DAILY BULLETIN Editor: BRIAN SENIOR • Co-Editor: PETER VENTURA • Layout: GEORGE HADJIDAKIS

Bulletin 8 Wednesday, 27 August 2003

France What a St.Cloud- Finish! 18-28 August 2003

Eighteen pairs started out in the Swiss Pairs yesterday, enjoying the more relaxed and friendly atmosphere produced by not having to play behind screens Now we know why Italy are the only squad to have a team doctor here in Paris! Having started the last quarter ahead by 60.5 IMPs, the Italians had to face a tremendous comeback from the defending champion, USA2 team. When the di Bello brothers played in a transfer bid on the penultimate board while USA2 bid and made a grand slam, the lead was down to just 0.5 IMPs. The same Italian pair showed tremendous character in bidding another grand slam on the very next and final deal to hang onto that lead and reach the final. Meanwhile, Denmark were made to battle hard by a spirited Polish team but came through without having to suffer quite the same levels of stress as their final opponents. The Swiss Pairs is at the half-way point. It is very close at the top but the leaders are Taweesith/Jaturong of Thailand, 1 IMP ahead of Ng/Mak of China Hong Kong. 9th World Youth Team Youth 9th World CHAMPIONSHIP 9th WORLD YOUTH BRIDGE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS St. Cloud-Paris,

VUGRAPH MATCHES SEMI-FINAL 1 Italy - Denmark 09.00 TEAMS USA 2 ITALY to be announced 11.50 Carry-over 4.5 - to be announced 15.20 to be announced 18.10 Boards 1-16 20 54 Total 24.5 54 Boards 17-32 26 88 SCHEDULE Total 50.5 142 09.00-11.20 Final / Play-off, Segment 1 Boards 33-48 64 33 10.30-11.30 Swiss Pairs, Round 7 Total 114.5 175 11.45-12.45 Swiss Pairs, Round 8 Boards 49-64 82 22 11.50-14.10 Final / Play-off, Segment 2 Final Result 196.5 197 13.00-14.00 Swiss Pairs, Round 9 15.20-17.40 Final / Play-off, Segment 3 SEMI-FINAL 2 15.30-16.30 Swiss Pairs, Round 10 TEAMS POLAND DENMARK 16.45-17.45 Swiss Pairs, Round 11 Carry-over - 16 18.00-19.00 Swiss Pairs, Round 12 Boards 1-16 30 53 18.10-20.30 Final / Play-off, Segment 4 Total 30 69 Boards 17-32 58 26 Total 88 95 Welcome to Ernesto d'Orsi Boards 33-48 31 51 Total 119 146 Ernesto d'Orsi of Brazil, Boards 49-64 47 48 a member of the Execu- tive Council of the Final Result 166 194 World Bridge Federa- tion, arrived in Paris today to attend the last Swiss Pairs stages of the World Youth Championship. Ranking after 6 Rounds

Mr d'Orsi was President 1 Taweesith - Jaturong THA +65 110 of the World Bridge 2 Mak - Ng CHK +64 109 Federation in 1991-92, 3 Harr - Ellestad NOR +56 109 and has been on the 4 Rashane - Patnarin THA +64 108 WBF Executive Council for over 20 years, represent- 5 Feiler - Burgess AUS/ENG +56 107 ing Zone 3 (South America). He has served as Presi- 6 Pahk - Ieong USA/CHK +17 96 dent of the Brazilian Bridge Federation and President of the South American Bridge Confederation for many 7 Sundklakk - Kvangraven NOR +20 95 years. 8 Drijver - Michielsen NED -6 88 9 Valo - Andrea FRA -16 87 More than everything, however, Mr d'Orsi is a great 10 Raynaud - Ancelin FRA -14 86 friend of Junior bridge. He supported the World Youth 11 Birdsall - Wilkinson ENG -15 86 Teams Championship from the very beginning, and was 12 Wong - Wyner CHK/AUS -19 81 the chief organizer of the previous event of the series, 13 Terasak - Amornpong THA -29 81 held in Mangaratiba, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with great 14 van Gelder - de Waele NED -30 81 success in the summer of 2001. 15 Dekker - van der Salm NED -27 80 We welcome Ernesto d'Orsi and wish him a nice stay 16 Vi Chediak - Jorstad URU/NOR -36 78 close to us here in Paris. 17 Grias - Chauvelot FRA -41 76 18 Courrias - Ancelin FRA -109 57

2 18 - 28 August 2003 9th WORLD YOUTH BRIDGE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS

The USA 2 Team Schedule for Thursday

Thursday - the last day of the Championships - will be a free day for almost everybody except the two finalists.The programme of the day has been altered as follows:

11.00 - 12.30 Brunch at the hotel 13.00 - 15.20 Final, segment 5 15.40 - 18.00 Final, segment 6 18.15 Prize giving ceremony (FFB, ground floor hall) 19.15 Departure of buses to Victory Dinner which will be served on a boat during a cruise on river Seine, seeing Paris by night.

Would you please notice that team uniform or lounge suit is required for the Prize giving ceremony as a number of important guests will be attending, together with the media. Due to the time restraints, players participating in the final and those attending Vugraph should come to FFB already dressed up for the ceremony. Kevin Bathurst (25): The 'quiet one', silent but deadly. Kevin is participating in his third World Junior Champi- Panos Gerontopoulos onship. He will be tutoring math, science and reading to WBF Youth Cmte Chmn high school students in Columbia, South Carolina. Kent Mignocchi (24): A professional bridge player, Kent is an example of the famous saying, 'Good things come in small packages'. Kent is America's equivalent of the BBC; if Prague to host the you want to know what is happening, just tune in to Kent. 19th European Youth Team Joel Wooldridge (24):A student who is studying to be a Championship next summer teacher, Joel is participating in his fifth World Junior Cham- pionship. He holds the world record for the most fried chicken eaten in a 30-minute period - 32 pieces. John Hurd (24): A jolly, happy soul, Johnny enjoys eating Popeye's chicken.When he is not chumming with his pals he is often seen playing Texas Hold'em (all-in with J-4). When it comes to bridge his best attribute is his defence, while his weakest is the bidding. Playing his third Champi- onship here in Paris, John is the glue of the USA2 team. John Kranyak (19): Our fashion consultant, John hails from Bay Village, Ohio. He is currently attending Columbia University, where he is in his sophomore year.Thanks to bridge, John has picked up a knack for backgammon and poker.And also thanks to bridge he has had some good old fun times with girls from Poland, Sweden, Brazil, Canada and, on many occasions, the USA. There is a lot more to come from John Kranyak. Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic and one of Joe 'Boo' Grue (22): Is currently a New Yorker but a the most attractive cities in Europe, will be the venue Minnesotan by heart. Joe is a good friend and a great per- son. Boozer can only be described as a compilation of all of the 19th European Youth Team Championship next things from the evil empire. He is also known as zork. summer. In accordance with the agreement signed yesterday by EBL President Gianarrigo Rona and Czech Bridge Federation President Jan Volhejn, the event will take Swiss Pairs place from 1 to 11 August 2004. The European Youth Team Championship is open to There are 18 pairs competing in this tournament, and prizes National Teams of the EBL member countries.It is run will be awarded to the top five pairs. The prize giving will take place together with the Championship's closing cere- in two series, the Juniors (for players up to 25-year mony on Thursday night at 18.15 hrs. old) and Schools (for players up to 20-year olds).

