1: E-W choice of game:
?
...............1097543
...............5
...............976
...............J52
86.............................AQ
Q106.........................AKJ872
J832.........................K4
7643.........................KQ9
...............KJ2
...............943
...............AQ105
...............A108
?
Except for Bill, who opened 1H and was left there (he was subbed into the game and may have been rushing), East opened 2C and usually reached 4H after a 2H rebid. One N-S pair took a sacrifice in 4Sx. Murphy was the exception as East; having opened 2C he opted to rebid 2NT and ended in 3NT.
?
The only declarer in hearts to take ten tricks was Bill in 1H +3. Nine tricks was the usual outcome, which declarer could force, saving an entry to dummy in trumps for the fourth?club. Against 4H, South had a natural trump lead, and South against 3NT found the same lead. 3NT can make by force. Dummy won the first heart (the lead gave declarer a free finesse) and declarer led a club to king and ace. South had a count of all the points in the hand and correctly continued with a second heart. That was the key point of the hand. Declarer led a club to the nine and jack. Queen first would have forced a make at once, but declarer wanted to lose the lead to South if there was a choice. The hand still had a make because eventually South would have run out of exits. A third heart would have killed the thirteenth club, but?the third club and then either diamond from hand will leave South stuck with four tricks and then forced to lead either to West's diamond jack or into the spade ace-queen.
?
4Hx E -2 vs Marudy
4H E -2 vs Loan; 5H E -2 vs Lara
4H E -1 vs Glynneth, Wendric and Elbot
1H E +3 by Bill
4Sx N -2 vs Jamob
3NT E +1 by Murphy
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2: Most N-S in spades, mostly partials:
?
...............AJ10842
...............AJ8
...............K103
...............K
K9.............................5
742...........................KQ65
QJ86........................972
J984.........................AQ1072
...............Q763
...............1093
...............A54
...............653
?
East may have opened 1C. North left to open the bidding may invite game if South makes a single raise, although a Bergen raise of some sort may get North to go to 4S on the knowledge of then trumps. If West ever raises clubs, E-W likely push N-S out of 2S; that contract was only left in once. 3S was the majority choice, played six times. One E-W pair went all the way to 4C; one North played 4S.
?
When North turns out to hold the club king singleton and with 3-3 diamonds, East can be as patient as one desires and escape for -1 in 4C. Against spades the problem was that East had a natural lead of?a high heart, which allowed three declarers to take ten tricks. If E-W begin with ace and another club North?can force ten tricks by eliminating clubs and?throwing E-W on lead with the third diamond before a heart had been played.
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2S N +2 by Eric; 3S N +1 by Hara and John
3S N = vs Rekenee, Till, Mattbot and Jamob
4C E -1 by Cindy
4S N -1 vs Leighry
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3: N-S?good grand slam:
?
...............KJ9863
...............A5
...............KQ85
...............6
1052........................74
KJ82.......................Q9763
J73..........................106
QJ10.......................7542
...............AQ
...............104
...............A942
...............AK983
?
Some Souths opened 1NT; I think the hand is a little too good, even with the doubleton ace-queen of spades. Maximum HCP and Quick Tricks along with a good five-card suit - if anything open 1C and jump to 2NT or reverse into 2D. If South does rebid 2NT I think North has a shot at the grand slam: 1C-1S; 2NT-3S; 4m-4NT; 5C-5D; 6C-7S with twelve sure top tricks opposite three key cards, the trump queen and the club king.
?
At the tables six pairs stopped in 4S, thrice?on each side. If South does open 1NT, stopping in 4S is much too low for North, who has a five-loser hand. Three pairs reached slam: 1NT-4H; 4S-4NT; 5D-5NT; 6D-6S (North set up a sequence to ask for key cards but did not look for the trump queen), 1C-1S; 2NT-4NT; 5S-6NT and 1C-1S; 2D-3S; 4S-4NT; 5D-6S.
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7NT is good; spades have to run and diamonds have to behave as well but the N-S spots are good enough to finesse in the suit if the jack or ten?drops singleton. 7C has the additional chance of a 4-3 club split?. Every declarer made thirteen tricks with ease.
?
