This week we are again in France, at the second weekend of the Premier League. There are 12 teams in Division 1 of the three-tier French league, and each will play a 32-board match against the other eleven over three weekends. The final match of this second weekend brings together the two teams who were lying in first and second place after the first weekend. They are captained by Jerome ROMBAUT and Philippe SOULET respectively.

As usual, we start with some problems. Firstly, with neither side vulnerable, you are South holding:

What do you bid?

Next, with only your opponents vulnerable, you are sitting South with these cards:

What action, if any, do you take?

Finally, with neither side vulnerable, you hold in the South seat:

What action, if any, do you take?

While you mull those over, join the hundreds of kibitzers who had gathered to watch the weekend’s final match live on BBO VuGraph. The action began with both South players facing the first of this week’s problems on the opening deal:

Although born in Romania, Michel Lebel (left) is one of the best-known bridge writers in France. He first played for his adoptive country at the 1972 World Team Olympiad. He was a member of the French team that finished second in the 1973 European Championships and, a year later, he went one better as France won the title. A second gold medal soon followed as he won the inaugural European Open Pairs playing with Paul Chemla on home soil in Cannes. Further victories followed, at the 1980 World Team Olympiad, the 1982 Bermuda Bowl and the 1983 European Team Championship. More recently, Lebel was a member of the French team that won the 2018 European Seniors Teams in Ostend.

On this deal, he decided that his heart stopper was adequate and advanced with 3NT, ending the auction. West led a heart to his partner’s ace. Olivier Giard switched to a diamond and Lebel ran it to dummy’s queen. After cashing his clubs, he crossed to dummy in spades to repeat the diamond finesse for his twelfth trick: N/S +490.

After an identical start to the auction, Leo Rombaut decided that he would prefer to play in one of the black suits if his partner could not provide heart help. Over his fourth-suit 3♥, Jerome Rombaut showed his partial club fit. Leo cue-bid his diamond control, heard a spade cue-bid in return, and the Blackwooded himself to 6♣.

Looking at all four hands, 6♣ looks fairly hopeless, with the ♠Q offside. Although spades split 3-3, there is no entry to reach the long cards in that suit. However, the lead against 6♣ is critical: suppose West leads a ‘safe’ trump. Note what happens when declarer then cashes six rounds of clubs. East cannot afford to discard a spade, nor can he afford two diamonds, so he must throw two hearts and a diamond. Declarer then crosses to dummy with a high spade and plays a heart towards his king. East wins with the ♥A, but then has a choice of poisons, a spade away from the queen, giving declarer the whole suit, or a diamond from the king, giving him three tricks in that suit.

At the table, Christophe Oursel made no mistake. He led a heart at trick one. Eric Mauberquez won with the ♥A and had safe exits in either hearts or clubs. No matter what declarer tried from here, he could never come to more than eleven trick. N/S -50 and 11 IMPs to SOULET on the opening deal of the match.

A few boards later, both South players had to answer a variation on this week’s second problem.

West showed a constructive heart raise and Marc Bompis competed to the three level in spades. When Olivier Giard bid game in hearts, Michel Lebel saw no reason to bid again. Well judged, as 4♥ has little chance, and 4♠ even less. Lebel cashed two high spades and then switched to a trump. Giard drew trumps ending in his hand and played a diamond to the queen, North winning with the ♦K and switching to a low club.

To escape for one down, declarer must rise with the ♣A, repeat the diamond finesse, cash the ♦A (throwing a club), and exit with a club. South wins with the ♣K but must then concede a ruff-and-discard, allowing declarer to dispose of his remaining club loser. It would not help South to unblock the ♣K under the ace, as declarer can then lead towards the ♣J for his ninth trick. When Giard instead played low on the first round of clubs, Lebel won with the ♣10 and the defence was then destined to beat the contract by two: N/S +200.

The only difference in the auction here is that West showed a fourth heart with his raise via 2NT. When neither side can make anything substantial, it is seldom right to declare in both rooms, so Leo Rombaut’s decision to bid on to 4♠, whether as a sacrifice or with some expectation of making game, was never destined to end well. Eric Mauberquez doubled to ensure maximum damage.

