The match between a top Italian team and the Austrian squad started well for Italy when Erhart opened 2¨ (a weak two in hearts or spades plus a minor), then greedily doubled her opponents in 5§ with ª643©QJ10864¨A73§K. Declarer, who had an 11-card trump fit, would now have guessed trumps to be 1-1 I think, but Sylvie Terraneo, who had shown rather more values than she had, took out insurance in 5©x for -500. However, Fischer-Weigkricht had brought home 430 with a heart stop of ©K facing ©73, to hold the loss to 2 IMPs.

The next board saw a nice piece of system for Rosetta-De Lucchi. After a Multi 2¨ by her RHO and a 2© reply, Rosetta passed with ªQ9873©A4¨1096§A52. When De Lucchi reopened with a double, Rosetta could use 2NT as a shape relay and invite game showing 5+ spades. De Lucchi then judged well to bid game with ª1065©K¨AKJ85§K763 and brought home ten tricks easily when the ªJ was onside. It was harder for Erhart; after

she bid 3ª and collected +170 when Terraneo very reasonably let it go. Terraneo effectively flattened the match by treating ªJ109432©863¨72§Q5 as a mixed raise facing a potentially canapé 1ª opening. She jumped to 3ª, and Ferlazzo passed timidly with ªAQ, ©Q9752, ¨KQ84, §AJ9 and conceded -140. In the other room Fischer overcalled 1© after a 1§ opening with ©AKJ104 and now the weak hand with spades passed. This let Weigkricht bounce to 4© and collect +620 with spades never mentioned. Austria took a temporary lead when Manara did not overcall a strong club, vulnerable, with ªAK862, ©107, ¨843, §J72. The opponents bid 1§-1¨-1NT-2¨-2©-All Pass. Manara led her top spades, crashing her partner's queen and destroying a potential force on declarer, and now eight tricks were easy. In the other room Fischer overcalled 1ª and Rosetta drove her partner to 3©, rather than letting her play 2©. That put Weigkricht on lead with the ªQ5 and it was relatively easy to collect +200. Terraneo was in the hot seat again with ª62©K86532¨76§A62 over a 1¨ opening. She elected to pass, not everyone's choice. Although she backed in over 2¨ with 2©, it was tough for Erhart to envisage such an offensively orientated collection. When her right-hand opponent competed to 3¨, she bid only 3© with ªAK107©Q94¨KQ§Q987 to end the auction. Not that game is a bargain, but both spade honours were onside and trumps were 2-2 so +620 was recorded and the Italians had 10 IMPs The Italians had a small lead going into Board 12 on which a lot of IMPs changed hands.

Board 12. Dealer West. Game All ª - © Q 9 8 4 2 ¨ A J 8 6 4 2 § A 3 ª A J 8 7 ª Q 10 9 6 4 2 © A 10 © J 7 5 ¨ Q 10 ¨ K 5 3 § 8 6 5 4 2 § J ª K 5 3 © K 6 3 ¨ 9 7 § K Q 10 9 7

Fischer-Weigkricht had collected +200 on defence against 5¨, but Terraneo stopped off to double 4ª when Erhart showed the red suits. The lead of the §K might have solved any problems for Erhart, but Terraneo led the ¨9. Erhart correctly covered the ¨10 with the jack, and declarer drew one trump, then led a low club. Erhart took the ace and fatally played a heart. Now declarer was home. It seems as if there would nevertheless have been considerable pressure on the defence if declarer had led a club from hand at trick two to try to ruff out the suit. South gets strangely squeezed when declarer ruffs a diamond. I think the contract can be made against any defence, but I leave it to the readers with more time to work it out! All of this left Italy leading by 10 IMPs at the end of the first quarter. The players returned to the same seats and Italy immediately received a stroke of luck.

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

The Italians had a relatively controlled auction after Manara as East passed as dealer. Terraneo opened 2¨ (©+¨/§ or weak in ª) and Ferlazzo doubled to show either hearts or a strong hand. Erhart bid 2ª and Manara's bid of 4© was followed by three passes. On a diamond lead she made 13 tricks. However, Fisher-Weigkricht defended 2ª doubled after a multi 2¨ opening. As you can see declarer has just five trump tricks if the defence get their act together. In fact on a defence ideally suited to a Hammer Horror movie declarer emerged with seven tricks and that was 7 IMPs for Italy. A couple of boards later Austria got a slightly lucky break. Terraneo declared 4ª from the South seat after some heart preemption over a strong club.

