France topped the round robin and had a comfortable win in the quarter-final but the story was very different at the start of their semi-final match with China, the only non-European or North American team to make the semis in either event. China picked up a couple of overtrick IMPs on the first board then two major swings in quick succession.

Board 2. Dealer East. N/S Game 9 7 8 5 3 A Q 9 7 5 2 6 2 10 6 4 A J 8 3 2 A K J 2 K J 6 4 10 8 3 K 10 9 7 3 J 4 K Q 5 Q 10 9 7 6 4 — A Q 8 5 Closed Room West North East South Wang Cronier Zhang Yu Willard Pass 1 Dble 2 3 4 Pass Pass Dble All Pass

Even on a good day, 4 would require a lot of good things to happen. The problem is the lack of dummy entries. The layout is not a particularly friendly one but things improved considerably for Sylvie Willard when Wang Wen Fei led a spade to Zhang Yu's ace. Zhang switched to the J and Willard rose with the ace and cashed her spade winners, pitching dummy's remaining club. She continued with a club ruff, threw a club on the A and ruffed a diamond back to hand. Things had gone very nicely up to this point but when Willard ruffed her last club Zhang was able to over-ruff and there were still two more hearts to lose; -200.

Open Room West North East South Bessis Zhang Yalan Saul gu Ling Pass 1 Pass 2 2 4 4 Pass Pass Dble All Pass

Should West double the 1 opening? Her hand is pretty thin, with the bare ace hardly a great feature, so the answer is probably no. But, having passed, Veronique Bessis found that the auction went badly for her. Gu Ling's jump to 4 left Bessis with a very committal decision to make, having not yet shown anything at all. She judged to bid 4, a questionable choice perhaps, with three weak spades and fair defensive values. This time it was wrong to bid. As we have seen, 4 is going down, and so is 4.

Gu Ling led a heart to dummy's ace and Catherine Saul led a spade to the eight and queen. That left Gu on lead when anything she played would be to declarer's advantage. She exited with a heart to Saul's jack. Saul led the J and Gu won the ace and exited with a low club. Saul put in the ten but now tried to cash the K. When that got ruffed she had to over-ruff. Saul played a diamond next and lost two of those plus another spade; two down for -300 and 11 IMPs to China.

Board 4. Dealer West. Game All J 10 10 4 A K Q 3 A Q J 6 3 K 8 6 4 2 3 K Q J 5 2 A 9 8 6 — 9 6 2 8 5 2 K 10 9 7 4 A Q 9 7 5 7 3 J 10 8 7 5 4 — Open Room West North East South Bessis Zhang Yalan Saul gu Ling Pass 1 Pass 2 3 Dble 4 Pass Pass 5 All Pass

Zhang Yalan opened a strong club and Gu's natural positive response of 2 made it very easy for Zhang to bid 5 when her opponents got up to 4. Bessis led the K and continued with the Q, overtaken by Saul to switch to her spade singleton. Gu knew that West had both majors so gave up on trying to make her contract and went up with the ace; one down for -100.

Closed Room West North East South Wang Cronier Zhang Yu Willard Pass 1 Pass 1 2 Dble 2 4 Dble All Pass

Here 1 was natural or perhaps better minor if outside the no trump range. Cronier's double of the 2 overcall showed, in principle, a decent hand with three spades. Obviously, such an agreement leaves some awkward hands, and this was one of them. Cronier could hardly do other than double but this convinced Willard to jump to 4, which was doubled with some relish by Wang.

4 doubled was not a lot of fun - unless you were Chinese, of course. Wang cashed the K then the J. Next, she switched to the 2 and Willard rose with dummy's ace to take the spade finesse. Wang allowed the J to hold and Willard continued with the ten, ducking it to Wang when Zhang Yu showed out. Declarer's trumps were good now but she had lost control. Wang continued hearts, forcing Willard to ruff, and she was never able to run the diamond suit. Declarer made one extra trick at the end when the defenders finally ran out of hearts, but that was still only six tricks in all; -1100 and 14 IMPs to China.

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

Both Norths opened 1 and the respective Souths bid 1. For China, Wang doubled to show the minors and now Cronier raised to 3. With five good diamonds, Zhang Yu competed with 4, where she was allowed to play. Four rounds of hearts forced Zhang to ruff high. She then cashed her two remaining top trumps, leaving Willard with a trump trick. The contract went two down for -100.

In the Open Room, there was no double from West and Zhang Yalan, whose hand was limited by the failure to open a strong club, splintered with 4. Gu signed-off in 4, a contract which is doomed to fail. Bessis led the A and Saul dropped the king. Now Bessis switched to the Q, surrounding declarer's hypothetical jack. Gu put up the king and led a spade to the ace followed by a second spade to the queen and king. Now Saul played the Q, forcing dummy to ruff. Declarer tried to run the hearts now and, when Saul ruffed the fourth round and she over-ruffed, had to lose two clubs and a spade for down two; -100 and 5 IMPs to France.

When East plays the Q, it is pretty clear that she does not have a club to lead. Declarer might have played the jack and a low spade to draw the trumps. If East now makes the mistake of returning a diamond, declarer wins the jack and dummy has five heart winners for the last five tricks. East beats the contract if she just leads a heart. Declarer has to win in dummy but cannot get to the J and West gets a club at the end.

