Great Britain has been one of the most successful teams in the history of Women's Teams Olympiads, with one win and a string of second places. However, Great Britain is no more, at least as far as international bridge is concerned. Following the recent disbanding of the British Bridge League, England, Scotland and Wales are all competing independently here in Maastricht.

Of the three, England are the most likely to reach the later stages of this tournament and to be fighting for a medal. In Round 2, the experienced English team faced Japan, a country that has never been in the medals at a World Championship but which, with a largely new and hungry young team, are hoping to change all that.

Board 1. Dealer North. None Vul.
	ª K 6 © 9 7 4 3 2 ¨ J 10 9 3 § J 4
ª Q J 10 3 © Q J ¨ Q 8 6 5 § A 8 3		ª A 9 © K 8 6 5 ¨ K 2 § Q 10 9 7 2
	ª 8 7 5 4 2 © A 10 ¨ A 7 4 § K 6 5

The match started well for Japan when Ayako Amano and Miho Sekizawa reached the thin no trump game while Sandra Penfold and Nevena Senior stopped in partscore.

In the Open Room, Senior opened an off-shape no trump to avoid a possible rebid problem after 1§. Penfold followed an invitational Stayman sequence and, looking at a minimum, Senior declined the invitation. After a low diamond lead from South, Shoko Fukuda, Senior came to ten tricks for +180.

In the Closed Room, Sekizawa opened 1§ (playing strong no trump, she would not have a rebid problem) and rebid 1© over the 1¨ response. When Rhona Goldenfield decided to show her revolting spade suit, Amano jumped to 3NT, expecting a helpful lead. In practice, Michelle Brunner led the jack of diamonds to the king and ace. Goldenfield returned the ¨7 to the eight and nine and Brunner switched to the king of spades. Amano won the ace while unblocking the ten from hand. Declarer led the §Q and ran it when it was not covered. Next she switched her attention to hearts, Goldenfield winning the second round to play through her remaining diamond. Amano had nine tricks for +400 and 6 IMPs to Japan.

Board 2. Dealer East. N/S Vul.
	ª K Q J © A 8 2 ¨ 10 9 6 5 § K Q 9
ª 10 7 6 5 4 © K 10 6 4 ¨ J 7 4 § 3		ª 3 © Q J ¨ A Q 8 3 § A J 10 6 5 4
	ª A 9 8 2 © 9 7 5 3 ¨ K 2 § 8 7 2

Would you come in on the first round with the North hand? Kyoko Shimamura did, with a take-out double, while Brunner did not, waiting to make a balancing double on the next round. Over South's 2©, Sekizawa bid a third club and played there. Goldenfield led a heart and Brunner ducked then won the next heart. She switched to two rounds of spades and Sekizawa ruffed the second and tried the queen of diamonds from hand. Goldenfield won the king and played back a diamond to dummy's jack. Declarer played a club and Brunner split her honours, won the second club and gave Goldenfield a diamond ruff for down one; -50.

No doubt Senior intended her 2NT bid in the Open Room to ask for a minor, but with no eight-card fit likely, Penfold chose to pass. Whatever Senior intended by her 2NT bid, Fukuda expected her partner to have diamonds for her take-out double and led the king. Declarer won the ¨A and played the ©J to North's ace. She switched to spades. The defence was still bemused as to what declarer's hand looked like and Senior emerged with no less than nine tricks; +150 and 5 IMPs to England.

Board 5. Dealer North. N/S Vul.
	ª K 9 4 3 © J 9 4 ¨ A 7 § A J 6 4
ª J 10 6 © 7 6 3 2 ¨ 9 5 4 § K Q 8		ª Q 8 2 © A Q 10 8 5 ¨ Q 10 6 § 9 2
	ª A 7 5 © K ¨ K J 8 3 2 § 10 7 5 3

Brunner's weak no trump silenced her opponents. Goldenfield's 2ª response asked about range and 3§ showed a maximum. Sekizawa led a low heart to the bare king, which proved to be Brunner's ninth trick when the diamonds rolled in. A fortunate +600.

Shimamura's 1§ opening allowed a comfortable 1© overcall from Senior. There was no way that the Japanese pair were going to get to 3NT now, and little likelihood of their succeeding had they done so. Three Clubs made 11 tricks when both minors behaved nicely for declarer, but +150 meant 10 IMPs to England, who had moved into a 15-10 IMP lead.

Board 6. Dealer East. E/W Vul.
	ª 8 6 2 © 4 3 2 ¨ A 10 6 § Q J 9 4
ª A 9 7 4 3 © A 8 ¨ K 5 2 § A 7 5		ª Q J © 9 6 ¨ J 9 8 7 4 § K 10 3 2
	ª K 10 5 © K Q J 10 7 5 ¨ Q 3 § 8 6

The English lead did not survive the next deal. Should East get involved over 2©? And if so should she double or simply bid 2ª with her strong doubleton? Sekizawa made a competitive double and Goldenfield jumped to 4© to shut her opponents out. Amano doubled that and led the ace of spades. A second spade went to the king and Goldenfield tried to slip the ten of hearts through. Amano went up with the ace and gave her partner a ruff. The defence took their clubs now but could not open up diamonds without giving up their trick in the suit. Goldenfield was just two down for -300.

In the other room, Senior did not come in to the auction and Fukuda made a gentle reraise to 3©, where she played. She too came to eight tricks for -50 but 6 IMPs to Japan.

