1: One side or the other could make game, depending on for which side the diamonds behaved:
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...............QJ2
...............J3
...............K9
...............AKJ1093
7..............................1065
K1096.....................AQ85
AQ5432..................J107
86...........................Q74
...............AK9843
...............742
...............86
...............52
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Depending on for which side the diamonds behave, game has play for one side or the other but we cannot tell which. If North opens 1C the hand will have to commit to a 3C rebid over 1S, which seems likely to get N-S to game. Two Norths opened 1NT and declared 2S and 4S; at the other tables one North ended in 5C while the other tables all played 4S S.
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If South holds the diamond king and not all four of the suit, E-W make 4H if trumps can be drawn. If West holds the diamond ace, N-S need just 3-2 clubs when trumps are 2-2 or 3-1, with chances on a club finesse if spades are 4-0. With the diamonds well placed for N-S, 4S cannot be stopped. North has two potential re-entries to the clubs. If E-W force North to ruff a heart, the diamond king serves as an entry or vice versa. If E-W avoid hearts declarer can come to twelve tricks. Two rounds of diamonds are followed by queen and ace of spades, then ruff out the third club keeping dummy's high spade for the entry.
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4S N +2 by Lin
4S N +1 by Judy (P)
2S N +4 by Kevin
4S S -1 vs Diarcia and Leighry; 5C N -1 vs Glynneth
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2: E-W might have been warned off bidding game in time:
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J10952
653
KQJ10
2
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AK74
J72
82
AKQ10
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What usually happened was that West opened 1NT, East made a transfer response of 2H and South, with AKQ98 in the suit, quite properly doubled. West has a clear preacceptance without the double, but might be put off by it into bidding only 2S. Or pairs that show a doubleton in preaccepting would have a 3D rebid and then North might be put off bidding 4S. Unfortunately, the only pair able to stop out of game played 1NT W when East decided to leave that opening in rather than transfer. Even when West opened 1C instead of 1NT 4S could not be avoided. Contracts were 1NT W, 4S E twice and 4S W thrice.
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With South having indicated the winning lead, 4S finished -1 every time. Leighry were below E-W par on the hand in 1NT = but were top for having avoided the trap.?
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4S E -1 vs Karleta and Linise; 4S W -1 vs Marudy, Study and Jevin
1NT W = by Leigh Ann
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3: E-W had a possible game after South opened 2H:
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A2
A952
KQ
K9842
?
K10753
QJ6
AJ2
Q6
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After a 2H opening bid, West might squeeze in a 2S overcall or East might balance with 2NT or a double. Nobody was kept out of game, with pairs reaching 3NT E four times and 4S W twice.
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With spades 3-3 I expected 4S to make. North could have put South in with the club ace for a heart ruff, but then Wests' heart loser would have gone away on the club king. If N-S delay the ruff then declarer can draw trumps at once. As 4S was set both times, I'll assume declarer did not draw the trumps first, often the fatal error on hands with shaky trump holdings. 3NT made every time, with Jamie managing a neat eleven tricks, probably after a heart lead, which allows South to be endplayed with the club ace on the second round.
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4S W -2 vs Ritold
4S W -1 vs Marudy
3NT E = vs Study
3NT E +1 by John and Kevin
3NT E +2 by Jamie
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4: E-W could have been set in game:
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Q64
A8
J7
K97642
?
A932
743
Q64
AQ5
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It was just possible that E-W might have found their way to 3NT, which makes after diamond leads but fails on a heart. Many a 3NT sneakes in when points are thin on fast tricks, often a virtue in 3NT. Instead of 3NT we had three passouts after West declined to open a flat 12-count. When West did open, East ended the auction, twice in a mildly conservative 1NT response and once in an invitational 3C, from which West was not budging.
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Marudy found the right defence to set 3C one trick, both avoiding diamonds like the plague and not allowing the fourth spade to establish in time to do any good. In 1NT, Kevin took his quick eight tricks and Jamie was allowed a ninth.
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3C E -1 vs Marudy
Passed Out by Ritold, Study and Linise
1NT E +1 by Kevin
1NT E +2 by Jamie
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5: HCP were 10/8/12/10. N-S had 5-3 hearts and E-W 7-1 spades.
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I expected East to open 3S and for that to end the auction. This happened at every table, meaning that the result would depend largely on the opening lead. South held A8 J10763 K874 A2. The natural heart lead would give declarer the chance to win the ace, cross to the ace of diamonds and discard clubs on West's hearts for a make, while the club ace lead would lead to a set. Two declarers passed up the discards after a heart lead and finished -2 while one of the two defending pairs to begin with a club lost their way later and allowed a make.
