On the first Andy evaluated his hand better, upgrading a prime 22-count. On the second Phil passed a non-prime 4441 twelve count and this made it difficult for Alex to appreciate the slam potential of the hand, even when Phil made a desperate attempt to bid it. But their judgement was back in tune on the third hand when they avoided a slam needing a 2-2 break.
Both pairs had a couple of soft results in the next few boards, and the odd success, but we entered the last two boards with a five imps deficit. I thought both East-West pairs did well on board 15:
The auction was the same in both rooms, the East players converting the 'Woolsey' double into penalty. I'm not sure I would have done the same, but it was successful on this occasion. The defences lost their way a little, but it was still +500 in both rooms.
On the final board Andy and Shireen got +800 from an overcall, good compensation for a non-vulnerable game, and we emerged winners by four imps.
The round-robin ends next week. We face Ascoli Piceno, the holders and current group leaders, needing a solid performance to qualify for the knock-out stages.
