This is our second visit to the European Winter Games, staged in the high alpine ski resort of Tignes, in southeastern France, near to the Italian border. Players from 27 different countries made up the 46 teams that set out in pursuit of Les Etincelles Cup. With teams from right across Europe and beyond, the field also includes three junior teams (from Greece, Netherlands and Poland), a Seniors team from Switzerland, and two all-women’s squads, from Italy and Switzerland.

The format is a 12-round Swiss qualifying stage of 12-board matches played over three days, from which the top 16 teams will advance to the knockout stage.

At the end of the first day, the top of the leader-board looked like this:

As usual, we begin with some problems. Firstly, with only your side vulnerable, you are North holding:

What action do you take?

Finally, with neither side vulnerable, you hold as North:

What action, if any, do you take?

While you consider those, we begin our coverage of the second day at Table 1, with a match between CROATIA and MULTON. With play starting at stupid o’clock in the morning, it was time to see who was wide awake. The action began on the second board of the day, with one North player having to deal with the first of the problems above.

Vedran Zoric (left) began his international career in the Croatian Junior team at the 2000 European Youth Championships, and he has been a regular member of his country’s Open team since making his debut in 2004. He was a member of the Croatian teams that collected silver medals from the Open Teams at the European Small Federation Games in both 2010 and 2018.

On this deal, Zoric resurrected his inner-Junior to set MULTON’s Italian contingent a problem. Zoric’s 2♠ overcall probably does not even qualify for the description of ‘featherweight’, but it left Giovanni Donati with a heavyweight headache. Should the Italian show his big club fit with a 3♠ cue-bid, knowing that if 3NT is the right contract partner will be unable to bid it as he will have no spade stopper? Donati settled for the obvious alternative, showing his spade stopper and game values with a jump to 3NT.

With his good-looking 17-count, should Giacomo Percario make a quantitative raise to 4NT?  When he did not, the Italians were left playing game when 6♣ had an easy 12 winners. With hearts 3-3 and the queen onside, declarer made all 13 tricks: N/S +720.

It may come as no surprise to learn that the Croatians had the auction to themselves in the replay:

Kiki Ward-Platt did not overcall on the West hand, so Jurica Caric began with a ‘waiting’ 1♦ response. Marko Sipus showed his extra values with a jump to 2♥, and Caric went via fourth-suit to agree clubs. There was nothing to the play: N/S +1390 and 12 IMPs to CROATIA to go with their early morning coffee, as they settled in for a day camped at Table 1.

CROATIA won the match 26-14 to open a 10-VP gap between themselves and the rest of the field. MULTON just held on to second place but the chasing pack were now right on their heels. SANDFIA moved up one place into third, and we will see them in action against the leaders in Round 6.

After eight of the twelve boards, a number of small swings had given SANDFIA a 10-0 lead. Then came a deal that illustrated a cautiousness that comes with experience at one table and the exuberance of relative youth at the other.

Jurica Caric, the elder statesman of Croatian bridge, opened a strong/artificial 2♣ on the East hand. Marko Sipus (right) agreed spades and showed at least some values with a raise to 3♠. Caric’s 4♦ cue-bid then strongly suggested no club control. Perhaps Sipus could have shown something in clubs with a ‘last train’ 4♥, but he evidently decided that, having already shown some values, he had nothing to spare.

Caric had no reason to bid again. Well judged all round as slam is well against the odds and even the five-level may not be safe. In slam, you not only need the hearts to come in (a 2-2 break or singleton queen is about 50%) but you still have to guess the clubs too.

Playing in game, declarer mis-guessed the clubs and also managed to hold himself to ten tricks: E/W +420 left fans of the red and white checkerboard hoping that the cost was no more than an overtrick IMP or two.

I mentioned youthful exuberance above, but perhaps the auction at the other table would be better described as excess testosterone on steroids.

It’s that man Zoric again! In the previous match, we got a glimpse of what his non-vulnerable interventions may look like. Here, he came in over Stefano Tommasini’s 2♣ opening at ‘red’. If Marty Bergen ever wanted to run a new campaign for his contention that ‘Colours are for Children’, Kiril Marinovski’s raise to the five-level could be considered a bid to become its poster-child.

Clearly inspired by their opponents, and convinced that they were being stolen from, the English pair fully committed to the battle to see who could overbid the most. As one wit on BBO VuGraph commentary observed as the auction finished, “At least they played it from the right side to avoid the spade ruff!”

