England Victorious as Tensions Mount - Venice Cup, Chennai 2015 (11)

It was board 87 (out of 96), the American declarer was playing an extremely awkward 3NT, which had failed by two tricks in the other room (+200 to USA I).   At trick 7, having performed miracles up to that point, declarer led towards the AJ109 of diamonds in the dummy, second player playing low.   Would she play the ace or would she play the jack?   There was no way for her to tell which would work best but a successful decision would have propelled USA I into the lead for the first time in the match since board two!

The tension was virtually unbearable.   Coming into the final set, we had been protecting a substantial, though not enormous, lead of 24 IMPs  but this had been gradually eroded, board by board.

Declarer paused.   She considered.   She considered again.   We held our breath.

Ace!

Any joy?  well, yes, if you were English!

That was close, very close - but having contemplated the prospect of our entire lead (and more) completely disappearing, we moved on to board 88 ahead by 12 IMPs.   The moment seemed pivotal and from then on, we pulled away, eventually winning by 42 IMPs.   It had been a fabulous performance and a thoroughly deserved win against very tough opposition !

Team		c/o	Segment
			1	Tot	2	Tot	3	Tot	4	Tot	5	Tot	6	Total
	USA1	16	19	35	30	65	22	87	43	130	38	168	16	184
	ENGLAND	0	44	44	40	84	19	103	45	148	44	192	34	226

So, now it is the French in the semi-finals and we will begin six IMPs down but in very high spirits...