We’ve reached the ‘Fantastic Four’ day in each of the competitions at this World Championships in Morocco. (If you missed the action from Day 10, follow the link here: Day 10 in Marrakech).

In the Venice Cup, there is a strong chance that we will have a new name on the trophy: of the four countries represented in the semi-final, only China (in 2017) has lifted this trophy before. The semi-final match-ups are CHINA v ISRAEL and NORWAY v TURKIYE. By contrast, we certainly will not be engraving a new name onto the Bermuda Bowl. Here, it is the reigning champions, SWITZERLAND v USA2 and NORWAY v ITALY.

Norway won the round robin, and then came from a fourth-quarter deficit to squeak past China by just 6 IMPs in their quarter-final. None of the top three teams chose to play Italy, so they were left to take on Poland in their quarter-final. They trailed after only two deals during the 96-board contest and slowly built a lead to power away to an impressive 43-IMP victory. Everything suggests that this semi-final should be a close-run affair. The Norwegians led 31-21 after the first stanza. Let’s take a look at the action in an exciting second segment.

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

Your 2♠ cue-bid shows a limit raise or better in diamonds. What action, if any, do you take now?

Next, with only your side vulnerable, you are sitting in the West seat with:

You decide not to open in first seat. What do you now bid when partner opens 1♠?

While you mull those over, we head for the middle of the stanza with the match score having advanced only to 33-29 in favour of the Scandinavians. Then both West players offered their opponents a chance for a big score…

We have discussed previously how much better it is to get into the auction early on moderate hands, rather than trying to back in with them later. Neither of the West players in this match opened either 1♥ or 2♥ in first seat non-vulnerable. Either of those options, imperfect though they may be, would have been less dangerous than what they actually did.

Antonio Sementa (left) opened 1♦, and Alfredo Versace’s jump to 3♣ after East’s 1♠ overcall showed some sort of limit raise in diamonds. (2♣ would have been natural and a one-round force.) Now, having passed initially, Terje Aa thought he should wander into the auction at the three-level. Versace re-opened with a double in the pass out seat, and Sementa did not have his most challenging decision of the tournament.

A spade lead would have restricted declarer to just four tricks without the option, but Sementa understandably led the suit his side had bid and supported. Versace won with the ♦A and there are a number of ways to skin a cat from here. Versace switched to his trump, and Sementa played three rounds of the suit, Aa winning and drawing North’s last trump. In order to make a second club trick, declarer needs to play that suit now, while he still has a trump. Instead, Aa led a spade to the jack and queen. Now the defence was back in control. Three rounds of diamonds forced declarer’s last trump. When Versace won the second round of spades with the ace, he led a club. Whether declarer finessed or not, North was destined to take two of the last three tricks, with the ♣K and the thirteenth diamond.

Just four tricks for declarer: a massive N/S +1100.

Remarkably, the Italian West jumped into exactly the same frying pan. After the same start, Boye Brogeland showed his invitational-plus diamond raise via a 2♠ cue-bid and, here too, Percario stuck his neck on the block with a 3♥ bid. Christian Bakke doubled, leaving Brogeland with the first of the problems posed at the top of this article.

When partner has pre-empted or when your side has agreed a suit, doubles over the bidder are usually penalty-oriented. Did you pass the double on Brogeland’s hand? I am guessing that doing so would have earned the eternal gratitude of your teammates for flattening their dreadful board. Instead, Brogeland advanced with 3♠, presumably showing a stopper in that suit, as Bakke was then able to bid 3NT.

With the finesses working in spades, hearts and clubs, declarer needs only four diamond tricks from this combination. Bakke captured the ♥K with the ace at trick one, played a diamond to the ten and ace, and then continued with the ♦J. Running it would have solved any remaining problems with the spade finesse very likely to be right, but he put up the ♦K and then had to concede a diamond to West’s queen. Back came the ♥J, taken with the queen. Declarer cashed his diamonds, took the winning spade finesse, and then had to lead a club to the king for his ninth trick. N/S +400 but still 12 IMPs to Italy, who move ahead 41-33.

The moral of the story? “Speak now, or forever hold your peace.”

Norway regained the lead by picking up 15 IMPs over the next three deals, largely thanks to making a game on a guess for a queen that declarer in the other room got wrong. Then came…

It is seldom easy to bid to an 11-trick game when your partnership holds only a mis-fitting combined 23-count, but 5♣ is not such a bad contract on this combination. With the Norwegians bidding up to 3♦ on their meagre values, it became a competitive auction. Indeed, Sememta ended up giving a rather uncomfortable preference on two low clubs at the four-level, and I suspect that getting to game was never on his radar.

