China finally opened their account just after the half-way mark in the first session.

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

Having started with a Precision Club and seen partner show a positive in diamonds Liu was probably looking forward to using a few asking bids with his hand. When Campos crowded the auction with his jump to Four Spades, Liu was able to make a forcing pass. Looking at a decent suit and first round spade control Zhang jumped to a slam and Liu corrected to Six Hearts.

A diamond lead would almost certainly have seen declarer go wrong, but in the real world West led his partner's suit. Declarer was careful to win with the ace of spades and lay down a top heart. When the four-nil split was revealed he knew that the diamond finesse would also be required in order to dispose of his losing spade. He first ran the ten of hearts and then finessed in diamonds. He cashed the queen of hearts and the ace of diamonds and returned to hand with a diamond ruff to draw the outstanding trump. His only loser was the ace of clubs. +1430 looked like a good result, especially since it takes accurate defence to extract the maximum penalty from Six Spades.

Branco clearly thought his pass was forcing but the outcome was that China picked up 15 badly needed IMPs.

Hopes of a Chinese recovery in the second half were enhanced by this deal:

Board 15. Dealer South. NS Game ª K 10 6 3 2 © K 5 ¨ J 9 7 4 § J 3 ª 7 ª Q 5 © 9 8 6 3 2 © A Q J 10 ¨ Q 10 8 ¨ A 3 § Q 10 9 2 § A 8 6 5 4 ª A J 9 8 4 © 7 4 ¨ K 6 5 2 § K 7

The Chinese put the Brazilian pair under pressure and the result was that Villas Boas was faced by a tough decision. If you can give your opponents enough of these in a session they will surely get some of them wrong, and that was the case here. Declarer had to lose a spade, a diamond and a club and was -50.

The same three losers, but +420 gave China 10 badly needed IMPs.

This was a might have been for Brazil.

Board 16. Dealer West. EW Game ª Q 7 6 4 © K Q 2 ¨ A Q 10 8 6 § 6 ª A K 10 8 ª J 9 3 © 8 6 © 10 7 4 3 ¨ J 4 2 ¨ 9 7 § K 10 8 4 § A Q 7 5 ª 5 2 © A J 9 5 ¨ K 5 3 § J 9 3 2

In the Open Room North-South came to rest in Three Diamonds, scoring an easy +130.

If Branco had held a fifth heart I'm sure he would have bid game without a second thought. He made ten tricks easily enough by ruffing a club in dummy. It's only a non-vulnerable game, but Chagas had painted a good picture of his hand and the king of diamonds was clearly a good card. Of course the spade honours were well placed but the trumps might have been 3-3.

Try as they might, China could not wrest the initiative from Brazil. The final blow came on the last board.

Board 24. Dealer West. Love All ª — © A 8 ¨ K 10 7 4 2 § K Q 9 6 4 3 ª 8 4 3 ª K 10 7 2 © K 9 7 4 © J 10 2 ¨ Q 9 5 ¨ J 8 6 3 § J 5 2 § 10 7 ª A Q J 9 6 5 © Q 6 5 3 ¨ A § A 8

North's hand is difficult to get across in Precision Club. Declarer had no problem collecting ten tricks, but the favourable breaks in the minors meant that Six Clubs was makeable. Could Chagas-Branco bid it?

If I can catch the Brazilian stars I'll be able to confirm that Two Diamonds was artificial - probably a game force rather than a transfer.

Chagas covered the opening lead of the jack of hearts and took the king with the ace. He crossed to the ace of diamonds and discarded his losing heart on the ace of spades. He ruffed a heart, ruffed a diamond and cashed the ace of clubs. He came back to hand with a spade ruff and drew trumps. His only loser was in diamonds.

11 IMPs to round of the session in style. Brazil had won the first half by 37 IMPs and a remarkable feat of symetry they repeated the performance in the second half. In a contest of this nature their big win had put them well on the road to the semi-finals.