1: N-S had a breezy 3NT:
?
AK
Q743
Q106
A872
?
Q764
986
AKJ92
Q
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It seemed as if everyone would reach 3NT, but Jevin were tempted by their favourite situation: doubling a partial for penalties. They were the only pair not in 3NT.
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Prospects looked good for holding declarer in 3NT to nine tricks. One of declarer's two best chances for an overtrick did not come into play. Had South been declarer West might have led a club from KJ94. East's club lead did not give anything away. East might also have begun with two top hearts from AKJ10, but with that holding one wants to make the lead that asks for an unblock. If West does not hold the queen, West should give a count signal. Here, as declarer does not hold three cards in the suit, East will have to guess how to continue but is likely to guess right. If the lead is a high heart and West drops the five from a doubleton, North should play the seven-spot to keep alive the chance that West began with 5432.
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As the play went, one of the two declarers to take ten tricks received a spade discard from four, a bit lazy given the sight of four spades in dummy. I did not see how the other +430 occurred.
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2Hx E -4 vs Jevin
3NT N +1 by Harold and Gareth
3NT N = vs Cinise and Owbot
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2: This N-S game had results varying on active or passive defence:
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QJ6
Q4
K863
AQ74
?
A10987
A95
J5
K82
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Not everyone arrived in game despite the 26 HCP. One South apparently did not open the bidding and was content to invite game, with North passing the invitational 3S. One South settled in 3NT, the other three in 4S. Some Wests came in with a heart overcall, which proved helpful to declarer by placing the king and removing the idea of going for a ruff of the third heart.
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West held KJ10762 in hearts and East the doubleton king of spades. The whole hand tended to come down to who led the diamonds first, as West held the queen and East the ace. As clubs split 5-1, it was best to win a club lead in dummy and go after trumps at once. When spades are drawn, then declarer leads a heart towards the queen, hoping that West will win and switch to a diamond. If West just sits tight declarer will have to break the diamond suit. South cannot quite choose to play East for the diamond ace and long clubs, as North has to play before East and there is no squeeze into forcing East to blank the diamond ace and allow North's king to score. The defenders tended to activity.; eleven tricks were taken more often in spades.
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4S S +1 by Harold and Henry
3NT S +1 vs Cinise and Falice
4S S = vs Study
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3: Could N-S squeeze out a game here?:
?
KJ72
Q764
Q8
KQ6
?
A85
A5
A7543
954
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If South opened North would likely drive to game. Indeed that is what happened at every table. We had three contracts of 3NT S, one of 3NT N, receiving a potentially favourable heart lead and one of 4S S after a club overcall and a negative double.
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Despite scoring the heart queen, 3NT N finished -2 and tied 4S N _2 for bottom. Harold was the only successful declarer, making 3NT after E-W defended passively: club to queen, spade to ace, diamond to queen and king*, heart to queen, diamond to nine**, heart to ace, diamond ace, diamond seven, diamond five, club to ace***, club to king, spade king, spade to queen.
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3NT S = by Harold
3NT S -1 by Bob and Jeff
3NT N -2 vs Owbot; 4S N -2 vs Falice
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4: E-W had plenty of winners but two top losers:
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AJ853
J7
Q6
AQ109
?
KQ2
1032
AK1053
KJ
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With West dealing we had a 1NT opening bid most of the time if not all. One North at least came in with 76 AK954 7 65432. The distribution looked likely to offer protection and a lead was directed in case South did have to make the opening lead. One E-W pair, curiously not Jevin, opted to defend 2Hx N; the other contracts were 3NT W, 4S E, 4S W and 6S W.
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3NT was a little lucky not to go down, although taking ten tricks after the defence began with three rounds of hearts did not score well. 4S W took eleven tricks, 4S E twelve after a non-heart lead.
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Unluckily for West, North had no difficulty when on lead in cashing the top hearts. When East declared 4S hearts had not been shown and the suit was not led. 3NT was not defeated, as the top hearts were led, evidence of how low from AKxxx usually works much better.
