1: E-W began with a trap hand:
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976
KQ53
QJ2
AQ2
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QJ
J1086
K86
KJ104
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Although E-W have 25 HCP combined. West's spade QJ are wasted and N-S have four top winners. Does West go on after 1C-1H; 2H? The tens suggest something like 2NT but the loser count is unfavourable. The only pair to bid game had a 14-point 1NT opening and then West invited after Stayman. In that case East would have been better to decline. Two pairs took nine tricks; Harob managed to hold declarer to eight.
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3H E -1 vs Harob; 4H E -1 vs Miken
2H W +1 by Louise
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2: N-S had an easy slam:
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A7
K94
KJ832
K103
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K43
AQ10763
Q
AJ5
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The three auctions were instructive. At one table N-S were not playing 2/1. The auction was 1H-2D; 3H-4H. Over the jump, with North knowing that South held a good six-card heart suit, 4H was too little. North really needs to take control. In the other two auctions N-S were playing 2/1. The second auction was 1H-2D; 2H-4H. Again North was giving up too soon. The hand does not have much extra, but it has control of every suit and has no reason to flash the signoff sign. 3H would have let South float a control bid and off we would go. The final auction was 1H-2D; 3H-4NT; 5H-6H. I'm not sure what 5H was and North might have considered 6NT, as it would have been so sad had South held Kx AQJxxx AQx xx and a club lead through would have led to a set. Perhaps thinking the heart queen was missing sapped North's confidence. Everyone took twelve tricks with ease.
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6H S = by Bob
4H S +2 vs Lourene and Jerik
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3: E-W had an interesting 4S and a surprisingly good 3NT:
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K93
A92
96
AK1098
?
AQ865
Q6
J10873
6
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East had the sort of hand that seemed to offer a good upgrade to a 15-17 1NT opening bid. West had a transfer to spades and then at least an invitation. Despite the minimal HCP East has the sort of hand that would like to accept. At two tables East opened 1C and the auction ended in 3S. The third auction went to 3NT E.
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The trouble with spades by West is that a heart lead from North may tempt declarer to take a heart discard at once but that costs West control of the hand. Trying to draw trumps will result in taking only eight tricks; trying to ruff? diamond or two allows nine tricks with great guessing. Letting a heart lead run to South's king allows N-S to set 4S at once with three rounds of diamonds, promoting a trump trick. 3NT could have been in trouble had North held the heart king or had South held the club queen-jack, but those cards were reversed. Sadly, declarer in 3NT went seriously wrong in a contract that could not have been set. As a tip, if one wants to run five spades at once without crossing between hands in another suit, the first round should be won with the ace or queen, East unblocking the nine. On the actual layout, with North's holding the singleton jack, the nine to the queen and low to the king sets up a lead through the 107 to West's A86.
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3NT E -5 vs Miken
3S W -1 vs Heve
3S W = by Mary
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Leaders: Lourene 4.5, Miken 4, Harob 3.5
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4: Slow tricks were the death of E-W this time:
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74
K96
A
Q1065432
?
AK86
AJ42
Q65
98
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A little rearrangement of honours could make 3NT a breeze. Change the hands to 74 963 A KQ106542 opposite K986 AJ42 Q65 A8 and 3NT is almost a sure thing. On the actual two hands there is virtually no play for the contract. Diamonds establish in two leads and the clubs will be way too late. One E-W pair had the auction 1D-1NT; another got all the way up to 5C; the third stopped in a sensible 3C.
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5C is not that bad, although the diamond queen probably will prove to be wasted. South held the club AKJ7 behind East. The heart queen was offside but South held and led the singleton ten, establishing the nine after ten-jack-queen-king. Defeating 5C was top, but the overtrick in 3C was important, as that beat 1NT +1 by ten points.
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5C W -1 vs Lourene
1NT E +1 by Laurie
3C E +1 by Mike
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5: E-W had a nice-looking slam:
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85
A432
AQ10876
K
?
AJ10943
K6
K
AQ94
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It certainly looks as if 6D or 6S ought to make if not both, although it seems hard to get past 4S without slightly better support. One pair got to 5D E and another to 3NT W. The third West was in the middle of an auction during which East had just bid 4S and was about to bid 6S when South ended the auction with a double.
