dec2.indd

English 52 Bocchi used a 4 ♣ opening to show a good hand with very long hearts. This gave South an opportunity to overcall 4 ♦ , and the diamond game was duly reached, with E/W failing to save at the fi ve-level. The spade fi nesse failed, but the suit broke 3-3 so Zaleski could dispose of his club loser. At the other table Michel Bessis (East) didn't have any convention available and he simply opened 4 ♥ . This bought the contract, as Giorgio Duboin (South) judged his hand to be unworthy of a 5 ♦ overcall (or even a double). North/South had to be satis fi ed with a meagre +50 and the French team chalked up 11 IMPs. In the next two boards Allegra conceded 12+13 IMPs and their European title was already in serious jeopardy. Zaleski were leading by 70:56 with nine boards to go. Everyone knows that luck usually favors the best teams, and so it happened on Board 24. Bocchi-Madala grossly overbid to 6 ♠ with a total of 28 rather balanced HCP, going down one as expected. At the other table Bessis-Bessis made no slam attempts, landing at a comfortable 4 ♠ , but the usually impeccable Thomas Bessis found a way to go down – no swing! And then this happened at the very next board: Dealer North, Vul N/S ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ QJ8642 K7542 - 72 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ A953 JT9 AKJ92 K ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ T Q QT7 QJT98653 ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ K7 A863 86543 A4 At the other table it was quite a normal result: 5 ♣ by East going down one after Duboin led the ♥ A and found the diamond ruff at trick two. West North East South Madala Cronier Bocchi Zaleski Pass 3 ♣ Pass 5 ♣ 5 ♦ Pass Pass Dbl RDbl All Pass East/West preempted to 5 ♣ , but Cronier wasn't going to let them play. He found a highly inspired bid of 5 ♦ , of course indicating a winning lead against a possible 6 ♣ contract! West doubled, as expected, and now Cronier redoubled. At this vulnerability partner must have understood that 5 ♦ was a sophisticated form a sacri fi ce with both major suits! However, the sponsor of theFrench teamPassed, proudly displaying his fi ve-card diamond support as he put down the dummy.  The rest of the play was not so funny  , and when the smoke cleared declarer was down seven in fi ve diamonds redoubled, not vulnerable, going for a rare penalty of 3400 and an even rarer swing of 3500 total points, translated into 23 IMPs!! It turns out that the defense by Bocchi-Madala was not perfect. The Deep Finesse program indicates that East-West could have set it down eight, in which case the maximal swing of 24 IMPs, requiring a difference of 4000 total points, would have been reached. The enormity of this swing was further illustrated by the fact that the next seven boards (the last in the match) produced a total of six IMPs for Zaleski and none for Allegra. The reigning European champions scraped through to the fi nal with a score of 79:76. Later on the same day they prevailed over the German team Bamberger, and collected yet another European title. 