On vugraph we saw Yu Wei and Yi Ma have a great set against Luke Matthews and Nicholas Croft of Australia.

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

This looks like an easy game for N/S, but Wei opened 1¨ and when South passed, Ma made a preemptive raise to 3¨. Everyone passed but plus 200 lost 10 IMPs since the Chinese bid unopposed to 3NT for plus 660. Two boards later the Chinese bid more than their counterparts.

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

A quirk of notrump raises (13-15 as opposed to 11-14) meant Ma reached 3NT on the ¨J lead. He correctly won the ¨A and played the opdds by ducking a club. He won the spade shift and ducked a second club. Now the defense had five tricks before he had nine winners. That was the end of the good luck for Australia. A run of huge results saw China build up enough IMPs for a 25-point win before a late recovery by Australia.

Some of it came from a combination of bad luck and poor guesswork.Take Board 6 for example.

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

In the Closed Room Kylie Robb and Leigh Gold stopped reasonably in 3ª. Game is a poor bet. When Wei opened a Multi 2¨ and reached 4ª on the ©9 lead to the jack and queen, declarer needed some help. He received it in the form of a spade shift. (In fact, on further analysis a club shift stands out to set up the possible club loser before it goes on the hearts.) Now declarer needed only the diamond finesse. Then even more befell the Australians.

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

In the Closed Room a strong notrump had kept E/W quiet and N/S finished in 3}, quietly two down. In the Open Room the Chinese reached 3NT after North had opened 1} and rebid 2}. Matthews doubled 3NT for a club lead. Croft read it as Lightner and led a spade. That turned 25 IMPs. One cannot say who was wrong, but one can say that it was expensive! Still worse was to come.

Board 11. Dealer South. Love All ª Q 9 8 6 © J 10 9 8 2 ¨ 7 § 10 7 6 ª A K J ª 10 3 2 © A 6 3 © 7 5 ¨ K J 8 4 ¨ A 9 5 3 2 § J 9 3 § A 8 4 ª 7 5 4 © K Q 4 ¨ Q 10 6 § K Q 5 2

Both tables reached 3NT by West, and Gold on an unhelpful auction won the third heart and played diamonds from the top since he knew he could fall back on the spades. In the Open Room Matthews had shown his approximate major suit shsape so declarer won the third heart and finessed in diamonds. Another 10 IMPs to China.

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

The Australians recovered a little when a quirk of notrump ranges (South showed 15-18 rather than 15-17) saw Croft in 3NT while Jian Hou stopped in 1NT in the other room. It's a great textbook hand. On the ¨2 lead the suit must be 4-4. So don't duck the diamond and give the defense a chance to shift to spades. Win the ¨A and drive out the §A. With the diamond split and clubs behaving, you have nine tricks. Suffice it to say that nine tricks were made, but the sequence of play and defense will not win any awards!

Board 19. Dealer South. EW Game ª Q 10 9 5 © 9 8 3 ¨ J 6 § A J 9 2 ª J 8 4 3 ª A 7 6 2 © 4 © K Q 10 ¨ Q 9 7 ¨ A K 10 4 § Q 8 7 5 4 § 6 3 ª K © A J 7 6 5 2 ¨ 8 5 3 2 § K 10

The Australians recovered 7 more Imps and pulled back to a 24-6 loss when Croft's valuation of the South cards proved to be more effective than his counterpart's in the Closed Room. Hou opened 1©, and after Pass - 2© - Double, he jumped to 4©. Everyone passed and he played it well to escape for minus 50.

After 2© - Pass - 4© in the Open Room, Wei doubled. Ma bid 4ª and had to go three down when the cards split poorly. Unlucky, but the initial preempt had done the trick.