1: Bob may have won the game on the first hand:
?
...............AQ10954
...............J4
...............Q72
...............105
K762...........................J3
K975...........................AQ832
K9...............................J5
A76.............................Q942
...............8
...............106
...............A108643
...............KJ83
?
North opened 2S and it went around more than half the time. Six tables left it in. West might have come in with a balancing 2NT or a double, likely the latter more often than not as East played 3H twice as well as 4H. The final contract was 3NT W.
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With diamonds 2-2, 2S is all right if declarer guesses the clubs (likely) and holds the spade losers to one. Cindy, Jill and Kevin all made 2S. With a suit such as AQ109xx opposite a singleton, it is important to note that, as in the actual layout, a doubleton jack is helpful while a doubleton king is not necessarily. There are some positions when finessing the ten gains over finessing the queen, but fewer than finessing the queen. And if declarer has to begin the trumps from hand, ace and low never gains, while ace and queen saves a trick when the jack drops doubleton. If Kx sits offside North will lose two trumps no matter how the suit is played, but with Jx the losers can be held to one. Declarers in hearts took only eight tricks and were lucky it was not worse. 3NT would have been in serious trouble against a diamond lead. Bob got away with a nice steal; North led the spade ace and then led low instead of leading the queen to smother the jack. Bob ran the hearts, then led to the diamond king, figuring the odds favoured boldness with North's having opened 2S on AQ109xx. South held the diamond ace and Bob had his nine winners.
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2S N = by Cindy, Jill and Kevin
4H E -2 vs Molbot
3H E -1 vs Anbot and Michbot
2S N -1 vs Ritold
2S N -2 vs Eubot
2S N -3 vs Karleta
3NT W = by Bob
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?
2: N-S had a most fortunate game:
?
...............J1095
...............A2
...............A963
...............K54
762........................K43
10865....................Q93
K72........................QJ108
J109.......................A62
...............AQ8
...............KJ74
...............54
...............Q873
?
Three twelve-point hands made it likely there would be some tight decisions in the auction. When East opened 1D South doubled and North had to decide whether to be content with a mere jump to 2S or to venture a cue-bid of 2D. Also, if 2D, did the pair play that as a game force or just highly invitational? 1D was passed around once; other contracts were 2S N thrice, 3C S(?), 3NT N thrice, 3NT S and 4S N.
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In 3NT North is surprisingly light on entries to hand. With the heart finesse working and spade king both onside and dropping the contract should make but declarer can set oneself by careless entry management. If the diamond ace is won too soon North can finesse the spades and clear the suit in three rounds but then wants to lead a club before going back to hand with the heart ace for the fourth spade and heart finesse. Jill and Kevin made 3NT N with careful play, but declarer might just allow a fifth defensive trick in hearts or clubs through slight carelessness. 4S ended up making, although it would seem that trump leads might be enough for a set.
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4S N = by Gareth
3NT N = by Jill and Kevin
2S N +1 by Henry
3C S +1 by Cindy
2S N = vs Elott and Eubot
1D E -1 by Jamie
3NT N -1 vs Stendy; 3NT S -1 vs Pegbot
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3: Cindy (M) picked off what would have been Jeff's top board:
?
...............4
...............K97
...............KQ76
...............AKQ86
K97........................QJ10863
43...........................A105
AJ52.......................1098
J972.......................3
...............A52
...............QJ862
...............43
...............1054
?
North opened 1C and East presumably overcalled 2S; the suit is okay despite the vulnerability. 3S looks okay, as N-S are unlikely to double and there is a chance of a make if the opening lead is a low club to the queen and North continues the suit. N-S never allowed E-W to play the hand. Even if West came in with 3S North competed again, often with a versatile double. Contracts were 3C N twice, 3H S, 4C N twice, 4Cx N and 4H S four times.
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Both 4C and 4H look all right despite the bad club split. Declarer can afford the ruff that the defence can force against 4H. E-W cannot do much against 4C; a second trump lead from the West hand may be possible but spoils the natural trump winner. The sticking point in 4H is that declarer may count on the clubs to run and then find out too late that they do not. eff was the only successful declarer in 4H, indeed taking eleven tricks, but N-S top went to Cindy (M) in 4Cx =.
