This is our final visit to Strasbourg for the European Transnational Championships. The only title left to decide is in the Open Teams. Although Franck Multon is officially registered to represent Monaco, in reality this is the first all-French World Championship final in the history of the game. It will be VINCIGUERRA v FRANCE GREEN for the title. Decisions, decisions, decisions, for the huge hometown support, to decide which team they are rooting for.

As usual, we start with some problems. Firstly, with both sides vulnerable, you are North holding:

What action, if any, do you take?

Next, with both sides vulnerable, you hold as West:

What action, if any, do you take?

VINCIGUERRA led 34-30 after the first stanza. More than a thousand people were watching live on BBO VuGraph when the first deal of the second segment set the E/W pairs a really difficult slam bidding challenge…

Thomas Bessis (left) opened with his system strong bid in fourth seat. His 2♥ bid was Kokish (hearts or strong balanced) and 2NT over the forced 2♠ response showed 23+ balanced. Stayman uncovered the 4-4 fit and Cedric Lorenzini’s 3♠ was a slam try agreeing hearts.

Perhaps 3NT asked for shortage and 4♣ denied but, whatever he had found out, Bessis rolled out Blackwood. After the 5♦ 0/3 response he did not have room to ask about the trump queen. Not that it mattered greatly at that point, as the 4-1 heart break meant that even 5♥ was too high and the extra 50 mattered little. E/W -100.

So, 10 tricks is the limit in hearts, and 11 can be made in diamonds. However, there is still one denomination in which slam is possible…

Once the auction begins 1♦-1♥, it is difficult to see how you can end up playing in any other denomination, but the French pair managed to do so. Nicolas Lhuissier decided he was too strong to raise hearts directly, and he didn’t like to splinter on the singleton king, so he forced to game with a quasi-natural 3♣. Julien Bernard (right) temporized with a 3♠ fourth-suit, waiting bid, and now LHuissier made a strong slam try showing heart support with a jump to the five-level. It is easy to see why Bernard thought clubs would be a better trump suit than his seven-high hearts and, when he suggested clubs, Lhuissier did magnificently well to pass.

Exactly how much the French pair knew exactly about what they were doing and how much was landing on their feet luck, I’ll leave you to decide for yourself. By hook or by crook, arrive in the only making slam they duly did.

6♣ is destined to make on any defence, via two hearts, five diamonds and five trump tricks. South made the play easy by opening the ♠A and continuing with a second spade, forcing declarer to ruff. Nicolas Lhuissier ruffed high, and carefully cashed four rounds of trumps, throwing the low hearts from his hand, just in case either defender had started with five diamonds and at least three hearts. No squeeze was needed. A magnificent E/W +920 and 14 IMPs to FRANCE GREEN to open the second stanza.

It was not long before the Great Dealer produced another ‘slam hand’ (and I use the term loosely). The problem with many high-level bidding decisions is that you do not know who is bidding to make and who is saving. It is also amazing that both players in a World Championship final can make the same really questionable bid (more of that later), and gain from doing so.

Both North players had to deal with the first of this week’s problems…

What do you make of the decision faced by the North players? Firstly, do you know whether partner’s 4NT shows specifically minors, or could it show any two suits? Does it matter? How many spades do you expect partner to hold?

I think the expectation for partner’s hand is something like ---/xx/AKxxx/AJxxxx with the minors 6-5 either way around. Opposite that, do you not expect to make 6♦? It is certainly understandable why Philippe Soulet (left) committed his side to slam. Whether you bid 5NT or 6♦ seems to make no difference. If partner has hearts and clubs, you will get to 6♥ anyway. Of course, as you can see from looking at all four hands, the winning action is to double 5♠ and take your +800 (two hearts, two clubs and a heart ruff).

I mentioned a questionable action above. What do you make of West’s 5♠ bid? How many times have we discussed the folly of sacrificing on balanced hands? Plus, here, your diamond values are likely to be useful in defence but of no value at all to partner in a spade contract. I now realize that calling the 5♠ bid ‘questionable’ is being really polite to it, as 5♠ not only goes for 800 but is also a very expensive phantom – i.e. it is against a non-making game.

North’s 6♦ lost the obvious three tricks: N/S -200

Remarkably, West here also bid 5♠ in the same auction. Understandably, Jerome Rombaut (right) also bid 5NT on the North hand. However, when he did not then correct immediately to diamonds, Thomas Bessis got the chance to make a Lightner double of 6♣ (looking for a diamond ruff). Now, when North belatedly retreated to diamonds, West managed to find a red card in his bidding box. N/S -500 and an amazing 7 IMPs to VINCIGUERRA.

After the debacle of that deal, we finish this report with a couple of examples of exceptionally good play, one in the bidding from one team, and one in defence from the other. It was not all sweetness and light, though…

Julien Bernard opened 2♠, showing spades and a minor. 2NT asked and found out that opener’s minor was clubs – no surprise there. East showed diamond values, presumably hoping his partner had a heart stopper and could bid 3NT. West bid a fourth-suit 3♥, presumably hoping his partner had a heart stopper and could bid 3NT. When it became clear that 3NT was not an option, Nicolas Lhuissier guessed that 4♠ was the right contract.

