1: East began with a big hand:
?
...............653
...............A72
...............J98754
...............J
10974......................A3
1063........................KQ98
Q6...........................K3
10842......................AKQ65
...............KQJ8
...............J54
...............A102
...............973
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East tended to open either 2C or 2NT. 2NT was left in half the time. The 2C opening bids tended not to have a 2NT rebid, leading to contracts of 2S W, 3C E, 3NT W and 4C E.
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2NT could have been defeated by psychic defence. A diamond lead would have struck a fatal blow. After the natural spade lead, however, declarer had at least eight tricks. Jhon took ten tricks for the top score. Defensively the best result was Georven's 2S W -2.
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2S W -2 vs Georven
3NT W -1 vs Karleta; 4C E -1 vs Jamob
2NT E = vs Ritold
3C E +1 by Wendy
2NT E +1 by Ken and Owen
2NT E +2 by John
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2: Gareth had his triumph early:
?
...............A10
...............AQ10872
...............8
...............QJ93
KQ64.........................9872
5.................................KJ9
Q743..........................K105
A874..........................1052
...............J53
...............643
...............AJ962
...............K6
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This was one of the competitive hands where one side took all the contracts. It seemed that West would open in third seat, North would overcall hearts, East would raise a 1S bid or make a negative double, South would raise hearts and the competition would likely reach at least 3H. One North was allowed to take the bid in 2H, five played 3H and two went on to game.
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It was fortunate for E-W that they bid spades, as the spade lead is required to guarantee a fourth defensive trick to go with the club ace and two trumps. With the kind club position South's spade losers can go away on the third and fourth clubs if declarer is allowed the tempo gained against a non-spade lead. East can ruff the fourth club or not; it makes no difference. Almost everyone took nine tricks after a spade lead. Gareth somehow found an eleventh as well as a tenth, but ten would still have given him the top board.
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4H N +1 by Gareth
2H N +1 by Steve; 3H N = by Kathy, Jamie, Karlene, Georgia and Judy (P)
4H N -1 vs MJbot
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3: This was Linda's moment in the sun:
?
...............105
...............KJ7
...............KJ1053
...............K108
943..........................AKQJ862
9862........................103
Q986.......................2
Q6............................A93
...............7
...............AQ54
...............A74
...............J7542
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Had the vulnerability not been adverse for E-W I suspect we would have seen more than half the field in 4S. Whether East jumped there directly on the first round of the auction or got pushed I cannot say. One North made an enterprising but unlucky response of 1NT to South's 1C opening bid and East cunningly left 1NT in, a bold move with N-S not vulnerable. Everyone else played in spades (there were only five boards on which both sides declared, twice with a 7-1 division and thrice 6-2); contracts were 2S, 3S twice, 4S thrice and 4Sx.
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East should have had no difficulty taking nine tricks in spades but three declarers somehow took only eight, not getting their club ruff. Four declarers took nine tricks. Only Linda took ten, after she cunningly talked North out of ever playing a second heart: diamond ace, diamond ruff, spade ace, spade king, heart ten to jack, diamond king ruffed, club to queen and king, club to ace and Linda was home, ruffing the third club and discarding her second heart on the established queen of diamonds.
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4S E -2 vs Ritold
4S E -1 vs Kill and Georven
1NT N -2 by Karlene
2S E = by Owen
3S E = by Wendy and John
4Sx E = by Linda
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4: N-S all played heart games:
?
...............A652
...............AQ1075
...............8
...............854
Q943.....................87
92..........................4
K10965..................QJ42
K10........................AJ9732
...............KJ10
...............KJ863
...............A73
...............Q6
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I almost thought some pairs might stop in 3H. Here everyone got to game and one pair even played 5H, with a 5-3 margin of South's declaring. Whether the three Norths who declared did so because North opened 1H light or because East opened with 3C and South doubled I did not see. The North hand is good enough to use 2NT as a passed hand to show a hand that would have made a splinter raise opposite a first-seat opening bid, but South has too many losers for slam opposite any splinter except possibly Qxxx Axxxx Kxxx ----. One South?upgraded the hand to a 1NT opening bid but still declared 4H after a transfer.
