Germany, trailing France at the halfway point of their Venice Cup final match, needed a fast start in the fourth session to keep from being left for dead. Fate seemed to have had other ideas, however, as the Germans suffered an 11-IMP loss on the first board of the set. From that point, however, they came up with a series of major swings to knock the deficit from 49.5 to 9.5 with 32 boards to play.

It didn't look like things were going to go Germany's way at the outset, however.

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

West	North	East	South
Rauscheid	Cronier	Nehmert	Willard
	Pass	1ª	2©
3§	3©	3NT	Pass
4¨	Pass	5§	All Pass

Pony Nehmert's 3NT would probably have made, but Andrea Rauscheid overruled her. The result was a hopeless club game. It didn't take long for Sylvie Willard and Benedicte Cronier to record +50.

West	North	East	South
Bessis	Auken	D'Ovidio	Von Arnim
	Pass	Pass	2¨ (1)
3© (2)	Pass	3NT	All Pass

(1) Weak two-bid in hearts or hearts and a minor.
(2) At least 5-5 in the minors.

Veronique Bessis was not inclined to overrule Catherine D'Ovidio, who knew that Bessis was distributional and bid 3NT anyway. Daniela von Arnim started with the normal-looking ©J, and D'Ovidio was likely to make her contract as long as she didn't touch the diamond suit. When she won the ©Q and immediately played on clubs, she looked like a player who was going to guess the spade position after cashing six club winners. She ended up plus 460 when von Arnim discarded both of her spades on the run of the clubs. The defenders got only the ¨A and ªA. That was 11 IMPs for France, who increased their lead to 61 IMPs. Germany struck back right away, however, as Sabine Auken and von Arnim bid to a vulnerable diamond slam while Cronier and Willard stopped in game - 13 IMPs to the Germans.

Willard Sylvie, France

A second straight slam swing occurred on the next deal.

Board 3. Dealer South. E/W Vul.
	ª K 10 7 5 © 5 4 ¨ 8 7 4 3 § 8 5 4
ª A J 9 4 © A Q 3 2 ¨ K Q 6 2 § 2		ª 8 6 © K 10 9 7 ¨ 5 § A K Q 10 9 7
	ª Q 3 2 © J 8 6 ¨ A J 10 9 § J 6 3

West	North	East	South
Rauscheid	Cronier	Nehmert	Willard
			Pass
1¨	Pass	2§	Pass
2©	Pass	3©	Pass
3ª	Pass	4NT	Pass
5ª	Pass	6©	All Pass

Cronier got off to the best lead for the defense - a spade from the king - but with clubs and trumps both breaking favourably, Rauscheid had no trouble taking 12 tricks for +1430.

West	North	East	South
Bessis	Auken	D'Ovidio	Von Arnim
			Pass
1¨	Pass	2§	Pass
3NT	Pass	4¨	Pass
4©	Pass	5§	Pass
5¨	Pass	5©	All Pass

This is the kind of auction that appears in the bridge magazines under the heading, Who's fault is it? The 3NT rebid, which apparently showed the 4-4-4-1 shape with extra strength, didn't help matters, taking up so much room - and D'Ovidio was obviously concerned about her doubleton spade. At any rate, the auction ended much too soon for French partisans, and Germany had scored another 13-IMP swing. A 61-IMP margin had shrunk to 35 in two deals.

Two pushes followed, but Germany added another 10 IMPs on the following deal.

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

West	North	East	South
Bessis	Auken	D'Ovidio	Von Arnim
		1§	Pass
1©	Pass	1ª	Pass
1NT	All Pass

There was no chance the French women were going to get higher than the one level, although Bessis took nine tricks after the lead of the §J by Auken. Von Arnim won the §Q and played the ©4 to the 5, 7 and jack. Bessis played dummy's ªK, ducked by von Arnim, and then followed with a heart to her 10. Auken won the ©Q and exited with the ª10, covered in dummy and ducked again by von Arnim, who took the third round of spades and played the ¨Q to declarer's ace. Bessis had three spades and two tricks in each of the other suits for plus 150.

West	North	East	South
Rauscheid	Cronier	Nehmert	Willard
		1NT	Pass
2§	Pass	2ª	Pass
3NT	All Pass

At the vulnerability, Rauscheid did not fancy fooling around with invitations, so she bashed into the game. A club lead would have made life difficult for declarer, but Willard started with the ¨Q. Nehmert won the ace and played a spade to her king, ducked. The ©J was next, and Cronier won the queen. A club shift might have defeated the contract, but Cronier continued with the ¨10, ducked by declarer. A third round of diamonds made it clear that was not the best suit for the defenders to have attacked. The defenders took two hearts and two aces, but Nehmert had her game and +600. Germany had reduced the French margin to 25 IMPs.

This was another costly deal for France.