If you ever wanted an example of why not to play Lucas/Muiderberg two-bids, this board is perhaps it. With slam in either minor an easy make, the French pair landed in a really poor 4♠ contract.

The defence started with two rounds of hearts, forcing declarer’s already fragile trump suit. Bernard ruffed, crossed to a top diamond, and led the low trump from dummy. This was not a difficult defence for Herve Vinciguerra (left), who rose with the ♠K and played a third round of hearts, giving declarer an unwanted ruff-and-discard.

Declarer chose to ruff in dummy with the ace. After a club to his hand, declarer cashed the ♠Q and did not have much choice but to hope the two remaining trumps were evenly split, so he continued with another trump. Soulet won with the ♠J and forced declarer’s last trump with a fourth round of hearts. He later scored the long trump and his remaining heart for two down. E/W -200.

Cedric Lorenzini (right) did not open the West hand, which left Jerome Rombaut to get things rolling with 1♥. Bessis overcalled 3♥, asking his partner to bid 3NT with a heart stopper, and Leo Rombaut upped the ante to the four-level, leaving Lorenzini with the second of today’s problems.

The easy course of action would perhaps be to just double 4♥ and collect your +500, but Lorenzini wasn’t prepared to settle for what he judged was likely to be a small loss on the deal. He knew that his partner’s jump to 3♥ was based on a strong diamond suit, and he judged accurately that he had enough stuff to make the minor-suit game playable, so he bid it. Indeed, we’ve all been in worse slams, but expecting to get there against this barrage is probably asking too much.

North cashed a top heart and switched to a spade at trick two. Declarer could have won with the ace, ruffed his heart loser, and drawn trumps to make twelve tricks with both minors breaking. However, ducking the spade is an insurance play that will make the contract if trumps do not break but North has led away from the ♠K. South took the second defensive trick with the ♠K and declarer claimed the rest once trumps behaved. E/W +600 and 13 IMPs to VINCIGUERRA.

However, it was not only one of the teams who was capable of excellent play.

Jerome Rombaut started the ball rolling with a 7-11 1NT opening. Bessis doubled for penalties and Leo Rombaut (left) began some sort of rescue move with a redouble. Jerome jumped to 3♣ and Bessis now bid his suit, but Leo jumped to 4♥. This was alerted, but whether it was a transfer to spades or showing both majors, I cannot tell you. Either way, Jerome corrected to spades, and there matter rested.

Bessis started with two rounds of diamonds, forcing dummy. Jerome played a trump to the king and led a heart, picking up East’s bare ace. A third round of diamonds did not test declarer, who was soon claiming his eleven tricks. N/S +450.

Philippe Soulet was not equipped with an opening bid for this North hand, so Nicolas Lhuissier (right) got to open 1♦ in third seat, but he was not in for a peaceful ride. Vinciguerra showed both majors with a Michaels 2♦ and Soulet jumped to game. But, Lhussier was not prepared to give up and competed with 5♦. Despite all the well-known admonishments about ‘the five-level belongs to the opponents’, with his strong 6-6, Vinciguerra would get plenty of support for his decision not to settle for a meagre +100 defending 5♦-X. And, against most defenders, he would be quite right too. But, not today.

Lhuissier opened the ♥A and then switched to the ♦3! Bernard covered dummy’s ♦8 with his nine and managed to remain on his chair when he won the trick. It was not difficult to work out why his partner wanted him on lead so desperately, and a heart ruff duly put the contract one down. Well defended! N/S -50 and 11 IMPs to FRANCE GREEN.

It is easy enough to look at this defence and say, “Well, what else was there for him to do?” Consider how East would have felt if declarer had held the ♦9 and West had later shown up with ♠K-x. It was a brave defence and a swing well-earned.

FRANCE GREEN won the second set 44-27 to take a 13-IMP lead (74-61) into the halftime break. At that point, it was still far from certain which direction this one was going. Only one thing was certain, and that was that the supporters of the winners would be shouting “Viva La France” at the end.

FRANCE GREEN won a very quiet third stanza 16-12, so they led by 17 IMPs going into the final 14 board set. The first 10 boards of that final set were as one-sided as it was possible to imagine, VINCIGUERRA running off 37 unanswered IMPs to take a 20-IMP lead with just four boards to play. Back came FRANCE GREEN at the death and, when the final deal arrived at the tables, the deficit was down to 11 IMPs. Did the final deal have the potential to swing the match? Oh, yes!

In the Open Room, Lorenzini/Bessis played in a quiet 3♥ as E/W, making nine tricks for +140. No drama here, then. In the replay, though, Bompis/Multon climbed all the way to 5♣ on the N/S cards. Vulnerable, they went three down, losing -300, which meant 4 IMPs to FRANCE GREEN, leaving them 7 IMPs short. Had 5♣ been doubled, that would have been -800 and 12 IMPs, which would have given FRANCE GREEN a 1-IMP win.

Congratulations to both teams, not only for reaching the final but on making that final such an epic match. “Viva La France”, indeed – with victory by a score of 111-104, the European Transnational Open champions are VINCIGUERRA: Herve Vinciguerra, Philippe Soulet, Cedric Lorenzini, Thomas Bessis, Franck Multon and Marc Bompis.