Sweden v. U.S.A. it would be, the organisers’ dream. Rosenberg-Rosenberg, Levin-Henner and Welland-Levin from over the ocean would play Nyström-Bertheau and Magnusson-Midskog from over the sea. Three segments of 16 boards each would decide if the European Mixed Teams Champions Trophy were to stay in Europe or get exported. So out our staff went, early in the morning, to miss nothing of what looked like an interesting final.

It turned out to be a good idea to be there early on, as the first two boards were classic examples of the difference in approach between the hemispheres.

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

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Welland	Magnusson	Levin	Midskog
	1ª	Dble	Pass
2©	2ª	Pass	Pass
3§	Pass	3©	All Pass

Playing 3© is easy. As soon as you get the lead you attack trumps. When they are 3-2 you make, if not, you go down. Welland +140.

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Nystrom	Levin	Bertheau	Henner
	1ª	Dble	Pass
2©	All Pass

Please note the difference: Levin did not judge his Qxxxxx worth a second bid. As a result, they sold out to 2©. As we see from time to time, the more tricks you have to make, the easier it is. Playing in only 2© your first thought will be to take as much care as possible to avoid going down. Well, that’s exactly what declarer did. He won the ¨4 lead, cashed the other top diamond from hand (North contributing the three) and ran (!) the ªJ. When this held as expected, he cashed one top spade, followed by the ¨A which was duly ruffed by North with the ©2! Next, the defenders could not avoid scoring all four remaining trumps separately, as well as the §A. Spade ruffed with the jack, club to the ace, spade ruffed with the queen and the ©AK. One down and 5 IMP’s to Welland.

And next:

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

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Welland	Magnusson	Levin	Midskog
		1NT	Pass
2¨	2ª	2NT	3ª
All Pass

Here, North entered the bidding at his first turn. When East showed a maximum with heart support, South bid one more, but 2ª turned out to be the last makeable contract for either side. Welland +100.

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Nystrom	Levin	Bertheau	Henner
		1NT	Pass
2¨	Pass	2©	Pass
Pass	2ª	All Pass

The quiet approach by Levin again worked well, as nobody had anything to say after his balancing action. Just made for +110 and another 5 IMP’s. Welland had doubled their lead to an already substantial 10 IMP’s.

Two boards later, staying quiet did not work well for Welland:

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

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Welland	Magnusson	Levin	Midskog
1§	1¨	1ª	Pass
2ª	Dble	Pass	3©
Pass	4©	All Pass

Nothing special, NS +620.

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Nystrom	Levin	Bertheau	Henner
1NT	2¨	All Pass

The weak NT did its job here, as NS had no room (or no gadget?) to cater with this North hand. It thus stayed at 2¨ for +130 and an 11-IMP loss to Welland. The match had a new leader, be it by just the odd IMP: 11-10.

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

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Welland	Magnusson	Levin	Midskog
Pass	Pass	1¨	1ª
Dble	2¨	3¨	4ª
6¨	Pass	Pass	Dble
All Pass

For once, no slow approach here when Welland made an interesting jump to 6¨. Midskog had an easy double and an easy lead too, the ©AK which both survived. Later, a trick had to be lost to the ©Q for down two, +300 to Bertheau.

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Nystrom	Levin	Bertheau	Henner
Pass	Pass	1¨	1ª
Dble	4ª	Pass	Pass
5¨	All Pass

The save in 5¨ should cost anyway as 4ª will go down on one or two club ruffs sooner or later, but that’s far away from the real story of the hand. When South led the ªJ, the contract is cold. Win the ace, eliminate the black suits by cross-ruffing them, draw the trumps and play a heart. Quick, Watson, the needle…

Declarer apparently could not believe in this distribution and quickly claimed, conceding one down. There was no redress of course, when the exact layout was revealed later. Still, the Bertheau team had gained an unlikely 6 IMP’s, where it might even have been 13…

Board 12. Dealer West. N/S Vul.
	ª K 7 © 10 9 8 6 2 ¨ K 3 § 8 5 3 2
ª A Q 8 2 © A J 5 ¨ 9 4 2 § 7 6 4		ª 10 © Q 7 4 3 ¨ 10 8 6 5 § K Q J 10
	ª J 9 6 5 4 3 © K ¨ A Q J 7 § A 9

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Welland	Magnusson	Levin	Midskog
Pass	Pass	Pass	1ª
Pass	1NT	Pass	2¨
Pass	2ª	All Pass

As soon as you play a spade and put up dummy’s king, you are home. That’s what declarer did immediately after winning the club lead. Bertheau +110.

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Nystrom	Levin	Bertheau	Henner
1¨	Pass	1NT	2ª
Pass	Pass	Dble	All Pass

A quiet approach would have worked better once again. As soon as declarer played a spade and put up dummy’s king, he was home. Welland +670 and 11 IMP’s to regain the lead, never to lose it again.

Board 14. Dealer East. None Vul.
	ª J 10 8 6 3 © 9 8 7 6 ¨ 9 § 10 6 5
ª K 9 5 © A 3 2 ¨ 8 5 4 § Q J 9 4		ª Q 7 4 2 © K J 5 ¨ Q 3 2 § 8 7 3
	ª A © Q 10 4 ¨ A K J 10 7 6 § A K 2

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Welland	Magnusson	Levin	Midskog
		Pass	1¨
All Pass

A quiet approach by all four players at the table this time led to an impeccable contract. Two overtricks, Bertheau +110.

Closed Room:
West	North	East	South
Nystrom	Levin	Bertheau	Henner
		Pass	1¨
Pass	1ª	Pass	3§
All Pass

For once, Levin did not follow the quiet approach-line and immediately paid the price. He understandably passed the forcing 3§ rebid, but the damage had already been done. Down two, another 100 and 5 IMP’s to Bertheau. The score after the first session: 33-24 to Welland. A promising second segment was in sight…