Friday morning saw the vugraph show visit the Venice Cup for the first team. The match featured fourth-placed USA1, the champions of the United States, and seventh-placed Great Britain, the champions of Europe.

First blood went to the Americans, though the swing could easily have gone the other way.

Board 1. Dealer North. Love All 9 8 A Q 10 2 7 6 4 2 J 10 9 A K 10 2 6 5 4 3 J 8 6 5 9 3 Q 9 10 8 3 K Q 7 8 6 5 3 Q J 7 K 7 4 A K J 5 A 4 2

It seemed that the Americans were fated to lose on the board when Letizia/Berkowitz stayed out of game. They bid: 1 - 1 - 1NT - 2 - 2 - 2NT - Pass. Pat Davies led three rounds of spades and Marinesa Letizia played diamonds from the top and claimed nine tricks; +150.

In the other room Heather Dhondy opened 1, either five cards or, if only four, then 17+ balanced. Tobi Sokolow doubled and Liz McGowan bid 2, showing a raise to 3 with a reasonable heart suit. Perhaps Dhondy should be able to bid a forcing 2NT now to check back for a 5-3 heart fit, but she just raised to 4, probably assuming that McGowan would hold five of them.

4 was not without play but it would take some good guessing. The lead was a spade to the queen and king and Sokolow switched to the K. McGowan won the ace and played Q, 2 to the king, and a heart to the ten. So far so good, but now she finessed the J and was one down; -50 and 5 IMPs to USA1.

Board 4. Dealer West. Game All Q J K 10 7 6 4 2 J 10 9 6 4 10 4 2 9 A 4 J 9 8 3 2 J 10 9 8 7 6 3 Q 5 3 K Q 8 5 2 A K 8 7 6 5 3 Q 5 A K A 7

This was one of the more entertaining boards of the round. In the Closed Room, Letizia opened a strong club in fourth seat and when Davies' 2 weak jump overcall came back to her jumped to 4, where she scored +650.

In the Open Room, Sokolow opened 2 as dealer, showing a bad pre-empt in any suit. Mildred Breed guessed that her partner's suit might well be spades and passed this, leaving Dhondy with an interesting decision on the South cards. She decided that the best thing at the prevailing vulnerability was to pass, and collect a lot of hundreds. This would only be seriously wrong if her side had a slam.

McGowan led the J to the king and ace. Dhondy cashed the A and McGowan followed with the jack. That must be wrong as it is consistent with J10x, whereas the play of the queen would leave Dhondy with nothing to lose by underleading her king on the next round. Sure enough, Dhondy continued with the K, giving declarer a trump trick. She continued by cashing her two diamond winners then led a third spade. Declarer won and played a diamond and Dhondy ruffed and switched to the 5. Sokolow rose with the ace and needed to play a second heart to break up the impending squeeze. But she played another diamond and Dhondy ruffed and started to run the trumps. Alas, McGowan had not spotted the squeeze against dummy and bared her K so dummy made a club at the end for five down; -500 but 4 IMPs to USA1.

Board 6. Dealer West. E/W Game A J 10 8 6 K 8 7 7 10 9 6 3 K Q 9 A Q J 4 3 2 5 9 2 A Q J 10 6 5 4 3 Q 8 7 5 A K 7 5 4 3 2 10 9 6 K 8 J 4 2

A very difficult constructive bidding problem for East/West but the British pair had the methods to cope with the main issues.

Closed Room West North East South Davies Berkowitz Smith Letizia 2 Pass 2 Pass 3 Pass 3 Pass 4 Pass 4 Pass 4NT Pass 5 All Pass

2 was a multi, weak in a major, strong in a minor or strong and balanced. 2 showed interest opposite hearts but not spades and 3 showed 8/9 playing tricks with diamonds. Davies showed her hearts but when Nicola Smith could only repeat her diamonds Davies cuebid the spade control. Smith checked on key cards and found two were missing so settled for 5.

Open Room West North East South Sokolow McGowan Breed Dhondy 1 Pass 1 Pass 3 Pass 3 Pass 3 Pass 6 Pass 6 All Pass

The American methods were not so well suited to the problem. Breed had to open at the one-level but had no attractive rebid. She invented a club suit then used fourth suit forcing and now Sokolow jumped to 6, having no reason to imagine that her partner didn't have genuine clubs. Breed converted to 6, of course, but with the K offside that had to fail, giving 12 IMPs to Great Britain. A random swing, dependent on a finesse, but you would prefer to be able to have the British auction.

