France won the 1992 World Team Olympiad, handily defeating the United States in the 96-board final.

Oddly enough, the deal that contributed most to the French cause came not in the final, but in its quarterfinal match against Denmark. Going into the last hand of that 64-board match, the Danes led by 2 IMPs. The deal shown then occurred, and the outcome hung in the balance.

When a Danish pair held the East-West cards, they reached three spades and made nine tricks, seemingly an excellent result. The auction shown occurred at the other table, with Knut and Lars Blakset of Denmark seated North-South.

The Blaksets bid aggressively to reach three hearts. If South made three hearts or went down one, the Danes would win the match. Even if declarer went down two for a loss of 2 IMPs, the match would be tied, with a short playoff to follow. Only if he went down three could the match be lost.

West cashed two spades and then shifted to the king of diamonds. At this point, declarer could have made the contract by taking the ace, crossing to dummy with a club, leading a heart to the queen and cashing the A-J of hearts. South could then run clubs until West ruffed in, losing only that trick and a diamond to go with the two spades already lost.

But Lars Blakset let the diamond king hold, after which West reverted to spades. Declarer ruffed in dummy, discarding a club, and led the heart jack, covered by the king and ace. If he had now cashed the heart queen and then started running clubs, he would have gone down one and won the match.

Instead, Blakset played a club to the ace and led a heart to the nine. Curtains! West won with the ten and returned a spade, forcing declarer to ruff and lose control of the hand. When the smoke cleared, Blakset was down three and the French had scored a 2-IMP victory.

Tomorrow: The art of visualization.