François Stretz, North and her partner, Marianne Serf used sophisticated preference signals on board 26 of the second session of the final of the Pairs event.

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

The contract was Two Spades by East after North had opened One Diamond.

South led the two of diamonds (third and fifth best)and when North cashed ace and king of diamonds South contributed the jack on second round - first signal for hearts. North played a precise queen of clubs to show his holding and then shifted to his singleton heart. South won with the ace and played back the two of hearts - second signal for clubs. So, after ruffing the heart North could play a low club to South's jack and enjoy a second ruff. Two down, and +200 for N/S was a very good score for them.

A Fortunate Lie and a Stepping Stone

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

West	North	East	South
Sigurdsson		Nielson
		Pass	Pass
1§	1¨	Dbl	Pass
3NT	All Pass

North led a diamond and West won the first trick with the king. A low heart brought good news in the shape of North's king and the delightful position in clubs meant that it was easy to arrive at nine tricks.

At the other table, declarer went one down in Four Hearts, probably by going wrong in the trump suit, to give the Icelandic team a useful swing.

There is a delightful variation on this deal if declarer plays the queen of hearts at trick two. Winning North's king with the ace, declarer plays on clubs. Eventually he will arrive in this position

	ª - © - ¨ A 6 5 4 § -
ª - © 5 3 ¨ Q 7 § -		ª J 8 © 9 4 ¨ - § -
	ª - © 10 8 ¨ J 9 § -

By exiting with the king of diamonds declarer ensures a trick for the nine of hearts.

A Question of Deception

The first round of the Teams Championship featured a number of interesting deals, not least this one:

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

As you might imagine, all roads lead to 3NT, the simplest route being the one adopted at our featured table:

West	North	East	South
Mouiel	Schaltz	Willard	Schaltz
			Pass
Pass	Pass	1NT	Pass
3NT	All Pass

South led the five of spades and North played the ten. That is not the best card in this situation, as you do not want declarer to realize that the spade suit is blocked. The jack is certainly preferable, and as North is likely to be getting in with the ace of diamonds the queen may also persuade declarer to do the wrong thing by ducking rather than winning.

In any event, declarer took the first spade and forced out the ace of diamonds. When North continued with the queen of spades declarer was able to win and knock out the ace of clubs.

Notice that North could have saved the day by switching to a heart at trick three, admittedly a difficult play to find.

Grimbergen Raises

You may have noticed that the cafeteria serves a number of excellent Belgian beers, one of which rejoices in the name of Grimbergen. That may or may not have anything to do with the strange happenings at two tables on this deal from the final session of the Consolation Pairs.

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

West	North	East	South
			1©
Pass	3¨	All Pass!

By a remarkable coincidence two Austrian pairs fell into the same trap on this deal, forgetting that they were playing Bergen Raises, and therefore imagining that the jump shift showed a weak hand with diamonds. With four hearts going down almost all around the room making nine tricks in diamonds proved to be a remarkably good result.

We say almost because at one table the declarer, Denmark's Dorthe Schaltz, took advantage of a defensive error, coupled with a brilliant piece of table presence.

Dorthe was in Four Hearts and won the spade lead in dummy to play a heart to the king. West ducked, but just a fraction of a second too slowly. Backing here instincts, declarer played a diamond to the ten, a diamond to the ace and a diamond. Now the losing spade could go on the fourth diamond.

Brilliant!