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The play seemed to come down to the two-way spade finesse.?It seems that more than half the declarers should have taken eleven tricks but the final split was four taking ten tricks, three eleven and one twelve. West might lead a spade from Q9xx - an attractive lead. Or, if East has overcalled clubs, West becomes more likely to hold the queen of spades; after the defence begins with three rounds of clubs and trumps are drawn West is known to have started with nine cards in spades and diamonds while East is known to have begun with six. The twelve-trick result came from a defensive error; even if West leads a spade (unless the lead is the queen or nine) West's Q943 holding is good enough to prevent dummy's fourth spade from establishing.
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4H S +2 by Bill 1
4H N +1 by Harold; 4H S +1 by Judy (R); 5H S = by Haven
4H N = vs Rekenee and Wendric; 4H S = vs Lara and Mahn
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5: Mary Jane picked up the top here:
?
...............75
...............6532
...............AQ84
...............J98
AKQ2....................J10964
QJ8.......................A7
K103......................52
1062......................Q754
...............83
...............K1094
...............J976
...............AK3
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Here West declared five times to East's three, suggesting that, if South opened in third seat, the opening bid was 1D or perhaps 1H and not 1C - or else West over 1C chose a 1S overcall on AKQ2 instead of a double on a flat hand. Over any third hand call but 1C West has a 1NT bid and should declare spades after a transfer. Perhaps the surprise is that there were three doubles (or auctions on which North's competition meant that East did not transfer). Contracts were 2S and 3S thrice each, 4S and 3NT.
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A lead-directing 1C opening bid would have worked wonders against 3NT and 1H might have worked even better if South found the diamond switch. The moral is not to open light in third seat on one's weakest suit. Mary Jane managed to make 3NT, strongly suggesting that N-S got tangled with all the discards they had to find on the spades, as even after a?diamond lead declarer has no more than seven tricks off the top. It looks as if eight tricks is about the right result in spades; N-S cannot force three club tricks although declarer can misguess. The spade results were seven tricks once, eight and nine thrice each. Nine tricks seemed the result of a diamond lead to the queen from South and North's not finding the heart switch, as well as N-S's being helpful in clubs. West would then get a diamond winner established to take care of the low heart in the East hand. It is no coincidence that the three declarers who took nine tricks were the three in the East seat.
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2S W -1 vs Georven; 3S W -1 vs Jamob and Karleta; 4S E =1 vs Garon
2S W = by Elizabeth
2S E +1 by John; 3S E = by Owen
3NT W = by Mary Jane
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6: South's initial choice of call made quite a difference:
?
...............KJ54
...............A1072
...............87
...............873
AQ93...........................1072
J83..............................KQ54
KQ...............................J4
AKJ10..........................9642
...............86
...............96
...............A1096532
...............Q5
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When South passed as dealer, West opened 2NT and declared 3NT all three times. One South opened 2D, resulting in the auction 2D-X-P-2H and West conservatively left it in. The remaining Souths opened 3D and again West doubled. East replied 3H. One West left it there; the remaining three raised to 4H on J83.
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3NT is in terrible trouble if North finds a diamond lead and South, with no outside entry, is careful to save the ace - but without a diamond bid South is unlikely to get the right lead. Possibly Georven's auction was P-P-2NT-P; 3C-3D and eventually 3NT, as Georgia did lead a diamond and Haven did keep back the ace, the second diamond's being the only way to use the suit. This produced -3 for the N-S top. After a spade lead, declarer can scramble together nine tricks, as happened twice. Similarly, 4H at least can be -2 by force. North's heart seven lets the defence force a second trump trick. At the tables, however, South never led spades more than once if at all. In the end North got endplayed and had to lead a spade, so that two of the three declarers in 4H finished -1 and John even made the contract for the E-W top. That required significant assistance from North - even rising with the ace on the first round of hearts is not enough.