Aa led his singleton spade to the ten, queen and king. West took his ace on the second round of trumps and switched to a low heart. Declarer won with the ♥K, drew the remaining trumps, and led the ♥10 towards dummy. He now had two red winners on which to discard his losing spades. N/S +150.

Unlike Livgard at the other table, Giovani Donati (right) remained silent on the East hand. As a result, the Italians never mentioned their nine-card diamond fit. Indeed, it was Sementa who bid that suit here. Thus, Brogeland was lured into bidding 3NT despite the obvious deficiently in his hand.

Percario was not deterred and duly tabled the ♦K. It was then only a question of how many Brogeland would go down. When he took his ace before the fourth round of diamonds, the defenders had four diamonds and two aces: N/S -200 and 8 IMPs to Italy, retaking the lead by a single IMP.

The match score had advanced to 54-48 in favour of the Italians by the time the penultimate deal of the stanza arrived at the tables.

Giacomo Percario started by showing a good hand with both black suits. Giovani Donati’s 2NT was then the start of a relay sequence which told him that his partner had exactly a 4-1-3-5 shape.

Looking at all four hands, you may be forgiven for thinking that there is nothing in the play, as declarer appears to have nine top tricks via five clubs, three spades and a diamond. However, there are a number of points of interest. Brogeland led a spade against Donati. If declarer has only four club tricks, then it looks as if he will need a trick from the Q-J-10 of hearts to bring his tally to nine. However, entries are a potential problem and thus declarer cannot afford to touch clubs too early, as he may need entries in both directions in that suit. Donati thus began by leading the ♥Q from dummy at trick two.

When the defenders allowed the ♥Q to win, declarer was in clover, so he laid down the ♣A. With the position in that suit now revealed, it was not rocket science to untangle the tricks: E/W +430

When a contract seems destined to make, often the best you can do is give declarer a guess. An excellent defence by Alfredo Versace did exactly that on this deal.

Versace (left) opened the ♥4, covered by queen and king, and Sementa returned the suit to declarer’s ten and Versace’s ace. Versace’s switch to the ♦10, a surround play, crushing the ♦J and neutralizing the ♦9 was then the killing defence. Declarer covered with the jack and allowed Sementa to win with the ♦Q. He then ducked again when a second diamond came back, but Versace won and played a third diamond, removing declarer’s only entry to his hand before he had tested the clubs.

Of course, declarer could have run the ♣J on the first round of the suit to score up his game but, when he played a club to the ace and North showed out, he was one down. Chapeau, Alfredo! E/W -50 and 10 IMPs to Italy.

The Norwegians never really got to grips with this combination. I suspect that many players would open the West hand, after which reaching slam would be almost inevitable, but not Aa. His partner’s 1♠ opening then left him with the last of the problems posed earlier. I am a great believer in describing your hand as accurately as possible when you find a fit. You might, perhaps start with a 4♥ splinter, but this West hand looks just a little too good for that. Looking for a descriptive bid, I suspect that, for most, a fit-jump to 3♦ as a passed hand would be the obvious start on this collection.

Aa started with 2♦, which their system card describes as either natural and forcing for one round or 3-7 HCP with a spade fit. If opener is not interested facing the weak hand, he can simply rebid 2♠, but Livgard had a good hand, so he relayed with 2♥. Aa’s 3♦ was now, presumably, natural but, as far as I can tell, he had still said nothing about his spade fit. When Livgard now bid his hearts, Aa jumped to 4♠ and Livgard did not know enough to bid on. I’ll leave you to decide for yourself whether stopping in game on this combination is a system problem or an error of judgement by someone. Declarer had no problem making 13 tricks: E/W +710.

For the Italians, Giacomo Percario (right) also did not open the West hand, but they were faced with a completely different scenario after Bakke opened his ‘obvious’ weak two via a Multi on the North hand. Donati started with a double on his good hand and Brogeland, who could be fairly sure that his opponents could make something at least fairly high, braved a pass-or-correct jump to 3♥ on his miserable collection of junk.

Percario’s value-showing double let his partner know that he had a maximum for his initial pass and, when he then bid spades on the West hand, Donati was never likely to stop short of at least the small slam. E/W +1460 and another 13 IMPs to Italy to close the stanza.

Italy won the second set 56-17 to take a 29-IMP lead (77-48) in the match. I suspect there is much more troubled bridge to go over the water before we know which of these teams will be playing in the final.

In the other Bermuda Bowl semi-final, after trailing by 19 IMPs at the end of the first stanza, the Swiss reigning champions have moved ahead of USA2 by that same amount after two sets.