Sweden and Great Britain are two countries who are usually involved in the chase for medals and qualifying places. This time around, Sweden had a strong team that was highly fancied while Great Britain looked less powerful. Monday morning's VuGraph match gave us an early opportunity to see whether those judgements were well founded.

Sweden scored an overtrick IMP on Board 1 then something more substantial on the second board.

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

Peter Fredin's 1§ opening could have been either a weak no trump type or any 17+ hand and the 2§ rebid confirmed the former handtype. He had time to show his spade support then suggest no trump and Magnus Lindkvist could see that a heart lead might prove awkward in a spade contract so opted for 3NT. The lead was a low heart and Fredin played on spades to take ten tricks when North won the ªQ and tried to cash the hearts; +430.

Gerald Tredinnick opened a strong club and Gerald responded with a natural positive. Gerald showed his balanced handtype then jumped to game in the known 5-3 fit. The lead was the jack of hearts, covered by the king and ace, and Mats Nilsland continued with queen and another heart. After considerable thought, Stuart ruffed with the seven and was over-ruffed. When the ªQ did not fall, he was one down; -50 and 10 IMPs to Sweden.

It looks correct to make the winning play of ruffing the third heart with the ªJ. That gains when North holds three to the queen but is wrong when South has queen doubleton or North the bare queen, which is less likely. Any time that South holds three cards, it doesn't matter what declarer plays on the heart.

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

The light Acol two-over-one response led to a simple auction to the obvious game. Magnus Lindkvist led the §2 to the nine, ten and king. Alan Mould led a diamond to the king then the nine of hearts to king and ace. Next he tried a spade and Lindkvist rose with the king to lead a second club to the jack and queen. Mould ducked but won the club continuation perforce and led a spade to the queen then took the heart finesse. He cashed the ©A and ªA and, with nothing else to do, exited with his last spade. Lindkvist had thrown away as many diamonds as he could, but was still down to ace and another and so had to give dummy the final trick; +600.

1§ was strong and the 1NT overcall showed either spades and diamonds or hearts and clubs. Fallenius showed at least semi-positive values with long diamonds but then had a problem over Nilsland's 2© rebid. Which two suits did East hold? If spades and diamonds, then 3NT would be the spot, but if hearts and clubs, which seemed roughly as likely, then to jump to 3NT with only §J93 seemed wrong. Fallenius manufactured a spade bid then, when Nilsland raised, tried 3NT. Nilsland thought about that but eventually worked it out and passed. The lead was the ª8 and Fallenius played low from dummy when perhaps the ten is better for his later communications. Stuart won the ªK, nine from declarer, and switched to a low diamond to the king. Declarer played the ©9 to the jack and queen and tried a low spade to his seven then the ¨Q to the ace. The ªQ was an entry to the established diamond and Fallenius crossed to a top club to cash his major-suit aces; +600 and a flat board.

It would have been better for East to put in the ªJ on the second round, thereby holding declarer to one entry in the suit, but though that would hold him to only one diamond trick, the heart finesse would provide the ninth trick.

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

When 2NT was misunderstood and raised to game and Fredin doubled, Mould ran to 4¨, thinking that he had shown both red suits by the route he had taken, but the subtleties of the auction were wasted on Gary Hyett, who passed 4¨. After a trump lead, Mould made ten tricks; +130.

1¨ was Precision and 2ª weak. When Fallenius doubled again, Nilsland assumed that he was likely to have four hearts as well as a good hand because he had doubled 1¨ when clearly very short in spades. Stuart led a top spade then switched to a low club to the ace. Nilsland played two more clubs, ruffing, then led the ©10 to king and ace. He ruffed a fourth club then led a diamond to the queen and king. A spade came back and he ruffed, unblocked the hearts, and crossed to the ¨A; +450 and 8 IMPs to Sweden.

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

Would you open the North hand? Nilsland did not and Fallenius opened 1¨ in third seat. Nilsland responded 2NT, both minors, and Fallenius just settled for 3¨, where he made twelve tricks; +170.

Mould did open the North hand, leading to game, of course: 1¨ - 1© - 2§ - 2ª - 3§ - 3¨ - 3© - 5¨. Mould won the spade lead and immediately played on clubs. The favourable club position meant a comfortable eleven tricks; +400 and 6 IMPs to Great Britain.

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

Mould/Hyett bid: 1ª - 2§ - 3ª - 4ª, and Mould made twelve tricks; +680. The Swedes in the other room got into a long involved auction in which both had tough decisions to make. Nilsland opened a strong club and received a 1NT response, positive with clubs. He bid 2ª and Fallenius chose 3¨ rather than the alternative of 2NT to leave his partner to make the next descriptive bid. Now Nilsland used fourth-suit-forcing, 3© showing something in hearts but no clear direction, and Fallenius had a problem. He was way too good for 3NT and didn't like his hearts for 4NT. He compromised with 4§ and Nilsland gave preference to 4¨, secure in the knowledge that he had already denied four-card support. Again Fallenius had a problem. He emerged with a jump to 5© and Nilsland's body language showed how much he enjoyed that piece of torture. Thinking that he perhaps faced 6-5 in the minors, he offered 6§ and Fallenius, whose 5© had been catering for a possible major two-suiter, went back to 6¨, which ended the auction.