6NT S +1 by Judy (R)
6S N +1 by Lorna; 6S S +1 by Jeff
4S N +3 vs Jamob, Rekenee and Mattbot; 4S S +3 vs Cinise, Till and Karleta
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4: E-W choice of so-so slams:
?
...............Q75
...............932
...............Q8
...............J9873
K10964..................832
1087.......................AKQ64
A6..........................K52
A64........................KQ
...............AJ
...............J5
...............J109743
...............1052
?
Two pairs reached slam, at least one of them after West opened the bidding,?on the auction 1S-2H; 3H-4C; 4D-4NT; 5H-6H. Another pair reached 6S. One pair somehow stopped in 3S, but 4S was played thrice,?twice by West, along with 4H E twice and 5H E.
?
6H needs a little more than the spade ace onside. Harold made it by ruffing the third diamond with the heart ten. Two of the three declarers in lower suits also took twelve tricks. Spades could only take eleven by force, but Tom managed twelve when North started seeing ghosts and gave him credit for considerable cunning. He led a spade to jack and king, then returned the ten of spades. North thought he was trying to sneak past the queen from an original holding of AK10964 and rose, crashing the queen into the blank ace. Oops.
?
6S W -1 vs Glynneth
3S W +2 vs Mahn
4H E +1 vs Laon; 4S E +1 vs Jevin; 4S W +1 vs Lara
4H E +2 by Ken; 4S W +2 by Tom; 5H E +1 by Jamie
6H E = by Harold
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5: Mostly East declaring in spades or diamonds:
?
...............832
...............K2
...............K652
...............J632
KJ5...........................AQ74
7653..........................J8
93..............................AQJ87
10984........................Q7
...............1096
...............AQ1094
...............104
...............AK5
?
This looked likely to?die early;?two?tables had the plausible auction P-1D-1H-P; P-1S. Maybe North bids a thin 1NT or South makes a double. West may limp in with spades or North may take a preference back to 2H. Nobody left in 1NT or played clubs; the highest contract was 3D.
?
If South ever led a diamond against spades, East had nine tricks with a little care. An early force could still not hold declarer to fewer than eight, though it would be unnerving to be in such trump trouble. Diamond contracts ought to have taken eight tricks in comfort but only one declarer did so, Jamie and Bill took eight tricks in 1S; Murphy took nine.
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2S E -2 vs Wendric; 3D E -2 vs Study
2D E -1 vs Jevin; 2S E -1 vs Mahn; 3D E -1 vs Glynneth
2H S -1 vs Ritold
1S E +1 by Jamie
1S E +2 by Murphy; 2S E +1 by Bill
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6: N-S choice of games:
?
...............8532
...............K4
...............Q53
...............AQJ7
KJ10........................96
Q72..........................1096
9642........................KJ8
K84..........................96532
...............AQ74
...............AJ853
...............A107
...............10
?
After a Flannery opening bid North might downgrade the hand to an invitation, as surely not all the minor honours are going to be working, But South has a maximum opening and will accept an invitation. A 1H opening bid might lead to 1H-1S; 3S-4S. Seven pairs went to 4S (six times by North); the other two tried 3NT N.
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3NT made only on the number, alas. Declarer might have been able to do better with good guessing by one trick, which would have helped. After the expected diamond lead 4S ought to have made on the number but Jamob managed a set and another pair almost did as well, missing an uppercut at trick eleven (had West led a diamond, East could have ruffed with the spade nine to force South's ace and promote West's jack). Elizabeth and Kevin managed 4S +1, likely after a club lead when West covered the ten with the king.
?
4S N +1 by Elizabeth and Kevin
4S N = by Gareth, Eric and Hara; 4S S = by Judy (R)
3NT N = vs Kirphy and Mattbot
4S N -1 vs Jamob
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?7: Third seat opening?:
?
...............K84
...............J10765
...............K42
...............K6
Q9752....................J1063
AQ3........................K
1065.......................AQ73
87...........................A942
...............A
...............9842
...............J98
...............QJ1053
?
If one is going to open the bidding light in third seat, at least it ought not to be in one's weakest suit. A 1H opening bid seems to produce P-P-1H-X; 3H-3S, probably left in as both East and West will not expect the combined heart holding to be so good. It would seem that we ought to get to 3S anyway, but 1S W was played once and 2S W four times along with 3H N, 3S W and 4H N twice.
?