3 9th WORLD YOUTH BRIDGE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS St. Cloud-Paris, France

ROUND ROBIN Round 14

URUGUAY v AUSTRALIA At Last! Finally, at the 14th time of asking, the team from Uruguay has Board 5. N/S Vul. Dealer North. won their first match at these championships. Congratulations to [J them.The victory came against Australia.Rumour has it that Aus- tralian npc, Ishmael Del'Monte may have had a modest wager on ] J 5 4 3 2 the outcome of this match (the second rumour, that having { A J 9 6 watched his team for the past week he bet against them, is en- } 6 4 2 tirely without foundation). Unlucky, Ishmael. [ A K 8 2 [ Q 9 The following boards were the key to Uruguay's success. N ] 8 ] K Q 10 9 7 6 W E Board 4.All Vul. Dealer West. { K 10 2 { 7 5 } A K 10 8 5S } Q 7 3 [ Q 8 7 2 [ 10 7 6 5 4 3 ] A 8 5 ]A { A Q J 8 3 { Q 8 4 3 }8 }J 9 [ J 10 6 5 4N [ K 9 3 West North East South ] J 4 3 ] K Q 10 7 W E Wyner Vi.Chediak Krochmalik Carve { K 9 2 { 6 Pass 2{ Pass } 7 6S } J 10 9 3 2 2NT Pass 3} Pass [A 4] All Pass ] 9 6 2 West North East South { 10 7 5 4 Salaverri Abraham M.Chediak Wilkinson } A K Q 5 4 Pass 2] Pass 2NT Pass 3} Pass West North East South 3NT All Pass Wyner Vi.Chediak Krochmalik Carve Pass 1{ Pass 2} Pass 2{ Pass 4{ Pass 5{ Pass 6{ All Pass

West North East South Salaverri Abraham M.Chediak Wilkinson Pass 1] Pass 2} Pass 2{ Pass 3NT All Pass

Virginia Chediak and Martin Carve bid the excellent diamond slam that defeated the rest of the field. Chediak failed to cuebid over 4{ because she did not like the club misfit but Carve guessed to play her for a heart control anyway, being reasonably confident that there would be a good play for twelve tricks if they could survive the opening lead. Right he was.The play was straightforward and Chediak chalked up +1370. In the other room 1] showed four plus spades and less than an opening 1} (14+). Two Diamonds was natural and Michael Wilkinson saw no reason to look for slam facing a limited open- ing and with most of his values likely to be opposite shortage; +720 after a spade lead to the king and ace and East pitched clubs to keep his hearts intact; 13 IMPs to Uruguay. Joshua Wyner,Australia

4 18 - 28 August 2003 9th WORLD YOUTH BRIDGE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS

The respective Easts launched their weak two bid in different manners but the key decision fell to the West players. Josh Wyner chose to play 4] while Maria Salaverri preferred to try her hand The Uruguay Team at 3NT because she held only a singleton heart and had a possi- ble alternative source of tricks in the club suit. Against Wyner's 4], Virginia led her singleton spade and Wyner won the ace to play a heart to the king and ace - not that the choice of heart plays made a great difference to the out- come. A diamond switch went to the king and ace and the defence had to come to a second diamond and two more heart tricks; down two for -100. Salaverri's decision to play in no trump proved to be the win- ning one when her partner turned up with a very useful club fit. Mark Abraham led a low diamond to the queen and king. Salaver- ri ran her nine winners and gave up; +400 and 11 IMPs to Uruguay. Board 14. None Vul. Dealer East. [9 2 ] Q 6 3 { 10 8 7 3 } 8 5 4 3 [ K J 8 5 3N [ 10 7 4 ] J 10 7 5 4 ] A K 9 W E { – { A Q J 6 S } A 9 7 } J 10 6 Roberto Maffei (npc): Lives in Rosario in Argenti- [ A Q 6 na and has on several occasions been the npc for the ]8 2 Argentinian ladies team. He is the best captain we { K 9 5 4 2 could have! } K Q 2 Sara Convernton (coach): Roberto's wife and West North East South someone who is always very good company for the Wyner Vi.Chediak Krochmalik Carve team, being very supportive in everything. She is 1NT Pass especially to be recommended to look after a team 2] Pass 2[ Pass including three young girls. 3] Pass 3[ Pass 4} Pass 4{ Pass Martin Carve: 25 years old and lives in Montevideo, 4[ Pass 5[ All Pass the Uruguayan capital. Next year Martin will graduate West North East South as an accountant. He is the best guy in the team (actually the only one), and also both the most expe- Salaverri Abraham M.Chediak Wilkinson rienced player on the team and the shyest. 1{ Pass 1] Pass 1NT Pass Maria Jose Salaverri: 18 years old and lives in Mon- 2[ Pass 3] Pass tevideo. Maria is studying business. She is suffering 4] All Pass here in Paris as she cannot live without her 'Mate' (a typical Uruguayan drink). Salaverri and Maria Chediak outbid their counterparts when they stopped safely in 4]. Salaverri won the club lead and played a heart to the ace followed by the {A for a club pitch and the Veronica Chediak: 19 years old, she is from Salto {Q, covered and ruffed. She crossed to the ]K and threw her re- but lives in Montevideo, where she is in her second maining club on the established diamond then played on spades, year of studying chemical engineering. Veronica is coming to ten tricks for +420. very friendly. Daniel Krochmalik opened a strong no trump and Wyner transferred then showed his second suit. Having received prefer- Virginia Chediak: Veronica's sister, Virginia is 21 ence to spades, he cuebid and Krochmalik cooperated. Krochma- years old and lives in Montevideo, where she is study- lik liked his heart holding sufficiently to invite slam with a raise to ing communications. She created this team after the 5[, asking for good trumps, over Wyner's 4[ sign-off. Five Spades last World Youth Championship. She is the least shy is dangerously high looking at the two hands, but it appears that the major suits lie so favourably that declarer should get home player in the team and also is very good at public safely. However,after the lead of the king of clubs to dummy's ace, relations. declarer lost his way and went one down; -50 and 10 IMPs to Uruguay, who ran out winners by 52-46 IMPs, 16-14 VPs.

