1: E-W had better-meshing cards than N-S:
?
...............K94
...............10986
...............Q84
...............A54
J3...........................AQ10762
4.............................AJ
107632...................KJ
J10982...................K73
...............85
...............KQ7532
...............A95
...............Q6
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East opened 1S, South overcalled 2H, North raised and East probably bid again. One North neither raised 2H nor competed over 2S, which became the contract. Two Easts played 3S and two tables saw the auction go to the four-level, with contracts of 4H S and 4Sx E.
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Jerik were E-W top in 2S +3. Had the opening lead been a trump to West's jack and North covered, declarer could possibly take as many as twelve tricks by ruffing a heart and drawing an error from North into rising with the club ace. Then North has to lead a diamond to hold declarer to eleven tricks because there is no way to finesse in clubs. On the other side a trump lead ducked by North followed by a heart ruff and the club jack to the queen could result in declarer's taking only seven tricks. Three declarers took nine tricks in spades. 4H should probably have taken eight tricks but declarer presumably rose too early with the diamond queen and ended with seven.
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4Sx E -1 vs Albot
3S E = vs Heve and Miken
4H S -3 vs Harob
2S E +3 by Jim
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2: Here was the tragically missed grand slam:
?
...............J
...............AKQ654
...............J7
...............A654
1092.........................KQ54
J108.........................9
9642.........................1085
973...........................KQJ82
...............A8763
...............732
...............AKQ3
...............10
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7H probably cannot be bid without North's finding South with the club singleton, as the club ruff is the thirteenth trick and another would be the twelfth as well if North did not hold the diamond jack. Axxxx xxx AK Kxx would not necessarily make 6H, while the actual hand is a big favourite for 7H. That East opened three times out of five turned out to make less difference than I expected. Auctions were 1C-1S-P-2H; P-4H (North might have gone on over 4H), 1C-1S-P-3H; P-4H (South maybe could have tried 4C or even 5C, assuming 3H to be strong?), 2C (natural and limited to a maximum of 16 HCP)-2S-P-3H; P-4H (a little less clear that North can go on as not many pairs have solid agreements about overcalling against natural/limited hands that open at the two-level). The uncontested auctions were 1S-2H; 3H-4H (North could have gone on with a Losing Trick Count of five) and 1S-2H; 3D-3NT. Had South bid 4H on the third round North could have inferred club shortage and 6H might have been reached.
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With four diamond tricks N-S have twelve top tricks in no-trumps if hearts are not 4-0. Careless defensive discarding allowed Alba to escape with the N-S top in 3NT +4. Against Raybot declarer did not count winners and drew trumps without taking a club ruff first, coming only to twelve tricks.
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3NT N +4 by Alba
4H N +3 by Irene, Carl and Steve
4H N +2 vs Raybot
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3: Heve wrote another chapter in their Comic History of Flannery:
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...............A6
...............108543
...............108543
...............7
92.........................KQ43
972.......................6
K62......................AQJ7
AQ1086...............J532
...............J10875
...............AKQJ
...............9
...............K94
?
Three Norths passed South's 1S opening bid and East, with heart shortage, declined to balance. This turned out to be quite wise. One North, I think, responded 1NT and then got to leave South in 2H. Heve produced the auction 2D-2H; 3H-4H. 2D was Alerted and explained as "modified Flannery", which could have meant anything. Given their history with the convention, all I would undertake to guess about one of their 2D opening bids is that the hand has length in both majors; I would not venture any speculation about which suit if either were longer or how many HCP the hand had.
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A trump lead would likely have set 4H but a spade lead is helpful and a club to the queen, if followed by the ace, could give declarer a shot at eleven tricks. Fewer than nine tricks seems out of the picture as the spades can establish by losing a second trick in the suit. Steve made 4H for the N-S top and the 1NT response scored well for Jerik. 1S took seven tricks twice and a mere five against Roybot after a heart lead.
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4H N = by Steve
2H S +1 by Jim
1S S = vs Harob and Maurie
1S S -2 vs Roybot
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4: E-W had a right game and what turned out somehow to be a wrong one:
?
...............75
...............Q92
...............KQ863
...............Q74
KQ42.......................J6
AK107......................J8653
AJ5...........................1092
A9.............................K85
...............A10983
...............4
...............74
...............J10632
?
Est opened 2NT , East made a transfer response and went on to 3NT. Four Wests went back to 4H; one left 3NT in.