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6S W -1 vs Jevin
3NT W +1 vs Glynneth
4S W +1 by Owen
4S E +2 by Steve
2Hx N -3 vs Cinise
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5: This was probably the best slam of the set, for E-W:
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AQ974
KJ108
A7
42
?
J106
A9752
2
AQ95
?
This is a strange hand, a rare case of a 5-3 fit making a better trump suit than a 5-4 fit. Nobody was close to bidding slam, although Bill might have gotten there, though likely to the wrong slam. The South hand is good enough for an upgrade to a game force opposite a 1S opening bid; after 1S-2H; 3H-3S?East has a reasonable-looking advance with 4D. The difficulty there is that, if West goes beyond game, West is likely to choose 6H to protect the club ace-queen from the opening lead. Our contracts were 4H E, 4H W twice, 4S E and 5H W.
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The 5-3 fit plays better than the 5-4 fit because of the ability to take a ruff in the short hand. Played in hearts, the spades provide more discards, but they are not useful, as South has seven black cards. In spades declarer takes a diamond ruff in dummy and then takes the trump finesse. With East declaring there is the need to finesse if a club is led. (6S W would likely win the bidding contests.) Here everything behaved: spades split 3-2 and hearts 2-2, with both kings onside, so that every declarer in hearts took all the tricks. 4S fared worse after declarer did not ruff a diamond first.
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4S E +1 vs Jamob
4H E +3 by Louise; 4H W +3 by Fay and Jeff; 5H W +2 by Henry
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6: N-S could possibly squeeze out game here:
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...............A84
...............J1092
...............A109
...............954
K3...........................Q10965
A843.......................Q765
KJ8632...................5
2..............................Q83
...............J72
...............K
...............Q74
...............AKJ1076
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Change the South hand to KJ2 7 Q74 AKJ1076 and I could live with a 3C rebid after 1C-1D-1H, although I would be happier if the king-jack were the ace. We have seen many examples lately of the benefits of Fast Tricks for contracts in no-trumps. As the hand is a jump rebid seems a little too big a stretch. Only one opener apparently jumped, although auctions were competitive and nobody played below the three-level, Contracts were 3C S thrice, 3NT N and 4C S.
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3NT N technically looks only beatable by a weird line of defence. If West has overcalled diamonds and East has not bid, the club finesse becomes better than playing for the drop, which has only a miniscule advantage in a situation with no outside information about the opposing distribution. And here there is the question of entries. Declarer playing the club ace-king will be unable to get back to the South hand; the finesse at least means anyone going down will not go down a lot. The brilliant set? East must impersonate the late Bill Dyckes and lead a spade (intermediate). Declarer lets that win and then ducks the king and then West, either cashing the heart ace first or not, has to find a club switch to avoid surrendering the ninth trick. A low spade lead let declarer force the king by ducking, although North likely ought to play East for a suit headed by king-queen and rise with the jack. At the table perhaps there had been no diamond overcall; North took the top two clubs and finished -3. All the club contracts took differing numbers of tricks from seven to ten. Assuming a diamond lead to jack and ace followed by two top clubs, nine tricks seems the most likely outcome, thanks to the chance of a ruffing finesse in hearts, although E-W might manage to hold declarer to eight by cutting communications.
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3C S +1 by Judy
3C S = by Bob
3C S -1 vs Jevin
4C S -2 vs Leighry
3NT N -3 vs Cinise
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7: Would N-S bid and/or make 4S?:
?
KQJ103
5
9752
A52
?
A82
AK1084
Q
Q1087
?
After 1H-1S; 2C, North has a slightly awkward rebid. Count the spades as semi-solid (the suit should lose only one trick opposite a singleton) and rebid 3S? Count the diamond 9752 as a stopper and rebid 2NT? Risk a rebid of only 2S? It's just a question of working out which is the smallest lie. There's a case to be made that South should go to 3S even over a 2S rebid: KQxxxx xx xxx xx seems enough for a reasonable IMPs game even though this is matchpoints. In the end we more or less split the middle with 2S twice, 3S and 4S twice. 3S, I admit, seems a bit strange, as, if either player moves, the other should accept.