5 9th WORLD YOUTH BRIDGE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS St. Cloud-Paris, France

ROUND ROBIN Round 14

CANADA v NORWAY

Norway required a big win over a Canadian team in perfect Board 7.All Vul. Dealer South. shape after an impressive performance against USA2 in Round 13. [ Q J 10 3 2 On Board 3 Lavee/Grainger nicely bid 3NT while ]7 3 Demuy/Wolpert won the auction for Canada at the two level at the other table; 11 IMPs to Canada.The next board could have { J 9 2 been a much-needed swing for Norway but became one instead } J 9 7 for Canada. [ 8 6 5N [ K 7 ] 6 2 ] A K Q J 9 5 Board 4.All Vul. Dealer West. W E { 8 7 6 3 { Q 4 [ Q 8 7 2 } K 6 3 2S } A 8 4 ] A 8 5 [ A 9 4 { A Q J 8 3 ] 10 8 4 }8 { A K 10 5 [ J 10 6 5 4N [ K 9 3 } Q 10 5 ] J 4 3 ] K Q 10 7 W E Jorstad as South started with three rounds of diamonds { K 9 2 { 6 against 3]. Declarer ruffed the third diamond, drew the trumps } 7 6S } J 10 9 3 2 then played a club to the king to ruff the last diamond. On the [A ace of clubs South erred by not unblocking the queen.A second later Jorstad found himself endplayed with only spades left. 140 ] 9 6 2 was a flat board when Wolpert in the Open Room led a spade { 10 7 5 4 from his ace against 2]. } A K Q 5 4 Norway won 8 IMPs on Board 10 when Lavee/Grainger went down in a sporting 5} contract while Harr/Sundklakk made a West North East South partscore at the other table. At half-time Norway was far away Sundklakk Demuy Harr Wolpert from a place in the semi-finals, trailing by 18-28 IMPs. Pass 1{ Pass 2} Lavee/Grainger tried 6NT on Board 13 but there were only 11 tricks and Norway got their slam-swing back; 13 IMPs to Norway. Pass 2[ Pass 3{ Pass 3] Pass 3NT All Pass West North East South Lavee Ellestad Grainger Jorstad Pass 1{ 1] 2} Pass 2[ Pass 3{ Pass 3NT Pass 4{ Pass 4] Pass 4NT Pass 5[ Pass 6{ All Pass

Grainger led ]K against 6{. If declarer wins the ace and plays a spade to the ace to take the diamond finesse the slam can be made. He needs two spade ruffs for 12 tricks, so he takes the first ruff and comes back via a new finesse in diamonds to ruff anoth- er spade. On the third high club West can play {K but declarer discards his last heart. Running clubs after the lead will also suc- ceed. In practice Olav Ellestad played the clubs to split four-three, a sensible idea indeed. He took ]A, cashed [A and {A then took a spade ruff and ran the top clubs.When West was able to ruff the third club declarer was doomed to go down. Demuy/Wolpert scored +660 in 3NT at the other table; 13 lucky IMPs to Canada. Ronny Jorstad was angry with himself not to defeat 3] on this board: Stian Sundklakk, Norway

6 18 - 28 August 2003 9th WORLD YOUTH BRIDGE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS

The last big swing in the match came here: Board 19. E/W Vul. Dealer South. The Egyptian Team [ K Q 6 5 3 ]8 3 { J 6 2 } 9 7 2 [ 7 4N [ A J 8 2 ] 5 ] A Q 9 6 2 W E { K Q 10 8 4 3 { 7 } A K Q 5S } 10 8 6 [ 10 9 ] K J 10 7 4 { A 9 5 } J 4 3 West North East South Sundklakk Demuy Harr Wolpert Pass 1{ Pass 1] Pass 2} Pass 2[ Pass As this is their first international participation, and accord- 3{ Pass 3NT All Pass ing to their very young ages, the team is all looking forward West North East South to the next Championship in two years time. Lavee Ellestad Grainger Jorstad Ahmed Yousry (6 years old). Ahmed is a database Pass administrator and loves travelling. He is 23. 1{ Pass 1] Pass 2} Pass 2NT Pass Sherif Noshy (5 years old). Sherif is a computer engineer 3{ All Pass but loves food more than he loves computers. He is 24 years old. Grainger obvious didn't see where nine tricks in no trump would come from and passed 3{ out. Harr/Sundklakk even took Ahmed Rabie (5 years old).Ahmed is a database admin- ten tricks at the other table for 11 IMPs to Norway. istrator but loves bridge more than database. He is 25. An 18-12 win for Norway gave no reason to bring out the champagne for the Norwegians when their rivals for the qualifying Aly Tawfik (2.5 years old).Aly is an assistant researcher in places were winning big.There was one match to go for Norway civil engineering at Cairo University and loves air and but that would not be enough to book a place in the semi-finals. water sports. He is 24.

Hussein Sherif (1.5 years old). Hussein is a business stu- dent in Cairo and loves OKBridge. He is 20.

Karim Nabil (1.5 years old). Karim is a commerce student at Alexandria University and loves being left to sleep.He is 22.

Samih Khalil (npc). Samih is an electrical engineer and has been an international bridge player since 1980. How- ever, since 1994 he has been totally devoted to the train- ing of all the Egyptian teams. He is 50 years old and loves French billiards.

Championship Books Bulletin Editor, Brian Senior has a small quantity of recent Championship books for sale here in Paris at a special reduced price. Montreal World Championships 2002 - 20 Euros (normal price about 28) Menton Open European Championships 2003 - 10 Euros (normal price about 14) See Brian in the Bulletin room. Olav Ellestad, Norway

7 9th WORLD YOUTH BRIDGE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS St. Cloud-Paris, France

ROUND ROBIN Round 15

ITALY v FRANCE

Going into the last round of the qualifying stage, France were ace of clubs and ruffed a club. Now he ruffed a diamond and lying fourth, 6 VPs ahead of fifth-placed Poland. However, in the Bessis followed with the jack. Lo Presti had a sure line now and last round Poland could be expected to get a big win against one simply drew trumps then conceded a diamond; +980 and 10 IMPs of the lower-ranked teams, while the French had to face a pow- to Italy. erful Italian squad on vugraph. They knew that a 19-11 victory would see them through to the semi-finals, anything less would Board 5. N/S Vul. Dealer North. leave them reliant on the Poles dropping some points. [ J 9 6 4 Board 3. E/W Vul. Dealer South. ] K Q 7 5 4 [ Q 10 7 6 3 { Q 8 5 ]K }Q { Q 9 8 4 3 2 [ Q 5N [ A K 10 3 ] J 8 6 ] A 2 }8 W E [9 [J 4 2 { 10 9 { J 7 6 3 2 N S ] Q J 10 5 4 ] 9 6 2 } A 9 8 7 4 3 } 10 5 W E { K 7 6 { J 10 5 [ 8 7 2 } 9 4 3 2 S } K Q 7 6 ] 10 9 3 [ A K 8 5 { A K 4 ] A 8 7 3 } K J 6 2 {A West North East South } A J 10 5 F di Bello O Bessis S di Bello de Tessieres Pass 1{ Pass West North East South 1NT All Pass F di Bello O Bessis S di Bello de Tessieres 1} Pass 1[ Pass 3] Pass 3[ Pass 4[ All Pass West North East South Gaviard Mazzadi T Bessis Lo Presti 1} Pass 1] Pass 2} Pass 2{ Pass 2] Pass 3{ Pass 6[ All Pass

French nerves had barely had time to settle when they found themselves 10 IMPs behind. I am not certain of the meaning of Godefroy de Tessiere's jump-reverse but whatever it meant it did not get the job done as Olivier Bessis passed his follow-up raise to the spade game. In the other room, Fabio Lo Presti opened with a strong club and Francesco Mazzadi's 1] response was a transfer.When Mazzadi showed his two-suiter, Lo Presti settled for a leap to the small slam. In game, Bessis had the luxury of being able to go all out for as many tricks as possible as he would always come to at least ten, or so it appeared. He won the spade lead on table and organised two diamond ruffs so had all thirteen tricks for +510. Julien Gaviard's heart lead took an entry out of the North hand prematurely. Lo Presti unblocked the diamond, Thomas Bessis dropping the ten, and cashed the ace of spades then played Godefroy de Tessieres, France

8 18 - 28 August 2003 9th WORLD YOUTH BRIDGE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS

West North East South partner a free choice of opening lead.A diamond lead would have Gaviard Mazzadi T Bessis Lo Presti defeated the contract but, looking at a ten-high diamond suit and lack of outside entries, Bessis too chose to lead a spade in the Pass 1{ Pass hope of hitting his partner's suit. He did so, but that was not 1NT 2} Pass 3} enough to beat the contract; +600 for 1 IMP to France. Pass 3] Pass 3NT Dble All Pass Board 7.All Vul. Dealer South.

