Transmission Fault By Christer Andersson ( Sweden) Arriving at my hotel on Wednesday afternoon, I noticed I had the company of the Lithuanian and Portuguese teams. As the latter had a decent start to the competition, I decided to have a look at their game against France in Round 6. However, the experienced French team for the moment put a stop to the flow of VPs into the Portuguese account. This board was one of the more expensive ones for Portugal: Board 14. Dealer East. None Vul.   ♠ Q 9 5 ♥ K 5 ♦ 9 4 ♣ A Q 10 4 3 2 ♠ J 7 4 3 2 ♥ A J 9 2 ♦ K Q 8 7 ♣ - ♠ A ♥ 8 3 ♦ 10 5 3 2 ♣ J 9 8 7 6 5   ♠ K 10 8 6 ♥ Q 10 7 6 4 ♦ A J 6 ♣ K West North East South Palma T. Bessis Barbosa Gaviard Pass 1♥ 1♠ 2♣ Pass 2♥ Pass 2♠ Pass 2NT Pass 3NT All Pass When the opponent bids your suit it is often best to stay calm and pass. Antonio Palma, sitting West, did not care when Julien Gaviard, South, opened with 1♥. He intervened with 1♠ (as did Nicolas Chauvelot for France in the Closed Room), which did not stop the French reaching 3NT. With good hearts behind declarer and a strong unbid suit, Antonio thought he had a nasty surprise for his opponents and doubled. Antonio led the ♦K and everyone contributed low cards. Apparently Antonia did not believe in Gaviard having tried the defence-neutralizing Bath Coup as he made the crucial mistake of continuing diamonds. Now Julien took full advantage of the extra diamond trick. As West should have AJxxx for his spade bid, Julien continued with ♠10 and finessed through West. Unexpectedly, Joao Barbosa won the trick with the ace and removed declarer’s last diamond stopper. Julien now cashed his club king, revealing the club break, and finessed in spades through West. Importantly, he cashed the table’s two top honours in clubs before continuing spades. From hand he discarded two hearts and Antonio felt the pressure coming. On the first club he could discard a spade but what should he discard on the club queen?   ♠ Q ♥ K 5 ♦ - ♣ Q 10 4 ♠ J 7 ♥ A J 9 ♦ Q ♣ - ♠ - ♥ 8 3 ♦ 10 ♣ J 9 8   ♠ K 8 ♥ Q 10 7 6 ♦ - ♣ - A spade would allow the declarer to overtake the spade queen and obtain two spade tricks, a heart would set up the third heart in declarer’s hand and a diamond would mean discarding the established diamond winner. Antonio chose the last option but for no profit. Declarer now had various ways to get nine tricks but, of course, tried the spectacular play of overtaking the queen of spades with the king and putting West on play with the jack to force him to open up the heart suit, declarer unblocking the king on the table in case West continued with the ace. Allowing 3 NT to make meant a loss of 12 IMPs instead of a small gain, as 3NT went quietly one down in the Closed Room when Nicolas Chauvelot switched to a heart after being allowed to hold the ¨ Q opening lead. About Thinking By Christer Andersson (Sweden) When you enter the main building of Uppsala University in Sweden you can read on a marble plate above the door: ’To think with an open mind is good, to think accurately is better’. Sticking to this valuable advice would have helped Hungary on this board against Greece in Round 10 of the Junior series: Board 11. Dealer South. None Vul.   ♠ 10 5 ♥ J 8 5 ♦ Q 10 8 3 2 ♣ Q J 9 ♠ 8 6 4 ♥ K 2 ♦ A K J 6 5 ♣ 10 8 4 ♠ A K 7 2 ♥ Q 10 7 6 4 3 ♦ 7 4 ♣ 7   ♠ Q J 9 3 ♥ A 9 ♦ 9 ♣ A K 6 5 3 2 West North East South Papadakis Minarik Anastasatos Marjai       1 1" Pass 2 3 Pass Pass 3 Pass 4 All Pass     Peter Marjai led the § A and continued with a small club when Gabor Minarik contributed the queen. Declarer, Aris Anastasatos, ruffed and played a heart towards the table. Marjai took his trump ace and led a third club, efficiently eliminating the suit for declarer. Aris ruffed, played a trump to the king and a spade back to hand. Preparing not to be endplayed, Peter discarded the spade queen under the ace. Declarer drew the last trump and played a low spade. Not seeing the need to open the crocodile jaws wide, Peter contributed a spade that was too low to prevent partner being endplayed. A little look under the screen – thank you partner. Greece won 12 IMPs on the board as their team-mates made 3 § in the other room. However, the rest the match was a one-sided affair, Hungary winning 25-3.

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