These two teams were beginning to fall out of contention, so a draw would be no good to either of them.

Dealer North. Game All ª Q © Q 10 5 3 ¨ K Q J 10 6 § K 8 2 ª 9 8 5 ª A K 6 2 © A K © 6 4 ¨ 9 7 5 4 3 ¨ 2 § 10 9 6 § A Q 7 5 4 3 ª J 10 7 4 3 © J 9 8 7 2 ¨ A 8 § J Open Room West North East South Jones Simmonsen Bakshi Jafs 1¨ 2§ Dble 3§ 3© 3ª 4© Dble All Pass

North didn't have the values for his Three Heart bid and the end result was an easy 500 for Great Britain, Jones leading the king of spades, switching to his singleton diamond and soon getting a diamond ruff.

North's Four Hearts was doubtless motivated by his team's need of a big win, but it has to be your lucky day if you are going to getaway with huge overbids. This wasn't and the penalty was 800. 7 IMPs to Finland.

That was small beer compared to what happened next.

Dealer East. EW Game ª Q 10 3 © A 10 9 6 3 ¨ A 6 § A K 10 ª A K 9 8 6 5 2 ª — © 5 2 © Q J 8 ¨ 7 2 ¨ K Q J 10 9 8 4 3 § Q 8 § 6 3 ª J 7 4 © K 7 4 ¨ 5 § J 9 7 5 4 2 Open Room West North East South Jones Simmonsen Bakshi Jafs 4¨ Pass 4ª Dble All Pass

Not an easy bidding problem for North! He was really too strong for a simple Three Heart so he should perhaps have chosen a double or 3NT, the latter being the winning choice on this occasion. Declarer made twelve tricks and doubtless though he was about to lose a game swing. Well, he was wrong.

In Open Room the West's dubious entry into the auction cost -1100, so this time Finland picked up 13 IMPs. Believe it or not, there was more to come.

Dealer North. EW Game ª 10 7 3 2 © Q 10 8 7 4 ¨ A J § 10 6 ª K J 5 ª 8 6 © J 6 3 © A K 9 ¨ K 10 9 8 5 ¨ 7 4 2 § A 4 § K 9 7 5 3 ª A Q 9 4 © 5 2 ¨ Q 6 3 § Q J 8 2 Open Room West North East South Jones Simmonsen Bakshi Jafs 2¨ Pass 2ª Pass Pass Dble Pass 3NT Pass Pass Dble Rdble All Pass

North's opening bid promised at least 4-4 in the majors. 3NT is very pushy, but not unreasonable when you have a good idea about the opponents distribution and the whereabouts of the high cards before a card is played. On a spade lead 3NT would surely have made, but perhaps the redouble gilded the lily, as North started with the ten of clubs. Jones won in dummy and played a diamond to his ten. North won and played a club to declarer's ace. The jack of hearts was covered and after winning in dummy declarer played another diamond to the king and ace. So he lost a spade, three diamonds and two clubs, -1000.

Declarer lost two spades, two hearts and two clubs to go one down. He was doubtless charmed to discover he had lost 14 IMPs on this board! Finland continued to have the better of things and went on to record a victory by 66-40 IMPs, 20-10 VP