Mazzadi was willing to compete over 1NT where Bessis was [ Q J 9 4 not. It looks from the ensuing auction as though 2} meant some- ] K 8 6 thing different for him to what it meant to Lo Presti, but perhaps {7 6 I do them an injustice. For the two passed hands to play 3NT was clearly too much and Gaviard expressed that opinion rather } A K 10 5 forcibly via a double of the final contract. [ K 10 7 6 5 2N [ A 8 Furio di Bello played 1NT nicely. He received a low heart lead ] A ] J 10 9 7 5 4 3 W E which ran to his jack and now he took his best shot for the con- { K J 10 8 { 5 4 tract by cashing the queen of spades then leading to the [10. S That gave him seven tricks for +90. I suspect that di Bello would } J 3 } 9 2 have been unimpressed by the efforts of his teammates when it [3 came to score up this deal. ]Q 2 Against 3NT doubled, Gaviard led the {10 to Lo Presti's ace. { A Q 9 3 2 Declarer led the ]10 and that was covered by the jack, king and ace. Now Bessis found a low spade switch to the queen but } Q 8 7 6 4 Gaviard persisted with a second diamond.Lo Presti won the queen West North East South and played the }Q. Gaviard won the club and now returned a spade, permitting Bessis to take three more tricks there for down F di Bello O Bessis S di Bello de Tessieres two; -500 and 9 IMPs to France, levelling the match at 10-10. Pass 1[ Pass 1NT Pass Board 6. E/W Vul. Dealer East. 2[ All Pass [8 4 West North East South ] K 8 6 4 Gaviard Mazzadi T Bessis Lo Presti { 10 7 5 4 3 2 1{ }8 1[ 3NT All Pass [ K Q 6N [ J 9 5 ] A J 3 ] 10 9 7 5 W E { K J { A 6 } A K 9 7 3 S } 10 5 4 2 [ A 10 7 3 2 ]Q 2 { Q 9 8 } Q J 6 West North East South F di Bello O Bessis S di Bello de Tessieres Pass Pass 2NT Pass 3} Pass 3NT All Pass West North East South Gaviard Mazzadi T Bessis Lo Presti Pass 1[ Dble Pass 2] Pass 3NT All Pass

Lo Presti opened 1[ in second seat but his opponents soon got to the no trump game. Naturally enough, Mazzadi led a spade but that gave Gaviard the tempo to make his game; ten tricks for +630. There was a possibility of a swing to France because in the other room de Tessieres did not open the South hand, giving his Furio Di Bello, Italy

9 9th WORLD YOUTH BRIDGE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS St. Cloud-Paris, France

De Tessiere, in typical French style, passed as dealer on the Board 17. None Vul. Dealer North. five-five 10-count and left his opponents to play 2[. Bessis cashed [5 4 a top club then switched to a heart for the jack, two and ace. Di Bello played the }J now but Bessis let that run to his partner's ] A K 4 queen and de Tessieres switched to his spade for the nine and { Q J 9 6 4 2 ace. Di Bello lost two trumps and two diamonds to go with the }7 3 two clubs so was down one for -100. [ J 10 7 6 3 [ K Q 9 8 2 Lo Presti did open the South hand and when Gaviard over- N ] J 10 8 ] 9 3 called 1[ Mazzadi felt that he had sufficient to take a shot at W E the no trump game. Though the club suit was running to pro- { 10 7 { 8 5 vide five tricks, diamonds were very badly placed for declarer. } K Q 2S } J 9 8 5 Bessis led the jack of hearts and Mazzadi had no clue that it was right to play low from dummy at trick one. He put up the queen [A in normal fashion and that lost to the bare ace. The spade ] Q 7 6 5 2 switch went to the queen and ace and Bessis cleared the { A K 3 hearts. Mazzadi played a diamond to the nine and ten and back } A 10 6 4 came a club. He won in hand to take the diamond finesse but that lost and Gaviard returned a diamond to establish a trick West North East South for himself.There were only seven tricks to be had; down two F di Bello O Bessis S di Bello de Tessieres for -200 and 7 IMPs to France, keeping alive their hopes of mak- Pass Pass 1] ing the semi-finals. Pass 2} 2[ Dble 4[ Pass Pass Dble Board 8. None Vul. Dealer West. All Pass [ 10 2 West North East South ] A Q 2 Gaviard Mazzadi T Bessis Lo Presti {K J 1{ Pass 1] } K Q J 10 7 2 Pass 2{ 2[ 3[ 4[ Pass Pass 4NT [ A K Q J 6N [ 9 8 5 3 ] K 9 8 6 ] J 10 7 4 3 Pass 5{ Pass 6{ W E { 10 5 { 9 4 3 All Pass }8 3S }5 De Tessieres doubled 2[ for take-out to show his extras and [7 4 doubled again when Furio leaped to 4[.The diamond slam was ]5 never an issue at this table, where North had passed as dealer, { A Q 8 7 6 2 } A 9 6 4 West North East South F di Bello O Bessis S di Bello de Tessieres 1[ 2} 4[ 4NT Pass 6} All Pass West North East South Gaviard Mazzadi T Bessis Lo Presti 1[ 2} 3[ 5} All Pass

Rather as one might expect, Stelio di Bello pre-empted more aggressively than Thomas Bessis when their respective partner's opened 1[ and right-hand opponent overcalled 2}. Di Bello's 4[ call left de Tessieres with no room to explore and he tried 4NT, initially minors. Olivier had substantial extra playing strength and gussed to jump to 6}. Hoping to find his partner with spade shortage. Alas, the defence promptly cashed two spade tricks; down one for -50. Lo Presti had a little more room but disliked his doubleton spade sufficiently that he contented himself with a peaceful raise to the club game. That did not invite Mazzadi to go on to slam and 5} made exactly for +400 and 10 IMPs to Italy, giving them the lead at 20-18. The match was fairly quiet for a long time.The Italian lead had stretched to 7 IMPs when the next major swing occurred. Olivier Bessis, France