ª 10 8 7 4 © 5 ¨ J 6 3 2 § K 9 7 3 ª 5 3 2 ª Q 6 © A 10 8 7 2 © J 9 6 4 3 ¨ K 10 ¨ A 9 4 § 8 6 4 § Q 10 5 ª A K J 9 © K Q ¨ Q 8 7 5 § A J 2

On a trump lead she eliminated the suit, took a club finesse and knocked out the ©A. With the diamonds completely blocked she had the luxury available of misguessing that suit. By contrast Rosetta declared 4ª from the North seat and on a heart lead to the ace Weigkricht could shift to the ¨K and take the ruff for one down. Then came a good board for Italy at both tables.

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

Erhart opened 1¨, and this was passed round to Ferlazzo who bid 2¨ for the majors. Though Erhart bid 3§ she had not shown five diamonds by this route and Terraneo did not take the sacrifice in 5¨ over 4©. The latter contract collected +620 while after:

Rosetta collected +470 to gain 15 IMPs. The final swing of the set was perhaps fortunate for Austria, but you could argue that they deserved it.

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

Erhart as North opened 1¨ and Manara and Terraneo passed. Ferlazzo reopened with 2¨, Erhart doubled and now N/S sacrificed in 5¨ which should have cost the earth. However, Manara bid on to 5©, making precisely 11 tricks on a diamond lead. Not a bad result in abstract since only the 5-1 spade split stops 12 tricks. Weigkricht-Fischer bid:

2NT was an invitational-plus raise and after the non-forcing rebid of 3©, 3ª was a slam try. You can hardly blame DeLucci for leading the §A, but now declarer could ruff the §K when trumps fail to split for +1430. 13 IMPs to Austria meant they led by 12 IMPs at the half. The match was finally broken open in a decisive way when the Austrian team got all the big decisions right in the third set. First up Azzimenti heard her partner open 1ª and the next hand bid 4§. Holding ªA1073©QJ74¨Q10962§- she contented herself with 4ª. The auction proceeded 5§-Dble-Pass back to her. Hoping that partner had transferable values she bid 6ª - a slightly random shot I think. This was doubled and the full hand turned out to be:

ª K 9 4 © 8 2 ¨ K J 7 4 3 § K J 5 ª A 10 7 4 ª Q J 8 6 2 © Q J 7 4 © A K 10 3 ¨ Q 10 9 6 2 ¨ A 8 § - § 7 4 ª 5 © 9 6 5 ¨ 5 § A Q 10 9 8 6 3 2

6ª doubled was one down and in the other room 5§ doubled went for -300 so the Austrians gained 9 IMPs. A few boards later Terraneo judged a very nasty position very well.

ª K Q 6 3 © A 10 8 7 ¨ 9 7 4 § 8 2 ª J 9 8 7 4 2 ª 10 5 © Q © K J 9 5 3 ¨ 3 2 ¨ A K Q 10 8 6 § K J 7 4 § - ª A © 6 4 2 ¨ J 5 § A Q 10 9 6 5 3

3NT has some sort of play, though clearly it can be beaten in top tricks. 5¨ went two down when the defence got trumps going in time. Meanwhile 3§ doubled had no chance on the lead of the ©Q. The defence collected +500 and 12 more IMPs went Austria's way. The third big swing owed something to good system and something to good judgment by Terraneo. Holding ªK5©KJ¨AQ10864§K75 she refrained from opening 1NT, bidding 1¨ instead. After a 1© overcall Erhart doubled and Sylvia jumped to 2NT to show a long diamond suit, a spade stop and a maximum. One round of bidding later she was in 6NT facing: ª A 9 7 3, © A Q 10 5, ¨ K 9, § Q 6 3 and she finished up with +1470 when a club to the queen slipped through. In the other room the auction was 1NT-3NT - a deserved 13 IMPs to Austria who led by 40 IMPs with a set to go. There were a number of moderate swings over the final deals, but the hands were quiet, and the Italians never seriously threatened to get back into the match. Austria picked up a game swing when they found the right 4-3 major-suit fit, and broke even on the rest of the set. In the end Austria appeared to be an easy winner, but the Italians had played well and had made their opponents work hard.