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4Cx N - by Cindy (M)
4H S +1 by Jeff
3H S +2 by Owen
3C N +1 by Michelle; 4C N = by Gareth
3C N -1 vs Jamob; 4C N -1 vs Kill; 4H S -1 vs Pegbot, Ritold and Elott
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4: This was another big win for Bob:
?
...............9832
...............108
...............KQ6
...............9854
A64.......................KJ105
AQJ3.....................975
J97........................A542
J32........................A10
...............Q7
...............K642
...............1083
...............KQ76
?
With 13 HCP and not particularly an impressive hand opposite 12 and the 13-point hand opening, it seemed it might be close whether E-W pairs did or did not bid game. Bill (S) prides himself on his right-siding but here even he may have been hard-put to keep West from bidding the no-trumps first. Two pairs stopped rather too low in 1NT W and 2S E; other contracts were 2NT W thrice and 3NT W five times, putting half the field in game. Had East been dealer I'd have expected the auction 1D-1H; 1S-2C; 2NT-3NT, right-siding the contract.
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The one saving grace of West's declaring was that the 1C opening bid occasionally put off the winning lead. A club lead kills 3NT unless declarer gets a pek at the South hand and sees the doubleton spade queen there. If South is on lead a club lead gives declarer a second stopper but going through the A10 doubleton lets N-S establish three club tricks at once and then, assuming declarer plays North for the spade queen (the line with the highest chance of winning four tricks) N-S will eventually come to three clubs, one spade and a diamond. Five pairs were held to eight tricks in 3NT that way. With neutral defence declarer should come to nine tricks even after losing a spade. South cannot discard comfortably on the fourth spade. A diamond discard lets West discard a club and then declarer has a pretty intrafinesse - low diamond from hand covering the?eight with the nine, then running the jack from dummy to pin the ten. Bob made a gaudy eleven tricks when his opponent?feared a good club holding and gave him a friendlier lead: diamond king to ace, heart to jack, spade ace, spade to ten and queen, diamond ten/jack/queen, diamond to nine and Bob had the rest of the tricks after South discarded a heart on the diamond five, the thirteenth of the suit.?
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3NT W -1 vs Joll, Molbot and Owbot
2NT W = vs Cinbot and Study
2S E +1 by Eastbot
1NT W +2 by Elizabeth; 2NT W +1 by Peggy
3NT W = by Martin
3NT W +2 by Bob
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5: Everyone played 3NT N:
?
...............Q6
...............K83
...............QJ43
...............A1072
J54......................A107
Q10765................942
K87......................A95
65.........................9843
...............K9832
...............AJ
...............1062
...............KQJ
?
I suppose North always opened, although P-1S; 1NT-2C; 2NT-3NT is plausible. South might get very cautious and pass a 1NT response, but there seems to be no other danger. If North opens, South responds 1S and then presumably makes a forcing rebid looking for three-card support, settling into 3NT when the lack of fit is revealed.
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Once again we had a hand that was hard to right-side. Earlier East's A10 doubleton in clubs would have benefitted from protection; here it is South's AJ doubleton in hearts. Eastbot, Eubot and Kathy found the deadly heart lead through South's AJ. Declarer had to hold off but on a heart continuation the set was assured so long as East took the diamond ace if declarer started that suit instead of letting South force out West's king before the hearts are established. Sadly, however, only half the field at most found Bill (S)'s favourite lead of a three-card major; half the declarers were allowed a make. Gareth came out on top with an overtrick: club to king, club queen, club to ace, club ten, diamond to ten and king, spade jack/queen/ace, heart to jack/queen/king, diamond queen, spade to eight, spade king, heart ace, spade nine, diamond to ace.
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3NT N +1 by Gareth
3NT N = by Andrea, Michelle, Jill and Kevin
3NT N -1 vs Ritold and Karleta
3NT N -2 vs Kill, Robots and Eubot
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6: Would N-S get too high?:
?
