The Grand Finale

At the start of the last round of these Championships, Spain were looking pretty sure of the silver, but Bulgaria could lose its 3rd place to Norway if they should lose to the Czech Republic and if, at the same time, Norway should beat France heavily. At 5th spot, Sweden were 4 VP ahead of Poland, and the Swedes had to face a less stronger opponent, at least on paper. Around 8th spot, which would give the right to participate in the Champions League, next autumn in Warsaw, interesting developments were possible too, as there were three teams in contention for it: The Netherlands, France and England. Israel, who were lying 7th and were playing Croatia, looked rather sure to stay within the qualifying zone from Warsaw.

The programme read like this:

Bulgaria v. Czech Republic
England v. Lebanon
Israel v. Croatia
Netherlands v. Iceland (VuGraph)
Norway v. France
Poland v. Hungary
Sweden v. Romania

Below, we are presenting a quick survey of what happened in all matches of interest on some of the boards played.

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

Here, 3NT was made by South in no less than three matches, so Poland, Norway and Iceland took an early lead.

On board 9, the problem was to avoid 3NT and reach 5}.

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

No swing in England v. Lebanon when BOTH teams reached 6}. A swing to Hungary when Poland played in 6} as well. Swings to Norway and The Netherlands when their opponents played in 3NT.

Board 11 also caused havoc:

Board 11. Dealer South. None Vul.
	ª J 10 © Q J 10 9 7 5 2 ¨ K 9 § 9 2
ª 9 7 6 2 © 8 6 4 ¨ Q J 8 4 2 § 6		ª 8 3 © K 3 ¨ A 10 6 3 § A J 10 7 5
	ª A K Q 5 4 © A ¨ 7 5 § K Q 8 4 3

Neither 4] nor 4[ can be made, as there are two diamonds, the }A, a club ruff and the ]K (in 4]) for the defence. Either contract was let through a few times, so swings were registered by Lebanon, Norway. Israel and the Czech Republic.

Big swings again in a few matches on the next deal:

Board 12. Dealer West. N/S Vul.
	ª J 7 6 4 © A K Q 10 2 ¨ A 10 8 § 10
ª K 10 8 2 © 9 6 ¨ Q 6 5 3 § K Q 6		ª A Q 9 5 © 8 ¨ K J 4 § 9 8 7 5 3
	ª 3 © J 7 5 4 3 ¨ 9 7 2 § A J 4 2

Well, at first sight it looks as if NS can make 4] and EW have a cheap save in spades available. This caused a swing to Norway when the French EW did not save.

The other two swings registered on this board had a rather different complexion. For Croatia, North was doubled in 4] and made it without any problem. His Israeli counterpart got doubled in 5], which should go down on a diamond lead and in fact went down.

In the Netherlands v . Iceland match, the Dutch had saved in one room and lost 50. On VuGraph, Simon de Wijs got doubled in 5] when the Dutch bid once more, but he got a trump lead. At this point, the contract is cold if you play for the small extra chance of the }KQx coming down, as they did. Well played by De Wijs to about level the VuGraph match.

The next board, the ever ominous no. 13, may well have been the decisive board of the round.

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

Jan Kamras, who made his first appearance as non playing captain of Sweden, was very nervous. He did not want to watch in the Closed or Open Room when his team played its last match. He did not even dare to enter the VuGraph theatre, where results were rolling in on the big screen. He just stayed as close as he could near the bar ordering beers for relaxation.

The contract to be in on the board is 6{. Although you miss the trump queen and an outside ace, the odds are still in your favour. This is how the Poles missed the slam in their match against Hungary:

West	East
Martens	Lesniewski
	1¨
1ª	2§
2© (4th suit)	3ª
4¨ (suit established)	5¨
Pass

MARTENS Krzysztof, Poland

Later, Marcin Lesniewski explained that in their system he could not bid 4], since that bid would show a void in the suit. He also felt that 5} would be overdoing it, especially since he already showed extras with the jump to 3[. Therefore he decided to bid only 5{ over 4{. At the table Krzystzof Martens thought for ten minutes and then passed. Still, the Poles won their match against the Hungarians. However, 18-12 turned out not to be enough, since the Sweden increased their lead by 2 VP's, beating Romania 20-10. In this match the Romanians played 4[ on board 13, but Magnus Lindkvist and Peter Fredin for Sweden bid the slam with their artificial system:

West	East
Fredin	Lindkvist
	1¨
1NT (gf)	2¨ (5+ diamonds)
2©	2NT (4+ clubs, 0-1 heart)
3§	3¨ (3-1-5-4)
3©	4¨ (14-16, 2 key cards, no ¨Q)
4©	4NT (§K, no ªK)
6¨	Pass

So Sweden did qualify for the Bermuda Bowl and Jan Kamras was all smiles.

In the other matches, there also were big swings. England, Bulgaria, Netherlands and Israel all stayed out of the slam whereas their counterparts all bid it. Four more swings. Only in the Norway v. France match there was no swing as both pairs bid the slam.

The last sensational board of the round was:

Board 15. Dealer South. N/S Vul.
	ª 10 5 © Q 9 7 4 ¨ J 9 8 7 5 3 § A
ª A 9 8 7 4 © 5 ¨ K Q § J 8 6 5 4		ª K Q 6 2 © K 3 ¨ A 10 6 4 2 § 7 2
	ª J 3 © A J 10 8 6 2 ¨ - § K Q 10 9 3

A big swing to Poland who made 5] doubled with an overtrick in one room and went down only one in 5[ in the other. A more normal swing to Bulgaria: 5] made and 5{ two down, doubled.
An interesting swing to Croatia, who made 6] doubled on a diamond lead, but conceded 650 in 5] at the other table for a gain of 14 IMPs against Israel. And the best swing of them all: France finally recouping some points against Norway with 6] doubled made and 5[ doubled down two.

In at least three of the matches involved there were a few more swings, but as they went to either side the outcome of the round looked clear enough. In the end England came back to beat Lebanon 16-14 while The Netherlands and Iceland drew. Croatia went on to beat Israel 22-8 and Norway beat France 23-7. As Bulgaria suffered a shock 13-17 defeat against the Czechs, the final table had undergone a serious reshuffle, compared with the way it looked overnight. Norway had taken the bronze at the post, ahead of Bulgaria. Sweden, Poland and The Netherlands had kept their positions (5,6,7), but England rose to 8th, level with The Netherlands, but ahead of Israel and France.