The presence of the ª10 makes both 6ª and 6NT more attractive propositions, but as the cards lie 6¨ is also unbeatable. The lead was the ©10, run to the king, and back came a second heart to dummy's ace. Fallenius cashed the §A, led a diamond to his ace and ruffed a club with the jack. Now he finessed the ¨10, cashed the ¨K and had the remainder; +1370 and 12 not unfortunate IMPs to Sweden.

Board 13. Dealer North. Game All ª A K 7 © J 9 7 6 3 ¨ 7 2 § J 8 4 ª J 10 9 6 3 ª Q 8 2 © 10 5 © A 8 ¨ A 9 4 3 ¨ Q J 10 § 10 2 § K 7 6 5 3 ª 5 4 © K Q 4 2 ¨ K 8 6 5 § A Q 9

2ª made comfortable enough for +110 to Great Britain. Meanwhile, Mould/Hyett bid aggressively to 4©, offering the opportunity for a big gain. The lead was the ¨Q, followed by the ¨J then ¨10, ruffed by declarer. Mould played a heart and Lindkvist won the ace and exited passively with his remaining trump. Mould won the ©K, crossed to the ªK, and led the §J to king and ace. It all came down to the club guess and when he took the finesse of the nine, losing to the doubleton ten, he was one down; -100 and a flat board.

Board 14. Dealer East. Love All ª 2 © 10 8 ¨ A K Q 9 8 7 4 § Q 5 4 ª K J 3 ª A Q9 6 5 4 © A K 5 3 © 9 6 4 ¨ J 10 ¨ 5 3 § J 9 3 2 § A 6 ª 10 8 7 © Q J 7 2 ¨ 6 2 § K 10 8 7

It is the Tredinnick style to jump to game on some quite good hands in high-card terms, trading on the limited nature of their 1ª openings. Here, Nilsland was caught and had little option but to bid 5¨ over 4ª, where he was duly doubled. The defense led rounds of two spades and Nilsland ruffed, cashed a few trumps, and played on hearts. Having established a heart winner and discovered the position of the §A in the process, he had no difficulty in getting out for two down: -300. But 4ª rated to fail so that looked like a good result for the twins.

The slower approach of Fredin allowed Mould to get his hand off his chest at a lower level so that he could leave his opponents to get on with trying to make 4ª. The defense cashed two diamonds and Mould now switched to the ©10. Lindkvist won in dummy and ran five rounds of spades. On the fourth round, Hyett safely threw a club but, on the fifth he threw a fatal heart. Lindkvist ducked a heart now and had his tenth trick; +420 and 3 IMPs to Sweden when it might have been 8 IMPs to Great Britain.

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

Having opened the two-way club, Lindkvist had an awkward bid over the negative double and decided to show his handtype by rebidding 1NT. Often, that would have worked out just fine, but this time Fredin just jumped to 3NT, expecting that to be the best game if his partner had a spade stopper. He was swiftly disabused of this notion as the defense took the first seven tricks; -150.

The redouble showed a top spade honour and effectively meant that East/West would not try 3NT. It also allowed Stuart to pass and leave the next move up to his brother. Gerald still fancied 3NT so asked for a stopper but Gerald had to bid his club suit. Now Gerald would really have liked to make a non-forcing 4¨ bid but, of course, it sounded forcing to Stuart and he bid 4© on the way to 5¨, just in case that suited his partner. When Gerald corrected to 5¨, Nilsland double don the strength of his two aces facing an overcall.

5¨ doubled was down one; -100 but 2 IMPs to Great Britain.

Board 19. Dealer South. EW Game ª A J 8 5 © A 9 8 7 4 ¨ 6 2 § J 2 ª K 9 7 ª 10 4 © K Q 3 2 © 10 5 ¨ A 10 9 ¨ Q J 8 7 4 3 § K 10 8 § 9 6 3 ª Q 6 3 2 © J 6 ¨ K 5 § A Q 7 5 4

Fallenius opened 2ª, four spades, a longer minor, and around 10-13 HCP. Gerald overcalled a natural 2NT and Nilsland jumped to 4ª. That looks a little pushy in view of the overcall and it proved to be one too many. Gerald led the ©K to the ace and Fallenius ran the §J at trick two. Gerald cashed the ¨A and, though he then exited passively with a club, there was nowhere for the heart loser to go. When Gerald eventually took his spade winner, he had the heart to cash for one down; -50.

The one-level opening led to a quite different auction, enabling Mould/Hyett to stop at a lower level, though also meaning that they missed the spade fit. The lead against 2© was the ª10, covered all round. Mould ran the §J to the king and back came the ª7, on which he played the eight. Now he played three rounds of clubs, pitching his diamonds as West ruffed in. Fredin gave his partner a spade ruff and Lindkvist switched to the ¨Q for the king, ace and ruffed. Mould played a heart to the jack and queen and just had to concede one more heart; +110 and 4 IMPs to Great Britain.

The match ended in a 38-12 IMP, 20-10 VP win for Sweden, confirming their place near the top of the table at this early stage.