...............Q976
...............A64
...............KJ8
...............Q104
10853....................KJ4
753........................KQ10
A53.......................106
K97.......................J8652
...............A2
...............J982
...............Q9742
...............A3
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It looked as if N-S might get too high if South opened the bidding. 1d-1S; 1NT should perhaps be met with 2NT, which might still be a decent level, but North could like the diamond honours well enough to jump to 3NT instead.?We had only two pairs in 3NT while three stopped in 1NT2NT was played four times and there was one strange contract of 3H N.
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No lead does much good except a club and even that offers declarer possibilities.?Assume declarer establishes diamonds and the defenders then establish clubs. On the run of the diamonds East has lots of discards to find and many things to keep. When the last diamond is led we see:?
?
...............Q97
...............A64
...............----
...............----
1085....................KJ
753......................KQ
----.......................----
----.......................J8
...............A2
...............J98
...............9
...............----
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On the last diamond North discards a heart, declarer having lost two tricks. If East surrenders either major there is a tenth trick, but a club discard lets declarer either finesse the nine of spades to establish the queen or play ace and another heart to make East lead away from the spade king.
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The difficulty in other lines of defence is that it's hard for E-W to establish winners without letting declarer do the same, in either major. With four diamond tricks and two clubs, declarer has the major aces and can pick up a ninth trick in spades or hearts easily enough if E-W start either of those suits, as well as if E-W avoid the majors entirely. Leigh Ann emerged with nine tricks in 3NT for the N-S top.
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3NT S = by Leigh Ann
2NT S +1 by Michelle
1NT S +1 by Cindy and Joanne; 2NT S?= by Andrea, Molly and Lynn
1NT S -1 vs Karleta; 3H N -1 vs Jamob; 3NT N -1 vs Kill
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7: This E-W game was Elizabeth's turn to shine:
?
...............AQJ96
...............K74
...............Q832
...............J
K1053...........................87
QJ5...............................A109862
A76...............................J954
AK5...............................6
...............42
...............3
...............K10
...............Q10987432
?
South's 3C opening bid turns out to be extremely helpful. Left to their own devices E-W might be hard pressed to reach game, bidding which could depend on East's liking the eight-loser hand enough to invite. But 3C invites West to bid 3NT. One South remained resolutely quiet in the auction and let North declare 2D. Two Wests doubled and left East in 3H. Seven pairs got to game - 3NT W twice, 3NTx W, 4H E twie, 4H W after a 3NT overcall or 1NT opening bid and a transfer, and 5H E.
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3NT was a breeze with the heart finesse working. Bob made an overtrick and Elizabeth was E-W top in 3NTx =. 4H was not quite so easy, especially if South declared and led a spade with a club switch. South's diamond K10 doubleton allowed a?make by force; declarer draws trumps and discards a spade on the second club, then after ducking the second diamond the J9 establish a trick by force. The usual way to fail was to try to cash the second club before drawing trumps.
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5H E -2 vs Glynneth
4H E -1 vs Michbot
3H E = vs Cinbot
3H E +1 vs Molbot
2D N -3 by Jill
3NT W = by Bill
4H E = by Eugenie; 4H W = by Steve (Y)
3NT W +1 by Bob
3NTx W = by Elizabeth
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8: Cinbot fell from grace later but they reached a good slam here:
?
...............76
...............AK984
...............4
...............K8764
1083.......................KJ542
Q53........................J62
AK9852.................Q1076
Q............................J
...............AQ9
...............107
...............J3
...............A109532
?
With only 21 HCP combined N-S have a good slam in 6C S. Would anyone bid it? If?West opened 1D Noth might bid the Unusual 2NTbut then South would be disinclined to go beyond?5C with two losing diamonds and North would feel the hand had already been shown. In the end the only pair in 6C was Cinbot after 2D-2H-3D-4C; P-5C-5D-X; P-6C, Northbot liking the 4C bid enough to pull the penalty double of 5D. Even then that course was dubious; 5Dx can be set 1100, more than the value of the slam, and declarer is sure of beating anyone who stops in game even if the defence is inexact. Three N-S pairs stopped in 4C and two let West play 4D (once doubled) but 5C was the plurality contract.
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Twelve tricks are there in clubs if the hearts split 3-3 or the spade finesse works, With both suits obliging only one declarer managed to take only eleven tricks, tying the pair that left 4D undoubled in and then did not?find both ruffs.
?
?