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Unfortunately for the slams, South held J954 in diamonds and all five missing spades, so that the spades could not be brought in if South ducked two leads through. Erik ended up with twelve tricks in 4Sx when South played the queen on the first low spade. 5D would have been in trouble against a high spade lead - king-ace-ruff and South would still have a trump trick, while discarding the spade loser on a club would just leave a heart loser in its place. But letting 5D make did not cost. 3NT had nine top winners and declarer was able to produce two overtricks.
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5D E = vs Heve
3NT W +2 by Ken
4Sx W +2 by Erik
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6: The vulnerability kept E-W from getting frisky:
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...............AKQJ964
...............AJ10
...............2
...............J2
5...................................3
KQ852.........................97643
853..............................AQ96
10753...........................A94
...............10872
...............----
...............KJ1074
...............KQ86
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With the vulnerability reversed the hand would have been much more interesting. West might have opened 2H in third seat (Bill certainly would have done so) and E-W would have reached a nice-looking sacrifice in 5H, although the unfavourable lie of the cards would have made a four-trick set possible. As it was all roads led to 4S +1.
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4S N +1 - Flat Board
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Leaders: Miken 8, Lourene 7.5
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7: This E-W grand slam was missed:
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A7
AKQ8752
8
A94
?
96
----
A963
KQ108732
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One auction had one conservative partner, another had serious but offsetting errors and the third had a strange key card misunderstanding. 7C was never reached. It had to be 7C, as hearts split 4-2, making only twelve tricks in no-trumps. Declarer can probably manage even a 5-1 heart split in 7C. The conservative auction was P-1H; 1NT-4H. Passing a hand that could reasonably have opened 1C put West behind. Over 1H, 2C would have been Drury and 3C apparently would have shown something else. We can consider the end result a little harsh. Both other Wests opened 3C. One auction was 3C-4NT; 5C-6C. Whatever 5C was intended to show it does not seem to be the right bid unless E-W were using 5C for zero or three key cards and West intended to treat the heart void as a third key card. The auction with offsetting errors was 3C-4H; 5C-6C. 4H showed a very limited imagination. As little as seven clubs to the king with partner is enough to make 6C a big favourite. But 5C violated one of the cardinal rules of pre-emptive bidding. 4H was a SIGNOFF. Any game bid opposite a pre-emptive opening is such (maybe some pairs treat the auction 4M-5m as something else but certainly any game bid in a major or 3NT should be passed without opener even looking at the hand. 4H took eleven tricks after a spade lead as the hand with four hearts did not also hold all the clubs.6C took all the tricks.
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4H E +1 vs Lourene
6C W +1 by Erik and Ken
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8: HCP were 6/11/10/13. E-W had the only fit, 4-4 hearts.
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One North opened 1S on three Quick Tricks: 98754 A10 93 AK104. The other two passed and also left the auction in 1NT after P-1D; 1S-1NT. The North who opened ended up dummy in 3NT. The partials took seven and eight tricks but Mary managed nine in 3NT for the N-S top.
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3NT S = by Mary
1NT S +1 by Louise
1NT S = vs Jerik
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9: E-W had an interesting game possible:
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K109
AQ93
KQJ32
Q
?
A
J875
8
A1087542
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4H was definitely on the interesting side, particularly as South held K96 in clubs and North J3. North held 1042 in hearts and South K6. It looked as if 4H would be unavoidable, and so it proved, being played once by East and twice by West.
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4H looks impregnable: spade, club, club ruff, spade, spade ruff, club ruff, diamond ruffing finesse loses but even a trump return cannot prevent declarer from rising, cashing the diamond queen-jack and securing one more trick with a trump with a diamond ruff. However it was played, two declarers took ten tricks and Bob eleven for the E-W top.
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4H E = vs Heve; 4H W = vs Maurie
4H W +1 by Bob
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Leaders: Lourene 10.5, Miken 10, Jerik 9
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10: South's 2H opening may have put E-W off:
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A3
K94
KJ104
J743
?