Board 8. Dealer West. Love All 7 6 7 6 4 Q J 5 A K 10 5 2 10 2 9 5 3 J 9 A K Q 10 5 2 A 10 7 6 4 2 K 9 3 J 6 4 3 A K Q J 8 4 8 3 8 Q 9 8 7

This one was made easy by the American methods in the Closed Room. Lisa Berkowitz opened a mini-no trump on the North cards and Smith overcalled 2. Letizia bid 4, transfer, and Berkowitz converted to 4. The defence took their tricks; +420.

Open Room West North East South Sokolow McGowan Breed Dhondy Pass Pass 1 1 Dble Pass 2 2 Pass Pass 3 Pass Pass 3 All Pass

In this room McGowan did not have an opening bid so North/South began with a simple overcall from Dhondy. McGowan might have bid 2 over Sokolow's negative double but you can understand why she passed. But now when Dhondy bid 2 over 2, surely she had shown at least intermediate jump overcall values and McGowan's pass looks a bit wet. Best would be a bid of 3, showing the main feature of the hand but clearly with spade support given the failure to bid clubs earlier. As it happens, that would have suited Dhondy very well. The defence against 3 began with three rounds of hearts and Dhondy ruffed high and drew trumps and now the diamond loser went away on the long club; +200 but 6 IMPs to USA1.

Board 11. Dealer South. Love All A 5 3 K 6 4 2 J A K Q 8 6 J 8 7 4 2 Q 10 7 5 J 10 K 9 7 3 10 6 5 4 2 7 5 J 4 3 2 K 9 6 A Q 9 8 3 A Q 8 10 9 Closed Room West North East South Davies Berkowitz Smith Letizia 1 Pass 2NT Pass 3NT Pass 4 Pass 5 Pass 5 Pass 6 All Pass

2NT was a forcing heart raise and 3NT showed extra values in a balanced hand. 4 was Kickback, the response showing two key cards plus the trump queen, and 5 invited seven and asked for kings.

It seems that Letizia might have bid 5NT now to show the K, but perhaps it didn't occur to her.

With a near minimum for her previous bidding she didn't want to bid beyond 6 and signed-off; +1010.

Open Room West North East South Sokolow McGowan Breed Dhondy 1 Pass 3 Pass 3 Pass 3 Pass 4 Pass 4NT Pass 5 Pass 5NT Pass 6 Pass 7 All Pass

3 was a natural strong jump shift and 3 agreed hearts. Now 4NT and 5NT were essentially the same as 4 and 5 at the other table. Dhondy did not even have the luxury of knowing she was facing four-card heart support and it is perhaps not surprising that she chose to sign-off in 6 after a little thought. But McGowan had been thinking and realised that, while she couldn't be certain of 13 tricks, she might have bid seven on the previous round. She did so now, and that was 11 IMPs to Great Britain.

There is a lesson to be learned from this deal. Suppose that the Americans had appealed against the 7 bid, given that North had taken control and received a negative response from partner but only after some thought. It is quite possible that the 7 bid would be cancelled by an appeals committee. All credit to Sokolow and Breed for accepting the result in good spirit. The moral is not to make bids like 5NT without thinking because sometimes partner's tempo may remove some of your options on the next round.

Board 12. Dealer West. N/S Game K 9 8 7 3 A 8 7 5 2 6 J 4 10 2 6 5 4 Q J 10 9 6 3 K Q J 9 8 7 5 3 K Q 3 A 6 5 2 A Q J K 4 A 10 4 2 10 9 8 7

This was a dull board in the Closed Room and a great result for Smith/Davies. Davies opened 1 as dealer and Berkowitz passed. Smith responded 1, Davies rebid 2, and that was that. Davies lost two trump tricks so that was +90.

In the Open Room, McGowan cuebid 2, showing both majors, over the opening bid. That silenced Breed and Dhondy jumped to 4. That contract can be made but it takes some care and not everybody managed it. Dhondy didn't have to worry about the play because Sokolow saved in 5. Dhondy doubled, of course, and the defence took their top tricks then led a third spade. Sokolow ruffed, crossed to the A and played a diamond to her seven; two down for -300 and 9 IMPs to Great Britain.

