1: N-S had a tough hand to bid:
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2
K103
A1054
KQ983
?
A9875
AQ876
97
7
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North's choice of opening bid may have an effect here. After 1C-1S; 2C, South can rebid 2H and go to 4H over 3H or 3H over 2NT. North might, though, open 1D to facilitate a rebid. After 1D-1S; 2C, South?
might decide to commit to 2H as Fourth Suit Forcing or might be able to bid an invitational 3H if the pair plays that treatment. One way or another three pairs found their way to 4H. If any North did open 1D, West likely overcalled 2C on AJ10652.
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Perhaps the presence of so many Robots influenced so many Wests into leading a trump, often an excellent choice when dummy leaves declarer in a second suit. Two trump leads were enough to reduce declarer to one spade ruff and defeat 4H. 3H made for a surprise top.
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3H S = by Mary
4H S -1 vs Loubot, Robots and Marjobot
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2: This game was a little easier for N-S, at least to play:
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AK85
AQ10764
J
74
?
9
K5
Q98752
AJ86
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3NT would be really nice at IMPs if N-S could find it. 4H is not much harder to make, requiring only one spade ruff. If South opens game is a certainty, though the pair may stop after P-1H; 1NT-2H if South does not think the hand worth an invitation. Two pairs did stop in 2H, with one slightly surprising 3H contract and one 4H.
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Hearts were 3-2 and declarer was able to negotiate the spade ruff. It was advisable in the play to ruff the second round of spades rather than cashing both winners first; one still expects to lose the fourth spade but, especially if the opening lead was a club, ruffing the second round helps prevent a possible trump promotion.
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4H N = by Cindy
3H N +3 by Harold
2H N +2 vs Zeerry and Robots
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3: HCP were 7/9/16/8. East held KJ943 965 A863 6 over a third-hand 1NT but never acted, probably due to the vulnerability.
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It turned out that the spades ran, giving E-W the opportunity to take the first seven tricks. The Robots and Loubots did so. Laurie was given a make when East misclicked and won the spade king instead of the jack; she then got an overtrick when E-W never cashed their hearts. Cindy also managed an overtrick one way or another.
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1NT N +1 by Laurie and Cindy
1NT N -1 vs Loubot and Robots
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Leaders: Robots 7, Cinbot 6.5, Maurie 6, Loubot 5.5
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4: E-W had a cold grand slam:
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AQ106
----
AK7543
A75
?
K84
109543
QJ1086
----
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How high could the pair bid? The Robots got to 6D: P-1D; 1H-2S; 3D-4D; 4NT-5D; 6D. 2S looks a bit dependent on finding some fit or perhaps in hopes of at worst being able to squeeze home in 3NT. 3D is a little underwhelming with such good support, but Westbot may have planned 4NT next all along. 4C seems more likely than 4D and I cannot enthuse too highly about an asking sequence with a void in each hand, but there it was. At another table, East was content to rebid 2D and West to pass; North had the highly entertaining experience of balancing on a hand on which the opposition were cold for grand slam. In this case, though, no harm was done, as E-W just took the push to 3D and stopped there. The other two E-W pairs bid to 5D.
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As there was no ruff of the opening lead, everyone took all the tricks.
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3D E +4 vs Harob
5D E +2 by Marjorie and Cindy
6D E +1 by Robots
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5: This was a bit of a tricky one both ways:
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...............A8653
...............J75
...............93
...............K32
KQJ10974.........----
643....................KQ982
10......................KQ642
96......................Q74
...............2
...............A10
...............AJ875
...............AJ1085
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I'm not entirely sure Mr Lawrence would approve of the Unusual 2NT we saw from at least one South, but West has a fascinating choice after P-1H-2NT if South bids it - confirm the heart fit or show the self-sufficient spades? If the pair uses 3C and 3D for limit raises or better and forcing bids in the fourth suit (clubs linked to hearts and diamonds to spades), West can bid either 3H or 3S non-forcing. Personally I'd prefer 3S, in which the West hand is almost certain to take six tricks. It's hard to imagine the hand playing better in hearts unless East holds a completely solid hand with a void spade. And if the hearts are leaky playing in spades could be a godsend. We finished with contracts of 3H E once, 4H E twice and 5Cx N.
