Italy widened its lead over the field yesterday, but the big news was the stellar performance of USA 2. The American earned 73 of a possible 75 Victory Points with a blitz against Hong Kong and 24-6 victories over Canada 2 and Argentina. As a result the Americans skyrocketed from tenth to second place, 13 VPs behind Italy.

The Italians suffered a major loss to Canada 1 in their first match of the day, but they came back with victories over Canada 2 and Chinese Taipei. Denmark actually closed to within 1 VP of Italy after the first match, but the Danes just barely edged Norway, 16-14, and lost a blitz to Australia, 25-5.

The other big performance of the day was turned in by Israel, 11th at the start of the day but now fourth, only 1 VP behind Denmark. Israel defeated Australia, Brazil and Canada 1, scoring 67 out of a possible 75 VPS.

We have just received a letter from United States President Bill Clinton in which he salutes the competitors and praises their skills. The letter appears in full, along with a photo of the President.