This was an important match with Lebanon going into it in fifth place and Poland in seventh. The boards were lively and there were plenty of swings.

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

3ª lost the obvious five top tricks for -50.

3© might be put under some pressure by repeated diamond leads unless declarer drops the §K. In practice, the lead was the ªQ. Harfouche won in dummy and finessed the ©J. Next he led the §J and, after a little thought, put up the ace. A second heart finesse meant twelve tricks; +230 and 5 IMPs to Lebanon.

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

The Poles bid smoothly to the cold small slam; +1370. Perhaps it would have been more difficult had South made a pre-emptive heart raise, but I suspect they would have got there anyway.

Alas, he did not read the position and cashed the top spades for one down when no squeeze materialised; -100 and 16 IMPs to Poland.

South should not have pitched two spades so early. If declarer has ¨KQx then he has thirteen tricks, while if he has ¨Kxx one diamond can be discarded safely and South can hope to have sufficient information to know what to do when the last trump is played.

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

Both North/South pairs bid competently to slam. Poland led a heart while Lebanon led a club so that was 1 IMP to Poland.

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

In the other room, Jassem passed as dealer and Charles Nasr opened the North hand with 1ª. Piotr Tuszynski doubled for takeout and, not surprisingly, Jassem left it in. Tuszynski led a top club, ruffed, and Nasr led a low diamond, ducked to dummy's queen. A second diamond went to the ace, West pitching a heart, and Tuszynski switched to a low heart that ran to the eight. Nasr played a heart to the ace, ruffed, and ruffed the club return. He ruffed a heart, over-ruffed, and ran the spade switch to dummy's jack. There was the ªA to come for +160 but 6 IMPs to Poland.

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

When North passes South's conventional 2§ overcall, he must surely have a string of clubs, and it looks wrong to me for South to bid 2© over the first double. Not that 2§ doubled will necessarily be a great bargain, but it will surely be one less off than was 2ª doubled. The defense began with a spade to the queen and cashed the ªA before switching to ace then king of clubs. Nasr ruffed, cashed dummy's last trump, and played ace, king and the jack of hearts, establishing the eight. A club went to the queen and now came a switch to the ¨K. Nasr won the ace and tried to cash the ©8 but that was ruffed. He had carelessly pitched diamonds from both hands so the last two tricks were won by the queen and nine of diamonds; three down for -500.

2¨ showed spades and another and 3© promised longer hearts in a good hand. Pszczola passed before somebody thought to start doubling. Eidi led two top clubs and Kwiecien ruffed and led a low spade to the seven and eight. He won the heart return and played a second low spade to the queen and Eidi cashed the ªA before exiting with a heart to the nine and jack. Kwiecien cashed the ©K before playing his winning spade but that was ruffed and Eidi drew the last trump. The defense had a club and a diamond to come for down four; -200 but 7 IMPs to Poland, ahead by 39-5 IMPs.

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

Harfouche/Eidi bid: 1§ - 1© - 1ª - 2¨ - 2NT - 3© - 3NT. A low diamond was led to the ace and Harfouche unblocked the ©K then led a low club. Kwiecien rose with the §A and continued with the ¨Q to the king. Declarer tried the top hearts and when they did not divide evenly took the spade finesse. That lost and the defense had three diamonds, a heart and a club to cash for three down; -300.

Tuszynski/Jassem bid: 1§ -1© - 1ª - 3© - 4©. This contract has the merit of going less off when it fails, but could it be made? To defeat 4©, North must switch to a spade when he gets in with a club. The lead was a diamond, which Jassem won in dummy with the ace. He unblocked the ©K, crossed to the ¨K and cashed two more top hearts. Next declarer played the §9 and North failed to rise with the king to lead a spade and guarantee the contract's defeat. South, Baroudy, won the §A and carefully did not cash his winning trump, thereby keeping a control card to get in later. Instead, he played a diamond, which Jassem ruffed.