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

It is by no means automatic for anyone to open the bidding on this deal but both Easts did so in fourth seat. Zhang Yu opened 1, Precision, and passed Wang's 1 response. 1 became the final contract and the lead was the A, giving away the lie of that suit. Cronier switched to a club which Wang won in hand to lead a diamond towards the queen. Cronier won the K and played another club and Wang took her minor-suit winners then led the thirteenth diamond. Willard ruffed that with the 6 and Wang pitched a low spade. But Willard's ruff was at the expense of a natural trump trick and declarer could now manage three trump tricks plus the A for +110.

Saul also opened, but her choice was 1. Again West responded 1 and East passed. But Gu balanced with 1 on the South cards and now Bessis tried 1NT, where she played. The lead was a low spade to the queen. Back came a second spade to the jack, king and ace. Bessis crossed to hand with a club to lead a diamond up but, when Zhang Yalan ducked smoothly, put in the ten and lost to the jack. The defence unblocked the spades and attacked clubs. They were a tempo ahead and could establish the long club before declarer could set up the long diamond and, by the time she did so, she had no dummy entry with which to cash it. The contract had to go two down from here; -200 and 7 IMPs to China.

Board 9. Dealer North. E/W Game — K J 7 4 3 A J 10 7 3 Q 10 9 Q 10 9 5 2 A J 8 7 3 8 Q 9 6 2 — 8 6 5 A K 8 7 5 4 2 6 K 6 4 A 10 5 K Q 9 4 2 J 3 Closed Room West North East South Wang Cronier Zhang Yu Willard 1 Pass 2 3 3 Pass 3 3 4 4 5 5 Pass Pass 6 Pass Pass Dble All Pass

The North/South auction tempoed nicely for Wang, who was able to show her clubs, then her spades, and finally her extra playing strength. When Zhang judged to double 6, East/West had reached their par on the board. Wang led the K but switched to a spade. Though Willard found the Q, the suit did not run so she did not have sufficient tricks to avoid the loss of a second club in the endgame; one down for -100.

In the Open Room, Zhang Yalan opened 1 and Gu Ling responded 2, as in the other room. Bessis overcalled 3 and Zhang jumped all the way to 5. When that came back to Bessis she had a tough decision. She had huge playing potential if a fit could be found but a low point-count and she was vulnerable against not. She elected to go quietly. Bessis led a top club and switched to her heart. When Saul put up the queen, declarer had enough winners to avoid the second club loser; +420 and 11 IMPs to China.

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

Both North/Souths reached 3NT from the North seat. Cronier had opened 1, better minor, so Zhang Yu tried a heart lead. That went to the ace and a club came back to the queen and king. But the spades were nicely placed and the heart lead had created a dummy entry to get at the spades and declarer had ten tricks; +630.

Zhang Yalan had opened 1, strong, then showed a balanced hand, so it was natural for Saul to lead a diamond. It looks easy to put up dummy's jack but Zhang did better than that, winning the lead with her king to preserve the J as a later entry to dummy. She ran the J at trick two and continued with a second spade to Saul's ace. Saul had no good play at this point. She switched to a low club to declarer's queen and promptly found herself back on play with the Q. The only hope seemed to be that West held the J10 so saul exited with the K. But it was not to be. Zhang won the A and crossed to the J to cash the spades. She came down to K, A, J and now led a low heart. When Bessis did not take her ace, Zhang had the rest for +660 and a 1 IMP gain.

Board 14. Dealer East. Love All 7 Q 6 4 3 2 Q 10 5 3 2 10 5 Q J 10 5 4 A K 6 3 2 9 8 5 A J 10 8 7 4 9 6 9 6 A J 8 9 8 K 7 A K J K Q 7 4 3 2

What is your call with the West cards when partner opens 1, showing five, and South overcalls 2? Wang raised to 3 while Bessis preferred 4. Both calls ended the auction and there was nothing to the play. Nine tricks in each room meant +140 for China but -50 for France; 5 IMPs to China.

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

Playing standard methods, does that West hand constitute an opening bid? Yes, said Wang in the Closed Room. She opened 1 and Cronier overcalled 1. Zhang Yu passed and Willard tried 2, which ended the auction. Willard won the diamond lead on table and ran the K, throwing a club. Back came a second diamond and again she won on table. Willard pitched another club on the Q, ruffed a spade and played the ace then king of diamonds. That forced Wang to ruff so Willard had found the 10 and had only to lose two hearts and two clubs; +110.

Bessis did not rate the West hand as an opening bid. That left Zhang Yalan to open 2, weak, and nobody had anything to say over that. Saul led a top heart.

Had she continued with two more rounds of hearts, giving Bessis her ruff, Bessis would have had to cash the A next to beat the contract. Passive defence allows declarer to play four rounds of diamonds, ditching both her clubs. Though West can ruff in, it is at the expense of a trump trick.

But Saul switched to the 10 at trick two. Bessis won the queen and switched back to hearts, getting her ruff. Now she played ace and another club and was threatening to promote an extra trump trick if declarer misguessed when she led the fourth club. But Zhang avoided the problem. She ruffed the third club and played three rounds of diamonds, ruffing the third round. Only now did she play the Q to Bessis' ace. Zhang ruffed the fourth club low but now Saul had to lead into the Q10 at trick twelve. The position of the J had been made to be irrelevant. Despite that nice little play, Zhang had gone down two for -100. France picked up 5 IMPs on the board, reducing the Chinese lead to 53-13 after 16 boards - a useful start for China.