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East at least once found the unluckiest opening lead of the day - a club from J964, letting the seven-spot force West's king. Harold took twelve tricks in 4S and Gareth eleven (as did Jamie in 3S). The 2S bidders justified their timidity by taking only nine and eight tricks.
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4S N +2 by Harold
4S N +1 by Gareth
3S N +2 by Jamie
2S N +1 vs Owbot
2S N = vs Leighry
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8: North's and South's initial actions made a great difference:
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...............1098642
...............1065
...............AJ6
...............Q
75.............................3
----...........................AKJ8743
K75432....................Q
K10542....................J763
...............AKQJ
...............Q92
...............1098
...............A98
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As neither Jerik nor Harold Feldheim were playing, West did not open an Unusual 2NT, although one West opened 2D and eventually declared 5C. One North opened 2S (a specialty of both the late Grace Z Postman and the still alive and kicking Marge Fiedler); South showed admirable restraint in the face of that support in raising only to 3S. One East opened 3H, resulting in a contract of 4S N. Only twice did East open 1H; what would South do? One South passed, resulting in the strange contract of 2C E. Lynn opted to overcall 1S, leading to the cold 4S S.
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South's declaring accidentally right-sides the contract because West cannot lead a heart, although a diamond lead forces declarer to rise with the ace (a play I would only expect Bill to find if West had opened 2D and then led a low one). With no heart lead there is no heart ruff; Lynn lost only two hearts and a diamond. North was unable to make spade contracts after heart leads; 2C E took nine tricks and 5C W eight.
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4S S = by Lynn
5C W -3 vs Study
4S N -1 vs Falice
3S N -2 vs Jevin
2C E +1 by Owen
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9: E-W had a poor slam had they gone looking for it:
?
AK103
Q7654
J43
A
?
QJ9
AJ3
KQ8
Q1032
?
I did not expect E-W to go looking for slam either after a 1H opening bid or Flannery 2D. Responder's hand is so flat and queen-filled that it was no surprise two pairs spurned the eight-card heart fit and tried 3NT, once from each side, along with the three contracts of 4H E.
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6H needed not just the heart king onside but also doubleton; the king was doubleton but sat with North. The 3NT declarers got a little fortunate; a club lead or switch could have held declarer to ten tricks, but neither North nor South found the lead and declarers both took eleven. Study managed a ruff to hold 4H to ten tricks.
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4H E = vs Study
4H E +1 vs Harbot and Jamob
3NT E +2 by Leigh Ann; 3NT W +2 by Jeff
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10: HCP were 10/19/8/3. N-S had 5-3 spades and E-W 6-3 clubs.
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I wondered what South would do after 1C-X-1D-P; 1H with a holding consisting of A65 KJ9 AKJ53 K7. That auction only occurred once. South bid 1NT and the final contract was 4C E. One North made a responsive double with only three HCP but South sold out to 3C E! One South overcalled 1D instead of doubling, also leading to 3C E. Two Easts did not open the bidding, despite meeting the Rule of Twenty requirements. When South opened 1D there was a balancing double and eventually East sold out to 1S N despite holding six good clubs. At the fifth table South opened 2NT and declared 3S after a transfer.
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Louise made 1S for N-S top. All the club contracts took either nine or ten tricks, creating a tie for top between Karlene and Owen.
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1S N = by Louise
3S S -1 by Fay
3C E = by Gareth
3C E +1 by Karlene; 4C E = by Owen
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11: Who, if anyone, would bid game?:
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...............K10943
...............K1087
...............A4
...............105
AQ5.........................J76
4..............................Q5
J8652......................Q103
A864........................KQJ97
...............82
...............AJ9632
...............K97
...............32
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South opened 2H at most tables and then only the hefty spade holding should have given North any reason to consider a call other than 4H. North has little defence but with five spades is unlikely to rush E-W into a dreadful 4S contract and it is not irrational to think more of the plus score, We finished with contracts of 2H S(!), 3H S, 4H S twice and 5C E (one West made an iffy double of 2H, although it worked out okay this time).
