Three down vulnerable – winning bridge by Ace Ventura Dealer West, All vul Board 4   ♠ Q J 10 7 4 ♥ 8 5 ♦ K Q J 9 4 ♣ Q ♠ A K 8 3 ♥ A K 9 4 ♦ 7 ♣ A 7 9 2 ♠ 6 2 ♥ Q J 7 6 2 ♦ 10 3 ♣ K J 7 5   ♠ 9 5 ♥ 10 3 ♦ A 8 6 5 2 ♣ 8 6 4 3 West North East South De Falco Jacobs Olivieri Auken 1♣ 3♣* Dble 5♦ ble All Pass     In the Closed Room this was the last board to play and there was not much time left. The clock showed that there were only 4 min 38 sec left to play when the auction kicked off. Dano de Falco opened 1♣ and George Jacobs found a functional weapon in his holster: 3♣ showing a two-suiter in spades and diamonds. Despite the vulnerability Sabine Auken really pushed the cards, up the five level. 5♦ may seem too much, but when you think of it Auken’s decision was sensible, since she could expect three losers in the rounded colours and if North only has as little as something like diamond king with K-Q in spades the sacrifice would succeed. De Falco felt quite satisfied with the progress so he doubled and Gabriella Olivieri didn’t find any reason to do other than to bid a sensible pass. The clock now was ticking quickly and with only 1 min 09 sec left for the play, Auken again made an excellent performance – three seconds later she simply claimed eight tricks; three down and -800. I doubt Auken/Jacobs thought this was their big swing in the match, but it was. The comparison from Monica Cuzzi and Alfredo Versace was nothing to complain about. The auction at the other table was: West North East South Versace Abdou Cuzzi Goldberg 1♣ 1♠ Dble Pass 3♥ Pass 4♣ Pass 4♦ Pass 4♥ Pass 4NT Pass 5♣ Pass 5♦ Pass 6♥ All Pass Versace/Cuzzi had all the time they needed to reach the nice small slam. 3♥ was forcing, 4♣ and 4♦ cuebids. 5♣ denied any key-card and when Versace asked for the trump queen Cuzzi could bid the slam. The declarer didn’t put to the test since the queen of clubs dropped easily; +1430 and 12 IMPs to Jabobs. This board was the only Team Jacobs won. Nevertheless it was enough to win the match by 16-14 VPs (12-8 IMPs).

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