Board 13. Dealer North. Game All A K J 10 6 4 2 8 3 K J 9 8 — 9 8 7 3 — 4 2 Q J 10 9 7 5 7 2 A Q 3 Q 10 6 3 2 K 8 7 4 Q 5 A K 6 10 6 5 4 A J 9 5

Another close slam decision and again the winning action was to stop in game (actually, this one is significantly worse than the diamond finesse because of entry problems). The Americans dealt with the hand very easily. Berkowitz opened 4, showing a good 4 bid, Smith overcalled 4, and Letizia bid 4, ending the auction.

McGowan opened only 1 and Breed overcalled 2. Dhondy made a negative double and McGowan jumped to 4. Now Dhondy had a fair bit to spare for her double and made a slam try, cuebidding 5. McGowan cuebid in turn, 5, and that was all Dhondy needed to bid the slam. Perhaps McGowan might not have made the 'automatic cuebid. She didn't have all that much to spare for her 4 bid and the 5 bid had hardly improved her hand.

Anyway, justice was done when there were two diamond losers; 13 IMPs to USA1.

Board 16. Dealer West. E/W Game A Q Q 10 5 3 2 8 7 A Q 9 7 10 9 2 K J 6 5 4 A 4 J 9 8 Q 5 10 9 4 2 K J 10 8 4 2 5 8 7 3 K 7 6 A K J 6 3 6 3

Remember Board 4? Again Sokolow opened with a pre-empt and was allowed to play there while her team-mates were playing game on the opposing cards.

Closed Room West North East South Davies Berkowitz Smith Letizia 1 1 1 2 Pass 1NT Pass 3 Pass 3NT All Pass

The Americans did well to overcome the East/West bidding and reach game. Smith led her singleton club to the ten and queen and Berkowitz led a heart to the king and ace. Davies switched to the 10 for the queen and king and all Smith had to do was return a spade and down the contract would have gone. But she was not convinced that Davies would have the 9 and switched to a diamond. Berkowitz went up with the ace and cleared the hearts and eventually dropped the Q to make nine tricks; +400.

On vugraph, Sokolow opened 3 on the West hand, supposedly a sound pre-empt. Should anyone bid over that? Again the vulnerability was no doubt a contributory factor in Dhondy's decision to go quietly. McGowan led a heart against 3 - nine, king and ace. Sokolow returned a heart to the queen and McGowan switched to a diamond. Dhondy won the king and ace of diamonds and continued with the jack. Sokolow ruffed with the eight, over-ruffed with the nine. Now McGowan switched to the A, followed by the queen. Sokolow could see a possible spade ruff coming so threw her third spade on the J before playing a club for the ten and queen. But that heart play was counter-productive because it meant that now McGowan could play a fourth heart and Dhondy could ruff with the six, promoting McGowan's 7 into a trick. That brought the contract up to four down; -400 and an unusual push.

Board 18. Dealer East. N/S Game Q 9 7 K 6 5 10 6 5 2 6 5 2 A K J 10 4 3 2 8 6 5 7 A J 10 4 3 Q 8 7 3 K K A 9 7 3 — Q 9 8 2 A J 9 4 Q J 10 8 4

Another close slam hand on which it was right to stay low, but this time the slam is well over 80% so can be considered to be genuinely unlucky. Both our East/West pairs were equally poor in that they stopped in game, but neither will be complaining.

Closed Room West North East South Davies Berkowitz Smith Letizia 1 Pass 1 Pass 2 Pass 4 Pass 4 Pass 4 All Pass

Smith's immediate spade raise seemed to have put the British pair in some jeopardy but Davies splintered and respected the 4 sign-off.

Open Room West North East South Sokolow McGowan Breed Dhondy 1 Pass 1 Pass 2 Pass 4 All Pass

Breed did not raise spades, preferring to show her second suit. 2 is a wide-range bid and Sokolow might have gone more slowly now, just in case. However, she jumped to 4 and that was that.

This board produced swings in several matches but in USA1 v Great Britain it was just a dull push.

The match ended in a 41-31 IMP, 17-13 VP win for Great Britain, leaving both teams in the qualifying positions but still with plenty of work to do.