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Although North and South both held two doubletons (a singleton in either hand would have been most helpful) the lack of duplication in clubs and only having one pair of doubletons opposite each other made 4H nearly an even proposition. With trumps 2-1, 4H should have made, although Jevin received a fortunate declaring error. Harold posted +420 easily enough. 3H only yielded nine tricks as well; I don't see why. 5C finished -3 after N-S found the diamond ruff.
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4H S = by Harold
2H S +3 by Fay
5C E -3 vs Study
3H S = vs Glynneth
4H S -1 vs Jevin
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12: This was a tossup partial battle:
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...............J
...............KQJ53
...............QJ53
...............A72
K1063.....................AQ52
A76.........................842
K1072.....................----
J5............................K98643
...............9874
...............109
...............A9864
...............Q10
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Our five tables produced contracts in all four suits. If East passes North's 1H opening bid, it may be impossible to get into the auction and we see 1H-1NT; 2D and it goes around. 2D N was the one contract played twice. 2C might even end the auction although the one club contract was 3C. One South gave preference back to 2H. The last auction had competition and was about to end in 3D when East balanced with 3S and played it there.
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If E-W defend very passively diamonds might have a chance to take nine tricks but reasonable defence held declarer to eight. 3C made - even if North gets a spade ruff it does no good. Hearts could have been held to eight tricks, as a diamond ruff does some good, but Alice took nine. 3S was the most interesting contract. It looks terribly leaky, especially with 4-1 trumps. Heart ten, heart to ace, club to king, club to queen, diamond ace looks effective, but East can discard the losing heart. After one round of trumps, East can push clubs through South and eventually draw trumps finishing in hand with good clubs remaining.
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2H N +1 by Alice
2D N = by Harold and Louise
3C E = by Jamie
3S E = by Kevin
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13: HCP were 13/10/8/9. E-W had 5-3 diamonds, the only fit.
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I expected North to open 1C, perhaps with a 1D overcall, and then a 1H response and 1NT rebid. It did not seem as if there would be any reason for anyone to go beyond 1NT. 1NT N was played four times along with 2S S.
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1NT had eight tricks against a diamond lead, which declarer found helpful. All four declarers in 1NT did take eight tricks except for Harold, who took nine after East discarded a diamond and allowed him to establish a ninth trick in hearts. 2S S made but that was E-W top for Jamob.
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1NT N +2 by Harold
1NT N +1 by Leigh Ann, Owen and Louise
2S S = vs Jamob
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14: This was a?so-so slam:
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...............AQJ102
...............7
...............A1072
...............984
K98..........................----
8532........................AKQ106
4..............................K9653
AJ765......................Q102
...............76543
...............J94
...............QJ8
...............K3
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Despite the low HCP count the distributional fit nearly makes slam a decent proposition. Give West xxx xxxx x AKJxx and 6H becomes a favourite. The main question in the auction seems to be whether North comes in over 1H-P-3H or not. Some Norths did. Contracts were 4H E twice, 4S N, 4Sx N and 5H E.
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With the club king onside and the diamond ace onside as well, the heart contracts all took twelve tricks. In spades declarer lost two clubs, a diamond, a heart, and eventually a spade either through a ruff or due to a lack of an entry for a second finesse.
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4S N -2 by Louise
4Sx N -2 by Harold
4H E +2 by Gareth and Jamie; 5H E +1 by Karlene
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15: Could E-W find their best game in their 5-2 heart fit?:
?
A875
A4
A53
AQ103
?
6
K10964
K1082
KJ6
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The answer was No. One West accidentally passed E-W's 1C opening bid. Three other auctions finished in 3NT E after a 2NT rebid and a failure to find a 5-3 heart fit. One East rebid spades, leading to 3NT W.
