We return for our penultimate visit to the European Winter Games in the high alpine ski resort of Tignes in southeastern France. The 46 teams who entered Les Etincelles Cup have now been reduced to four after two dramatic rounds of knockout matches. The format is 56-board matches divided into four 14-board segments, and the draw for the semi-finals looks like this:

VINCIGUERRA (France)                        v       ORCA (England/Wales/Sweden/Norway)

MULTON (Monaco/USA/Greece/Italy)   v       ZIMMERMANN SILVER (Switz/Poland)

Only one problem this week: with neither side vulnerable, you are North holding:

What do you bid?

While you mull that over, we start in the opening set of ORCA v VINCIGUERRA. The French team have opened a 23-0 lead after just three deals, but ORCA steady the ship with two flat boards. Then comes…

Mikael Rimstedt (left) opened a mini (10-12 HCP) 1NT in second seat, which bought the contract when neither of the French players could find a bid. Herve Vinciguerra opened the ♦3, dummy’s king winning. Declarer immediately played a low spade from dummy to his king. Vinciguerra, unsure how to continue, followed the usually-sound principle of not taking the lead if you do not know what to do next. Unfortunately, he is still waiting for the second round of spades, as declarer promptly cashed five club tricks: E/W -90.

Had Vinciguerra taken the ♠A and divined that a heart switch was needed, the defence can get five hearts, four diamonds and two spades to restrict declarer to just two tricks. However, even E/W +250 would not have saved many IMPs…

Not armed with a 1NT opening he could use on this hand, Cedric Lorenzini had to start with 1♣ . That allowed Peter Crouch (right) into the auction on the West hand. Thomas Bessis decided to show his spades via a 1♥ transfer, when perhaps a pre-emptive jump to 3♣ might have been more effective. Once Erik Berg was allowed to bid his hearts at the two-level, the French pair were out of winning options. Crouch duly raised hearts and Berg accepted the invitation. The best N/S could do now was to save in 5♣ , which would be two down with the ♠Q onside, but neither player saw any reason to take another bid.

The defence began with two rounds of clubs, declarer ruffing. After a heart to the ace and a second round of trumps back to his hand, Berg played a diamond to the ace. The appearance of North’s ♦K allowed declarer to draw the last trump and claim ten tricks. E/W +620 and 12 IMPs to ORCA.

Remarkably, after blanking their opponents in the early going, it was VINCIGUERRA who were whitewashed over the rest of the set. With one 14-board segment completed, ORCA led 51-23. Things had been much more sedate in the other semi-final, MULTON leading 26-11. The second set in that match continued in similar fashion, MULTON winning that segment 19-16 to lead by 18 IMPs at the midway point. This set of boards was relatively dull, but there was one major swing in the ORCA/VINCIGUERRA match…

The auction began normally enough, with Ola Rimstedt showing a game-forcing spade raise via a Jacoby 2NT. I can’t tell you exactly when 3NT showed, but the auction appeared to be on track as it continued with a series of cue-bids. Then, suddenly, it had ended in game. Clearly, a wheel had fallen off the Swedish wagon somewhere along the line. E/W +710.

The French auction began with an artificial game-forcing 2♣ response from Thomas Bessis (left). A relay auction then told Bessis that his partner held a 6-1-4-2 shape. When Blackwood confirmed that his partner held three key cards, Bessis knew enough to jump to the grand slam.

Cedric Lorenzini won the opening heart lead with the ace and immediately played two rounds of diamonds, ruffing in dummy. A trump back to hand confirmed that suit was breaking, so declarer took a second diamond ruff. The ♥K was cashed for a club discard, then the ♣ A and a club ruff allowed declarer to ruff his remaining diamond with the ♠A. E/W +2210 and 17 IMPs to VINCIGUERRA.

The French won a close set 31-30, so they trailed by 27 IMPs at the midway point of their semi-final.

MULTON had added another 9 IMPs to their advantage by the time the final deal of the third stanza arrived at the tables.

Michal Kwiecien started with 1♦ and then rebid 2♣ after West had overcalled in hearts and his partner denied spades. When Wlodzimierz Starkowski then cue-bid, seeking heart help for no-trumps, he got a double on his left. He redoubled and Kwiecien could only grope with 2♠, thus leaving Starkowski with this week’s problem. Where was he to go? He had a 13-count facing an opening bid, and yet no game looked particularly attractive.

Starkowski took a punt at game in the 4-4 club fit, but game in either minor suffers from the same deficiently – an opening lead that exposes a heart loser, the ♠A missing so that an extra trick that might be developed by a successful finesse against the ♠J is of no use, and a slow club loser. And, that’s exactly how things panned out. Vassilis Vroustis led a heart, ducked to his partner’s king and a spade came back to the ace. The defenders then just waited for their trump trick: N/S -50.

The auction was much quicker in the replay…

Giacomo Percario (right) upgraded his hand to a 15-17 1NT and thus the Italians reached game in two bids. Unfortunately, the long hearts were on lead, and Fernando Piedra duly led his long suit. Declarer had only eight tricks and, with Piedra holding the ♠A as an entry, things looked fairly hopeless. Looking at all four hands, can you see how declarer made his contract?

Often, the simplest solutions are also the most effective. Percario held the ♥A up until the third round. The most likely way home is to simply play a spade towards the king, hoping that the defender with only three hearts holds the ♠A. Indeed, that is certainly an option, but it should not be the first one, as you can try something else first without giving up on that main chance.

Percario started by cashing his five diamond winners. He doesn’t need the suit for transportation, so how can it cost? Piedra had to find four discards, and he could afford to throw three spades. But, when the last diamond was cashed, he had no good discard. If he released one of his heart winners, then declarer would be able to develop his ninth trick safely by giving up a spade, no matter who held the ace. So, Piedra released a club, hoping that his partner held the ♣K, rather than the queen. When Percario now cashed his top clubs, down came the jack and queen together and he had ten tricks. N/S +400 and 10 IMPs to MULTON.

MULTON won the set 35-16 and now led by 37 IMPs, 80-43, going into the final stanza. It was certainly not an insurmountable lead, but a significant one nonetheless. In the other semi-final, ORCA took another huge step towards the final, outscoring their opponents 26-5 in the third set. They went into the last 14 boards ahead by 48 IMPs, 107-59.

Unlike the previous two days, there was to be no late drama in either match. ZIMMERMANN SILVER did manage to win the last stanza, but only by 39-31, so nothing like enough to make the match close. MULTON advanced with a 29-IMP win, 111-82. ORCA added another 12 IMPs to their lead, so they won by an even 60 IMPs, 148-88.

The final of Les Etincelles Cup at the 2023 European Winter Games would be contested by two truly transnational teams, each representing four different nationalities. We will be back to see it will be ORCA (England/Wales/Sweden/Norway) or MULTON (Monaco/USA/Greece/Italy) who lifts the trophy.