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4H was easy enough, with three declarers taking ten tricks, losing a spade, a diamond and a heart. A spade lead and continuation, however, allowed declarer to discard the diamond loser and finish with eleven tricks. 3NT seems to be in decent shape, certainly against a diamond lead. A club lead ought to result in -1, so that at least whatever error in the play declarer made to present Jerik with -3 made no scoring difference.
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4H W +1 by Bob
4H W = by Mary, Roy and Mike
3NT W -3 vs Jerik
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5: One might have predicted this choice of games to play out the other way around:
?
...............Q9754
...............742
...............J72
...............32
J86........................1032
Q1065....................983
983........................A1054
K95........................Q107
...............AK
...............AKJ
...............KQ6
...............AJ864
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South opened 2C (or 1C for Jerik and usually rebid 3NT; one long and winding auction ended in 4S N.
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An opening lead of the diamond nine is likely best rather than leading from a broken holding and so it proved here. As long as East keeps the diamond ace to take the jack, dummy never gets in and the spades never run. Declarer can take to the clubs and scramble together nine tricks. When West led aheart the hand played out similarly except for an overtrick. Louise was N-S top in 3NT +2 after convincing East to win the first diamond by running the king. 4S looks as if there is a good chance of taking eleven tricks if spades split evenly, especially when clubs behave as well. But heart leads from East allowed the defence to cash their third winner, giving Miken the E-W top.
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Moral: especially with a bland hand, consider safe leads when declarer's strength is strongly lopsided. That is often an excellent time to go passive.
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3NT S +2 by Louise
3NT S +1 by Bob, Erik and Alba
4S N = vs Miken
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6: Two E-W pairs let this one drop surprisingly low:
?
...............10983
...............KQ96
...............Q10
...............982
J6..........................K42
A1042....................5
AJ752....................98643
A5..........................K1073
...............AQ75
...............J873
...............K
...............QJ64
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After 1C-1D-X, East really ought to have been sure not to sell out below 3D. How North ended up declaring 2H twice is beyond me. West played 3D W and 5D at the last table.
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E-W have excellently-fitting distribution and all the ruffs they can take. Alas, the sure trump loser and the losing spade finesse made it impossible for 5D to make, although Lourene ought to have scored better than 2/4 for +100. 2H made both times it was played, although E-W ought to have been able to produce -1 with a club ruff, diamond switch and, whatever West does, avoiding the spades.
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2H N = by Harold and Jim
5D W -1 vs Lourene
3D W +1 by Ken
3D W +2 by Hank
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7: Would E-W manage a competitive auction and reach the best spot?:
?
...............Q98
...............AJ
...............10972
...............9753
K6432.....................A75
10854......................2
AQ5.........................J8
2..............................AKQ10864
...............J10
...............KQ9763
...............K643
...............J
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A 2H opening bid from South gives East trouble. Had the auction been 1H-P-P; East could have bid 3H with the same meaning as in the direct position, telling partner to bid 3NT with a stopper. Hilariously, here West's ten-fourth is just good enough to cause the suit to block when North holds AJ doubleton. But East lacks the room for that valuable bid and can only wither bid 3C or double for the balance. 3C was chosen and three Wests left it in. One West riskily continued with 3S and was rewarded by finding East with full values and then some. 4S was easily reached. One South opened 1H, allowing West a 1S overcall and 4S was rached again rather easily.
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In spades the best defensive try is to force dummy in hearts at once, but North's holding the long trump and four low clubs renders the play toothless. Eleven tricks in spades cannot be prevented due to the power of the side suit. 3C took eleven tricks twice and twelve once, perhaps on a cute double squeeze. Say declarer ruffs the second heart, draws trumps, leads jack/king/ace of diamonds and gets back to hand by ruffing a third heart. The position is then:
?
...............Q98
...............----
...............??
...............----
K6...........................A75
10............................----
Q5...........................8
----..........................8
...............J10
...............Q
...............??
...............----
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Now come the king and ace of spades, then the last club. On the actual layout only North held a diamond guard but South would have had to give it up had the hand held one. At trick eleven both North and South have to discard a diamond to keep the guard in a major. As long as North began with the third spade the squeeze will have come off and the diamond will be good. Laurie was middle for taking twelve tricks.
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3C E +2 vs Jerik and Harob
3C E +3 by Laurie
4S W +1 by Roy and Alba
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8: Hank took advantage of helpful defence:
?