10 18 - 28 August 2003 9th WORLD YOUTH BRIDGE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS and France picked up 500 for down three, the defence not man- aging to find the club ruff. A Successful Mazzadi opened the North hand where Olivier had passed, and once he had rebid the diamonds there was never any danger Operation of the slam being missed, however much East/West might get in- volved in the auction. Perhaps, however, Lo Presti could have fol- lowed up his 4NT bid with 5NT and got to seven when facing After a week of very serious the ]K? Anyway, 6{+1 was worth +940 and 10 IMPs to Italy, so bridge, it is perhaps undertsandable there was no need to risk a possibly less than solid grand slam. that a few of the players in the Swiss Pairs are taking things in a Board 19. E/W Vul. Dealer South. slightly more light-hearted manner than usual. Not that they do not [10 want to win, just that the way in ] K 10 9 3 which to achieve that goal may { K Q 4 involve a little more imagination than usual. The irregular Norwegian pairing of Gunnar Harr and Olav Ellestad tried } 10 6 4 3 2 a little operation during the first match of the competition, [ Q 8 6 2N [ J 3 their victims being first-time partnership Michael Wilkinson ] A J 4 ] Q 7 (Australia) and Gareth Birdsall (England). W E { A 7 2 { J 8 6 5 3 } A K 8S } Q J 7 5 Board 8. None Vul. Dealer West. [ A K 9 7 5 4 [J 4 ] 8 6 5 2 ]8 7 { 10 9 { A K Q J 4 }9 } K J 9 7 West North East South [ A 10 9 8 6N [ 7 5 3 F di Bello O Bessis S di Bello de Tessieres ] Q 10 4 ] J 6 3 W E Pass { 10 8 2 { 9 7 5 1} Pass 1{ 2[ } 8 5S } 10 6 3 2 Dble Pass 3} Pass [ K Q 2 3NT All Pass ] A K 9 5 2 West North East South {6 3 Gaviard Mazzadi T Bessis Lo Presti } A Q 4 2[ 2NT All Pass West North East South Lo Presti's weak two bid saw Gaviard overcall 2NT,maximum Ellestad Birdsall Harr Wilkinson but within range, and Thomas had a collection of queens and Pass 1{ Dble Rdbl jacks that did not tempt him to move on.The ten of spades lead was covered by the jack and ducked. Gaviard played ace and 1] Pass Pass Dble another diamond and Mazzadi won the second round then 1[ Pass Pass 3NT switched to a heart to dummy's queen. Now Gaviard cashed the All Pass ace and king of clubs before playing another round of diamonds. There was nothing Mazzadi could do; ten tricks for +180. Non-vulnerable, and facing a passed partner, Gunnar De Tessieres did not open the South hand, it not being French Harr decided to create a little diversion with one of the style to do so when holding four cards in the other major, how- weaker take-out doubles we have seen this week. When ever weak those four cards might be. He made a weak jump Wilkinson redoubled, Ellestad decided to join in with a psy- overcall at his next turn but that did not prevent the di Bello chic bid of his own - perhaps he could get himself doubled brothers from bidding to 3NT. Olivier did not lead his singleton in 1[, which looked to have good chances, if he could get spade, seeing no way that his partner could have both a good his opponents started with the doubling. enough suit to establish and another entry to cash it out. He Sure enough,Wilkinson had an obvious double of 1] instead led a low heart, perhaps appreciating that his partner's but, when Ellestad ran to his real suit, he did not fancy pass then bid sequence suggested heart length. Furio won doubling that and made a rather heavy jump to the no dummy's queen but, of course, had not been presented with a trump game. Ellestad thought a little about doubling the spade trick as at the other table. He played ace and another dia- final contract but wisely decided that if someone was a mond and Olivier won and only now played a spade. De Tessieres little light for his bid it was more likely to be his partner could win and play a heart through and the contract went two than anyone else so passed. Twelve tricks were easy, of off, when perhaps one off might have been sufficient; -200 and 9 course, and the Norwegians had carried out a most suc- IMPs to France. cessful operation as their opponents missed the laydown But that swing was too little too late for France. Italy won the slam. match by 41-31 IMPs, 17-13 VPs. Meanwhile, Poland scored a maximum and so took the fourth place in the semi-finals.

11 9th WORLD YOUTH BRIDGE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS St. Cloud-Paris, France

SEMI-FINAL Segment 1 (boards 1-16)

USA 2 v ITALY

USA2 lined up Bathurst/Mignocchi on vugraph and Board 7.All Vul. Dealer South. Grue/Kranyak in the Closed Room. Opponents on vugraph were [9 8 Lo Presti/Mazzadi with the di Bello brothers in the Closed Room.The vugraph-audience is still waiting to see the tempera- ] 8 4 3 mental di Bellos on the vugraph-screen. { K 10 5 4 Stelio di Bello redoubled 5} in a Round Robin match but that } Q 9 5 2 was defeated by one trick. On the first board he wanted revenge [ K Q J 4 3N [ A 10 7 6 5 and launched the fireworks immediately when he went for the ] K 10 9 6 ] A J blue card again in 5}, perhaps to see which way the wind was W E blowing in this match, but there were three quick losers; 200 for { A 8 { Q J 9 7 6 2 USA2. At the other table Bathurst due to the early start (9.00 }7 4S }– am!!) handled the trump suit poorly in 4] doubled; -500 and 7 [2 introductory IMPs for Italy. The Americans had a 4 IMP carry- over but were now already 3 IMPs behind. ] Q 7 5 2 {3 Board 4.All Vul. Dealer West. } A K J 10 8 6 3 West North East South [A 3 Lo Presti Bathurst Mazzadi Mignocchi ] 10 6 2 1} {9 7 1[ 2} 3} 5} } A 10 8 5 3 2 Dble Pass 5[ All Pass [ 10 8 5N [ Q J 9 2 West North East South ] K 8 5 4 ] A Kranyak S. di Bello Grue F. di Bello W E { Q 10 3 { A J 8 6 5 1} } 9 7 4S } K Q 6 1[ Pass 3{ Pass [ K 7 6 4 4[ Pass 5} Pass ] Q J 9 7 3 5{ Pass 5] Pass { K 4 2 5NT Pass 6} Pass 7[ All Pass }J West North East South Lo Presti Bathurst Mazzadi Mignocchi Pass Pass 1} 1] Pass 2] Dble Pass 2NT Pass 3{ Pass 3NT All Pass

West North East South Kranyak S. di Bello Grue F. di Bello Pass Pass 1{ 1] Pass 2{ Dble Pass Pass 3} Pass 3] All Pass

Furio di Bello as South did his job by collecting ten tricks in 3]. In the Open Room Lo Presti went for a no trump game on the East/Wests cards! What went wrong in Lo Presti/Mazzadi's auction? Mazzadi's take-out double was reasonable but Lo Presti was hoping for more.To stop in 3{ was the right thing to do as 3NT was three off after a heart lead; Lo Presti changed a 2 IMP gain to a 4 IMP loss. Kevin Bathurst, USA

12 18 - 28 August 2003 9th WORLD YOUTH BRIDGE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS

West North East South Kranyak S. di Bello Grue F. di Bello 1] Pass 2] 2[ 3] 4[ Dble All Pass

