The gold and silver medallists from two years ago met in the morning match, both being very much in contention once again.

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

Two different routes to the same spot persuaded the respective Wests to try two different opening leads. Veronique Bessis led the §10. Pat Davies won dummy's ace and led ace and another diamond to the queen and king. Back came a second club. Davies gave up on that being from some Q109 combination and rose with the king. She played a spade to the king and ace then ruffed her last diamond and passed the ª9 to the jack. When Bessis switched to a heart she had no option but to try the queen. That lost and D'Ovidio cashed the §Q then gave her partner a trump promotion; two down for -100.

Heather Dhondy made the aggressive lead of a low diamond. Sylvie Willard ran that to her queen, unblocked the ¨A and crossed to the ªA to ruff a diamond. She also passed the ª9 next but there was no problem with trump promotions - she could just get back to hand by ruffing the third heart - so had ten tricks; +420 and 11 IMPs to France.

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

McGowan/Dhondy bid: 1© - 2§ - 2ª - 3¨ - 3ª - 4©. After a diamond lead McGowan could ruff a spade in the dummy and, though this was over-ruffed, that was the defensive trump trick gone; +680.

2§ was the French artificial semi-force and 2¨ a relay. Now 4§ showed the major two-suiter and Bessis just blasted 6NT on power. Nicola Smith led the §K to the ace and Bessis took the spade finesse then cashed the top spades. On seeing the 4-2 break she knew she was down. She crossed to a diamond to play the §J to the queen and smith switched to the ©Q. Bessis gave up a spade now for one down; -100 and 13 IMPs to Great Britain.

The alternative line open to declarer was to hope that clubs were 7-1 and to attempt to duck a heart into the South hand. That plus a successful spade finesse or possibly a squeeze would see the contract home. It would have been equally unsuccessful on the actual lie, of course.

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

Both Easts opened 1§ in third seat and heard a 1ª response from partner. McGowan raised to 2ª, which ended the auction. That contract had to fail; -50.

Meanwhile, Catherine D'Ovidio passed 1ª and Davies doubled. Bessis converted to 1NT and played there, making an overtrick for +120 and 5 IMPs to France.

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

Great Britain missed a chance for a swing on this deal. Bessis opened 1NT and D'Ovidio transferred. Now Bessis recounted her points and jumped to 4©! Smith led a diamond to the king and ace and Bessis played ©A then ©J to dummy's queen. She finessed the ª10 and Smith won the jack. A club switch would have led to two down but Smith could not be certain of the spade position so could not know her partner held the §K. She exite passively with a spade and Bessis escaped for one down; - 100.

In the other room, Dhondy/McGowan bid; 2§ - 2¨ - 2NT. The lead was a diamond to the king and ace and Dhondy cashed five rounds of hearts. On the hearts, North threw two spades while South threw none, but something about the pattern of discards convinced Dhondy that the ªK was offside. She exited with a club, hoping for a defensive error. One was forthcoming, but only to allow her to get out for one down when the defense could have taken the rest; - 100 and a flat board. A simple spade finesse would have brought home the contract.

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

After two rounds of diamonds, Smith got the hearts right to make an overtrick; +170.

What a mess! 3© was pre-emptive and put Liz McGowan under considerable pressure. Despite the lack of spades, she felt that she was too strong not to make a takeout double. She tried 4§ over the 3ª response but Dhondy pressed on with spades. Had Willard been able to resist doubling 4ª, that contract would have had no chance, but she thought her opponents were in trouble with nowhere to go and doubled, then doubled everything else which came her way. It takes a spade lead to beat 5¨, and the bidding had hardly made that an obvious choice. Benedicte Cronier led a club to the jack and queen and Willard switched to ace and another heart. That forced dummy to ruff, but Dhondy could just draw trumps and take the ruffing club finesse to make her contract; +550 and 12 IMPs to Great Britain.

Great Britain led by 25-20 IMPs at the half-way point in the match. The second half was also very even and Britain held on to win by 45-41 IMPs, 16-14 VPs, doing neither side any harm in their pursuit of a place in Bermuda.