KQJ1096
J10
A65
109
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E-W probably would not have reached game left to their own devices. An uncontested auction might have been either 1S-1NT; 2S-3S or 1S-1NT; 2S-2NT. It's a shame the hand was not for N-S, as Heve would have gone to 3NT and likely gotten away with it, as N-S have to take top tricks to set it with North holding four clubs. With South opening 2H, West was still able to overcall 2S a little thin, but only one East was inclined to look for game and even then stopped in 3S.
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While 3NT had a fair chance of success 3S was in an interesting state. N-S can kill off the chance of a discard on the heart king by playing the third round of hearts before declarer draws trumps. If this is done before N-S take two top clubs, West can discard a club on the third heart but will still need the diamond finesse to take nine tricks; declarer might as well ruff high, draw trumps and finesse North for the diamond queen (because of entries the first round should be a finesse rather than cashing the ace first) with ten tricks if that works (South's diamonds were Q3). Ken took nine tricks in 3S for the best declaring result; Harob were allowed -2.
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2S W -2 vs Jerik
2S W = by Louise
3S W = by Ken
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11: Slow tricks did N-S in again:
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...............KQ104
...............A5
...............K7
...............AK876
J987.......................A63
J4...........................Q9872
A10864..................QJ32
J10.........................Q
...............52
...............K1063
...............95
...............95432
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N-S again have nine potential winners but no time to establish them. If North's spades were headed by ace-king instead of king-queen 3NT could make, but then so could 6C. The 5-5 fit and the weak diamonds make this one of the rare times 5m is the better spot. With 2-1 trumps declarer needs only the diamond ace onside or for South to hold the spade ace and the jack to drop, for close to even chances. It seemed doing rather well for two pairs to reach 5C; perhaps the auction began P-P-1C-1H; 3C. The third auction was competitive at a low leve and North was able to double West in 3S.
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With trumps 2-1 and the diamond ace onside both declarers made 5C.? A valiant declaring effort came up just short as Maurie set 3Sx three tricks for the N-S top.
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3Sx W -3 vs Maurie
5C N = vs Miken and Harob
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12: N-S had interesting games possible:
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QJ
AKQJ3
J7
J875
?
AK654
764
A64
109
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Even those Souths who would open the bidding would have contented themselves with an invitation to game after 1H-1S; 2C or 1H-2S; 1NT, although, if North decided to treat the hearts as a six-card suit and rebid 2H, I'd like the South hand well enough for game; likely at worst trumps would have to split 2-2 opposite a minimum. Our three tables all went different ways. One South gave a mere preference to 2H, ending the auction (too little). One North was unimpressed by the 15 HCP and passed South's 3H invitation. The Losing Trick Count was seven, after all. The third North accepted the invitation and bid 4H.
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3NT would have been the safest spot at IMPs. A diamond lead against 4H, 4S or 3NT prevents North from unblocking the spade queen-jack before crossing to the South hand. Declarer may emerge with only nine tricks in no-trumps or hearts if spades are not 3-3 (spade contracts get complicated). 3NT is cold unless the lead is a diamond, spades are not 3-3 and hearts are 5-0. As spades did split 3-3 eleven tricks were available but the declarers in partials both only took ten so that Laurie was top both for her bidding and her play.
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4H N +1 by Jim
2H N +2 vs Lourene; 3H N +1 vs Miken
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Leaders: Miken 15.5, Jerik 13.5, Maurie-Lourene 12.5
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13: E-W had a possible but unlikely game:
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...............QJ1073
...............Q3
...............J7
...............A1052
62..........................54
AK106...................J842
AKQ109................8643
96..........................K87
...............AK98
...............975
...............52
...............QJ43
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In order to make 4H, E-W would have to bring in clubs for one loser and hearts for none, putting the hand outside the range of games Bill would like to bid vulnerable at IMPs. It seemed game might be bid if East scraped up a dodgy negative double after P-P-P-1D; 1S. Of course I would hope that South would open 1S in third position, but only Sharon has opened a third-seat four-card major in recent memory. Auctions got competitive, although E-W were competing in diamonds rather than hearts. We finished in 4D W twice and 3S N.
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With the clubs behaving and heart Qx offside it was possible but not likely to make 4H. Curiously, a diamond lead might have scared declarer into avoiding the losing heart finesse. 3S finished -1 with the club finesse losing; 4D was the normal -1 once but yielded eleven tricks to Bob; I don't know where the overtrick came from.