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3NT W -3 vs Georven
3H E -1 vs Kill; 4H E -1 vs Jamob and Ritold
2H E +1 by Renee
3NT W = by Hara and Mary Jane
4H E = by John
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7:?Judy (P) had her top here:
?
...............KQ963
...............KQ3
...............Q94
...............54
108754..................A2
85..........................J1094
1085......................AJ732
KQ6.......................J10
...............J
...............A762
...............K6
...............A98732
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N-S seem headed for trouble on this hand. South opened 1C and rebid 2C over North's 1S response, probably whether East doubles or not (if East does double, West will be grateful for a 2C rebid from South). North probably rebids 2NT if not 3NT. Contracts were 2C S, 2S N, 2NT N twice and 3NT N four times.
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Against 2NT or 3NT a diamond lead from East catches the N-S length in the suit in the right positions for the defence. Dummy has to win with the king and then West eventually gets in with a club and there are four diamond tricks ready to go. Lara and Mahn both defended 3NT -2, with Owbot matching that result against 2NT. Judy (P) made 3NT; it's hard to imagine how. Even heart jack to king, spade to ace, heart nine to queen, setting up a fourth heart trick seems only to provide an eighth trick. It looks as if declarer can play clubs after a heart lead and then a heart continuation allows declarer to establish clubs; it probably requires four heart tricks as well.
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3NT N = by Martin
2NT N = by Jamie
2C S +1 by Judy (R); 2S N = by Karlene
3NT N -1 vs Dill
2NT N -2 vs Owbot; 3NT N -2 vs Mahn and Lara
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8: E-W almost all played 4S:
?
...............J
...............Q932
...............1072
...............109872
Q1098752........A63
J10...................AK4
KJ8..................Q95
5.......................QJ63
...............K4
...............8765
...............A643
...............AK4
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A 3S opening bid was raised to 4S. Owen opened 2S but still got to 4S in the end. I would not want to raise 3S to 4S. I'm fairly sure Jevin would have tried 3NT and John represented them well from the East seat. If one imagines KQJxxxx xx xx xx in partner's hand 3NT would have some chance while 4S would not; 4S would probably require a diamond singleton or some sort of outside value.
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4S had good fortune; the diamonds provided two tricks and declarer just lost the spade king and minor aces. John had decent chances of taking ten tricks for the top board in 3NT after a red-suit lead on establishing the spades. Unluckily Bill 1 (we had two Bills, neither with a last name) had all the defensive winners and wisely cashed out, recognizing that 4S would probably make and realizing that 3NT = would be a fine defensive score.
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3NT E = vs Kill
4S E = by Ken; 4S W = by Eric, Hara, Bill 2, Elizabeth, Mary Jane and Owen
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9: Almost all N-S pairs played 4H:
?
...............QJ87
...............KJ103
...............8
...............K963
943...........................A65
Q72...........................64
Q973.........................K54
J74............................Q10842
...............K102
...............A985
...............AJ1062
...............A
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One South apparently opened 1NT with the singleton ace and declared 4H after a transfer. The other auctions were mainly P-1D; 1H-3H; 4H. One pair missed game despite North's opening the bidding: 1C-1D; 1NT-2H and then North had a change of heart in the middle of the auction. Here we see the perils of such a course of action.
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If declarer guesses the hearts correctly twelve tricks are certainly possible. After a club to the ace, declarer likely plans to ruff two clubs in dummy; an immediate low heart to hand works but there is a trap. Club to ace, heart to ten, club ruff, heart to jack, club ruff lets East win the spade ace and give West a ruff of the fourth club. As the second club ruff comes with the ace, declarer can cash the king first. Playing on cross-ruff lines will likely result in a black-suit overruff from West. Karlene, Harold and Bill 1 all took twelve tricks; everyone else took eleven.
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4H N +2 by Karlene and Harold; 4H S +2 by Bill 1
4H N +1 vs Rekenee, Lara, Elott and MJbot
2H N +3 vs Owbot
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10: This was usually played in a diamond partial by North:
?