6C S = by Cindy
4Dx W -3 vs Anbot
5C S +1 by Michelle, Judy (R), Molly and Lynn
4C S +2 vs Jamob and Ritold
4C S +1 vs Pegbot; 4D W -3 by Bill
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9: Very sad luck for Glynneth here:
?
...............J65
...............J1093
...............Q643
...............106
7.........................K10942
7542...................K86
AK109752..........8
J.........................AK85
...............AQ83
...............AQ
...............J
...............Q97432
?
E-W were usually headed for trouble here. After 1S-2C, West would like to bid 3D if it were sort of invitational but the bid may not have been available; 3D?W is probably about as well as the side can do. I may have misread the board traveler, as two Easts appear to have declared in diamonds and I cannot conjure how. Contracts I noted were 2NT E, 3D E, 3D W, 3NT E thrice, 4D E, 4D W, 2C S and 2Cx S, East opting to leave in a negative double.
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3Dmight make against the heart jack lead, as declarer ducks and South's queen should at least give West a hint of ducking the second round. Only Eastbot took nine tricks in diamonds, playing 4D -1. Pegbot's conservative course in the auction of leaving in 2C undoubled was rewarded when they posted the only E-W plus. Lynn made 2Cx and had a chance at an overtrick only to find that +180 was below average beacause half the E-W pairs were -2, -3 or even -4, no-trumps proving disastrous.
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3NT E -4 vs Cinbot
2NT E -3 vs Study
3NT E -2 vs Michbot and Jevin; 4D W -2 vs Leighry
2Cx S = vs Ritold
3D E -1 by Eugenie; 3D W -1 by Elizabeth; 4D E -1 by Eastbot
2C S -1 vs Pegbot
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10: Every E-W pair played 3NT:
?
...............Q86
...............109652
...............K93
...............A5
A5..........................KJ74
AQJ3......................8
QJ1054..................A76
KJ..........................Q8762
...............10932
...............K74
...............82
...............10943
Some Wests opened 1NT or jumped to 2NT over 1D-1S. East declared 3NT twice, usually after a 2H reverse from West.
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A spade lead seems to cause the most difficulty as spades are the main source of communication for E-W after the diamond finesse is taken. But with almost everything sitting well and with South having trouble discarding on diamonds it's easy to see twelve tricks coming in by various means. Only two declarers did not take twelve tricks; with bad guessing and a little getting blocked into the wrong hand Anbot and Michbot managed to hold declarer all the way down to nine.
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3NT W = vs Anbot and Michbot
3NT E +3 by Judy (P) and Harold; 3NT W +3 by Peggy, Steve (Y), Bill, Bob, Westbot and Elizabeth
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11: This E-W slam could have been defeated:
?
...............K8
...............QJ532
...............1074
...............J84
AJ1063................Q94
K..........................A10
A9652..................J3
A6........................KQ10732
...............752
...............98764
...............KQ8
...............95
?
West has a nice hand, good enough even with the singleton king to go looking for slam after something like 1S-2C; 2D-2S. On finding East with the ace of hearts the slam is quite reasonable, although it was reached only once. One other pair tried for slam but stopped in 5S W; the others all played in 4S.
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This hand illustrates the importance of active defence against small slams in suits. As is often the case, West can run plenty of tricks as soon as the trumps are gone. Unfortunately for N-S, with North on lead, the active lead appears to be the heart. South's hand on lead would naturally start with the diamond king and establish the setting trick.
?
Steve (Y) made 6S after a heart lead. Only one defender found a diamond lead (or got careless declaring), allowing Joll to hold declarer to ten tricks. All the other Wests posted +480.
?
4S W = vs Joll
4S W +2 by Peggy, Bill, Westbot, Rita, Elizabeth, Breta and Eugenie; 5S W +1 by Bob
6S W = by Steve (Y)
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12: Most of the N-S field reached slam:
?
...............A1042
...............KQ
...............K62
...............K643
KJ83........................Q7
J10982.....................643
97.............................83
QJ............................1098752
...............965
...............A75
...............AQJ1054
...............A
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This auction splits into five pairs. North opened 1NT. Two Souths were content with 3NT. Two bid 4NT, at least one of those thinking it was asking. Two Souths drove to 6D, although from different sides. The other four auctions all ended in 6NT N, but two Souths responded 6NT at once while the other two daisy-picked by starting with Gerber, unless their plan was to stop below slam if North denied the ace of spades.