The defence can take three tricks in the early play then de- clarer has three options for trying to make the contract: a) play the spades from top, b) take a trump finesse or,c) make a trump- reduction. On the actual layout b) and c) would be successful but not a). Mazzadi didn't play the cards in a proper order and he went down.With the trump-reduction this would be the ending when East is down to four cards: [ J 6 4 3 ]– {– }– [ K 8N [ A Q 10 ]– ]– W E {– {5 }9 5S }– [5 ]K Kent Mignocchi, USA {– The Americans were a bit unlucky here when the diamond }J 8 finesse failed. Bathurst/Mignocchi jammed the works for Lo Presti/Mazzadi by bidding clubs. Mazzadi didn't know if Lo Presti North has discarded his last diamond on the fourth heart had a diamond control or not and stayed at the five level.At least ruff. Since the defence has already won three tricks, taking the Lo Presti was relieved to lose a trick to the {K but, knowing the trumps from the top will not do the job. Declarer must ruff the small slam was laydown, he probably was surprised when it time diamond with the king of spades and his next move is just to to score up. Italy gained 13 IMPs and was up by 14 IMPs. cover North's spade. Grue found the winning line as he scored In the other semi-final this board was a big swing for Poland. +590; 12 well-earned IMPs to USA2. The Houmollers sacrificed in 7} for -1400 but that was 17 IMPs Italy won 13 IMPs on the last board in this segment when to the Poles when Schaltz/Gjaldbaek went down in 7[. Kranyak/Grue bid a sporting 6] with only 11 tricks while Lo On Board 10 Lo Presti found a ruff for his partner, just Presti/Mazzadi were in a safe 4].The first quarter was over and enough to defeat 5}, and when the di Bellos stayed in 4} that Italy had their toes in the final, leading by 54-24.5 IMPs. Denmark was a 6 IMPs gain for Italy. started with a 16 IMP carry-over and was now in the lead by 39 IMPs in the other semi-final. Board 11. None Vul. Dealer South. [ J 6 4 3 ] 10 9 5 AIRPORT TRANSFERS { J 8 6 2 Friday 29th }A 10 [ K 8N [ A Q 10 9 7 2 There will be two buses going from ] Q 8 7 6 ] 3 W E the Novotel to Charles de Gaulle { A 10 { K Q 5 3 Airport (CDG1, CDG2,Terminal 3) } K 9 5 4 3S } 6 2 on Friday August 29th.These are at: [5 07.00 am and 16.30 pm Anyone requiring more details ] A K J 4 2 please see France Fiastre at the { 9 7 5 Hospitality Desk, between 10.00 } Q J 8 7 and 11.00 or 17.00 and 18.00. West North East South It would be helpful if there are any changes to previously notified personnel wanting to use these buses if you could Lo Presti Bathurst Mazzadi Mignocchi let the Hospitality Desk know.Also, anyone who has not 1] yet notified us of their wish to use a transfer bus to the Pass 2] 2[ Pass airport must do so as soon as possible. 2NT Pass 4[ All Pass

13 9th WORLD YOUTH BRIDGE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS St. Cloud-Paris, France

SEMI-FINAL Segment 2 (boards 17-32)

DENMARK v POLAND

The first session of the semi-final between Denmark and West North East South Poland had seen the Danes add to their 16-IMP carry-over Marquardsen Buras Henriksen Lutostanski advantage so that they led by 69-30 overall afer 16 deals. Segment 2 saw a determined fightback from Poland. 1NT 2} 3{ 4] 5{ Pass Board 18. N/S Vul. Dealer East. Pass Dble All Pass Over the Polish Club opening, Bjorg Houmoller overcalled [Q 9 1[ and Jonas competed gently to 2[. Krzysztof Kotorowicz now ] A 7 6 4 bought the contract in 3{. Bjorg led a spade to the queen and { 9 5 2 ace so the fifth defensive winner was established at the start; } A 9 3 2 down one for -50. Boje Henriksen opened with a weak no trump and now Piotr [ 5 4N [ A J 8 6 Lutostanski could conveniently get both his majors into the auc- ] 10 5 ] Q 8 2 tion in one go. That convinced Krzysztof Buras to make an W E { K Q 10 8 7 { A J 6 4 aggressive leap to 4], liking his four-card heart support, two aces S and useful spade holding. There is some work to do but it } Q 8 7 6 } J 4 appears that 4] can be made, but Buras was not put to the test [ K 10 7 3 2 as Henriksen saved in 5{, easily doubled by Buras. The opening ] K J 9 3 lead of the queen of spades again ensured that there would be {3 no defensive slip-ups; three down for -500 and 10 IMPs to Poland. } K 10 5 Board 20.All Vul. Dealer West. West North East South [ J 8 7 6 K.Kotorowicz J.Houmoller J.Kotorowicz B.Houmoller ]A K 1} 1[ { K J 9 7 2} 2[ 3{ All Pass } J 7 4 [ Q 10N [ A 9 2 ] 10 5 4 3 ] J 9 8 2 W E { 10 4 3 { A Q 8 5 } 10 9 6 2S } Q 5 [ K 5 4 3 ] Q 7 6 {6 2 } A K 8 3 West North East South K.Kotorowicz J.Houmoller J.Kotorowicz B.Houmoller Pass 1NT Dble Pass 2} Pass Pass Dble Pass Pass Rdbl Pass 2] Pass Pass Dble All Pass West North East South Marquardsen Buras Henriksen Lutostanski Pass 1} Pass 1[ Pass 2[ Pass 4[ All Pass Houmoller's weak no trump caught Jakub, who made a very aggressive double and the Poles were in big trouble when Jakub had to run to 2}. Not liking the sound of that, Krzysztof redou- bled for rescue and Krzysztof eventually played 2] doubled. North Krzysztof Kotorowicz, Poland cashed the top hearts then switched to a spade for South's king.

14 18 - 28 August 2003 9th WORLD YOUTH BRIDGE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS

The ]Q was cashed and the defence switched to diamonds, com- Board 23.All Vul. Dealer South. ing to one trick in that suit plus two clubs; down two for -500. [ K Q J 6 5 3 That would be just fine for Poland if their North/South pair could bid and make game on their combined 25-count. Given a free ] J 8 6 run, Buras/Lutostanski duly reached the normal spade game but {8 there was no real chance to make this with two spades and two } 10 6 5 diamonds to be lost; down one for -100 and 12 IMPs to Denmark. [7N [8 4 ] K 9 7 5 4 ] A 10 Board 22. E/W Vul. Dealer East. W E { K Q 7 6 2 { A 10 4 3 [ A J 9 8 } Q JS } K 7 4 3 2 ]A J [ A 10 9 2 { A 9 7 ] Q 3 2 } K Q 9 2 { J 9 5 [ 4 2N [ K Q 10 7 5 } A 9 8 ] 8 4 2 ] Q 10 3 W E West North East South { K J 10 8 6 5 2 { Q 3 S K.Kotorowicz J.Houmoller J.Kotorowicz B.Houmoller } 5 } 10 7 6 Pass [6 3 2] Pass 2[ Pass ] K 9 7 6 5 3{ All Pass {4 West North East South } A J 8 4 3 Marquardsen Buras Henriksen Lutostanski West North East South 1} K.Kotorowicz J.Houmoller J.Kotorowicz B.Houmoller 1] Dble 2} 2[ Pass Pass All Pass Pass 2} Pass 2{ Again we see a Pole able to show a weak two-suiter by open- Pass 2NT Pass 3{ ing two of a major.The 2[ response was pass or correct and 3{ showed the second suit. The hands fit together very well and Pass 3] 4} Pass Krzysztof came to eleven easy tricks for +150. Pass 4{ Pass 5} Lutostanski opened the South hand at the other table, an All Pass aggressive action with that pattern and only an 11-count at the pre- vailing vulnerability. Diamonds were never mentioned as Marquard- West North East South sen opted for a simple 1] overcall rather than take his side to the Marquardsen Buras Henriksen Lutostanski three level to get both suits into the game.At his second turn, Mar- Pass 2] quardsen had some extra shape but potentially wasted club values and did not feel inclined to compete further. Had he bid 3{, that Pass 2NT Pass 3] would have been a game try for hearts after his partner's cuebid Pass 6} All Pass