...............107543
...............52
...............K83
...............K98
AQ........................96
K...........................Q109843
AQ1042................765
QJ763...................A5
...............KJ82
...............AJ76
...............J9
...............1042
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Ken took the conservative route as West, opening 1D, rebidding 2C and then passing when Mike repeated his hearts at the two-level. One West rebid 3NT on the second round and I think at least one tried 3C. Contracts were 2H E, 3NT W thrice and 4H E.
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It looks as if 4H can make thanks to the 3-3 clubs. The heart eight is just good enough for a ruff of the fourth club to draw trumps, even if South ducks the heart king. A club lead forcing out one key entry to the East hand too soon and then ducking the heart king appears to be just good enough for the set.? 3NT ought to flounder badly after a spade lead with the suit stopped only twice. Hank spoiled the top Ken would have had for his safe bidding when North led a spade against 3NT. Then came the heart king o South's ace but South switched to a club instead of continuing spades and Hank even emerged with an overtrick.
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3NT W -2 vs Lourene
3NT W -1 vs Canda; 4H E -1 vs Kancy
2H E +1 by Mike
3NT W +1 by Hank
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9: N-S should have all been in 3NT:
?
...............K432
...............KQ9
...............A76
...............J109
A865.....................J10
87..........................65432
J1098....................543
K84.......................Q72
...............Q97
...............AJ10
...............KQ2
...............A653
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It appears that one South didn't see North's opening bid, "opened" 1NT and then had to play the hand there. Only two pairs played 3NT S and a third 3NT N. The last auction had a slight vibration of slam-seeking but died reasonably enough in 4NT.
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The spade jack-ten's dropping doubleton along with the divided club honours and 3-3 split allowed Louise and Harold eleven tricks in 3NT. The less observant declarers only took ten. Defending 1NT +2 was E-W top for Miken.
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3NT N +2 by Harold; 3NT S +2 by Louise
3NT S +1 by Erik
4H N = vs Heve
1NT S +2 vs Miken
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10: E-W had a wrong game and a game that turned out to be right:
?
...............1074
...............A76
...............AK9
...............6542
AJ65...................KQ9
985432...............----
4.........................Q10876
87.......................AKQ103
...............832
...............KQJ10
...............J532
...............J9
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This hand gave E-W trouble. After 1D-1H; 2C-2H, East was not inclined to stop and 3NT was reached thrice, twice by East. Roy was rewarded for passing a forcing bid on the auction 1D-1H; 3C. The last table managed to lurch into 4S on the Moysian fit.
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It took some sharp going to post 3NT W -2 for Jerik, as a black suit lead lets declarer rum away with nine tricks, while it's South who has the natural heart lead and not North. Maurie matched Jerik's -2 and Kancy posted 3NT -1 when the hearts were allowed to block at trick two. 4S, however, could not be stopped with the well-behaving trumps. One heart ruff, draw, run the clubs and everything behaves for ten tricks to give Albot the E-W top.
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3NT E -2 vs Maurie; 3NT W -2 vs Jerik
3NT E -1 vs Kancy
3C E +1 by Roy
4S E = by Alba
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11: N-S?looked likely to get into trouble on this one:
?
...............K97542
...............----
...............AJ74
...............AKQ
A1086.......................QJ
6532..........................QJ4
102............................KQ63
J105..........................8632
...............3
...............AK10987
...............985
...............974
?
?South opened 2H and all the Norths made at least a look. One North was left in 2S. Two Norths thought 2H-2S; 3H was trouble enough and they left South there. The two optimists tried 3NT and 4S.
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Fortunately for North declaring in spades, East has a natural diamond lead. E-W quickly run out of safe leads that give declarer no help. Unless North leads a low diamond from hand to West's ten?declarer should be ablet to take eight tricks without much trouble as East will soon either have to start the diamonds or lead a heart. Laurie played 2S N +1, although Canda were able to defeat 4S two trick for the E-W top. South's strong heart spots really saved heart contracts. With East's QJx coming down so obligingly?it is only the lack of a quick entry to hand that prevents 4H from making, as there is no way to discard a diamond loser on the spade king. Miken were able to set 3H S but Bob was N-S top in 3H -1 when West or East obliged defensively. 3NT, in which contract declarer would not want to play the clubs early, was -1, which looks as if it might have been more, but again a diamond lead from East turned out to be quite helpful.