Even with a winning spade guess, declarer still had to lose two tricks in each red suit plus the ♣A. N/S -300 and another 11 IMPs to SOULET.

Our next deal is all about making life difficult for opponents.

East’s 1♠ bid denied as many as four spades and thus suggested both minors. West jumped to 2NT, 18-19, and East raised to game. All very easy and straightforward. Declarer started with nine top tricks and ended up with ten: E/W +430 and what for all the world looks like a dull, flat board. Nothing to see here. However…

Marc Bompis (right) played in his first major international championship in 1987, and made his debut in the French Open team with a gold medal winning performance at the 1996 World Team Olympiad in Rhodes. He has twice collected silver medals in major Mixed Pairs events, at the 1998 World Championships in Lille playing with Claude Blouquit and at the 2013 European Transnational Championships in partnership with Sylvie Willard. More recently, he won gold in the Mixed Teams at the 2019 Europeans, and bronze from the Seniors Teams at both of this year’s World Championships, in Salsomaggiore and in Wroclaw.

On this deal, Bompis was not content with a simple 1♥ overcall on the North hand, and his pre-emptive jump to 3♥ unleashed absolute chaos. Olivier Giard did not have enough to bid immediately, but he then had to decide where to go when his partner reopened with a double. With three-card club support and a five-card diamond suit, his jump to 4NT, offering a choice of minors, seems fairly sensible. Combescure’s decision to prefer clubs, when surely partner will hold at least five diamonds for his 4NT bid, is perhaps less so.

5♣ was not a happy place for declarer, and that was before the trumps broke 6-0. Diamonds is clearly better, with nine top tricks and a heart ruff getting you to within one trick of your target. Whether you can find an eleventh trick from anywhere, is less clear and, with game bid and made at the other table, the number of 50s you go down is perhaps not that relevant. Four down in 5♣ meant E/W -200 and another 12 IMPs to SOULET, who led 53-21 at the midway point of the match.

The second half was a virtual repeat of the first. Our final exhibit came late in the match:

Christophe Oursel (left) and Eric Mauberquez are one of the longest-standing partnerships in French bridge. Playing together, they finished fourth in the Junior Pairs at the 1993 European Championships. Since those days, Oursel has regularly performed npc duties for various French teams at junior events, including gold medal-winning performances in the Youngsters Teams at both the 2008 World Bridge Games in Beijing and the 2017 World Youth Championships. In the same capacity, he has also collected four bronze and three silver medals, most recently as npc of the Under-21 Team at the European Youth Championships in Veldhoven earlier this year.

On this deal, Oursel’s gentle raise of his partner’s opening weak two left Leo Rombaut with the last of this week’s bidding problems after North’s responsive double had suggested values with both minors. “I can resist anything but temptation…” and, with no obvious fit, it is easy to see why Leo decided to play for penalties.

He led the ♦J against 3♥-X, so the defence duly came to three spades, two hearts, and a trick in each minor. N/S +500 with neither side vulnerable seems like a fair return on a deal when your side has no good fit. Let’s see…

Not tempted by a heart raise from the West seat, Bompis/Lebel completed an outstanding set by reaching slam on this tricky combination. Bompis advanced with a natural/forcing 3♦ and Lebel jumped to game in his decent six-card suit. That was enough information for Bompis to Blackwood and bid slam despite his less-than robust trump holding and the dubious value of his ♥K. He was duly rewarded when defenders could not take a diamond ruff.

A club lead would have required a little more care from declarer, but Combescure had no reason not to lead his partner’s suit. Lebel won with the ♥K, cashed the ♠K, crossed to his hand with the ♣Q, drew trumps and claimed twelve tricks, just conceding the ♦A. N/S +980 and another 10 IMPs to SOULET, who won the match 97-42 to consolidate their position at the top of the leader-board.

With eight of the eleven matches played, these are the standings at the end of the second weekend of the French Premier League.

Next week we travel to Sydney for the final of the Open Teams at the Australian Spring Nationals. We will then return to Europe for the final weekend of both the English and French Premier Leagues.