Norway v Italy - Round 8 Schools The Flat Boards Were The Most Enjoyable Both these teams were stuck in mid-table and needed some big wins quickly if they were to get into a medal position. A nice result here would improve the chances for either team. In this match, we truly enjoyed the flat boards rather than the swings. We considered displaying only pushes from this match for a change, but as a matter of a fact only one swing will follow. Board 2. Dealer East. N/S Vul.   ♠ Q J 2 ♥ 9 8 6 5 2 ♦ 10 5 4 ♣ 7 4 ♠ A 7 5 ♥ 10 4 ♦ J 9 8 6 ♣ 6 5 3 2 ♠ 10 4 3 ♥ A K J 7 3 ♦ K 3 2 ♣ Q 9   ♠ K 9 8 6 ♥ Q ♦ A Q 7 ♣ A K J 10 8 West North East South De Marco Bogen Montanari Johansen     1♥ Dble Pass 1♠ Pass 4♠ All Pass       West North East South Skjetne Mistretta Simonsen Di Franco     1♥ Dble Pass 1♠ Pass 3♠ All Pass       Neither player in North’s seat was tempted to pass 1♥, so there were not many other options than to bid 1♠. Now South, Massimiliano di Franco’s 3♠ might be found in the school book of bridge, but on this very board his opponent in the other room, Lars Arthur Johansen was more successful when he went for game. At both tables East led the ace of hearts then switched to a diamond. Two rounds of hearts might disturb declarer, but the play would be quite straightforward due to the lie of the cards. The Norwegian N/S pair scored +620 and the Italian +170 and that was 10 IMPs to Norway. Board 7. Dealer South. All Vul.   ♠ J 4 ♥ 6 3 2 ♦ 7 4 2 ♣ K J 6 3 2 ♠ A 8 ♥ K Q 7 ♦ K J 9 8 3 ♣ 10 7 4 ♠ K Q 7 6 5 3 2 ♥ A J 9 ♦ A Q 5 ♣ -   ♠ 10 9 ♥ 10 8 5 4 ♦ 10 6 ♣ A Q 9 8 5 West North East South De Marco Bogen Montanari Johansen       Pass 1♦ Pass 1♠ Pass 1NT Pass 2♣* Dble 2♥* 3♣ 4♣ Pass 4♦ Pass 4♥ Pass 4♠ Pass 4NT Pass 5♥ Pass 7♠ All Pass West North East South Skjetne Mistretta Simonsen Di Franco       Pass 1♦ Pass 2♠ Pass 3♠ Pass 4♣ Pass 4♦ Pass 4NT Pass 5♣ Dble 7♠ All Pass De Marco/Montinari solved this board easily enough. 2♣ asked for the length in spades and 2♥ denied three. By bidding 4♣ diamonds was agreed as trumps. Montinari knew his partner held a balanced hand with two spades, therefore he could tell that 4♠ was a cuebid for the ace. 4NT asked for the aces and 5♥ showed two aces out of five, still with diamonds as trumps. Now Montinari thought he had all necessary information, thus he jumped to 7♠. The grand was cold; E/W +2210. Did you read Thursday’s bulletin, where the Norwegian pair, Johansen/Bogen made 7♠ doubled when three aces were missing? Well, here it was the other Norwegian pair who landed on their feet. 2♠ was 15+ with six spades or more; 3♠ showed trump support then two cuebids followed; 4NT asked for aces and 5♣ showed one or four out of five. When Mistretta doubled 5♣ Fredrik Simonsen was quite confident that West held the ace of trumps rather than the ace of clubs, thus he bid 7♠. When no one doubled he was even surer. “You are just too lucky; I just had the king of clubs”, complained Eugenio Mistretta, when declarer claimed at trick one. Simonsen could have used Exclusion Blackwood in this situation, as the Norwegian pair uses this convention, but Simonsen wasn’t completely convinced if his partner would remember it. No swing on this board, and halfway through the match the score had moved onto 20-11 in favour of Norway. What do you lead from this hand, if your right hand opponent opens 3NT (gambling) in first position and all pass?   ♠ J 1 0 7 6 4 ♥ Q 9 6 ♦ - ♣ A 1 0 9 4 3 It is obvious that East has gambled with a long diamond suit. Do you lead the ace of clubs, to see the dummy, or do you prefer something more exotic? Make your decision first, then read on. West North East South De Marco Bogen Montanari Johansen Skjetne Mistretta Simonsen Di Franco   3NT All Pass   As you can see, the winning answer to our question above was to lead a low club. A spade might lead to the goal if North wins, then cashes the king of clubs and plays on clubs, while a heart lead or switch after the ace of clubs also defeats the contract. Did you find the killing lead? Johansen led the jack of spades, to queen and ace at his table. North found the switch – but in hearts; 3NT just made for +400. Di Franco tried the ace of clubs and continued in clubs when he got a positive signal from his partner. North could win the club ace but declarer now had his nine tricks; +400 and no swing. The result in the match was 49-27 to Norway; 20-10 VPs.

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