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3H S +1 by Bob
2S N +1 by Laurie
3H S -1 vs Miken; 3NT N -1 vs Heve
4S N -2 vs Canda
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12: E-W had a rather nice slam:
?
...............K53
...............K6543
...............K
...............J965
----......................Q9862
J10......................A9
J876432..............AQ5
KQ104.................A72
...............AJ1074
...............Q872
...............109
...............83
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There was no way to bid this one unless West could show diamonds and a spade shortage early. If East sees a 2D or 3D opening bid the only contract that will likely spring to mind is 3NT (or perhaps 5D). If West passes East will not be looking for slam. There were some 3D opening bids. From East's point of view 3NT is the obvious response, though that contract as only played once. One pair produced the auction P-1S; 1NT, which East conservatively left in. Two pairs went to 5D and one stopped in 4D.
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The fit is so good that 6D has?decent chances even against the best defence. If the opening lead is a heart declarer has a choice between playing for 2-1 diamonds with the finesse working and starting diamonds with the ace, then playing on clubs if the king does not drop, the latter line offering close to an even chance of success. As the cards lie, with the diamond king both singleton and onside, declarer cannot go wrong. Harob, defending 3NT E, found their three spade tricks and saved a middle score when?both Norths on lead against 5D led a club and gave declarer a free finesse for the thirteenth trick, so that +440 tied for top. 1NT W yielded declarer twelve tricks, as did 4D W.
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4D W +2 vs Kancy
1NT W +5 vs Lourene
3NT E +1 by Jim
5D W +2 by Alba and Hank
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13: N-S pairs all got burned:
?
...............KQJ92
...............----
...............7653
...............K754
A107........................8653
984..........................1063
K10982....................AQ
J10...........................AQ82
...............4
...............AKQJ752
...............J4
...............963
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Board 11 at least had some redeeming elements; this hand was just nasty for N-S. East opened 1C and South competed. Whether West came in or not North did and in the end it was impossible for N-S to avoid getting too high. I thought it possible more pairs might be able to stop in 3H, but three pushed on to 4H, all in the South.
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West's natural lead of the club jack gave E-W six easy tricks on defence, although Ken got lucky in 4H and was allowed -2 to tie Roy and Mary for top. There was no trump holding to hurt if East had to give West a club ruff and the tricks all ran off the top.
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3H S -2 by Mary and Roy; 4H S -2 by Ken
4H S -3 vs Heve and Harob
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14: One pair tried a slam but the wrong one:
?
...............108763
...............AQ2
...............96
...............J62
KQ2.......................A954
J.............................K643
AK54......................QJ102
AK1073..................5
...............J
...............109875
...............873
...............Q984
?
E-W might have negotiated their way to 6D via a reverse: 1C-1H; 2D-3D; would have been a reasonable start. 3NT by West would likely have been left there but any other call, such as 3S, ought to have led to an eventual 6C, as East has a nice hand even without the heart king working. Contracts were 3NT W thrice, 5D E and 6NT E.
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Hands with 4-4 fits tend to play better in suits than in no-trumps. This hand was no exception. Two club ruffs are not difficult to negotiate unless North leads a spade, but if worst comes to worst even the fallback line of drawing trumps will work with both majors behaving nicely, the heart ace onside and the spades providing a ruffing finesse. In 6NT, alas, declarer just had no more than eleven tricks, giving Maurie the top score. Ken was allowed three overtricks in 3NT, but that required help. 3NT +1 was reasonable enough and beat out 5D =.
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6NT E -1 vs Maurie
5D E = vs Kancy
3NT W +1 by Hank and Linda
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15: South's 2H opening bid seriously inconvenienced West:
?
...............J109
...............K
...............A873
...............Q8652
AKQ764................83
1052......................J84
54..........................KQJ10
43..........................KJ109
...............52
...............AQ9763
...............962
...............A7
?
West as dealer could open 2S and be happy. West over a 1H opening bid could overcall either 1S or 2S and still be happy. West over a 2H opening bid is Not Happy. The hand is not good enough for 2S, which will get East bidding higher, but passing is not fun. One West happily lost connection while trying to decide what to?do over 2H. Contracts were 2H S, 2S W thrice and 3S W after 2H-2S-P and a move from East. East does not have fun on the auction 2H-2S-P either; one wants to say something, but what? 3C seems to be the least of evils. Whether one South or two opened 1H I did not have a chance to note.
