jan-digital

complete deal been something like this: ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ KQJT974 2 A87 Q2 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ 32 A983 J64 KT65 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ A85 KQT764 K A43 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ 6 J5 QT9532 J987 Perhaps, East could have been more careful at trick 3 by laying down the club ace and getting a signal before gambling on hearts. After all, the diamond six at trick one had been an ambiguous card. Having been gifted +790 instead of -500, Thomas Bessis and co. were apparently cruising towards winning bridge’s biggest prize on home soil, before they had a major debacle of their own. Board 14. Dealer East, Vul None ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ AT72 - T6543 AQ98 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ QJ9843 Q97 KJ9 J ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ K6 AJ82 A7 T7632 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ 5 KT6543 Q82 K54 Contract: 2♠ redoubled by East, making three West North East South Grue Bessis Moss Volcker 1 ♦ 1 ♥ 2 ♥ Pass 2♠ Pass Pass Dbl RDbl All Pass The non-vulnerable one diamond Precision opening promised 2+ diamonds. West’s two heart bid was a transfer, promising 6+ spades, either weak or strong. When it turned out to be the weak variety, Thomas Bessis (North) thought he had caught his opponents speeding… Upon East’s redouble, he stood his ground. His partner’s spade lead was won by dummy’s nine and followed by a spade to the king and a heart to the seven. North ruffed this, but the defense was limited to four tricks. The score of -840 meant that France handed back 12 IMPs to their American opponents. Eventually, the host team lost the match by just two IMPs. Thomas summed this up in an interview: “I will regret this for the rest of my life. I knew that my team mates would never have dared to Pass [the redouble]. I was too brave... too confident that I had read the situation well... too stupid, call it the way you want. And I think that I would not have Pass ed if I was playing anybody else in the USA2 team than my best friends. Apart from this, as usual the Final was not very well played by both sides. After many days of Championship, everybody felt a little tired and very stressed…”