After a lot of flat and unspectacular boards in round No. 4, the Vue-graph commentators suggested, that if the deals in the next round would look alike, one should skip the bridge transmission and replace it with the recorded highlights of the Eurovision song contest - minus the sound, of course!

Now, you can't really say that the deals of round No. 5 were dull or boring! 'Fireworks' started on the very first board with a major swing in almost every match. On Vue-Graph Belgium and the Netherlands were no exceptions to the rule:

Board 1. Dealer North. Love All ª J 10 9 8 © 10 9 5 ¨ Q J 8 4 2 § 3 ª Q 5 3 ª A K 4 © A Q J 7 © K 3 ¨ A K 10 9 3 ¨ 7 6 5 § 5 § A J 8 6 4 ª K 4 2 © A 5 4 ¨ A K 8 § 10 9 7 3

While in the Closed Room the Dutch East/West pair, Muller - de Boer, bid up to 6¨ and suffered a two-trick defeat due to the bad trump break, the Dutch South player in the Open got involved with 3§ after East's 1NT opening. West doubled for take-out, which East was happy to pass out. Five down meant 15 IMPs to Belgium.

One board later South was in trouble again. At both tables East opened the bidding I§/1 ¨ respectively and South bid 1 NT. When West doubled both South players escaped to 2§, which at both tables was doubled again.

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

Belgium went down two in the Closed Room, but the Dutch South, Nab, escaped for one down. After a diamond lead to the ace and a diamond back, South drew two rounds of trumps and continued with the ªQ. West failed to cover, and the defense now could only take two spade tricks instead of three.

In the match between Sweden and Monaco, Sweden played 1NT in both rooms! East scored +560 in 1NT redoubled making seven tricks, and South added another +180 in 1NT doubled just made.

Then the Vugraph audience was ready to witness the only defense to beat a 1 NT- contract, won at all (!) the other tables.

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

After South's 1§ opening, North (Bertens) became declarer in 1NT. Now East, Guy van Middelem, was the only player to select the queen of spades as his initial lead! Quite understandably North misread the spade situation and won the first trick with the ace. Then he 'misguessed' the second suit by leading a diamond to the king, just to let an unsuccessful §10 run to East's jack. Back came ª 5 and, to North's surprise, West, Zvi Engel, scored the jack and furthermore found the heart switch after which declarer ended up with two down, losing three hearts, a spade, a diamond and three clubs.

Another breath-taker was the 7 ª grand slam on Board Nr. 4, which will be discussed somewhere else in the bulletin. Two boards later van Middelem - Engel hit the jackpot again:

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

Another major swing in many matches, and once again the Vue-Graph actors showed us, where it came from. Nobody can blame East/West for bidding 4 ª, as the Dutch pair did in the Closed Room. A heart ruff ends all hopes and dreams, so everybody playing in that contract went down.

The Belgian fans must have been happy to see Zvi Engel treat the West cards. His partner had opened 1§ and South introduced his suit by bidding a natural 2§. Now Engel simply jumped to 3NT, which inspiredthe commentators to state that the best headline for this excellent decision should be: 'Spade fit? What spade fit?' Engel lost the obvious three tricks and Belgium piled up more IMPs.

Then there was Board 12. Though it was a push, it was far from being a bore. Both North/South pairs bid up to 4 ª and received the strongest lead, ¨ A.

Board 12. Dealer West. NS Game ª A K J 10 3 2 © A Q J 10 ¨ K § Q 8 ª Q 9 8 5 ª 7 © 9 8 7 5 © K 6 ¨ 8 2 ¨ A Q J 9 7 6 § J 7 2 § K 10 9 6 ª 6 4 © 4 3 2 ¨ 10 5 4 3 § A 5 4 3

At some other tables the contract was won after a club lead, when a spade or heart lead gives it all away as well. But the question was, could anyone succeed after the diamond attack?

Philippe Cronier, sitting in the audience, was quick to spot the double dummy solution. You follow suit with the king of diamonds, ruff the ¨Q-continuation and play © A and a small heart. East has to win the trick and may choose between three terrible options: a) giving declarer the queen of clubs b) delivering him ¨10 on a silver plate or finally c) helping him to finesse in trumps.

Not surprising though nobody found this line, so both the Belgian and the Dutch declarer went one down, losing a trick in each suit. Finally the two teams missed a big chance to beat a vulnerable game, can you do better?

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

Here is what happenend at both tables: Both Wests ended up in 3 NT and received a heart lead to king and ace. Next they played a club to ten and queen, took the heart return after one round of hold-up, double finessed in spades and claimed the contract. Now, have you spotted South's big chance as quick as P.O. Sundelin did on Vue-Graph? What if South ducks the queen of clubs…? This play simply takes away the vital §J-entry for the second spade finesse.

In the course of the match the Netherlands had strong comeback, but Belgium's outstanding performance on the first ten boards, when they had built up a more than 50 IMPs-lead at a certain point, made them win this prestigious match of the two neighbors by 20-10 (65-41).

And disappointed fans of the Song Contest in Jerusalem will have to wait another couple of rounds to see Sweden's Charlotte Nilsson move her lips to the winning song from this year's competition.