...............3
...............J52
...............AK1062
...............KQJ4
A10752..................Q4
AQ10.....................8743
Q9.........................J8
1072......................A9865
...............KJ986
...............K96
...............7543
...............3
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West opened 1S and North usually overcalled 2D. This was left in once. One East made a negative double leading to a contract of 2H W. All the other Souths eventually bid 3D and ended the auction there. Had North doubled 1S South might well have replied 1NT and played the hand there.
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1NT seems almost certain to allow declarer eight tricks barring awful luck. The only way to helod declarer to seven tricks would seem to be: club to jack (ducked), heart to king and ace, second club to queen ducked or club ducked to ten and East switches to hearts to establish the sixth defensive trick. After the spade queen lead against diamonds, East has to find the heart switch when in with the club ace to collect the fourth defensive trick; otherwise the ruffing finesse in spades against West's ten lets declarer discard two hearts from hand. Georgia, Harold and Judy (P) took ten tricks along those lines. Saving 2H W -1 was huge for Bill 2, being vulnerable. An early club lead (North has a natural club lead or switch) almost certainly helped and surely N-S could have done better by bombing the fragile trump holding with ruffs-and-discards.
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3D N +1 by Georgia, Harold and Judy (R)
2D N +1 vs Owbot; 3D N = vs Rekenee and MJbot
2H W -1 by Bill 2
3D N -1 vs Mahn
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11: Half the field didn't feel all that competitive:
?
...............A9
...............QJ6542
...............AKQ6
...............Q
10832......................KJ74
A103........................K8
43.............................1097
A1052......................KJ74
...............Q65
...............97
...............J852
...............9863
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Four times a 1H opening bid was left in. When E-W competed it seemed to be evenly divided whether East came in with a light double or West balanced. When the spades came into the auction the bidding reached the three-level, N-S competing to 3D or 3H; two E-W pairs went on to 3S and two left 3H in.
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E-W get remarkably lucky in being able to set 3H by force with a diamond ruff, and East has a natural diamond lead if one does not lead a spade as the suit bid by the partnership. After a spade lead, though, Karlene was able to take ten tricks in hearts in 1H, so that the suit had not been bid. Steve matched her trick count in 3H +1. 3S made both times for Eric and Elizabeth. Like 3H, it could have been set by force with a club ruff, although one might well have had to be playing Vinje leads to bring it about. The only entry to the South hand for a ruff is the diamond jack; playing Vinje leads North's diamond lead is the queen and South encourages with the deuce, allowing North to find the underlead.
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1H N +3 by Karlene; 3H N +1 by Steve
1H N +2 by Kathy and Harold
1H N +1 vs Owbot
3H N -1 vs Mahn
3S W = by Eric and Elizabeth
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12: Defensive signals would have come in handy at a couple of tables:
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................AKJ74
................1076
................95
................764
102...........................863
QJ943......................852
72.............................AJ64
AK105......................J92
................Q95
................AK
................KQ1083
................Q83
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South opened 1NT in fourth seat. Many Wests passed, allowing for a transfer to 2S. North left that in four times. Two Norths invited game, leading to 3NT S and 4S S. It appears that two Wests came in (perhaps more but in those cases N-S still had a way to transfer), producing P-P-P-1NT; 2H-2S at one table and leading to 4S N at the other.
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4S was doomed, even if declarer managed a heart ruff. It looks as if North's declaring gives E-W a chance to mangle the club finesse, but Wendric managed 4S -3 (-2 is possible if declarer draws trumps right away, but the third undertrick was a gift). Bill 1 and Bob took ten tricks in 2S S, most likely due to West's taking the top two clubs right away, not attending to a discouraging signal from East or thinking that it was from three small and therefore there was no reason to switch. Judy (R) made the settable 3NT along the same line. There is a remote possibility that West did not begin with two clubs and that the defence blocked the suit if East led a low club, declarer rose with the queen and West followed the king with the ace.
