Austria and Great Britain are always two of the favourites for this championship and this year was no exception. Both had made reasonable starts and now they met in an important match in Round 4. At half-way, Great Britain led by 26-9 IMPs. Could they build on that lead in the second set or would Austria stage a comeback?

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

Nicola Smith ruffed the opening spade lead and played a heart to dummy to take the diamond finesse. That lost and back came a heart. She won the king and, though her ¨A got ruffed, was able to scramble a lot of tricks by ruffing spades in hand and a diamond in the dummy to escape for just one down; -100.

Fischer thought ahead and repeated her diamonds before introducing the clubs (3§ could have been canapé anyway). When she got preference to 4¨, she converted to 4©, safe in the knowledge that she could not have more than doubleton support. Alas, there was no satisfactory trump fit and Bamberger had no alternative but to hope for a bit of luck in 4©. It was not forthcoming. The lead was a heart and Bamberger won and took the club finesse. That lost and back came a second trump. Bamberger won again, cashed her other top trump, and took the other minor-suit finesse. When that lost, Landy was able to cash two top spades and play a third round to the queen. Bamberger played a diamond to the ace next and Landy ruffed and had another spade to cash; down three for -300 and 5 IMPs to Great Britain.

Board 15. Dealer South. NS Game ª 9 4 3 © 10 5 4 ¨ 10 4 § A Q 7 4 2 ª A ª K Q 10 8 6 5 2 © A 9 8 3 2 © K 7 ¨ 9 7 5 ¨ A K J 8 § 9 8 6 5 § — ª J 7 © Q J 6 ¨ Q 6 3 2 § K J 10 3

Smith/Davies bid this: 1ª - 1NT - 4ª, thereby missing the excellent slam. That made twelve tricks for +480.

Fischer/Bamberger's Blue Club methods handled the deal somewhat better. Doris Fischer opened a strong club and heard a 2§, four control, response. She bid her spades and repeated them over Gaby Bamberger's 3© bid. Now Bamberger raised to 4ª and Fischer, who knew her partner had to hold at least one of the major-suit aces, jumped to 6ª. The lead was the ªJ to dummy's ace. Fischer led a diamond to her ace and drew the missing trumps then continued to run trumps. The discards persuaded her that South was clinging on to ¨Q10xx. Having got this idea into her head, she decided to play on that assumption, which meant that she would need an endplay (and therefore a misdefense). She ran all the trumps but one, cashed the ©K, then cashed the last trump and crossed to the ©A. Down to just three diamonds in hand, she exited with a club, hoping that South had come down to §A and ¨Q10. When North won the §A and cashed the ©10, the contract was one down; -50 and 11 IMPs to Great Britain when it should have been 11 IMPs to Austria.

A strange line which had little chance of success, but an example of what we are all capable of doing when we get an idea fixed in our head.

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

Probably Fischer was still unsettled by the previous board, because things went from bad to worse for her on this next one. While Smith/Davies got to 4© by West via a transfer sequence and made an overtrick after a diamond lead, Bamberger/Fischer bid it: 1NT - 2¨ (GF relay) - 3§ - 3© - 3ª - 4§ - 4¨ - 4©. Th effect of all that was to make East declarer. Not that it should really matter, but Sandra Landy led the ¨Q and Fischer failed to put up dummy's king. Landy wasted no time in showing her the error of her ways by cashing the ¨A. Next, she switched to the ª10. Fischer rose with the ace, cashed the ace and king of hearts, and played on clubs, hoping that three rounds would stand up so that she could pitch her spade loser on the fourth round as someone ruffed. When Landy was able to ruff the third club, she could cash the ªK and the contract was down one!

That was another 13 IMPs to Great Britain, who had built up their lead to a worrying 55-9. Now Austria made a comeback.

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

2ª would have been close to making so Abbey Walker's decision to compete with 3© took a lot of strain off her side. Fischer led a spade to the king and ace and Walker played the §K to the ace. Fischer switched to a diamond to the ace and back came a second diamond. Walker won and crossed to the §Q to lead a heart up. Bamberger won the ace and that was nine tricks; +140.

Maria Erhart's delayed entry into the auction caused problems for the British pair. Smith did not want to sell out to 3© holding a six-card spade suit and only a singleton heart so competed with 3ª. But Davies thought that 3ª might be invitational as it would have been in an uncontested auction Do you know what 3ª would be in your own partnership?). She converted to 3NT and the doubling started. 4ª doubled went two down for -500 and 8 IMPs to Austria.

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

Erhart's shaded opening bid meant that Smith/Davies were in a balancing auction and they stopped in 2ª, making exactly; +110. They would have been unlikely to bid game even left to themselves, of course.

At the other table, there were three passes to Fischer who opened 1¨. She raised Bamberger's 1ª response to 2ª and Bamberger jumped aggressively to game. The lead was a heart to the queen and ace, improving declarer's prospects significantly. Bamberger led the ªQ and when that suit behaved she had ten easy tricks; +620 and 11 IMPs to Austria.

Board 21. Dealer North. NS Game ª K Q J 7 © 10 6 5 3 ¨ 10 2 § A 8 3 ª 9 6 ª 8 © J 8 4 2 © A K Q ¨ 9 8 3 ¨ A K Q 7 4 § J 9 7 6 § K Q 10 4 ª A 10 5 4 3 2 © 9 7 ¨ J 6 5 § 5 2

1§ was strong and the overcall and pre-emptive raise gave the Austrians no room to explore the hand. Fischer doubled for takeout and Bamberger bid her four-card heart suit. Walker led the ªK and continued with a second spade honour, forcing dummy to ruff. Bamberger played the §K and after a little thought Walker won and led a third spade. Bamberger ruffed in hand, cashed dummy's trump honours and crossed to the §J to cash the ©J. When the trumps failed to divide evenly, she took two clubs and a diamond before Walker ruffed in and cashed her last spade for down one; -50.

Five of either minor would be a successful contract. Could Smith/Davies get there, given a free run? No. Smith opened 2§, usually game-forcing, and rebid 3¨ over the 2¨ negative response. Davies bid 3© and Smith raised to 4©, ending the auction. Erhart led the ªK and switched to a trump, but when Davies played the §K she ducked. Davies drew some trumps now before continuing clubs and Erhart could win the §A and force her with a spade. The contract was again one down; no swing.

Austria had recovered a little, but the final result was still a useful 57-29 win to Great Britain, 20-10 VPs.