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3S E -2 vs Marudy and Ritold
3S E -1 vs Study
3S E = by Jamie, John and Linda
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6: The best N-S could have done would have been to hold this E-W 4H contract to ten tricks:
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A10
75
AK763
AQ53
?
K542
QJ98643
9
6
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Despite the vulnerability, nobody was kept out of game. I do not like a 1NT opening bid, as East has all top cards, with over 3/4 of the hand's strength in the 5-4 suits: 1D-1H; 2NT seems to suit the hand well enough. When East did open 1NT or eventually rebid 2NT, West always realized the value of the seven-card suit. Not every West, however, insisted on hearts. 4H E was played once and 4H W thrice, along with 3NT E and a strange 4NT W.
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3NT E is not terrible if the opening lead is anything but a spade. A non-spade lead allows declarer to get the hearts established and use them; on, say, a club lead, the defence would need to be able to cash three club tricks after winning the second heart. But both North and South found the spade lead needed for big sets for Mahn and Lara. Against 4H the best N-S could do would be to lead two hearts and prevent a spade ruff. The 5-2 diamond split would have removed that avenue to an overtrick. Curiously, North never led trumps from A10 doubleton. South didn't either from K2 but declarer played carelessly and took only ten tricks.?
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4NT W -4 vs Karleta
3NT E -3 vs Linise
4H E = vs Glynneth
4H W +1 by Diane, Leigh Ann and Jeff
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7: This was a tight one all around:
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...............K954
...............----
...............76
...............AKJ9732
2...............................AQJ63
KJ953.......................A1082
109843.....................A2
106............................Q4
...............1087
...............Q764
...............KQJ5
...............85
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North opens either 1C or 3C, the latter due to being in third seat. 3C certainly makes East's life harder, although E-W might not find their heart fit after P-P-1C-1S; X. We finished with contracts of 2C N, 3Hx W, 3S E, 4C N, 4Cx N and 4H W.
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4H W can make with the right timing, though it seems unlikely to happen at the table. It helps to give up the diamond loser before starting trumps. Then after the heart ace declarer can clear the diamond ace if it's still there (it probably won't be) and the finesse West's nine. Then comes the spade finesse, spade ace and a spade ruff. South has to follow on the fourth round of diamonds and then West still has to come to the heart king-jack to go with three ruffs, two rounds of hearts and three winners in the side suits. Jeff played 3Hx +1 something along those lines. 4H and all the club contracts took the expected nine tricks, 3S took eight.
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2C N +1 by Gareth
3S E -1 vs Diarcia; 4H W -1 vs Study
4C N -1 vs Lara
4Cx N -1 vs Jamob
3Hx W +1 by Jeff
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8: This was a N-S game if anyone could bid it:
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...............9862
...............AJ
...............K42
...............8765
AK7............................J1043
1097...........................5
1086...........................J953
KJ104........................AQ92
...............Q5
...............KQ86432
...............AQ7
...............3
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South had a losing trick count of five but the hand and main suit were both too porous to make 1H followed by 3H a prudent course. One brave South took that route and found North with the perfect cards, reaching 4H. The other contracts were 2H N, 3H N thrice and 3S W once when East was aggressive about balancing doubles.
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There were ten easy winners in hearts, giving Lynn the N-S top. One declarer managed to take only nine, robbing Linise of the E-W top when Louise finished a reasonable -3 in 3S. I doubt she complained about not being top; for -3 on a partial hand to do well is a rare enough occurrence.
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4H S = by Lynn
2H S +2 by Martin; 3H S +1 by Diane and Rita
3S E -3 by Lin
3H S = vs Lara
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9: E-W had a possible game that should have been defeated:
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KQ5
J62
J4
A9732
?
J76
A5
AQ6
QJ864
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With 25 HCP, sufficient stoppers and a suit to establish, E-W may well finish in 3NT. There are enough winners to make such a contract, but again we see the difference between fast tricks and slow tricks. Give N-S the spade ace-king instead of king-queen-jack and 3NT would be a fine spot. One pair stopped in the low 2C, three Wests managed to stop in 3C and 3NT was played one from each side.
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Even if the club finesse had succeeded 3NT would likely have failed after a probable heart lead. South held 942 KQ974 753 K10; both North and South led a heart against 3NT with totally unexpected results. Bob led a low heart from the South side, which would have given declarer a fighting chance, though not enough of one, only declarer rose with the ace and eventually finished -3. Jeff received a low heart lead to queen and ace; the nine would have worked beautifully. After the club finesse lost, Jeff rose with the diamond ace to cash the clubs. North, having led the trey from 1083, discarded the heart eight one a club. After the clubs, Jeff led the spade king to North's ace. North followed with the diamond king, then led the heart ten but the suit was blocked when Jeff ducked in dummy!