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All the contracts were defeated at least two tricks. The most effective defence against hearts would be for N-S to surrender their second trump trick and draw dummy's three trumps or at least two of them. Declarer might take as few as five tricks. Perhaps Harob found this line of defence, as they defended 4H -4. The other two declares in hearts took seven tricks. With only eight trumps and the badly splitting diamonds 5Cx -2 would have been too many down even if all the 4H contracts had made.
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4H E -4 vs Harob
4H E -3 vs Heve
3H E -2 by Marjorie
5Cx N -2 vs Robots
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6: 3NT was easier to play with West declaring than with East:
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J64
Q64
62
AJ763
?
KQ72
K5
AKQ98
54
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The auction was likely to proceed P-1D; 1NT-2NT; 3NT. Even if West felt like treating the hand as no-trumps-worthy, it would qualify for 1D followed by 2NT rather than a 1NT opening bid. One West rebid only 2D on the second round of the auction and played the hand there; the other three pairs reached 3NT, twice by East.
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With three spot cards in a suit along with the king and queen, split 3-2 with the honours divided, one is better off with the doubleton honour declaring. If the K5 is in dummy, at best a heart lead leaves the queen half safe if South has led from the ace; dummy rises with the king. With Q64 in dummy, a lead from the ace runs to the king and the queen is safe, while if South holds the ace the queen remains half safe again. South had a natural heart lead from 10983, establishing three tricks in the suit for N-S whether dummy rises with the king or not. When West declared, a heart lead from North would have given declarer a double stopper in hearts, while a club lead could have been won by the ace in order for declarer to get the spades started. Spades and diamonds both split 3-3, so that the 3NT E declarers were a little lucky to make 3NT while the West who declared was unlucky to join them on only nine tricks and the declarer in 2D was unlucky to be bottom with 3NT E making, although it would have been lucky to have stopped in 2D had it scored well.
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2D W +2 vs Harob
3NT E = by Eastbot and Marjorie; 3NT W = by Cindy
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Leaders: Robots 15, Harob 12.5, Cinbot 11, Maurie 9.5
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7: This hand was a bit of a trap for E-W:
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QJ763
Q
983
AK82
?
A102
K10973
K1042
Q
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It's hard to stay out of game here assuming that West opens. The auction 1H-1S; 2D-2NT is possible, but it feels hard for East to stay out of game if West shows three spades. One pair did stop in three spades, although I did not mark down who opened. The other two tables reached 4S E.
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The spade king was offside and the diamond ace onside. Declarer's real problem is the lack of easy communication between the two hands so that West cannot discard two diamonds on the club ace-king. Curiously, the two declarers in game were both one down while the two declarers in partials, perhaps due to active defence that turned out helpful, took ten tricks.
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4S E -1 vs Harob and Loubot
3S E +1 vs Maurie
2NT E +2 by Marjorie
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8: HCP were 7/9/10/14. N-S had eight-card fits in both minors, E-W nine spades. Diamonds and spades rated to play better than clubs.
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Contracts were 2C S, 2D N, 3C S and 3NT S. The clubs were unlikely to do as well as diamonds or spades was that the trumps were weak with a third-round loser while the diamond losers were off the top. Harold played 2D +1 while 2C managed to take eight tricks. 3C finished -1 and 3NT -3; the spades were good for something.
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2D N +1 by Harold
2C S = by Zeena
3C S -1 vs Heve
3NT S -3 vs Cinbot
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9: Who would open, and with what?:
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...............863
...............AJ10
...............J108
...............KQ86
2..........................QJ754
KQ6.....................974
AQ7542...............93
J72.......................A109
...............AK109
...............8532
...............K6
...............543
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Neither North nor East opened. One South opened but 1C instead of the much better 1S. West overcalled 1D and the auction ended in 3C S. The defence should have taken at least six tricks and quite possibly seven, but Bob escaped for only -1. A 1S opening bid would have elicited a 2D overcall and probably a heavy 2S raise from North. At worst E-W would have picked up a one-trick set of 2Sx; at best E-W would somehow have gotten to the three-level and probably been set. One West in 2D was allowed to take nine tricks (I did not see entirely how) but the other two took eight.
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3C S -1 by Bob
2D W = by Cindy and Hank
2D W +1 by Marjorie
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Leaders: Harob 21, Cinbot 16, Robots 15.5, Marjobot 15
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10: HCP were 12/10/7/11. N-S had 5-3 fits in both majors; E-W had nine diamonds.