For Denmark, 2} could have been various strong hands and 2{ was a relay. Now 2NT showed 18-20 balanced and 3] was a transfer, the 3] completion showing a doubleton heart. Four Clubs was a natural slam try and 4{ a cuebid. Bjorg settled for 5} now because she had only a mild slam try. Jonas passed because he had a good hand but had not heard any cuebid from partner. Jonas made twelve tricks for +420. Lutostanski could open the South hand to show a weak two- suiter including hearts. Over the 2NT enquiry he showed a max- imum with clubs as the second suit and Buras simply bid the slam.The opening lead was the king of spades and Buras won the ace and drew three rounds of trumps, then played a spade to the nine and ten. Henriksen switched to the queen of diamonds to declarer's ace and now the jack of spades ruffed out the king.At this point declarer has seen West show out of both black suits and, having had no opposition bidding, has no strong indication that the diamonds are breaking so unevenly.There appears to be a good case for playing a heart to the jack next, as West will often hold four hearts and declarer can only ruff once in either hand. This would, of course, have led to defeat, so Buras did something very good for his side when he instead followed the simple line of ace, king and a third heart for a ruff, establishing the suit; +920 and 11 IMPs to Poland. Jonas Houmoller, Denmark

15 9th WORLD YOUTH BRIDGE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS St. Cloud-Paris, France raise, making that an unattractive option.When 2[ came around, West North East South Henriksen had good values but had already shown support with K.Kotorowicz J.Houmoller J.Kotorowicz B.Houmoller only a doubleton heart and he too felt unable to do any more. Mar- quardsen led the queen of clubs and Lutostanski won the ace, drew 1[ Dble Pass 2{ trumps in two rounds and played a diamond off the dummy. Hen- 2[ 2NT Pass 3NT riksen went in with the ace and switched to ace and another heart. All Pass With the clubs still blocked after three rounds of hearts, there was an eventual endplay for the overtrick; +140 and 7 IMPs to Poland. West North East South Board 26.All Vul. Dealer East. Marquardsen Buras Henriksen Lutostanski [ 8 4 3 1[ Dble Pass 1NT Pass 3NT All Pass ] A K 9 8 7 {4 Both Souths declared 3NT. Marquardsen led a heart, which Lutostanski ran to Henriksen's king.A second heart was won by } J 6 4 2 the queen and now declarer crossed to the {10 to run the }J, [ J 7 2N [ A 10 9 6 but Marquardsen went up with the ace and cleared the hearts. ] Q 5 3 2 ] J 6 4 Now Lutostanski cashed out the diamonds before running the W E { K 10 7 { Q 9 3 2 }10 to the queen. A heart was cashed,West winning the eight, and now he had to return a spade; down one for -100. } K Q 3S } 9 7 Krzysztof simply led a spade at trick one and Bjorg won the [ K Q 5 king in hope of blocking the suit if East had queen doubleton. She ]10 cashed some diamonds then tried the heart finesse and ended up { A J 8 6 5 down four; -400 and 7 IMPs to Poland. } A 10 8 5 Board 31. N/S Vul. Dealer South. West North East South [ 8 5 2 K.Kotorowicz J.Houmoller J.Kotorowicz B.Houmoller ] Q J 9 Pass 1{ { A 9 8 Pass 1] Pass 2} } J 9 5 3 Pass 3} All Pass [ 9 6 3N [ J 10 4 West North East South ] 10 8 6 ] A 7 4 3 W E Marquardsen Buras Henriksen Lutostanski { K 10 7 3 { J 5 4 2 Pass 1{ } Q 6 2S } A 8 Pass 1] Pass 2} [ A K Q 7 Pass 3} Pass 3NT ] K 5 2 All Pass {Q 6 The two auctions were identical as far as 3}, where Bjorg } K 10 7 4 decided to call it a day while Lutostanski went on to 3NT.After a spade to the ace and a spade back, Bjorg went after diamond West North East South ruffs and just lost two trump tricks; +130. K.Kotorowicz J.Houmoller J.Kotorowicz B.Houmoller The lead to 3NT was a heart to East's jack. Henriksen 1} switched to a low spade to declarer's king and Lutostanski played ace and another club to Marquardsen's queen. A spade was Pass 1NT Pass 2NT ducked to declarer's queen and he gave up a second club. Now Pass 3NT All Pass the defence took the spades and the contract, which had never West North East South really looked on from declarer's point of view, drifted two off for Marquardsen Buras Henriksen Lutostanski -200 and 8 IMPs to Denmark. 1NT Board 28. N/S Vul. Dealer West. [K 5 All Pass ] A Q 10 Lutostanski opened a 15-17 1NT and played there. He won the heart lead with dummy's queen and ran the nine of clubs to { A Q J 9 the queen.The hearts were cleared and then declarer cleared the } K 8 5 4 clubs. He had nine tricks now when the spades divided evenly; [ A Q 9 7 3 2N [ 10 4 +150. ] 9 8 5 2 ] K 7 4 3 Bjorg opened 1} as 1NT would have been weak and then W E invited game opposite the 1NT response. Jonas accepted the in- { 8 { 7 5 4 3 vitation and his 3NT ended the auction. Jakub led the jack of } A 7S } Q 6 3 spades and Jonas won the ace and played a heart to the queen, [ J 8 6 Jakub won the ace and switched to a low diamond for the queen ]J 6 and ace.There was no way to overcome that defence and Jonas was two down for -200 and 8 IMPs to Poland. { K 10 6 2 Midway through the semi-final, Poland had closed right up to } J 10 9 2 Denmark and now trailed by only 88-95 IMPs.

16 18 - 28 August 2003 9th WORLD YOUTH BRIDGE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS

