The strong French team captained by Véronique Bessis was favoured to overcome the American team of Nadine Wood in the Louis Vuitton McConnell Cup quarterfinal, but at the three-quarter mark it was WOOD who led by 86-76. Could the French, among the favourites for the competition, turn the match around?

Board 17. Dealer North. Love All ª K J 7 5 3 © J 8 6 ¨ 10 4 § 9 7 2 ª 4 ª 9 8 © K 10 7 © A Q 5 4 3 ¨ Q 9 7 6 5 ¨ K J 8 § K J 6 3 § A Q 4 ª A Q 10 6 2 © 9 2 ¨ A 3 2 § 10 8 5

The very first board of the set saw the lead change hands. Tornay/Michaels bid the East/West cards 1NT - 3NT and Bessis led the obvious low spade to take the first six tricks for -100.

It would not have been surprising to see the auction duplicated in the other room, but Bénédicte Cronier opened 1©. From that point there was no danger of reaching the wrong game.

4© just had two aces to lose; +450 and 11 IMPs to BESSIS, ahead by 1 IMP.

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

Would you open the West hand, second in hand at adverse vulnerability? It is easy to find reasons not to, but if your style is to open everything possible then you have to stick with it and accept the bad results when they happen. Terry Michaels opened 1¨ and her side was always going to get to game now.

Had Claire Tornay bid 3NT a round earlier, without mentioning her hearts, she might well have got away with it, as the South hand has quite an attractive heart lead. Alas, Tornay thought that 5¨ could still be the correct spot, so she tried to explore the hand further. Now it didn't matter which black suit Bessis led, 3NT was always going to lose the first five tricks.

Bessis actually chose the §10 and Tornay put up the king in the forlorn hope that Catherine D'Ovidio would not have an automatic spade switch and might play for her to have misguessed the clubs if also missing the queen. Of course, D'Ovidio cashed her spades; -100.

Sylvie Willard did not open the West hand. That allowed Nadine Wood to open 1§ as North and that ran back around to Willard who overcalled 1¨. Cronier responded 2NT and Willard raised to 3NT. Now what should Mickie Kivel lead from the South hand? As already mentioned, a heart lead looks attractive if the suit has not been mentioned, and that is what she chose. Cronier had nine top tricks, and when Wood pitched a heart on the run of the diamonds, that number went up to ten; +630 and 12 IMPs to BESSIS, ahead now by 13.

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

In the Open Room, the West hand looked like a weak 2ª opener to Michaels. D'Ovidio passed and Tornay raised to 4ª. On a slightly different layout, that might easily have made. As it was, D'Ovidio did something very good for her side when she led the §K. Michaels won the ace and played a trump. Bessis rose with the ace to return a club to collect her ruff; one down for -50.

In the Closed Room, Willard did not open the West hand, which of course is entirely in keeping with the French style. This led to an entirely different auction.

Wood opened 1© and Cronier overcalled in her 'beautiful' spade suit. Now Kivel showed a constructive heart raise, Willard splintered in support of spades, and Wood took the push to 5©, quickly doubled by Cronier.

Though Wood picked the diamond position correctly, there was no way to avoid two trump losers plus a club so she was two down; +300 and 8 IMPs to the French, whose lead was up to 18.

But the Americans tightened the match on the next deal.

Board 25. Dealer North. EW Game ª J 8 5 © 4 2 ¨ 10 7 5 3 § 9 8 7 4 ª A K 10 4 2 ª 9 7 6 © 9 7 5 © K Q J 10 6 ¨ A J 2 ¨ Q 9 8 § A Q § K 5 ª Q 3 © A 8 3 ¨ K 6 4 § J 10 6 3 2 West East Michaels Tornay 2© 2NT 3§ 4© Pass

Tornay opened an off-centre weak two-bid and Michaels enquired. 3§ showed the ace or king of clubs and a good hand and Michaels settled for 4©. Bessis led a diamond and Tornay finessed. Then she played on trumps for 11 tricks; +650.

Cronier did not open the East hand - after all, though the main suit is good, it is a 3-5-3-2 11-count with no aces, second in hand vulnerable against not. So pass is normal in a sound opening style. After Willard's 3NT rebid (18+), however, Cronier visualised a possible slam and made a try with 4§. When Willard was willing to co-operate, Cronier eventually jumped to slam, only to find that it was a very poor contract and had to fail by a trick; 13 IMPs to WOOD and the deficit was down to 5 IMPs.

The French lead went back up to double figures when Bessis made a game which failed at the other table. WOOD still trailed as the Closed Room, the only table remaining in play in either event, came to the final two deals.

Board 30. Dealer East. Love All ª A 8 7 4 2 © 7 ¨ K J 10 8 7 5 2 § - ª K 10 9 ª 6 3 © 8 3 2 © A Q J 9 5 ¨ 4 ¨ A 9 6 3 § J 10 9 7 5 2 § 6 4 ª Q J 5 © K 10 6 4 ¨ Q § A K Q 8 3 Open Room West North East South Michaels d'Ovidio Tornay Bessis 1© 2§ Pass 2¨ Pass 3NT All Pass

Catherine D'Ovidio did not look happy when the 3NT bid came through the screen. She had an unbid five-card major and didn't know whether it was right to introduce it. Finally, she decided to pass, playing her partner for length and strength in her short suits. Michaels led a heart to the ace and Tornay played back the ©J. Bessis won that and cashed two top clubs, then played the ¨Q, overtaking in dummy. Tornay won that and cleared the hearts. Bessis won the fourth heart and cashed the remaining top club, keeping just diamonds and the ªA in dummy. She played a spade, then tried to cash the diamonds, but when they did not behave Tornay had the last two tricks for down one; -50.

In the same position as D'Ovidio had been, Wood went on with 4ª over 3NT. That proved to be the winning decision. There were two aces and a trump to lose but that was all; +420 and 10 IMPs to WOOD.

Going into the final deal, BESSIS led by 1 IMP. The boards had been coming out of order so the final one was Board 26, and it produced a dramatic finish to the match.

Board 26. Dealer East. Game All ª 10 6 © A J 9 4 3 ¨ J 8 7 5 § 8 5 ª K 9 5 2 ª A Q J 4 3 © K 7 2 © Q 10 ¨ 6 ¨ A K 4 2 § Q 9 4 3 2 § A K ª 8 7 © 8 6 5 ¨ Q 10 9 3 § J 10 7 6 West East 2§ 2© 2ª 3ª 4ª 4NT 5ª 6ª Pass

The Americans bid smoothly to the cold slam. 2§ was their big bid and 2© a negative. When her spades were raised, Tornay felt that she had nothing to spare for her opening so simply reraised to game, but now Michaels went on. 5ª showed three aces and Michaels bid the slam. A trump lead gave Tornay time to establish the long club to pitch her hearts; +1460.

This time 2¨ was the negative. Again spades were agreed. Cronier cuebid 4§ over 3ª but then, with no heart control, had no option but to sign off in 4ª. Willard thought a long time but finally passed. A heart lead held Cronier to 12 tricks but that didn't matter. WOOD had gained 13 IMPs and taken the match by 12. The final score was 129-117 for WOOD, who advanced to the semifinals of the Louis Vuitton McConnell Cup.