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4H had eleven tricks with a 3-3 split or either queen or jack doubleton. 3NT turned out to be right-sided when played by West. Breta received a diamond lead and took eleven tricks for the top. Easts declaring had to accept taking only nine tricks after South lead a spade from QJ92.
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1C E +3 vs Falice
3NT E = by Steve, Jamie and Gareth
3NT W +2 by Breta
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16: This was a sharp one for both sides:
?
...............J82
...............KJ86542
...............J7
...............3
Q7..............................AK1063
Q97............................103
Q5432........................AK6
QJ2............................864
...............954
...............A
...............1098
...............AK10975
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One North did not open 3H, which led to 3C S. 3H ended the auction twice, one contract was 4C S and the last North either opened 4H or South raised, mentally reversing the distribution.
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E-W could have taken six tricks against hearts, but that would have required cashing five tricks in spades and diamonds before losing the lead; a spade ruff did no good. How 3H made twice I cannot quite work out. 4H finished -2, more reasonable. The defence gave declarer a trick in both the club contracts; both declarers took seven tricks.
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3H N = by Kevin and Owen
3C S -2 vs Cinise; 4H N -2 vs Karleta
4C S -3 vs Leighry
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17: Entry trouble struck again:
?
...............J42
...............AK
...............103
...............KJ8753
K1075......................A9863
J87..........................104
K975........................J84
42............................A109
...............Q
...............Q96532
...............AQ62
...............Q6
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With North opening the bidding, South often reasonably looked for games with a decent Losing Trick Count. Two Souths stopped in 3H, which also suggests that East did not overcall 1S, as then surely West would have competed to 3S. How many if any of the 3H contracts got there by being pushed I did not note.
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4H S would have had play except for one thing; as long as East holds off on the first round of clubs, the suit is useless. All the 4H contracts finished -1, suggesting a diamond lead from West at some point as well as the heart hold-up. One of the 3H contracts was defeated as well suggesting a spade lead and return ruffed. West was then able to return spades twice more when in and declarer ended with five losers. Only Owen managed to go plus in 3H =.
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3H S = by Owen
3H S -1 vs Glynneth; 4H S -1 vs Jamob, Study and Cinise
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18: The vulnerability was unfortunate here:
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...............Q3
...............85
...............J52
...............KJ9862
KJ975..........................10842
62................................KQJ1043
AK4.............................----
A53..............................Q104
...............A6
...............A97
...............Q1098763
...............7
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Had the vulnerability been reversed, N-S would have had a good 5D sacrifice should 4S have happened to make. As it was, I don't think any South competed beyond 3D. A 2H opening bid from East even made reaching game iffy, as West's degree of fit for hearts was not enough to induce much enthusiasm in the response. I am almost surprised that E-W declared at every table: 3H E twice, 3NT W, 4H E and 4S W.
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Against 3NT the diamonds established far too quicky; Jevin posted -4. 4S ought to have made. Declarer likely received a diamond lead, discarded the clubs right away and then ruffed in dummy to start the trumps, eventually coming up a ruff short and being unable to reach the good hearts. Whether one should even attempt the trump finesse at all is a good question, but West should certainly ruff an opening diamond lead if the trump finesse is to be taken. That way West keeps control of the hand and can get the trumps out and knock out the ace of hearts before dummy's last trump is gone. Winning a diamond lead in hand and starting trumps by leading the king is a line worth considering. In hearts Jamie took eleven tricks, likely after the lead of the spade ace and another. The other heart contracts, however, saw declarer held to eight tricks. This was almost surely due to a club lead ducked, as declarer has just enough trumps after winning the ace to get the spades established in time even with a finesse losing to the queen.
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3NT W -4 vs Jevin
4H E -2 vs Owbot
3H E -1 by Gareth; 4S W -1 by Cindy
3H E +2 by Jamie