World News Sports News Rwandan president claims landslide Soccer Rwandan president Paul Kagame has claimed a landslide vic- Blackburn 2-3 Man City; Nicolas Anelka's late tory in his country's election. With around half the votes winner put Man City top of the Premiership. counted, more than 94% of them were for Mr Kagame, Sparta Prague 2 - 2 Vardar Skopje. Sparta according to the Rwandan electoral commission. "There is Prague qualified in the round of 32 of the no doubt that the polls have gone our way," the president Champions League. told thousands of cheering supporters at the capital's Amahoro (Peace) football stadium. "This is a true victory, Tennis irreversible, and not a surprise." Former champion Lleyton Hewitt wasted lit- tle time booking his place in round two at the Sankoh's body 'missing' US Open. The sixth seed crushed Romania's The body of the Sierra Leonean rebel leader Foday Sankoh Victor Hanescu 6-3 6-2 6-2 in the night match who was indicted for war crimes has gone missing from its at Flushing Meadows. World number one Kim Clijsters grave. "Sankoh's body is missing from the grave - the grave dropped just five games as she breezed through to round has been checked... and the body is no longer to be seen," a two of the US Open with a routine 6-2 6-3 defeat of Amer- police officer told Reuters news agency. Mr Sankoh formed ican Amber Liu. the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), whose 10-year ter- Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spa) bt Guillermo Canas (Arg) 6-2 ror campaign included hacking off the hands, feet, lips and 4-6 6-3 6-2, Ramon Delgado (Par) bt (9) Sebastien Grosjean ears of Sierra Leone's civilians and raping thousands of girls (Fra) 6-4 6-7 (3-7) 4-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-4), Guillermo Coria (Arg) and women. He had been buried earlier this month in his bt Mariano Puerta (Arg) 6-4 6-3 6-1. hometown in Magburaka about 210 kilometres (130 miles) Maria Vento-Kabchi (Ven) bt (8) Chanda Rubin (USA) 6-4 from Freetown after a mysterious death while in custody of 6-4, Amelie Mauresmo (Fra) bt Angelique Widjaja (Ina) 6-0 the UN-backed war crimes court. 6-2, Lindsay Davenport (USA) bt Els Callens (Bel) 6-1 6-0, Daniela Hantuchova (Svk) bt Marion Bartoli (Fra) 6-3 6-2. Delegates arrive for Korea talks Delegates from six nations have arrived in China ahead of World Athletics unprecedented talks on North Korea's nuclear ambitions. Kim Collins is the new 100m world champion Six countries will be represented at the Beijing talks - North after winning a thrilling final in Paris. In a des- and South Korea, Russia and China, Japan and the United perately tight finish, the St Kitts and Nevis star States. Starting on Wednesday they will be discussing how to claimed his first world title in a time of 10.07 end the 10-month row over North Korea's insistence on seconds.Trinidad's 18-year-old Darrel Brown won silver while resuming its nuclear programme. Britain's Darren Campbell took an unexpected bronze. Rus- sia's beat Germany's Annika Becker to win Nasa launches universe probe gold in the women's . Double defending champion A $2bn space observatory that can study the early history and reigning Olympic champion Stacy Dragila of the United of the Universe has been launched by Nasa. It follows in States was out of the medals in fourth place. Feofanova the footsteps of the famous Hubble, Chandra and Comp- cleared 4.75m to equal the championship mark of Dragila ton observatories. The Space Infrared Telescope Facility from two years ago while Becker had 4.70m and world record (SIRTF), as it is called, will detect infrared energy (heat) holder cleared 4.65m. Belarus claimed their emitted from stars, galaxies and planets. Astronomers will third gold medal of the World Championships when Irina be able to study distant objects hidden by gas and dust that Yatchenko won the women's discus with a first-round throw cannot be detected with visible light telescopes. Young of 67.32 metres. 's was second stars emerging from dusty galaxies that existed when the with 67.14m while her compatriot Ekaterini Voggoli took the Universe was only about three billion years old are of par- bronze with 66.73m. Jacques Freitag beat Sweden's Stefan ticular interest. Holm to take high jump gold at the World Championships on Monday. But the South African's winning height of 2.35m was Iraqi police 'to train in Europe' the lowest since the inaugeral championships 20 years ago. Washington is seeking to train thousands of Iraqi police at a Holm and Canada's Mark Boswell both cleared 2.32m but military base in Hungary as part of its efforts to restore law Holm won silver because he required one attempt fewer to and order in Iraq, US officials say.The United States is hold- do so. Ivan Tikhon of Belarus continued his unbeaten run this ing talks with Hungary about using Taszar Air Base to train season to win the gold medal in the hammer at the World Iraqis in police skills in the coming months, but no final Championships.Adrian Annus of Hungary won silver and Koji agreement had been reached. Murofushi of Japan took bronze.

Shuttle disaster report due Baseball An independent report into the fatal break up of the Livan Hernandez pitched his league-leading Columbia space shuttle is expected to be highly critical of seventh complete game of the season to the US space agency Nasa.The report could have far-reach- inspire the Montreal Expos to a crushing ing implications for the future of Nasa's human space flight 12-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. program. Columbia disintegrated as it re-entered the Hernandez (14-7) allowed one run, struck Earth's atmosphere on 1 February, killing its crew of seven out nine and walked one in pitching the 30th astronauts. complete game of his career.

17 9th WORLD YOUTH BRIDGE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS St. Cloud-Paris, France

François COLIN

After nine years of tremendous hard work François COLIN Training Papers for the French national teams: has created a database of hands taken card by card and bid by bid from more than 10,000 deals played at the highest levels of world ENGLISH VERSION available in a few weeks competition, among them the final stages of all world champi- N°1: Slams ? With the French team 2001 (114 deals) 22€ onships since 1955! N°2: Defence against weak no trumps (109 deals) 22€ N°3: Defence against preemptive 2{ opening bids (121 deals) 22€ N°4: Defence against preemptive artificial or natural A gold mine of papers 2} opening bids (83 deals) 20€ N°5: Opening bids on strong hands (86 deals EW) 20€ A statistical device, unique all over the world. N°6: Opening bids on strong hands (86 deals NS) 20€ N°7: Defence against classic weak 2] opening bids (66 deals) 18€ N°7bis: Defence against modern weak 2] opening bids (56 deals) 16€ It can be used in two ways: N°8: Defence against classic weak 2[ opening bids (68 deals) 18€ N°8bis: Defence against modern weak 2[ opening bids (57 deals) 16€ 1. Systems research and investigation N°9: Defence against preemptive opening bids: Do you want to study high-level competitive situations? 2NT to 3] (105 deals) 22€ François Colin has the boards, spread over all vulnerability situa- N°9bis: Defence against preemptive opening bids: tions, in which the auction has reached at least the level of 3[ 3[ and higher (65 deals) 18€ after each player made one bid (very very hot) N°10: Defence against overcalls after strong notrump (95 deals) 20€ N°11: Slams ? (126 deals) 22€ N°12: Responding with fit to 1] and 1[ French Weak opening bids? opening bids (108 deals) 22€ François Colin has the boards where they opened the bidding at one table and passed at the other. SPECIAL OFFERS All the statistics are categorised by choice of opening bid, 9th World Youth Bridge Championships strength, vulnerability. -15 % if you order more than 150€ 10 Papers N°1 to N°8bis: 150€ instead of 194€ François Colin has all the results on 21,300 auctions, contracts, All 15 papers: 220€ instead of 298€ scenarios.

You want to know where the highest numbers of IMP's were ORDER QUICKLY! won by the active side? François COLIN It's on opening bids of 2[ with five cards (or less) and 8 HCP or Fédération Française de Bridge less when the opponents are vulnerable.This is just a small free 20, quai Carnot sample of what is available. 92210 Saint Cloud 0033 1 55 57 38 00 2.Training material for the champions. [email protected] "All these different papers, presented in folders, are remarkable and make it easy to work quickly and precisely. This wonderful device, that so far they have only been meant for training the French national teams, is now on offer to the gener- al public. If you really want to make progress with your partner, you know what to do!"

Philippe Toffier "These papers have been very useful to us.Those on the atypical opening bids played abroad and on the weak NT are very pre- cious as they enable you to judge quickly if your defence against it will work."

Jérôme Rombaut "It's good for your own morale to see hands "murdered" by champions and know this does not only happen to you…"

Michel Duguet "Thanks for this wonderful device. I hope that it will help us to reach the podium!"

Guy Lasserre (This quote is before his two gold medals in Salsomaggiore and Menton) François Colin, France

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