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In the play declarer had twelve top tricks and every declarer but one had exactly that result. The one declarer to take the thirteenth was Kevin; East discarded her last club at trick eleven when Kevin had kept a low club and blankd the ace of spades. As the ace and king of spades were both still out, East had no reason not to blank the queen at that point.
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13: It's hard to believe two E-W pairs wandered into game:
?
...............K62
...............A432
...............Q9854
...............Q
QJ873..................95
Q5........................KJ86
7...........................A10632
AKJ75..................108
...............A104
...............1097
...............KJ
...............96432
?
If North passes it seems the auction ought to be 1S-1NT; 2C-2S and that should be it. A 1D opening from North gets 1NT from South and then West seems likely to play either 2C or 2S. But some East must have gone above 2S at some point. Contracts were 2C W, 2D E twice, 2S W thrice, 3C W, 3S W, 3NT E and 3NT W, showing variations in what seemed a simple enough preference auction.
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Ply in a minor is grim with the ill-splitting trumps. (I do not fault West for leaving 2D in). 2S looks at least like potentially making; North can get a club ruff but no declarer took fewer than eight tricks in spades; Bill and Rita even took ten to share the E-W top. Every other contract was defeated, with 2D -3 giving Glynneth the N-S top and both 3NT contracts finishing -2.
?
2D E -3 vs Glynneth
3NT E -2 vs Joll; 3NT W -2 vs Michbot
2D E -1 vs Molbot; 3C W -1 vs Jevin; 3S W -1 vs Cinbot
2C W = by Martin
2S W = by Elizabeth
2S W +2 by Steve (Y) and Westbot
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14: All N-S pairs but one reached an easy slam:
?
...............KQJ2
...............AKQ74
...............752
...............Q
10.........................984
1096.....................853
J93.......................1086
1098653...............AJ72
...............A7653
...............J2
...............AKQ4
...............K4
?
Some Norths began with a Jacoby raise and at least one splintered with 4C. Ideally there was some showing of controls before either North or South went to 4NT, as both hands contain a danger suit. Everyone reached 6S with one exception. Against Ritold North began with 2NT and South showed extra values but no shortage with 3S. Without asking on the way, North went directly to 7S.
?
The remarkable thing here is that all the West players found the club lead needed to hold declarer to twelve tricks, although I think that, against 6S, I'd lead the heart as more likely to avoid a shortage. Perhaps Rita led the club against 7S thinking Harold might have been void but did not want to scare N-S into a making 7NT.
?
6S S = by Andrea, Michelle, Joanne, Judy (R), Jeff, Leigh Ann, Molly, Lynn and Owen
7S S -1 vs Ritold
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15: Again two pairs found a way to get too high:
?
...............J986
...............8
...............K864
...............AJ109
K105.......................AQ32
QJ75.......................A92
Q97.........................J32
Q72.........................K53
...............74
...............K10643
...............A105
...............864
?
If I were West I would probably be content with 1C-1H; 1S-1NT despite the 11 HCP, although West would like to bid a natural 2NT if South had overcalled 1H on the first round. Much of the field shared my view, as contracts were 1H W, 1NT E, 1NT W four times, 2D N, 2NT W, 3NT E and 3NT W.
?
Even if South has overcalled 1H and North leads a heart to establish three heart tricks for declarer, 3NT is not even close to making. There are too few tricks and they are too slow; at best for declarer N-S cash out for five tricks with three diamonds; at worst South can lead clubs through West and East may try spades, possibly finishing with as few as six tricks. Steve (Y) took nine tricks in 1NT but only four of the other seven declarers in no-trumps were able to bank eight. Kevin made 2D for almost the N-S top, beaten only by Anbot, who did ten points better defending 3NT E -2.
?
3NT E -2 vs Anbot
2D N = by Kevin
2NT W -1 vs Study; 3NT W -1 vs Joll
1NT W = vs Michbot
1NT E = by Harold; 1NT W = by Westbot
1NT W +1 by Bill and Bob
1NT W +2 by Steve (Y)
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16: Not many N-S pairs found game this time:
?