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All four auctions went to the three-level or higher; contracts were 3D E, 3H S, 3S N and 4D E.
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3D took ten tricks but 4D took nine. I expected nine tricks in diamonds, seven in hearts and who knew how many in spades? Both the major contracts were defeated, 3H finishing -1 and 3S -2, giving Heve the top score.
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4D E -1 vs Robots
3H S -1 by Bob
3D E +1 by Laurie
3S N -2 vs Heve
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11: HCP were 10/11/7/12. N-S had 5-3 hearts and E-W 5-3 spades.
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The auction I was predicting was something along the line of P-P-P-1S; P-2C-P-2D; P-2S, declarer taking eight or nine tricks. Everyone did play in spades but only one pair managed to stop in 2S, along with one other in 3S and two in 4S.
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For once my play prediction proved accurate, as two declarers took eight tricks and two nine. This gave Harob the N-S top defending 4S -2 and Laurie the E-W top declaring 2S +1.
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4S E -2 vs Harob
4S E -1 vs Zeerry
2S E = by Cindy
2S E +1 by Laurie
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12: We were finally back to games with this one for N-S:
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10872
109
KQ2
AJ83
?
AQ9
AK54
A9764
5
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South has a good enough reverse. After 1D-1S; 2H, North might be tempted to show the good diamond support, but 6D will likely need a bit more. At matchpoints the practical North will settle into 3NT. We only got two games out of the four auctions, 3NT N both times along with one 2NT N and 2S N after an underbid on the second round by South.
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The club eight turns out to be particularly significant. With the eight, declarer can afford to go after spades, even given a club lead to, say, queen and ace. Even if West wins a spade finesse, the clubs cannot run with only one lead through because declarer holds the eight-spot, can cover whatever non-honour West leads and still have at least a positional stopper against East. If declarer wins the club ace and then cashes the top diamonds right away, that will be the only chance to make a correct guess in spades. On the actual layout, East's clubs were K96 opposite West's Q10742while West held K63 in spades opposite East's J54. Northbot made 3NT for the N-S top. Maurie set the contract for the E-W top, although declarer went wrong later in the hand rather than earlier and lamented not having a good day.
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3NT N = by Northbot
2NT N +1 by Harold
2S N = vs Heve
3NT N -1 vs Maurie
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Leaders: Harob 28, Robots 22.5, Maurie 21, Heve-Cinbot 18
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13: South's hand looked like a monster:
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...............753
...............Q4
...............AJ1086
...............1042
94.............................K102
73.............................KJ2
KQ742......................953
KJ63.........................Q987
...............AQJ86
...............A109865
...............----
...............A5
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6-5-2-0 with a Losing Trick Count of four and first round control of all four suits is definitely better than most. An uncontested auction might go P-1H; 1NT-2S; 2NT-3S to show the 5=6 majors and give North a choice of major games. We finished with contracts of 2S S, 4H S twice and 4S S.
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If West held a natural club lead instead of the diamond king it would be possible for E-W to defeat 4H by keeping declarer locked out of dummy. South can try to lead to the heart queen but that loses to the king and East can resume clubs. 4S can just make; declarer can run the spade queen or jack after leading a heart to queen and king, win the second and finally?eliminate one loser by ruffing the third round of hearts. Bob did make 4S but neither of the declarers in 4H ran into such fine defence and both made the contract.
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4H S = by Marjorie and Southbot; 4S S = by Bob
2S S = vs Loubot
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14: The right opening lead could have inconvenienced E-W here:
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AJ64
10
AJ72
AK43
?
1095
AKJ93
K
10872
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We almost had all four auctions end in 3NT, but one West devalued the diamond king and rebid only 2H, ending the auction.Our other contracts were all 3NT, once by East and twice by West.
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If the opening lead against 3NT is anything but a diamond, declarer can ensure either three or four heart tricks by running the ten and then come to nine tricks easily enough. After a diamond lead, West can start the spades and there is not much the defence can do. North has to cover the first spade to hold declarer to two spade winners and then East can win and play the heart ten then. Clubs split 4-1 but with no chance of benefit unless declarer leads out ace and king, and a club lead from South's QJ96 gives away a trick there. Cindy emerged with ten tricks in 3NT W and it's more surprising that the other two declarers in 3NT took only nine tricks. 2H took only nine tricks, giving Zeerry the N-S top.
