The first set of the day Tuesday produced one of those magical collections of boards that VuGraph commentators love because they have so much to talk about.

The leader board was also worth a look, as Italy were ahead in the Bermuda Bowl at the end of play on Tuesday, while Chinese Taipei held the lead in the Venice Cup and Denmark were setting the standard in the Senior Bowl.
For spectators, the real fun came in observing the results of the wild set of deals that produced some mind-boggling IMP totals as competitors in the three main events warmed to their tasks. Some were simply hot.

In the Venice Cup match between Brazil and Sweden, the South Americans prevailed 82-73.That’s nearly 10 IMPs per board! Out of 16 deals, there were 12 double-digit swings. It was actually a disappointment for the audience in the VuGraph theatre when the final board came in as a push – the only one of the match.

In the Bermuda Bowl and Venice Cup, the teams are vying for qualifying spots. The top eight after the round-robin in those two events will move on to the quarterfinals. In the Senior Bowl, each round-robin match has more weight because when round-robin play is completed, the leader will be the winner.

The first VuGraph match of the day attracted attention because the two American teams were doing battle, with USA II leading the field going into round five. Adding to the interest of the match is the fact that Bobby Wolff, a member of USA II, played for more than 25 years with Bob Hamman of USA I until they parted ways about five years ago. They did not face each other at the table in round five.

The all-American match produced some fireworks, ending at 68-41 for USA I. That IMP total was above the average for the matches in that first set of the day – round five for the Bermuda Bowl and round three for the Venice Cup.
In all, 2014 IMPs changed hands in 20 matches in the two events – an average of 100.7 per match or 6.29 IMPs per board.

USA II rebounded from their defeat in round five to clobber Spain in round six to stay in contention for a qualifying spot and were actually tied with their countrymen in the standings after seven rounds.