?
Against 2H, E-W can promote a trump trick; East ruffs the third?spade with the jack. (West can lead low on the third round to put the idea into East's head to ruff high; it will not cost if East ruffs with the queen.) But South can counter this by discarding a diamond on that trick after East ruffs; overruffing would cost a trick. Play a loser on a loser. West can try a club lead instead, which may be just good enough, as South may try to get back to hand with a ruff of the third club and get overruffed: club to nine and ace, heart to king, club to ten, diamond king to ace, club to jack (South and West discarding diamonds), diamond queen is just enough to bank three defensive tricks before the uppercut in spades. South might try discarding a spade instead of a diamond?on the third club but East can lead all the diamonds and then the club king and South finally runs out of discards and has to allow West an overruff. However with the AKQ of spades beckoning?it was not practical to expect 2H -1. 2S was set twice, also by a trump promotion when North led the heart king any time a club switch was found. Heart, club, heart, heart and then South pushed through the fourth heart and North's trump holding had to score with the diamond ace still to come. Alba was allowed to make 2S when North did not switch to a club.
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2H S = by Ken
2S W -1 vs Heve and Robot; 3S W -1 vs Maurie
2S W = by Alba
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16: Lourene were top with their passout:
?
...............AJ653
...............A4
...............62
...............Q632
9...........................Q108
KJ10.....................852
Q10954.................AJ873
K754.....................A8
...............K742
...............Q9763
...............K
...............J109
?
Louise was quite happy for the chance to pass out?and doubtless even more pleased when it turned out to be top board.?One North opened and eventually played 3S; the other tables saw East open 1D in third seat and declare?3D.
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I am not sure how to react to there being one East of the three to play for the drop in diamonds and be rewarded when the short side of the odds came up. That declarer took eleven tricks, the others ten. 3S had five losers whether or not E-W took a club ruff. -1 was still a good score for Laurie.?
?
Passed Out by Lourene
3S N -1 by Laurie
3D E +1 by Carl and Jim
3D E +2 by Harold
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17: 1NT managed a surprising number of overtricks:
?
...............Q102
...............872
...............KQJ82
...............AQ
KJ43......................A975
K9..........................AJ103
764.........................53
9652.......................J73
...............86
...............Q654
...............A109
...............K1084
?
1D-1H; 1NT was the auction thrice. Apparently two Easts came in with a takeout double (or possibly one North chose not to rebid 1NT); the other two contracts were 3H S and 3S W.
?
3H S had no chance of escaping for any better than -2 and in the end was -3. Ken was really assisted by the club blockage in 3S. Had N-S cashed their five minor winners off the top there would have been a spade trick still to come for the dreaded -200, But a heart switch from North let him escape for one down. Against 1NT E-W are maybe a little unlucky not to be able to do better than five tricks. But after three rounds of spades declarer had nine tricks, with a tenth coming when the club jack dropped. Irene managed an eleventh one way or another, although I really cannot imagine how.?
?
1NT N +4 by Irene
1NT N +3 by Alba and Roy
3S W -1 by Nancy
3H S -3 vs Harob
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18: Could N-S push E-W out of the auction?:
?
...............K109
...............J2
...............J1065
...............Q752
Q764....................2
KQ109..................A7543
KQ7......................8432
J9.........................A103
...............AJ853
...............86
...............A9
...............K864
?
E-W have a kind layout and ten tricks available thanks to the good fit and well-placed diamond ace. West presumably passes over 1S and North raises to 2S. One East at least pre-balanced with 3H. 2S was left in twice, two N-S pairs took the push to 3S and one intrepid East even bid 4H.
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4H came home easily, declarer losing only one spade, one diamond and one club. The 4-1 spade split did not prove troublesome for all the declarers, as South in spades can get the clubs ready before drawing all the trumps and the lead of the diamond king from West is helpful if it occurs. The diamond king lead probably is what led to 2S = for Roy, as otherwise declarer lacks the entries to draw trumps and get two club tricks. Perhaps E-W can give ruffs-and-discards at least at no cost to the defence, though not necessarily for any profit. Spade contracts took six tricks and seven twice as well as?Roy's eight.
?
2S S = by Roy
2S S -1 by Ken
3S S -2 vs Jerik
3S S -3 vs Harob
4H E = by Carl
