so he bravely bid 4© ending the auction. This proved no success even though the hearts were breaking very friendly. Down two as well, so no swing after all.

The last of the big swings of the match again went to Norway and once again it was an evaluation problem:

Board 13, Dealer North, Both Vul.
	ª A Q 10 9 8 © K J 10 8 6 ¨ 4 § 9 7
ª 6 2 © 7 ¨ A K Q § A Q J 8 6 5 4		ª J 4 3 © A 9 4 ¨ J 10 9 7 5 3 § K
	ª K 7 5 © Q 5 3 2 ¨ 8 6 2 § 10 3 2

Open Room
West	North	East	South
Soulet	Helness	Abecassis	Helgemo
	1ª	Pass	2ª
3§	3ª	Pass	Pass
4§	All Pass

Well, holding an ace and the missing king of trumps Abecassis might have given his partner just one polite raise. On a diamond lead, all 13 tricks were made for a remarkable 190 to France.

Closed Room
West	North	East	South
Brogeland	Palau	Sælensminde	Allegrini
	3¨	Pass	4©
5§	All Pass

3¨ showed both majors. When it was Brogeland´s turn, he could show his suit at the five-level only, but this proved to be the right level. Norway +600 on a spade lead and 9 more IMP´s.

So with all the major swings going to Norway, it was no surprise that they won the match easily. The final margin was 39-18 or 19-11 V.P.

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