Marinovski tabled the ♣A and declarer claimed the rest as soon as trumps behaved. E/W -50 and 10 IMPs to CROATIA, tying the match. Another big swing followed on the next deal, so CROATIA won the match 24-10. With MULTON also winning, the top two places remained unchanged. LES TEIGNES (France) moved up into third place, and we will see them take on the leaders at Table 1 in Round 7.

The French team led the leaders 12-0 two-thirds of the way through the match, and then came a chance for something more substantial. This was a battle between the Croats’ Strong Club system and the much-maligned natural French Standard.

Vanessa Reess (left) made her first international appearance at the 1997 World Junior Pairs. The following year, she was a member of the French team at the European Mixed Championships. She picked up her first major medal, a silver, from the Transnational Teams at the 2001 World Championships on home soil in Paris. She has been a regular member of French Mixed and Women’s teams for more than two decades, and has twice won the Venice Cup, in 2005 and 2015. Last year, she was a member of the winning French Mixed Team at both the European Championships in Madeira and the World Championships in Salsomaggiore.

The club slam is clearly an excellent proposition on this deal. Kiril Marinovski started with a natural, limited 2♣ opening, which would seem to give the Croatians a head-start over natural methods. Having bid his diamonds once, Vedran Zoric simply raised 4♣ to game at his third turn. Looking at two low hearts, what could Marinovski do? Perhaps if Zoric had cue-bid 4♥ over 4♣, they might have reached the top spot.

Reess led the ♥Q, declarer winning in dummy and pitching his second heart on the ♦A. He then cashed the top spades, ruffed a third round of spades with the ♣A, ruffed a heart back to hand, and ruffed his last spade with the ♣9. The defence could make the ♣Q at some point, but that was all: N/S +620.

The French auction started at the one-level but, in French style, Lionel Sebanne had still not promised more than three clubs when he rebid 1♠. Stephane Messika forced to game with fourth-suit, and both members of the partnership then rebid their long suit at the three-level. Sebanne’s jump to 5♣ then left Messika with the critical decision. With such good controls and a potential source of tricks, he raised to slam. N/S +920 and 11 IMPs to LES TEIGNES.

LES TEIGNES won the match 33-3, which was enough to secure than first place on the leader-board. CROATIA dropped down into second spot, with MARTENS (Monaco/Poland) climbing up into third. For the final match on this second day, we’ll remain at Table 1, where it is LES TEIGNES v MARTENS. In a match of few swings, the French trailed 6-19 as the final deal of the day was placed on the tables. Both North players were posed a variation on the last of this week’s problems, and their decisions had a significant effect on the outcome of the match.

Lionel Sebanne’s double of North’s 1♦ overcall was a transfer, showing at least four hearts, rather than a traditional negative double. South’s 1♥ cue-bid was thus a takeout double, showing spades and, usually, diamond tolerance. West supported his partner’s heart and North did the same for his partner’s suit. When Sebanne then jumped to game, Dominic Filipowicz doubled to leave his partner with the last of this week’s problems. Filipowicz clearly intended his double to be for penalties, but was that clear to Jaroslaw Cieslak on the other side of the table? Could double not have just showed extra values, inviting North to choose between bidding game and defending? When Cieslak opted to play, Lionel Sebanne became a very happy man, and expressed his joy in the traditional manner.

Most defences will hold declarer to seven tricks. Indeed, declarer did offer the defence one opportunity to beat him by an extra trick, but they missed their chance. Not that it mattered much. Three down: E/W +500.

The auction here started in identical fashion up until East jump to 4♥ at the other table. Here, Krzysztof Martens elected to double 2♠ instead. In a weird kind of symmetry with the other table, here it was West who was apparently unclear whether this double showed spades or just extra values and a game try in hearts. Marek Pietraszek seems to have decided on the latter interpretation, hence his jump to game.

Guy Laffineur (right) had heard East’s double of 2♠ loud and clear, and had a fair idea what it meant. Thus, when Romain Tembouret doubled 4♥, he was quite content to trust his partner and defend.

4♥-X was not a happy place for declarer, and Pietraszek managed to accrue only eight tricks. E/W -300 and13 IMPs to LES TEIGNES, tying the match at 19-19.

A tie was not enough to keep the French in first place, CROATIA winning at Table 2 to overtake them. A big win for MULTON at Table 3 moved them back up into third spot.

At the end of the second day, the top of the leader-board looked like this:

There is still one more day (four more matches) before the top 16 teams advance to the knockout stage. With a couple of matches remaining, we’ll include those teams fighting to squeeze into the knockout stage on the leader-board.

We will be back soon with the best of the action from the final day of the Swiss qualifier.