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4D W -1 vs Miken
3S N -1 vs Maurie
4D W +1 by Bob
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14: This N-S game was right-sided in a curious way:
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AKQ9
AK106
Q1095
8
?
J105
QJ432
J7
A76
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This hand came down to whether West opened 1D in third seat on a holding of 8732 9 AK84 QJ52. One West did, after which North selected a 1H overcall and declared 4H; the other auctions ended in 4H S.
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With the opening bid for direction and Jx in dummy, Harob had no trouble cashing their two diamond tricks and holding declarer to one overtrick. When South declared West still led a high diamond but both Souths played the jack. O for a count signal from East! Both Wests switched and both declarers took twelve tricks.
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4H S +2 by Mike and Erik
4H N +1 vs Harob
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15: HCP were 9/4/12/15. E-W had nine hearts and N-S eight spades.
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I was looking for a third-seat 1S opening bid. Over a double, South might or might not have been able to trot out Drury in some form or might have been content with a raise to 2S anyway. A 2H overcall seemed likely to be followed by 2S and 3H. One auction did stop placidly in 2S; the others reached 4H and 4S.
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Hank made 4S after negotiating a double finesse in trumps successfully. 4H was -3 against Jerik, the third undertrick making the difference between middle and bottom. 2S was held to eight tricks, one less than was necessary to give Lourene the E-W top.
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4S N = by Hank
4H E -3 vs Jerik
2S N = vs Lourene
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Leaders: Miken 19, Jerik 17, Maurie-Lourene 15
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16: HCP were 7/10/15/8.
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One auction ended with East's third-seat 1NT opening bid. At a second table North balanced with 2H for the majors with 5-4, 2H ending the auction. The third auction saw North open: P-1H-1NT-2D; X-3D-P-P; 4C-4D.
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Lourene added to the number of hands on which a third undertrick was important, 4D -3 giving them the E-W top. Harold was N-S top in 2H =, with 1NT E +1 in the middle.
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2H N = by Harold
1NT E +1 by Jim
4D S -3 vs Lourene
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17: HCP were 8/9/12/11 with no fit.
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South held QJ8 AJ63 A98 854 in third seat. I expected a 1m opening bid to draw a 1NT response from North, played there and finishing -1 or =. A 1H opening bid would be raised to 2H, likely -1, or else a balance would likely end in 2S -1 for E-W. At one table South opened 1C, West doubled on a flat 11-count, North raised to 2C and East ended the auction with 2D. Another produced the expected P-P-1C-P; 1NT, although a light 1C opening bid on 854 is pointless. At the third table South passed and West opened 1C on a hand that met the Rule of Fifteen; East eventually played 1NT. All three contracts finished -1, a reasonable result, giving Maurie the E-W top.
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1NT E -1 vs Heve; 2D E -1 vs Jerik
1NT N -1 vs Maurie
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18: We finished with an eight-card suit:
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...............863
...............Q4
...............AQ9853
...............Q3
AQJ10.........................K952
6..................................52
KJ1062........................74
AK4.............................108765
...............74
...............AKJ109873
...............----
...............J92
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South naturally opened 4H at all three tables. One West passed (a little extreme), ending the auction. One doubled, also ending the auction. The third West bid a speculative 4S. North went to 5H, which was left in undoubled.
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Against heart contracts E-W must cash their spades (the clubs can wait) before one goes away on the diamond ace. Miken had already clinched the win but second place changed when Ken's LHO cashed a club and then switched to a trump, allowing 4Hx to make. Maurie and Lourene took their four tricks against 4H and 5H respectively.
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4S actually can make if N-S begin with two rounds of hearts. West ruffs the second round, after which declarer draws two trumps and clears the clubs. South wins the third club and has to give a ruff-and-discard; East loses a diamond, ruffs a diamond, draws trumps and wins the two long clubs. If South unblocks the jack East can duck a club to South's nine, give up two diamonds and draw trumps, or even see North ruff a club and be endplayed into having to lead diamonds.
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4Hx S = by Ken
4H S -1 vs Maurie
5H S -2 vs Lourene
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Final: Miken 23.5, Lourene 19.5, Jerik 18.5, Maurie 18