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3NT E -3 vs Jamob
3C W = vs Marudy, Glynneth and Ritold
2C W +2 by Judy (R)
3NT W = by Jeff
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10: HCP were 10/15/12/3 with no fit.
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I wondered if we had any old-fashioned Landy players who might enter the auction on KJ93 AK106 52 J109 over South's 1NT opening bid. I suspect Bart Bramley would have done so. But nobody in our group did and 1NT S became the contract at every table.
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Lynn was the only successful declarer after receiving a low spade lead. Two West started with a high heart and two with the solid lead of the club jack. A little weirdly, Study produced the best defensive result of -3 after the offbeat lead of a low heart.
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1NT S -3 vs Study
1NT S -2 vs Leighry and Mahn
1NT S -1 by Diane and Rita
1NT S = by Lynn
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11: E-W had a safe-looking 3NT with perhaps an uneasy moment:
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K96
K986
KQ109
K4
?
J32
A
AJ862
QJ93
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It looked as if we might have 3NT at every table but one East only rebid 2D over 1D-1H; 2C and another was feeling IMPish and drove to the unFreddalike 5D.
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This 3NT looks almost a sure thing. South did, however, hold Q10754 in spades, so that a spade lead and continuation would force declarer into holding one's breath to see which defender held the club ace. Happily that was North. As North did not think to underlead the doubleton ace of spades, 5D made and tied most of the 3NT contracts for the middle score. Only Kevin managed the overtrick in 3NT, managing not to get blocked into the wrong hand.
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2D W +3 vs Glynneth
3NT E = by John, Linda and Lin; 5D W = by Breta
3NT E +1 by Kevin
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12: E-W had a 3NT that was likely to be all right:
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AJ93
KQ53
K8
AJ7
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84
964
4
KQ109654
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3NT was reached rather often, being East's choice or response after West's 3C opening bid. And why not? Give West seven clubs to the king and the contract would be a favourite. We also had one 5C W and one 5C E to go with 3NT E four times.
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With the diamond ace onside, 3NT had no problem, although declarer had to cash out after the natural diamond lead from J9753. Even so three pairs of defenders got muddled and allowed an overtrick, with only Leighry producing the optimal defensive result. 5C made from the East side and was set from the West, although one would not have thought it would matter.
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5C W -1 vs Ritold
3NT E = vs Leighry; 5C E = vs Glynneth
3NT E +1 by John, Linda and Lin
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13: E-W had two possible games:
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107
K
AKQJ96
Q962
?
986543
A852
43
A
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E-W had a choice between 3NT, an easy make unless a lucky club lead cuts declarer off from the heart ace, and 4S, which needs to find 3-2 trumps and avoid North's or South's getting a profitable ruff. 4S could make, as North held KQJ in spades and South the long diamonds. Declarer could ruff the two low hearts or even ruff one and discard the other on the third diamond. If N-S draw dummy's trumps, declarer can draw North's last trump before the hearts are out. As for 3NT, even against a club lead, declarer would likely be all right running the diamonds, cashing the heart king and then getting out with a spade; the chance N-S would keep five cashable winners (or even have them, as with 3-2 spades the club king would have to be offside to give N-S a chance) is not high. Reaching game might be the hard part, especially if East devalues the singleton heart king. One East rebid only 2D and played the hand there; other contracts were 3S W, 4D E, 3NT E twice and 4S W.
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Given a favourable lie in clubs and no spade lead, Harold was able to take twelve tricks in 2D to escape for a middle score. Jamob managed to defeat 3NT. Henry made 3NT and Mark 4S for the top E-W scores.
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3NT E -1 vs Jamob; 4D E -1 vs Diarcia
2D E +4 by Harold; 3S W +1 by Jeff
3NT E = by Lin
4S W = by Hara
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14: HCP were 10/10/9/11. E-W had 5-3 diamonds, the only fit. It seemed reasonable to look for 2D E =, with one or more heart ruffs in dummy if allowed. Marudy/Jevin passed the board out. Contracts were 1NT E, 2D E twice, 3C W and 3D E.
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Only Henry negotiated the play correctly, managing nine tricks in 2D for the E-W top and the only plus score in that direction. All the other contracts failed, with Diarcia N-S top defending 3C W -3.
