The first quarter featured a large number of quiet no swing boards both at the beginning of the session and towards the end. It was in the middle part of the match that most of the action took place. Both teams reached a good slam on this deal.

Board 4. Dealer West. Game All ª A 5 © A Q 9 4 ¨ A Q 8 4 3 § K J ª 8 7 6 ª Q 10 3 © K 8 7 3 © 6 2 ¨ J 5 2 ¨ 7 6 § Q 9 3 § 10 8 7 5 4 2 ª K J 9 4 2 © J 10 5 ¨ K 10 9 § A 6 West North East South Sokolow Fischer Meyers Weigkricht Pass 1§ Pass 1NT Pass 2¨ Pass 2ª Pass 2NT Pass 3¨ Pass 3© Pass 3ª Pass 3NT Pass 4§ Pass 4¨ Pass 4NT Pass 6¨ All Pass

The Austrians play Blue Club and while that is a well known system in Europe it has clearly not made its way over to America as Sokolow was finding it necessary to ask questions almost every time it was her turn to bid. After the Strong Club start 1NT promised 4 controls and the rest of the auction was natural. Fischer had promised extras with her waiting bid of 2NT so it was clear to Weigkricht to go on over 3NT.

There was nothing to the play and both declarers recorded 13 tricks.

As so often happens the following board had slam potential.

Board 5. Dealer North. NS Game ª 8 7 5 3 © 9 ¨ A Q 4 3 § 10 8 7 5 ª A K ª Q J 6 2 © K Q 5 © A J 6 4 ¨ 10 8 ¨ 9 7 6 5 § K Q J 6 4 3 § A ª 10 9 4 © 10 8 7 3 2 ¨ K J 2 § 9 2 West North East South Sokolow Fischer Meyers Weigkricht Pass 1¨ Pass 2§ Pass 2NT Pass 4§ Pass 4ª Pass 6NT All Pass

Four Clubs was asking for aces and the reply showed two. Knowing that one ace was missing West bid what she hoped her partner could make. If South had found the diamond lead she would have undoubtedly have won an award for the greatest play of this or indeed any other World Championship but when she understandably led a heart declarer quickly claimed all the tricks.

Remember that East's 3ª bid might have been a canapé, hence West's offer of a choice of slams with her bid of 6ª.

Here it was a little easier for North to find the diamond lead but Truscott still deserves full marks for putting the ¨A on the table. The diamond blockage meant the contract was only two down but it translated to 16 IMPs to the USA. Incredibly these proved to be the only IMPs the USA team scored in the first quarter!

Austria hit back immediately.

Board 6. Dealer East. EW Game ª J © K 10 9 7 ¨ A Q 8 § 9 8 5 4 2 ª 10 7 2 ª A 9 6 4 © 6 5 © A Q 8 3 2 ¨ 10 9 3 ¨ 7 6 5 § Q J 10 6 3 § K ª K Q 8 5 3 © J 4 ¨ K J 4 2 § A 7 West North East South Sokolow Fischer Meyers Weigkricht 1© 1ª Pass 1NT Pass 3NT All Pass

Weigkricht, understandably slightly annoyed by the previous board did not bother to invite game.

East led the ©3 which declarer ran to her seven. She played the jack of spades. East does best to duck but declarer can still prevail thanks to the fortunate positions in both minors. As it was East won and switched to the §K. Declarer ducked and East exited with the ª4. Fischer was at the crossroads. If West had four spades she could afford the time to establish a second heart trick but if East had four then she needed to set up her ninth trick in spades. Reflecting that East was clearly short in clubs she eventually came to the winning decision, claiming nine tricks when East won the fourth round of spades. +400.

The knowledge that East may have been about to canapé into a longer suit may have influenced North's decision but nevertheless it seems excessively timid to not reopen with a double. 2ª cost 200 but that still meant 5 IMPs for Austria.

Board 8. Dealer West. Love All ª A Q 8 © K Q 4 ¨ A Q 8 6 § K 10 5 ª 6 5 4 2 ª 9 3 © J 7 5 2 © 8 ¨ 7 5 4 2 ¨ J 10 9 3 § Q § J 9 8 6 4 2 ª K J 10 7 © A 10 9 6 3 ¨ K § A 7 3 West North East South Sokolow Fischer Meyers Weigkricht Pass 1§ Pass 2¨ Pass 2NT Pass 3© Pass 7NT All Pass

This time the response to the 1§ opening promised six controls. It was not long before the excellent grand slam was reached.

Declarer won the opening club lead in hand and cashed the ©KQ, hoping to be able to claim. The 4-1 break on the wrong side was a blow, but the contract still had chances - for instance the ¨J109 might have come down. The contract can be made as the cards lie by unblocking the ¨K at trick two and then cashing one top heart (in case they are 5-0) and the winning spades, discarding a club from hand. Then two rounds of hearts ending in the North hand will be more than East can bear. As it was nothing worked now and the contract was one down.

A good auction where South showed 4ª and 5© led to the unlucky slam. Both teams were probably relieved to discover it was a flat board.

The last significant swing of the quarter went to Austria.

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

USA reached a spade part score on the North-South cards and recorded 10 tricks for +170.

West led the king of hearts and East overtook it with the ace. Switching to the §9 would have been a good idea, leading to the defeat of the contract but East continued with a second heart and a good guess in diamonds subsequently produced +620 and 10 IMPs.