Playing a heart now and throwing a spade from table would have made the contract as the spade position would be protected and clubs could be established for two tricks. This line only fails when South has five diamonds and both club honours, as otherwise declarer cannot be forced sufficiently often to cause a problem, so is surely the best line. Jassem played a s4econd club, however, and Nasr won and switched to a spade. There is still a winning line, namely to rise with the ace and play two winning clubs, but Jassem took the spade finesse and was one down; -100 but still 5 IMPs to Poland.

Board 11. Dealer South. Love All ª A © 10 6 5 4 ¨ A 10 7 6 4 2 § 10 7 ª 9 6 ª Q 5 3 2 © K Q J 9 8 7 © 3 2 ¨ J 9 ¨ K 8 § 9 5 2 § K Q J 4 3 ª K J 10 8 7 4 © A ¨ Q 5 3 § A 8 6

5¨ made an overtrick for +420 to Poland. The Lebanese pair reached the hopeless grand slam and were doubled for -300 and a further 12 IMPs to Poland.

Eleven tricks are the limit on the hand. Declarer needs to ruff three hearts in the dummy and so has to ruff black cards to get back to hand. Eventually, that involves ruffing the third round of spades and now West can go in with the ¨J. As declarer has used the ¨Q to ruff a heart, this promotes East's ¨K8 into two tricks.

Board 14. Dealer East. Love All ª Q 7 5 2 © 10 8 ¨ J 7 5 2 § Q 9 5 ª A K 10 9 3 ª 8 © K Q 4 © A 7 3 ¨ 10 9 6 ¨ A 8 3 § 6 2 § A K J 10 7 4 ª J 6 4 © J 9 6 5 2 ¨ K Q 4 § 8 3

Harfouche/Eidi bid: 1§ - 1ª - 3§ - 3© - 3NT. This made with overtricks, of course, but in the other room Tuszynski/Jassem bid: 1§ - 1ª - 3§ - 3© - 3NT - 4NT - 6§. It is obvious that 6§ can be made by taking the club finesse, but if clubs are 3-2 then perhaps you need not risk the finesse. Tuszynski won the diamond lead and cashed the ace and king of clubs then played ace, king of spades, pitching a diamond, and ruffed a spade. He crossed to a heart to ruff another spade then went back to dummy to cash the established spade. Even had it been North who held the shorter spades, he would have been powerless to interfere in this process as any time that he ruffed in declarer would just throw his remaining loser away. +920 meant another 10 IMPs to Poland, building a pretty big lead now.

Board 16. Dealer West. EW Game ª K J 9 8 5 © Q 6 ¨ J 7 4 § Q 10 6 ª Q ª 10 7 3 © 9 4 2 © A K 8 7 3 ¨ 10 9 6 5 3 2 ¨ 8 § K J 7 § A 4 3 2 ª A 6 4 2 © J 10 5 ¨ A K Q § 9 8 5

This made a dull +140, but in the other room there was some good news for Lebanon at last.

Curiously, it was the table at which south did not come in over 1© which reached game, and the right game at that. Baroudy cuebid in response to his partner's 1ª overcall and Nasr, trading on his passed hand status, tried 2NT, expecting his partner to have some heart length to explain his having a hand worth a cuebid when he could not bid over 1©. Baroudy could see the advantages of playing in no trump and duly raised to 3NT, ending the auction. Tuszynski tried the effect of a surprise attack in clubs, leading low to the king. Back came the §J, for the queen and ace, and declarer had nine tricks; -400 and 6 badly needed IMPs to Lebanon.

Board 17. Dealer North. Love All ª K 5 4 3 © Q 6 5 ¨ K Q 3 § J 5 3 ª J 10 ª 7 6 © 7 © A 10 8 4 3 2 ¨ J 9 5 ¨ A 8 7 2 § K Q 10 9 8 7 4 § 2 ª A Q 9 8 2 © K J 9 ¨ 10 6 4 § A 6

Lebanon tried to repeat their success on the very next board. In the Open room, Harfouche passed the East hand so Kwiecien was able to open 1ª. Eidi overcalled 3§ and Pszczola bid 4ª. Eidi led his singleton heart to the ace and back came the ©10, ruffed. Kwiecien played low on the diamond switch, thereby saving one undertrick, but Harfouche won the ¨A and gave his partner a second heart ruff and there was still a club to lose; two down for -100.

