dec.indd

English 53 This time Dennis Bilde's partner was Norberto Bocchi. They were playing an old-fashioned strong jump shift response of 2 ♠ over 1 ♥ . Despite his 18-count, Bocchi saw no need to rush. He kept the bidding low, eventually accepting his partner's grand slam try. The same contract was reached at the other table, where declarer drew two rounds of trumps and ruffed two hearts in hand and one diamond in dummy, hoping for some favorable break or an eventual squeeze. However, nothing good happened and declarer eventually had to concede a trick for down one. Bilde decided to play with the odds: the chance for a 4-3 break in hearts was much bigger than for diamonds to be 3-3. He won the trump lead, cashed ♠ A and started developing hearts: ♥ A, ♥ ruff, ♦ A, ♥ ruff, ♦ K, ♦ ruff and ♥ ruff. He still had one remaining trump to draw West's ♠ 9, and his two diamond losers were discarded on the ♣ K and dummy's established heart. This 17-IMP swing gave Allegra a 46:38 lead at half time. There was still a lot to play for, but nothing could stop Allegra from claiming a fi fth consecutive European title. They blanked their opponents 68:0 over the fi nal set, winning by a huge margin. Sometimes all that counts is one big swing and the momentum which follows it. ! ēĢĜĚ ĖĘĥ ęđĝĤĠĐ : ĦĕĘČĤĥĕĐ ĦĕĜđĚĤĐĘĕĠĐ ĦĤđĚĒĦĐ ĦđĕĜėđĦč ęđĝĤĠĘ Ě " Ğč ĦđģĠĐđ ęđĝĤĠ ęĦđĤ 052-6886136 ĤčĤĎ ĘĔ ĦĕĘČĤĥĕĐ ĦĕĜđĚĤĐĘĕĠĐ Ęĥ ĕĦđėĕČĐ ďĞĕĐ ĘĐģ ... đĘ ĞĕĢĐĘ ĖĘ ĥĕĥ ĐĚĘ ĔĤĢĜđģ Ęėč ğĥēĜ ĦĕĘČĤĥĕĐ ĦĕĜđĚĤĐĘĕĠĐ ĦĤđĚĒĦĐ ?' ĎďĕĤčĘ ĦđďĎČĦĐĐ Ĥčē ĖĘ ĞĕĎĚ ! ďēđĕĚ ĤĕēĚ