...............KQ7542
...............AJ64
...............8
...............75
J109........................63
Q73.........................82
K7...........................AJ943
KJ962.....................AQ43
...............A8
...............K1095
...............Q10652
...............108
?
This is really only an IMPs game. North is good enough to open 1S and will rebid 2H over either a 1NT response or a negative double after a 2D overcall. South can invite with 3H but will North accept with only 10 HCP, even with a Losing Trick Count of six? If game has play it will be because of South's fitting the spades well enough and it certainly looks as if North might not have enough entries to get the spades going. Contracts were 2S N, 3H N six times, 3S N, 4H S and 4S N. Had East come in with 2NT despite the pattern's being only 5-4 E-W might have stolen the bid for 3C.
?
The play was easy enough, even easier if East overcalled, as that flagged the heart queen as likely to be with West. Spade contracts turned out to be easier to play, as declarer had full control. Hearts had the chance of overtricks; eleven tricks were possible if E-W did not cash out. Judy (R) was top in 4H S +1, while Jill was second for making 4S. 3H seemed the trickiest contract to play, with two declarers managing only nine tricks and Stendy holding declarer to eight.
?
4H S +1 by Judy (R)
4S N = by Jill
3H N +3 by Andrea
2S N +2 by Gareth; 3H N +1 by Michelle and Kevin; 3S N +1 by Henry
3H N = vs Robots and Jamob
3H N -1 vs Stendy
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17: This was a comedy of errors with a big impact:
?
...............AQ762
...............985
...............J4
...............J74
1085...........................KJ4
J103...........................AK7642
K53.............................62
A1096.........................Q5
...............93
...............Q
...............AQ10987
...............K832
?
It looked as if the first round of the auction would be P-1H-2D-2H. I am pleased to report that N-S never let the auction die there. South competed if North did not?and seven times East played 3H. Three auctions went higher, stopping in 4Dx S and 4H E twice.
?
With the spade AQ both in the slot 4H ought to make, but it looks as if East saw ghosts after a spade lead and rose with the king on the second round. The one time I saw the hand being played East had won the second round of diamonds in dummy and had a squeeze position against South by running the trumps only for declarer to make the brilliant defensive play of killing the squeeze by eliminating the threat when the third diamond was trumped in hand. But South gave back the trick by ducking when East led the queen of clubs! Three declarers took eleven tricks in 3H by finding the squeeze (at least, I prefer that thought to there having been defensive errors).
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4H E -1 vs Joll
3H E +1 vs Cinbot, Anbot, Jevin and Leighry
3H E +2 by Cindy (X), Kathy and Eugenie
4Dx N -2 vs Elott
4H E = by Jamie
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18: Two Wests did not open the bidding:
?
...............A96
...............987
...............AJ63
...............J86
102....................KQJ5
KQJ10...............432
84......................K1092
KQ1075.............42
...............8743
...............A65
...............Q75
...............A93
?
Two Wests passed, leading to Passed Out, favouring N-S. Everyone else opened 1C in the West seat. One North played 1NT after South made an ill-advised double of 1S. Other contracts were all E-W: 1NT E, 1NT W twice, 2C W twice and 2NT W twice (it seemed almost all the partials had two pairs finding themselves in game - and not the same two pairs every time).
?
It is extremely difficult to make 3NT without any aces. Even if declarer guesses the clubs correctly N-S have plenty of time to establish a fifth trick in diamonds. Leighry posted 3NT -1 and Joll 3NT -2. The double led to a highly entertaining time in 1NT N. Declarer had a chance to escape for -1 on an endplay (and -1 would have been a good target; being vulnerable, -2 would clearly be awful) but finished -2 to give Jamob the E-W top. In the E-W partials declarer took seven or eight tricks in 1NT and eight or nine in 2C.
?
3NT W -2 vs Joll
3NT W -1 vs Leighry
Passed Out by Cinbot and Michbot
1NT W = by Eugenie; 2C W = by Rita
2C W +1 by Steve (Y)
1NT E +1 by Judy (P); 1NT W +1 by Bill
1NT N -2 vs Jamob
