With so many world champions involved, the final of the Women’s Teams between Baker and Tri Polar had the potential to be a thriller. A couple of dramatic deals in the first half of the contest pointed in which direction the wind might be blowing:

With a control in all the side suits South was happy to accept her partner’s invitation, +1510.

In this situation, 5♠ asks South to bid on with three keycards (South could have a hand with no keycards). When South confirmed that she did have them, North had to decide if it was worth bidding one more. If South held a small doubleton Diamond, the contract might well be on a finesse.

South might have responded 6♣ but what North should do then is unclear. Does 6♦ simply show the Ace or is it directing attention to the suit? The same question can be asked if North bids 6♥ instead. It’s a situation that is worth discussing with your partner. Here, it resulted in the loss of 11 IMPs.

What to write about this auction?

Nothing wrong with North’s Multi or East’s overcall. South’s double is harder to assess, especially if North is allowed to be very weak. It will certainly be a success if the Spades are running. Should West sit for the double? It’s likely East-West has the majority of the points, and a decent five-card suit is promising. When East redoubles I’m not sure how tempting it is to take your chances if partner is suggesting a minimum (remember, with 13-15 balanced most pairs start by doubling 2♦).

South led the ♠A and when North followed with the ♠8 she switched to a Heart, declarer winning with the Ace. Now the indicated play is a high Diamond, establishing a potential eighth trick. If South wins and does not cash a second Spade, instead playing a hopeful second Heart, declarer wins, cashes the ♦Q and is already up to eight tricks. After unblocking the Diamonds, declarer cashes the top Clubs. The fall of the Queen means she has eleven tricks and a whopping +2080.

Had South doubled 3NT (easily defeated by playing three rounds of Spades), I suspect West might have taken evasive action when South would have been likely to go on to 4♥. Knowing of her partner’s pro-active approach to preempting you could argue that it might be better to go quietly.

East led the ♦K and declarer won and returned the suit. When East continued with two rounds of Clubs West was endplayed, so the contract was only two down, -300 but a 16 IMP swing that might easily have been 18 IMPs in the opposite direction – and that would have been more than enough to reverse the final result, which saw Tri Polar win 143-116.

Gold is the best colour!

In the aftermath of the medal ceremony for the Women’s Teams in Strasbourg, as the players celebrated with an obligatory glass of crémant d’Alsace, I managed to distract each of them just long enough to get an immediate reaction:

Nevena Senior: "It’s been a while since we won a Gold Medal."

Nicola Smith: "I’m thrilled to bits!"

Kathrine Bertheau: "It’s the first time I have won this event."

Anam Tebha: "It was a great experience, I loved being here."

Irene Baroni: "The only thing better than winning is winning in Strasbourg!"

Janice Seamon-Molson: "I’m so happy to have won, everything here in Strasbourg was perfect. Gold is the best colour!"

In the quarterfinals of the Open Teams, it was Vinci, France Green, Vinciguerra and Lankveld who advanced to the semifinals.

In the Open BAM, after 7 rounds, Hellas Team and Pharmaservice are leading a tightly packed field.

In the Open Pairs Semifinal A, Lars Johansen and Steffen Simonsen, Steven De Donder and Steve De Roos are the leading pairs.

The leaders in semifinal B are Berk Basaran and Yusuf Sohtorik.

In the Women’s Pairs, Asli Acar and Berrak Erkan are followed by Cathy & Sophia Baldysz.

Elisabeth & Sofie Sjodal are way ahead in the second semifinal.