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3C W -3 vs Diarcia
2D E -2 vs Jamob
1NT E -1 vs Glynneth; 3D E -1 vs Mahn
Passed Out vs Jevin
2D E +1 by Lin
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15: N-S had a tough-to-reach 4H:
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5
AQ1083
K5
A9863
?
J764
K9
AQJ86
72
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Here again we see two hands that just fit so neatly (see Board 8). Despite the 5-2 fit, N-S have good play for 4H. Trumps do not draw because East held Jxxx, but the back door came through even against a spade lead and second-round ruff. East held four low diamonds as well as four trumps. The real problem came with finding 4H. Maybe 1D-1H; 1S-2C; 2D-3C; 3H-4H. I thought maybe we might see some 3NT contracts, but East apparently came in with 1S, making for interesting auctions. Contracts were 2D S, 2H N, 3Sx E, 4D S and 4H N twice.
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Both 4H contracts made and 3Sx just escaped as going down less than game. The two-level partials tied on -110 for E-W; Karleta were E-W top defending 4D S -1 (after a club lead diamonds have a tricky time coming to ten tricks).
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4H N +1 by John
4H N = by Jamie
3Sx E -3 vs Jevin
2H N = vs Glynneth
2D S +1 vs Lara
4D S -1 vs Karleta
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16: E-W had a 3NT that might have been an interesting battle:
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975
AK875
AJ
AK4
?
A104
104
Q10832
Q63
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I thought we might get everyone into 3NT W and for once we did, our third contract of the game with the same contract at all the tables.
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The diamond king was onside but North held Kxxx so that the whole hand would not cave in. Spades were 4-3 with South holding the four and hearts were 3-3. Bill, of course, would have led a spade as North from Q63 instead of a diamond from K764. Declarer has an iffy time after a spade lead but gets lucky on almost any line. As South held the doubleton nine of diamonds, ace followed by jack can be overtaken by the queen. If declarer wins the spade ace and then finesses the jack followed by the ace, hearts split 3-3 (QJ, Q9 or J9 doubleton would work as well). Mahn defended 3NT W -2 but everyone else made at least one overtrick, with Hara managing two.
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3NT W -2 vs Mahn
3NT W +1 by Louise, Breta, Rita and Lynn
3NT W +2 by Hara
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17: This turned out to be a partial battle:
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...............KQJ872
...............J875
...............----
...............J98
A9.........................1053
9............................AK643
Q109765...............A82
K653.....................Q4
...............64
...............Q102
...............KJ43
...............A1072
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I was looking for an auction like 2S-3H-P-3NT but it never occurred. If North opens 2S and East passes West is likely to balance with 3D. If North passes East might declare in diamonds if North does not come with 2S over 1H-P-1NT. We ended with assorted partials: 2S N, 2NT E, 2NT W, 3H E, 3S N and 4D W.
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2NT yielded nine tricks to Louise as declarer, a result I thought likely though stoppable, and only five against Lara from the other side, though I don't know why there was such a difference. With North holding no entry to the long spades once established, declarer has an easy eight tricks but cannot cash both hearts at the same time if South switches to a heart after winning the diamond king. If North has saved three hearts, South can unblock the queen on the second winner; if West leaves the second heart winner in dummy South can discard?hearts on the diamonds. The only other contract that made was 2S N by Henry.
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2NT E -3 vs Lara
2S N = by Henry
3H E -2 vs Jevin; 4D W -2 vs Jamob
3S N -1 by John
2NT W +1 by Louise
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18: North and West had the hands against each other:
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...............2
...............AK72
...............AK86
...............9862
AQ1095
986
Q103
AK
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Would West open 1S or 1NT? I thought 1NT might end the auction but North came in with 2D, showing I'm not sure what. South eventually declared 3H. The other five auctions began 1S-X. South declared 2H twice, but if North took another bid, got excited with nine HCP (despite holding KJ9x in spades), leading to 4D N and 4H S twice.
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Despite East's Q10 in trumps dropping doubleton, declarer in 4H emerged a trump short (even if West had led the spade ace), being unable to negotiate two ruffs in the North hand without trying to return to hand with the third club, which got ruffed. Karleta and Ritold were able to set 4H this way; Glynneth were E-W top defending 4D -2. In the heart partials one declarer took eight tricks and one nine, while Bob took a crucial ten for the overall win, recieving just enough held from the defence. Against simply pushing through trumps at every opportunity even after cashing the clubs, the best declarer can do is come to nine tricks by a spade endplay, ducking a spade to West and then not trumping the ace to force West to lead yet another spade.
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3H S +1 by Bob
2H S +1 by Martin
2H S = by Hara
4H S -1 vs Karleta and Ritold
4D N -2 vs Glynneth