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3NT S = by Judy (R)
2S S +2 by Bill 1 and Bob
2S S +1 vs Lara, Elott and Mahn
4S S -1 vs Rekenee
4S N -3 vs Wendric
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13: This hand depended to some extent on the opening lead:
?
...............Q105
...............K6
...............J6532
...............Q43
J8643...................AK97
103........................AQ75
A73........................108
J98........................AK6
...............2
...............J9842
...............KQ9
...............10752
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For once we had the same contract by the same declarer at all eight tables. East opened 2NT and declared 4S after a transfer. Despite the prime support and 5.5 Quick Tricks, I don't think there were many 4S pre-acceptance answers to the transfer, although here it would certainly have been acceptable: xxxxx xx xxxx xx should be enough to make game a favourite.
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Three Souths led the diamond king, four led a heart spot and Martin led a trump. The trump lead ought to have cost a trick but didn't; declarer should have ducked in dummy and played North for Q10x, although perhaps Martin can take it as a compliment that he was deemed capable of underleading the doubleton queen of trumps. That would probably fool me every time and maybe even Bill (S) as well. Declarer's problem after a diamond lead is that, if the heart finesse is not taken at once,?declarer gets locked in hand and will have to lead either clubs or hearts. The heart lead did not guarantee the overtrick but at least made it possible if N-S ever broke the clubs. Ken, Mary Jane and John took eleven tricks that way.
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4S E = vs Kill, Karleta, Ritold, Study and Marudy
4S E +1 by Ken, Mary Jane and John
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14: This was a competitive battle:
?
...............7
...............AK982
...............54
...............A10975
AQ98643............J10
----......................Q76
J963....................AK107
82........................QJ73
...............K52
...............J10543
...............Q82
...............K4
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Here we had the only hand of the set which saw both sides bidding at the game level. Although two Souths declared 5Hx, I am in high hopes that that was because, after 1D-P-1S, North doubled or bid either 1NT or 2NT, whichever of the many means of distributional takeouts available would show 5-5 hearts and clubs. West had the loser count to compete to 4S but one West left 4H N in, losing hearts when East was unable to make a support double over a 2H overcall. 4S W was played five times.
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Garon and Study were allowed to set 4S, which had to be on a gift. Both 4S and 4H look fine seeing the two hands - 4S needs one of two finesses, which it gets, and 4H looks even better, basically needing only a 2-1 trump split or all the missing hearts with West. With East holding Qxx behind North's ace-king all the heart contracts took nine tricks; three declarers took the expected ten tricks in 4S.
?
4S W -1 vs Garon and Study
4H N -1 by Georgia
5Hx S -2 vs Elott and Owbot
4S W = by Eric, Bill 2 and Mark
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15: Here the object turned out to be to push the opposition into game:
?
...............1092
...............AQJ10765
...............J
...............108
QJ4............................K76
K94............................2
K10632......................Q54
63...............................AKQ972
...............A853
...............83
...............A987
...............J54
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North had what seemed a decent 3H opening bid even at unfavourable vulnerability, although at least one North opened 2H, judging by the final contract of 3C E (Had Jevin been E-W at that table I could see them in 3NT W, with the result ranging from = to -5). A 4C overcall ended the auction thrice. Three Souths went on to 4H, twice ending the auction with one East continuing to 5C. The last auction was long and meandering, with West eventually playing 4D.
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No N-S pair produced the optimal defence against clubs - in addition to three aces, North could have scored two diamond ruffs. But only two declarers were held to nine tricks in clubs while three did not face a ruff at all and took ten. 4D has to be down by force with two trump tricks and the major aces, but Mark was allowed a make for a major escape.
?
4C E -1 vs Ritold; 5C E -1 vs Garon
4H N -1 by Steve and Judy (P)
3C E = by Owen
4C E = by Ken and Scott; 4D W = by Mark
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16: Almost all N-S pairs reached 4S:
?
