Then match between the second and third placed teams of Netherlands and France proved to be high in quality and low in IMP-exchange as a consequence. France won their first IMPs on Board 3, when Avon/Lustin managed to beat North's 3NT in the Closed Room:

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

In the Open Room Bessis/d'Ovidio played it safe:

D'Ovidio had no problems scoring nine tricks losing a spade, two clubs and a trump. +110 meant 4 IMPs to France. This could have been a nervous result, as it needs a club lead to beat 3NT. In some of the other matches quite a couple of North/South pairs scored game, but they would not have done so against Avon-Lustin.

Three boards later the Dutch team took the lead:

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

Vriend's opening bid silenced the opponents. When Bessis tried to secure a possible number of spade tricks by leading a trump, Vriend had no problems at all. She mmediately lost the king of trumps and a club and two spades later on to collect nine tricks, 110 to the Netherlands.

At the other table Pasman-Simons got into the bidding, and finally played in 3©. This made and the Dutch team gained 6 IMPs on this partscore double swing.

Then all of a sudden there was fire in the air:

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

In the Closed Room Pasman-Simons had reach their best spot and bid the North/South cards up to 6§. +920 to the Netherlands. The Open Room saw a very lively auction, with everybody having a lot to say:

It seems that North took her partner's 5§ as a cue bid and jumped right into slam - only that it was the wrong one. Van der Pas found a Lightner double to indicate a club lead - only that Vriend didn't find it and led - what seemed obvious to her - the ¨4. Van der Pas now had to look for another solution of how to beat the slam. She won the ¨Q and continued with another top diamond. Vriend ruffed with the ©7 and forced dummy to ruff with the ace of trumps. After that there was no hope for declarer anymore. D'Ovidio played two rounds of trumps followed by a club to the ace. Van der Pas ruffed and decided not to cash her remaining top diamond, but switched to a spade instead. Now d'Ovidio was only one down, but the Netherlands scored 14 IMPs.

On the next board it seems the Dutch pair had a misunderstanding as well, or was it just cautious bidding:

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

It can be taken for sure that Vriend intended to show a huge two-suiter in clubs and the other major by bidding 4§. When Bessis raised her partner, West for some reason did not feel that she a bid, so North was left to play in 4©.

The defense started with the §K and declarer ducked. East continued with ¨J to queen, king and ace. Declarer finessed in clubs and played §A. West ruffed with the ©Q and North overruffed to draw another round of hearts. East, in with the ace of trumps, cashed ªA and played another spade. As the ªQ was offside, declarer could only discard one diamond on the ªK and had to lose another diamond. One down, and +50 to the Netherlands.

The French ladies narrowed the IMP-gap immediately, when Avon-Lustin bid and made 4ª in the other room to gain 11, trailing only by 5.

On the next board both North/South pairs must have felt they had another big result in their column:

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

Bessis did not know if she was to regret her first round bid, when d'Ovidio forced her to game. A heart was led, and North easily justified the French bidding. She cleared the diamonds and was home, as East/West could not have taken more than just two spade tricks and a club. In the end, declarer went home 11 tricks and must have been disappointed when she found out that the Dutch North/South pair in the Closed Room had played in 3NT as well. As they made only one overtrick, France gained 1 IMP on a board, where they would have scored heavily in many of the other matches.

On the last two boards France gained an additional 5 IMPs, and went back into the lead at halftime by 1 IMP, 21-20. The battle went on in the second half with both teams not giving much away. France finally won 49-44, 16-14 VPs.