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2H W +1 vs Zeerry
3NT E = by Laurie; 3NT W + by Hank
3NT W +1 by Cindy
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15: HCP were 7/7/13/13. E-W had the only fit, 6-2 hearts.
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North was likely to have an interesting rebid on K6 J86 K10872 AQ7. The auction was likely to begin P-P-1D-1H; 1S-P. Then what? 1NT on J86 as a "stopper"? 2S on the doubleton king? 2D on the moth-eaten five-carder? 2C, which at least is almost sure never to be left in on fewer than four cards in the suit opposite? One table had a 2H overcall, after which the auction finished in 3D N. After the expected auction one North rebid 2D and the other two chose 1NT. The 1NT rebids led to 2H E and 2S S. 2D received a secondary double by East, which West left in holding five trumps to the jack.
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Going one down in 3D or 2S tied for N-S top. Cindy made 2H to score +110 instead of +100, while Loubot swanned off with the E-W top defending 2Dx N -2.
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2S S -1 by Marjorie; 3D S -1 by Southbot
2H E = by Cindy
2Dx N -2 vs Loubot
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Leaders: Harob 31, Robots 28.5, Cinbot-Maurie 24, Marjobot 23
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16: 3NT N was a nice spot:
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A10
Q2
KQ852
A952
?
K65
A93
943
KQ83
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Somehow one pair finished in 1NT N, while the other three all went to 3NT N, with its looking a little more likely after a 1NT opening bid. A 1D opening bid likely gets a 2NT response and then South declares 3NT, much less desirable on a heart lead.
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Clubs split 4-1 but diamonds were 3-2 with the ace onside. With North declaring declarer has every opportunity to take eleven tricks. South declaring would be in trouble if the opening lead were a heart and East held the king. Once again the doubleton queen fares better declaring than in the dummy. Two declarers managed only ten tricks in 3NT for the middle score; Northbot was alone in 3NT +2 while Maurie defended 1NT without care for the E-W top regardless of the trick result.
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3NT N +2 by Northbot
3NT N +1 by Harold and Marjorie
1NT N +4 vs Maurie
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17: The N-S assets didn't gel that well, but there was still at least some chance of slam:
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AJ1095
----
J1074
KQ85
?
K432
AQJ108
A82
7
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One South began with a 4C splinter, the other responders 2NT. Three auctions ended in 4S N, while the fourth saw North reply 3H to 2NT only for South to go right to 4NT and then to 6S over 5C without checking for the queen of trumps.
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Northbot and Marjorie in 4S both took twelve tricks by leading the spade jack which East covered from a holding of Q87. Given North's 1S opening bid, that was a sloppy play, as West had to hold at most a singleton. Maurie defended 4S +1 on more conventional lines and Heve's opponent in 6S, after a happy lead for declarer of a heart from three small - a diamond from the king would have been much more troublesome - got about halfway through the hand having led only the spade ace and then finally led the king to make sure of the set.
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4S N +2 by Northbot and Marjorie
4S N +1 vs Maurie
6S N -1 vs Heve
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18: Maybe a little surprisingly everyone played the same contract:
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...............872
...............KQ10753
...............A95
...............J
Q9.........................K10654
A2.........................86
82..........................QJ73
KQ107653.............94
...............AJ3
...............J94
...............K1064
...............A82
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Everyone played 4H N, even when the auction began P-1D-4C. No West tried 5C despite the favourable vulnerability. It must have been the unattractive 7-2-2-2 hand pattern.
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5Cx would have been only three tricks down for a profitable sacrifice. 4H can always be set if East leads a spade and West finesses the nine. A club lead is too slow when declarer turns up with a singleton opposite dummy's ace. Dummy wins and the trumps start, putting West on lead and West connot start the spades, alas, with a doubleton. North has enough time to establish a discard on the fourth diamond. Maurie set 4H when declarer began with the top two diamonds after Laurie ducked the second round (covering would have guaranteed the make). Northbot was top for an overtrick after West ducked the club eight on the third round and declarer diacarded the diamond loser; this later set up a ruff-and-discard when West had to win the second round of spades.?
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4H N +1 by Northbot
4H N = by Harold and Marjorie
4H N -1 vs Maurie
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Final: Robots 37, Harob 34, Maurie 32, Marjobot 28.5, Heve 27