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

West	North	East	South
Bessis	Auken	D'Ovidio	Von Arnim
			Pass
1NT	Pass	2¨	Pass
2©	Pass	3¨	Pass
3NT	All Pass

Auken started with the §3, which went to the 10, king and ace. Bessis made an excellent play by entering dummy with a diamond to the queen and leading a low heart to her jack. Had Auken ducked, as she considered briefly, Bessis could have survived by playing a heart to the king and a third round, giving her four hearts, four diamonds and two clubs. Auken won the ©A, however, and continued clubs, giving Bessis no chance for nine tricks. She did well, in fact, to guess spades and avoid two down.

West	North	East	South
Rauscheid	Cronier	Nehmert	Willard
			Pass
1NT	Pass	2¨	Pass
2©	Pass	3¨	Pass
3NT	All Pass

Catherine D'Ovidio, France

Cronier also got off to the killing club lead, but she started with the 7, which made it difficult for Willard to appreciate how damaging the lead had been to declarer. When Rauscheid played the ©J to Willard's queen, Willard apparently envisioned West with a stronger holding in clubs than the actual A-Q-5. In hopes her partner held something in spades, including the 8, Willard switched to the ª10, a move that on another day would have produced the desired result. On this occasion, however, it helped declarer out of a major jam. Whereas a club return would probably have produced two down, declarer now had an overtrick - and Germany had 12 more IMPs. France was ahead by only 13. When Cronier and Willard bid to 6© off the ace and king of trumps (Auken-von Arnim stopped in 4©), Germany trailed by only 2 IMPs.

France recoved 5 IMPs when Rauscheid-Nehmert overbid to 4ª, one down for -100, while Bessis-D'Ovidio played in 2¨, making an overtrick for plus 110. It was a small gain, but at least it stopped the bleeding.

It looked as though France might engineer a game swing on the following deal, but a bidding misunderstanding produced a minus.

Board 11. Dealer South. None Vul.
	ª Q 6 5 4 3 © 10 ¨ Q 7 6 5 § K J 9
ª 9 7 © K Q 9 7 3 ¨ J 8 4 2 § Q 6		ª K J 2 © A 6 4 ¨ A 3 § A 8 5 4 3
	ª A 10 8 © J 8 5 2 ¨ K 10 9 § 10 7 2

West	North	East	South
Rauscheid	Cronier	Nehmert	Willard
			Pass
Pass	Pass	1NT	Pass
2¨	Pass	2©	All Pass

Ten tricks can be made, even on a club lead (one declarer in the Bermuda Bowl did just that), but Nehmert was not in game and she took only nine tricks after Willard started off with a low club.

West	North	East	South
Bessis	Auken	D'Ovidio	Von Arnim
			Pass
Pass	1ª	1NT	Dble
2¨	All Pass

The double was alerted as not being for penalty. Von Arnim explained that her partner would pull the double with a weaker, distributional hand. Auken didn't have to bother after Bessis bid 2¨, obviously intended as a transfer to hearts. D'Ovidio didn't see it that way, however, as she passed. On the defense she received, Bessis could have made her contract, but it didn't happen.

Auken led the ©10 to declarer's king. Bessis led a spade from hand and, not surprisingly after Auken's 1ª opener, misguessed by putting in the king. Von Arnim gave Auken a heart ruff, returning the jack in hopes of preventing a club switch after the ruff. Auken got out with a club anyway, and Bessis rode it to her queen. She then played a spade to Auken's queen, and the §K drove out the ace. At this point, Bessis could have made her contract by playing the ¨A and another diamond. She could have played a further round of the suit to hold her losses to two spades, two diamonds and a heart ruff for +90.

Instead, she cashed the ¨A and played on the plain suits, allowing Auken to get two more heart ruffs. That was -50 and 5 more IMPs to Germany, back to within 2.

More pre-emptive bidding by the Germans resulted in another swing for them on the following deal.

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

West	North	East	South
Rauscheid	Cronier	Nehmert	Willard
		2§	Pass
2¨	2ª	3©	4ª
Pass	Pass	5§	Pass
5©	All Pass

Nehmert took 11 tricks after the lead of the ªA. The only way to defeat 6§ by East, as you can see, is a diamond lead - not easy to find with the South hand.

West	North	East	South
Bessis	Auken	D'Ovidio	Von Arnim
		2§	Pass
2¨	2© (1)	Dble	4§
4©	4ª	Pass	Pass
Dble	All Pass

(1) Spades or the minors.

Whichever hand Auken held, von Arnim had great support and was comfortable raising to the four level. All the bidding seemed to slow the French women down, and they settled for the plus score rather than speculating that they had 11 tricks. Only five tricks were available, however, and +300 represented another 5-IMP loss for France.

The team picked up game swing on the last deal, but it was a rough set as Germany outscored France 61-25 to make a match of it.