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

Where Fukuda treated her hand as a weak two bid, Goldenfield was willing to open at the one level. That got the English pair to the thin game while their counterparts stopped in partscore. Goldenfield won the club lead with dummy's ace and played a diamond to the nine and queen. Amano switched to a spade for the king and ace and Sekizawa returned a club. Goldenfield ruffed and led a low diamond and Amano went in with the ace to play a spade. Goldenfield won in hand and ruffed a diamond, bringing down the king. She ran the ©10 and soon had ten tricks for +620. In the other room, Shimamura came to 11 tricks in 2© to hold the loss to 9 IMPs.

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

Surprisingly, Goldenfield simply raised 2NT to game. After a spade lead, Brunner could play on diamonds for 12 tricks; +690.

Fukuda made a diamond slam try. Three Diamonds could have been various handtypes and 3ª said that it was a minor-suit slam try. Four Spades confirmed that the suit was diamonds, and Shimamura jumped to the cold slam; +1370 and 12 IMPs to Japan, who were back in the lead at 29-27 at the midpoint in the match.

Board 15. Dealer South. N/S Vul.
	ª K 3 2 © 10 9 6 5 ¨ J 9 7 § 8 6 2
ª 5 © Q 4 2 ¨ 10 6 3 2 § K Q 10 5 4		ª A 9 6 4 © A 8 ¨ A K 8 § J 9 7 3
	ª Q J 10 8 7 © K J 7 3 ¨ Q 5 4 § A

As the cards lie, the trick is to get to 5§ on the East/West cards. That is tough to do and in practice neither pair was close to doing so. The key decision came to East over 2ª. Sekizawa supported clubs but not strongly enough to excite Amano - who alerted 3§ so it was presumably constructive in a good/bad 2NT scenario. Brunner led a trump to the ace and Goldenfield returned a spade to the ace. Amano cashed a club then played ace and another heart. She ruffed the spade return, cashed the top diamonds then ruffed a spade. The diamond loser went on the queen of hearts and declarer had the rest; +150.

Senior stretched to bid 2NT on the East cards and who could blame Penfold for raising to game? The spade lead meant that Senior only had eight tricks; down one for -50 and 5 IMPs

Board 16. Dealer West. E/W Vul.
	ª A 10 4 © J 8 3 ¨ Q 10 § A 6 4 3 2
ª K J 7 6 © Q 7 4 2 ¨ A 8 7 § K 8		ª Q 9 8 3 © A ¨ 6 5 4 3 2 § Q J 10
	ª 5 2 © K 10 9 6 5 ¨ K J 9 § 9 7 5

System created the swing on this deal. When Penfold opened a 12-14 no trump, it was entirely normal for Senior to pass the East hand. Penfold made her contract exactly and probably thought nothing more about the deal. Amano had to open 1¨ and the critical decision came to her partner after the spade raise. Sekizawa made a slightly aggressive game try, 2NT followed by 3ª showing that she was looking for help in the black suits and was probably shortish in hearts. Amano had good enough clubs and spades to bid the game. Even had Goldenfield found the impossible diamond lead, ducking would have cut the defensive communications. In practice, Goldenfield led a trump and Brunner won and returned the suit. Sekizawa won in hand and led the jack of clubs to the king and ace - a little deception just in case it mattered. Brunner returned her last trump and Sekizawa won in dummy and played a club to the queen then cashed the §10, throwing a diamond. Ace and another diamond put Brunner on play again and she exited with a heart to the ace. Declarer ruffed a diamond and the rest; +620 and 11 IMPs to Japan.

Board 18. Dealer East. N/S Vul.
	ª J 9 4 2 © K Q 7 4 ¨ 10 8 3 § A Q
ª A 8 6 © J 9 8 5 ¨ A J 5 2 § K 3		ª 10 5 © A 10 6 3 2 ¨ 9 7 6 4 § 6 4
	ª K Q 7 3 © - ¨ K Q § J 10 9 8 7 5 2

Something strange happened in the Open Room where Shimamura only raised Fukuda's 1ª rebid to 2ª. Did she think that this sequence showed invitational values because with a weaker hand with four spades she would have responded 1ª rather than 1¨, Walsh-style? I imagine that the partnership will have been discussing this board and will know what is going on next time the sequence comes up. Anyway, 2ª made 11 tricks for +200.

In the other room, Amano came in with a take-out double where Penfold had made a surprisingly cautious pass. Brunner redoubled to show strength and Sekizawa made a pre-emptive jump to 3©. Amano continued the pre-empt by raising to game and Brunner doubled. Should Goldenfield have introduced her spades at some point, or was it just that the Japanese pair had done very well to make life difficult for their opponents?

The lead was the king of spades and Sekizawa won the ace and played the jack of hearts, which held the trick. Declarer gave up a spade now and Goldenfield won and switched to the king of diamonds. Sekizawa won the ace and played the ©9 to the queen and ace. Now she played a club to the king and ace. Brunner cashed the queen of clubs and exited with a spade. Sekizawa ruffed and played a diamond to the queen. Goldenfield had to give a ruff and discard and chose to do so by leading a club, the suit that gave her partner a choice. Sekizawa ruffed low in dummy and Brunner made the mistake of over-ruffing. Sekizawa in turn over-ruffed and played winning diamonds so that Brunner could make only her ©K; two down for -300 and 3 IMPs to England.

Brunner is double dummy at the point where she over-ruffed the club. If instead she pitches her remaining diamond, she cannot be prevented from making her small trump for three down; +500 and 7 IMPs to England.

After an interesting set of deals, Japan ran out the winners by 52-32 IMPs, converting to a 19-11 VP win.