Tuszynski opened 2© in the other room and Baroudy overcalled 2ª. Now Nasr did well by cuebidding rather than raising spades and Baroudy bid 3NT. Nasr thought about that for a bit but finally came up with the right answer and passed, so they had reached the game that has a chance. Jassem led the §k against 3NT and Baroudy won the ace and played the ©J, which held. Now he had a problem. He could establish nine tricks, but had to play on the suits in the right order so that the defense could not win the next suit he played on and return it to establish tricks for themselves. With the ¨A in the hand with the long hearts and long diamonds, the winning play was to lead a club towards the jack next and only then try to set up a red trick. In practice, Baroudy decided that a weak two opener was less likely to hold two aces so he cashed one spade just to make sure that they were not 4-0 then played the ©K. Tuszynski won that and cleared the hearts and had the setting tricks when Baroudy attempted to establish his ninth trick; one down for -50. A chance missed for Lebanon but still 2 IMPs to add to their comeback.

Board 18. Dealer East. NS Game ª 9 6 © 7 5 2 ¨ 10 9 7 3 § A 8 3 2 ª K 7 ª A Q 5 2 © A J 9 3 © K 10 8 4 ¨ Q J 8 5 2 ¨ K 4 § K 4 § 10 7 6 ª J 10 8 4 3 © Q 6 ¨ A 6 § Q J 9 5

The Lebanese revival suffered a setback when Poland made a game in which they went down. Both Easts played in 4© but on different leads. Harfouche had opened 1© and Kwiecien led the §Q to the king and ace. Back came a second club to the ten and jack and now Kwiecien switched to a spade. It was all down to the trump guess. Harfouche delayed the decision as long as he could. He won the spade in hand and played a the ¨4, won by Kwiecien with the ace to play a second spade. Harfouche cashed the ¨K before playing a heart to the ace then running the ©9. That lost and he was one down; -50.

In the other room, Tuszynski had opened 1§ and, while that was Polish and so did not need to mean very much, Baroudy preferred to lead a spade. Now Tuszynski saw a possibility to make the hand even if he guessed the trumps wrongly, assuming them to be 3-2. He won the ªK and cashed the ace and king of hearts, intending to throw a club from dummy on the third spade if the ©Q did not appear. When it did fall he could draw the last trump and make in comfort; 10 IMPs to Poland.

Board 20. Dealer West. Game All ª 7 5 © 10 8 5 ¨ J 10 § A K J 10 9 7 ª K J 10 9 8 3 ª — © K 6 2 © A Q J 7 4 3 ¨ 8 6 4 2 ¨ A K 7 5 § — § Q 8 6 ª A Q 6 4 2 © 9 ¨ Q 9 3 § 5 4 3 2

Poland were heading for a 25-3 VP win going into the final board but Lebanon managed a huge gain to salvage three victory points.

Both Wests opened 2ª. In the Open Room, Pszczola passed with the North hand and Harfouche responded 3©. Eidi supported hearts with a 4§ cuebid but Harfouche was not interested in more than game and signed off in 4©. On a diamond lead he was able to ruff three clubs in the dummy and make twelve tricks for +680.

In the other room, Nasr overcalled 3§ and Tuszynski, looking at a void in his partner's suit and having no guarantee of a fit elsewhere, doubled for penalties. It looks to be a reasonable enough decision, but 3§ doubled proved to be unbeatable, dummy being a sorry disappointment to Tuszynski. He led a top diamond and decided to give up his trump trick to try to cut down on the heart ruffs in dummy so switched to a trump. Nasr won and led a heart and Tuszynski won and played a second trump. Nasr was under no pressure. He drew the last trump and gave up a diamond and had one ruff and one diamond trick in the dummy for his contract. +670 and 16 IMPs to Lebanon.

The final score was 77-33 in favour of Poland, or 24-6 VPs. An important win over one of the other challenging teams.