The Dutch were in 7th place and Denmark up to fourth when the teams met on VuGraph in Round 15. On Board 2 there was an interesting borderline slam. As both tables stopped in game we write it up elsewhere. The next deal gave North a chance to shine in defence and Ricco van Prooijen rose to the occasion. As Thomas Charlsen of Norway found the identical defence in the match against Hungary, and the bidding was the same at all three tables, we give you the players at every table:

Board 3. Dealer South. EW Game ª A 5 3 © Q 10 8 7 ¨ K Q J 9 § A 9 ª 4 ª 10 8 2 © A K 9 5 4 2 © J 6 ¨ A 6 ¨ 10 8 7 3 § Q J 8 7 § K 6 5 3 ª K Q J 9 7 6 © 3 ¨ 5 4 2 § 10 4 2 West North East South Wijma Madsen Zwerver Brøndum Kristensen v. Prooijen Nøhr de Wijs Trenka Charlsen Winkler Kristoffersen 3ª 4© Dble All Pass

All three Norths led ¨K against Four Hearts doubled. West won and led a low heart. All three Norths rose with ©Q. Madsen then erred by switching to spades. Declarer was able to draw trumps, using a spade ruff to return, and concede only one off.

At the other two tables we describe, van Prooijen and Charlsen both saw the advantage of playing ace and another club without cashing any of their side winners. Declarer won the second club and could cross to the jack of hearts, but he had no quick way back to hand to draw North's trumps. Whatever declarer plays next the defence can obtain a club ruff.

For Hungary, Trenka anticipated the ruff, and, instead of going over to ©J, simply played top trumps from hand, conceding a second trump when they did not break.

After winning the second club, Kristensen crossed to ©J and then played a third club, suffering the ruff at once. Better perhaps, is to play ¨10.

Then North has to win and must underlead his ªA to get the ruff. Netherlands and Norway therefore both recorded a 7 IMP gain against Four Hearts doubled only one off at the other table.

The next deal supported the old adages that 'silence is golden' and 'careless talk cost lives':

Board 4. Dealer West. Game All ª 10 9 4 © 8 ¨ A 7 6 5 § Q 9 6 5 3 ª A 8 3 2 ª K Q 7 6 5 © K 4 © A 9 6 ¨ K Q 8 3 2 ¨ 9 § A 8 § K 10 7 2 ª J © Q J 10 7 5 3 2 ¨ J 10 4 § J 4 Open Room West North East South Wijma Madsen Zwerver Brøndum 1¨ Pass 1ª Pass 3ª Pass 4§ Pass 4¨ Pass 4© Pass 4NT Pass 5ª Pass 6ª All Pass

Both tables reached Six Spades by East, the key difference being that at one South had made a weak jump overcall of Three Hearts. Both Souths led ©Q.

At the table where there had been no interference Zwerver won the ace, and led a diamond to the king and ace.

North switched to a low club, giving declarer the chance to pick up three tricks in the suit. But unaware of the danger in hearts, declarer planned to ruff a heart and club in dummy.

He won the club with the king, and crossed to the heart king. North ruffed to defeat the slam.

Where South had warned of North's singleton heart, declarer, Mikkel Nøhr, won the heart lead, drew trumps, and led a diamond to the king and ace. North won, and with only minor-suit cards remaining, returned a low club to the jack and ace.

Now Nøhr tested diamonds by ruffing one and returning to ©K to cash ¨Q.

When South's ¨J10x fell he was able to claim without risking the club finesse. This was 17 IMPs to Denmark.

Both tables on the deal below bid to the good Six Diamonds due to be defeated by the bad spade break. South led ©A.

At one table South continued with a low heart ruffed and over-ruffed. Declarer was able to squeeze North down to one club, but South still had to make the jack of clubs to defeat the slam. However, in the Closed Room South let a club go unneccessarily, and declarer was home. This was a further 16 IMPs to Denmark. The match was effectively over, and Denmark won 64-16 or 25-5. We continue with two stories from other matches.

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

In the Schools match between Sweden and Germany a slam was reached very quickly. East opened 1¨, South overcalled 3© and West doubled. East bid what he hoped he could make 6¨.

South led the jack of spades and declarer immediately suspected a singleton. He won in dummy and drew trumps before exiting with a heart. South had to win and was endplayed into leading a club. He naturally selected the §6 and declarer was at the crossroads. If North held both club honours then it made no difference for he would inevitably be squeezed in the black suits. Perhaps the bidding should incline declarer to place the king of clubs with North, but sadly he got it wrong, calling for dummy's queen.

Better luck next time!

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

Our next deal was a dull push at 3NT+2 in our featured match, but several pairs reached a slam. Six Spades, Six Diamonds and Six No-Trumps were all attempted. The former has no chance barring a defensive error, but 6¨ appears to be cold. We do not propose to embarrass the declarer who failed by asking him for details. 6NT is certain to fail if West is on lead and selects a club honour but if East is on lead it is a different matter. Double dummy the contract can always be made on a non-club lead by starting with a low spade from the South hand.

The only one to make twelve tricks was Hungary's Gábor Minarik in the Schools event. He took the opening lead of the ¨3 in dummy and crossed to the king of hearts. When he played the jack of spades East covered, so winning the ace and continuing with a spade from dummy now gave declarer twelve winners. This board saw a nice defence by the Danish pair on VuGraph:

Board 19. Dealer South. EW Game ª A J 10 © 9 6 3 2 ¨ K 10 8 § A 6 3 ª 6 5 ª Q 7 3 2 © Q J 5 © A K ¨ A Q 9 5 ¨ 7 3 2 § Q J 9 2 § 10 8 7 4 ª K 9 8 4 © 10 8 7 4 ¨ J 6 4 § K 5 Open Room West North East South Wijma Madsen Zwerver Brøndum Pass 1§ Pass 1ª Pass 1NT All Pass

The "Norwegian" Two Diamonds has obviously spread contagiously to the Netherlands. It led to a successful Three Hearts by North, declarer losing only three trumps and the ace of diamonds.

For Hungary, Trenka anticipated the ruff, and, instead of going over to ©J, simply played top trumps from hand, conceding a second trump when they did not break.

On VuGraph, against West's 1NT, North led the six of hearts. Declarer won and played a club to the queen which North ducked. A second club went to South's king and he switched to the six of diamonds.

West tried the queen, but Morten Lund Madsen won and continued with the ten of diamonds. Schelte Wijma took the ace and cleared his club trick.

Freddie Brøndum wisely contributed the ten of hearts to this trick and a few seconds later the jack of spades settled on the table. Now the defenders had four spade tricks, two diamonds and two clubs. Well done.