A fantastic show for the audience - that was the appropriate description of the Vu Graph match between Italy and Portugal. It contained all a spectator is looking for: interesting hands, lively bidding sequences and flashy plays.

Portugal was off to an excellent start. They had already collected a couple of IMPs on the first boards, when the computer decided to deal the following hand:

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

It seems the Italians found out quite early that they had no club control. They stopped safely in 4ª making five, when South led §5.

In the Open Room the Italian supporters expected a big swing, as the Portuguese cue bids in the reds suit were likely to tell de Falco what to lead.

But - surprise, surprise - de Falco led the ¨J! Declarer ruffed, played a heart to the ace, ruffed a diamond, discarded a club on the ©K, ruffed a heart, ruffed a diamond, ruffed a heart, ruffed a diamond and claimed; Portugal +1430 and 13 IMPs.

When on the next board Italy went down in 6© while their opponents played in 5© making, Portugal was in the lead by 29:0!

Then the winds changed and Italy entered the scoreboard:

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

Barbosa led ¨10 to the queen and king. Ferraro drew trumps and played four rounds of diamonds, discarding a heart from dummy. Ten easy tricks, Italy +620.

In the Open Room Bocchi - Duboin were one of only two pairs in the whole field to beat this game:

South started with a heart to North's ace who did not switch to his singleton diamond, but §2 instead. South cashed §AQ and returned a heart to the jack. Declarer played three rounds of trumps, cashed another heart, played a diamond to the ace and a diamond to the … king. South scored his ¨Q and 4ª was one down, Italy +100.

The next board was exciting as well:

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

In the Closed Room de Falco made a very good bid, received a helpful lead and was the only declarer so far to score game.

South opted for a small diamond and de Falco won the first trick with the ¨J. When the spade finesse failed, South finally switched to a club. North took his ace and drove out East's §K, but declarer cashed four rounds of spades and the ¨A and ended up with ten tricks, scoring ©AKJ as well, when North's discarded a heart early in the play.

In the Open Room, Portugal reached 4ª, a contract, in which everybody else had gone down:

Was this another swing for Italy? The defense started with §A and §Q to the king and ruffed. South returned a heart to dummy's king and Castanheira found the right play to make his game. He cashed ªAK, played a heart to the ace, ruffed a heart bringing down the queen, reentered dummy via a club ruff and discarded a diamond on dummy's jack of hearts, Portugal +420. Well done, and no swing but far from being a bore.

High standard of bidding and play could be seen on board 10 as well:

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

Italy, without mentioning their club fit, reached the 6¨-slam, that depended on locating the §Q.

Ferraro had an easy ride, when North after a couple of spades and hearts discarded two clubs on West's never-ending trumps, Italy +1370.

The VuGraph audience knew that this was not going to happen in the Open Room, as Portuguese pair discovered their club fit and decided to play there:

South led the ªA and declarer was in trouble. He to manage to draw trumps without any loser and to set up the diamonds without running into a ruff. Castanheira demonstrated how easy this was. He ruffed the spade lead, ran the §J, played a club to the ten and led a diamond to the 9 and king, Portugal +1370.

Needless to say, that his play would have given him a lot of IMPs in many of the other matches, here it was just good enough for a push.

And another highlight was already on its way:

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

In the Open Room Portugal pushed the Italians to the five-level, but missed the chance to beat their contract:

West led the ¨A, but did not find the spade switch. In with the §A, the defenders could have played another spade, to take away one of dummy's trumps and kill the clubs tricks. Diegues did not realize this opportunity and switched to a heart. North won with the 7 and drove out the §A. West now found the spade switch, but it was all too late. Declarer took the ace, played a heart to the king, ruffed a club with the ©Q, played a heart to the jack and ace and claimed, Italy +650. In the Closed Room Ferraro - de Falco celebrated a victory for their methods, when they pulled a nasty little gadget out of their "system bag", which took the opponents by surprise:

First of all, Ferraro's system allowed him to open his four-card major, which shut out North, who did not feel like bidding 2©. De Falco came up with his two-way bid and South ended up playing 3§ down one, Italy +100.

Spectators liked de Falco's line in an insignificant looking 1NT-contract on the very next board:

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

The bidding in both rooms was identical:

In the Open Room Castanheira won the club lead with the jack, cashed the §A and led a low diamond towards the jack. South smelled danger, so he jumped in with the queen, saw partner's 10 and switched to ªA and ªJ. North overtook the second spade to cash three more, which left declarer with exactly seven tricks, Portugal +90. In the Closed Room against de Falco the §10 was led as well, but de Falco continued with §A and a flashy spade! South was trapped and contributed the jack. North overtook with the queen and returned the king, but South had to win the ace and could do no better than to return a heart which North ducked to declarer's 10. After the fog had cleared up declarer came home with ten tricks, Italy +180.

Another low-level contract gave defenders and declarers a hard time:

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

In both rooms the bidding ended in 2ª:

Against de Falco South led §J to West's ace. Declarer played ªK to North's ace and finessed in hearts, when North returned the ©8. Instead of giving his partner a ruff, South played another heart and declarer was all right again. He drew another round of trumps pinning North's ª9 and lost five tricks only, Italy +110.

At the other table Diegues played the hand from the other side. North led his singleton club to the ten and king. ªK to the ace and a heart switch looked suspicious to West, so he went up with the ace and put ªJ on the table as well, Portugal +110 to push the board again.

Then Italy scored "sticks and wheels", when West made an overoptimistic bid:

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

Bocchi led a diamond to his partner's queen. Duboin cashed ¨A and gave North a ruff. Back came a club to the ace and declarer misguessed the hearts to lose a trick to North's queen. Later on the defense scored three more tricks in spades, clubs and hearts, so that was +1100 to Italy.

In the Open Room East/West did not even enter the bidding;

East started with the §A and switched to a low heart. West won with the king and returned a club. Declarer had to lose two more tricks in the trump suit and finished one light, Italy another +50.

Portugal must have been still under shock in the Open Room on the next board, in which they lost a lot of IMPs instead of regaining a big number:

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

In the Closed Room, Italy missed 6¨:

At the other table Portugal seemed to be on the way up high, but all of a sudden West's thoughts were led astray:

East introduced his longest suit on the four-level, and even if West regarded this as non-forcing, he still has a raise to 5 in his own hand. The moment he passed 4¨, his mind must have been somewhere else, probably still in 4© doubled, so Italy gained 6 Imps, when they could have lost 11.

62 unanswered IMPs to Italy turned the match completely, the final score being 62-29, 22-8 VPs.