...............A962
...............A4
...............87
...............KJ932
J5...........................Q74
J9753.....................106
A32........................KJ106
865.........................A1074
...............K1083
...............KQ82
...............Q954
...............Q
?
North opened 1C and rebid 1S. South raised 1S to either 3S or 4S. 3S was played twice, along with 4S six times. North might have accepted an invitation; it would be tidy if both South's rebid over 1S and North's over 3S were divided 50-50.
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Had E-W taken their three top tricks there would have been no way for declarer to have brought off the famous Devil's Coup (when declarer brings in a trump suit missing five cards including queen and jack by forcing a ruff and overruff at trick eleven with honours divided). Only Elott and?Dill managed a set of 4S, however, although Mahn defeated 3S. It is important that East not ruff the third heart if play goes heart to ace, spade ace, spade to king, heart king, heart queen; East wants to draw two trumps for one. Waiting with the queen should let the defence hold declarer to nine tricks; holding off on the club ace as well could hold declarer to eight. Ruffing the third heart was likely what allowed three declarer to make 4S; Steve's overtrick suggests that East got in with the trump queen and then broke the clubs with ace and another.
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4S N +1 by Steve
4S N = by Jamie, Georgia and Harold
3S N = vs Lara
3S N -1 vs Mahn; 4S N -1 vs Dill and Elott
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17: E-W had a choice between two fits:
?
...............K9752
...............KQ2
...............10643
...............6
QJ6..........................A43
J943.........................A1076
Q5............................K
J543.........................AK872
...............108
...............85
...............AJ9872
...............Q109
?
East opened 1C and South came in with 2D, preventing E-W from breezing their way into 4H at more than three tables, twice by West and once by East. 3H W was played twice, along with 4C E thrice. I could see P-1C-2D-P; 3D-X-P and then either 3H or 4C. A negative double over 2D likely leaves to 4H E, or perhaps East will cue-bid and then raise 3H to 4H.
?
The main problem in 4H is reaching the West hand for the first heart finesse. If West declares and North leads a club declarer can win in dummy, get off lead with the diamond king and then South has to do something helpful (a spade lets West get to hand on the first or second round, a diamond puts West back in hand at once, and either a club or a heart helps declarer draw trumps with ease). A spade lead from South is still adequately countered by the diamond king at trick two. Karleta set 4H W but it made at the other two tables. Clubs took the expected ten tricks twice and only eight against Georven.
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4C E -2 vs Georven
3H W -1 vs Marudy; 4H W -1 vs Karleta
4C E = by Ken and Mary Jane
3H W = by Bill 2
4H E = by Elizabeth; 4H W = by Eric
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18: All N-S pair arrived in 3NT:
?
...............Q96
...............AJ1082
...............K82
...............A5
542..........................A103
973..........................Q654
654..........................107
K983.......................J762
...............KJ87
...............K
...............AQJ93
...............Q104
?
I would not have been stunned had a pair gotten beyond 3NT in the auction. 1D-1H; 1S-2C; 2NT-3NT might lure South onward, and 6D has a good enough layout to make, though it's not a contract one would choose looking at both hands. We finished with a 4-4 division of declaring 3NT, which may have reflecting for one or two pairs which half of the pair likes playing no-trumps more (alas, Louise was absent).
?
There were a LOT of club leads, a natural development with clubs' being the only suit not bid naturally. With West holding the king, a club lead allows South twelve tricks and gives North twelve by guessing to play the ten from dummy. All four Souths declaring took twelve tricks. I did see one North guess to play the queen. I like the play, as it creates a win-lose situation rather than a draw-lose if North compares play to how it will go if South declares. If East has led from the king, playing the queen gains against South's declaring against a club lead. If East has led from the jack, playing the ten draws with South's result. Wendric held declarer to nine tricks and Rekenee to ten when North declared.
?
3NT N +3 by Kathy and Judy (P); 3NT S +3 by Don, Bob, Breta and Haven
3NT N +1 vs Rekenee
3NT N = vs Wendric
