When Austria met Italy in Round 10 this deal gave rise to one of those classic situations where there are countless possibilities in both the play and defence.

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

West	North	East	South
Lauria	Gloyer	Versace	Schifko
			Pass
Pass	1§*	1¨	2¨*
Pass	2NT	Pass	3NT
All Pass

One Club was Blue and Two Diamonds was either 4-4-4-1 or balanced

East led the two of spades and declarer put up the king, played a club to the ace, a club to the queen and took two more tricks in the suit, East discarding two diamonds and a heart.
Placing East with five diamonds and seeking to remove possible exit cards declarer sought to remove East's possible exit cards by playing a heart to the ace and a heart. Seeing dummy now had no entry, West cashed his other heart winner to produce this ending:

	ª A 7 © - ¨ A Q 5 § -
ª Q 9 © 9 ¨ 10 3 § -		ª J 10 © - ¨ K J 8 § -
	ª 6 © 10 ¨ 9 7 2 § -

At this point, West played a low diamond and East won with the jack and played back a spade. If West puts up the queen then declarer can win and throw East in to lead into the diamond tenace. So West played the nine but declarer won, cashed the ace of spades and exited with a spade, forcing West to present dummy with the ninth trick.

In the five card ending, West must exit with the nine of spades. Declarer takes the ace and exits with a spade, but dummy is squeezed!

Declarer played very well, but after taking the clubs it may be better to run the jack of hearts. Say West wins and plays the ten of diamonds. Declarer covers with the queen and East wins and plays back a spade. Declarer ducks, wins the next trick, cashes his remaining ace to remove West's last exit card and ducks a heart to West who is endplayed.
There are many variations, but there is no winning defence.

Bangkok Blunder

By Brian Senior

Is there any law that says that the Hand of the Day has to be one on which someone did something good? No? Just as well, because today I offer you a little light relief from the PABF Championships in sunny Bangkok.

	ª A Q 10 9 7 3 © J 8 ¨ A Q J 10 § 7
ª 8 6 2 © 10 9 7 5 4 2 ¨ 3 § 8 3 2		ª K J 5 4 © A K Q 6 ¨ 9 8 § A Q 6
	ª -- © 3 ¨ K 7 6 5 4 2 § K J 10 9 5 4

West	North	East	South
Moriyama	Barrack	Takasaki	Cumpstone
		1§	Pass
Pass	1ª	1NT	Pass
2¨	All Pass

It is not often that you have 19 HCP as dummy and your side fails to make a single trick. In the second round robin match between New Zealand and Japan in the Ladies Series, that is precisely the misfortune which befell the Japanese East/West pair.

West's second bid was intended as a transfer but not read as such by East who passed. South could see what had happened, of course, and was not about to do something silly and allow her vulnerable opponents a second chance.

Against 2¨, North led her ace of spades, on which South discarded the heart loser. A second spade was ruffed by South who returned a small diamond. North won the diamond and switched to her club and declarer, desperate to take a few tricks, finessed the queen. When that lost to the king, declarer could no longer make a trick as North got two club ruffs to establish South's suit. Two Diamonds minus eight for -800!

At the end of the hand the Japanese East asked 'How many tricks?' and, when told 'None', said 'No, How many tricks?'. Again the answer was 'Zero', at which stage she said 'No jokes, how many tricks?'.

East was still shaking her head several boards later.

In the other room, Japan made 5¨ doubled on the North/South cards but +550 meant a 6 IMP loss for them.

Mind you, there were worse fates available to East/West on this deal. The New Zealand Open team conceded 6¨ by leading a trump. Ouch!

Double Bravo

"They are too good for Four Spades"

Round 9, Sweden - Slovenia

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

Contract 2§, opening lead ¨5

The Slovenian South, Matija Senk, realized immediately that the contract will be fulfilled because of the 3-3 break in clubs and so he played the ¨Q at trick three from dummy. Ace and a small club to the jack and another diamond to the nine and ten and a diamond ruff, one down and +50 for Slovenia meaning 5 IMPs. Comment from the Swedish player as pointed above.

After board 20 and the final calculation we have the same comment about the very good and sympathetic Swedish team. Nevertheless, the defence was very nice and thoughtful. Cooperation by North was also at an appropriate level and deserves to be mentioned. Bravo for Slovenia, Bravo for Sweden.

Sponsor's Corner

The Slovenian Bridge Team expresses gratitude to its sponsors : ITS, NIL, SIMP, Repro, Difra, Krka, Lesnina and Slovenica, whose donations help us to participate at these championships.