4S has surprisingly good play; it can only be defeated by a diamond lead, as declarer has no way back to hand to discard the diamond losers on the hearts. It appears that a club ruff will do but diamond, club, diamond, club, club ruff gets overruffed and the diamond cashes. Only Marudy held declarer in spades to nine tricks and that was through a declaring error. But N-S did worse when they declared; with such strength in the opposing trump suits, the Law underperformed and hearts should have been held to seven tricks.
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2S W +1 vs Marudy
1S W +3 vs Study; 2S W +2 vs Glynneth, Wendric and Mahn; 3S W +1 vs Jevin
3H N -2 vs Ritold; 4H N -2 vs Rekenee
4H N -3 vs Kirphy
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8: Defence vs slam:
?
...............Q
...............KQJ64
...............9
...............AJ10976
K8..........................J10742
7.............................1032
AJ75.......................10842
KQ8432..................5
...............A9653
...............A985
...............KQ63
...............----
?
This would have been interesting had this hand been in a game with Jerik, as West would have opened 2C to show a minimal opening but a real club suit, likely leading to a contract of 2Cx W. After 1C North likely overcalls 1H. If South splinters into 4C North has quite a decent key card ask; slam opposite club shortage and two aces could be fine. Only two intrepid pairs ventured all the way to 6H, with six pairs stopping in 4H and one pair getting to defend 4Cx W.
?
Marudy had an easy top defending 4Cx -6. Declarer's best chance of making 6H is to take three winners in the side suits and score all the trumps on a cross-ruff. One trump lead will be enough to sink the hand, however. Eric made 6H because West got in with the diamond ace and returned the club king (after an original lead to queen and ace). As Eric had drawn two rounds of trumps, the clubs had to establish and the lead of the king was just what was needed. Lorna also took twelve tricks in 4H; everyone else in hearts took eleven. If there had not been a diamond trick in the wings West might have considered ducking the club lead to prevent the suit from establishing with one loser.
?
4Cx W -6 vs Marudy
6H N = by Eric
4H N +2 by Lorna
4H N +1 vs Jamob, Cinise, Rekenee, Ritold and attbot
6H N -1 vs Till
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9: Bill's double squeeze:
?
...............K1076542
...............95
...............J
...............KQ4
9...............................AQJ
K873.........................A102
KQ109853................42
10..............................A9652
...............83
...............QJ64
...............A76
...............J873
?
Two Norths were able to take the bid with a 3S opening. 3NT E was played four times, East liking the position of the spade ace-queen-jack. Doubling 3S did not work nearly so well; the contracts produced were 4D W, 4H W and 5D W.
?
The late Bill Dyckes might have arranged this hand, for he would never have led a spade against 3NT and finessed his partner. He would have found the club lead as Elizabeth did and held declarer to nine tricks for a decent outcome. Harold took ten tricks, Murphy and Bill both twelve. Bill's line of play went: spade to ten and jack, diamond to king, diamond queen to ace, heart queen to ace, at which point Bill told the table that he thought he had a double squeeze. He did. He cashed the spade ace and led a heart to the king, then ran the diamonds. North had to keep the spade king and came down to one club. Bill discarded the spade queen and then South also discarded a club to keep the high heart. The low club was Bill's twelfth trick. Murphy also took twelve tricks, but after a second spade was led after South took the diamond ace. A club switch at trick three would have destroyed the squeeze, as that ace was the key entry back to the East hand; the spade and heart winners had to be cashed early to squeeze the defenders.?
?
4H W -1?vs Study
3S N -2 by Eric
3S N -3 by Hara; 4D W +1 vs Loan
3NT E = by Cindy; 5D W = by Matt
3NT E +1 by Harold
3NT E +3 by Murphy and Bill
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10: 1NT by both sides:
?
...............KJ2
...............Q9
...............AJ95
...............QJ108
Q73.......................109
A76.......................K1043
Q43.......................K10862
A974.....................K3
...............A8654
...............J852
...............7
...............652
?
The auction could easily be P-P-1C-P; 1H-P-1NT, or West might pass 1NT and let North double. One North perhaps overcalled 1NT and played the hand there; West declared 1NT four times. Higher contracts were 2S S twice, 2NT W and 3D E.
?
?When North declared 1NT the real nuisance was not being able to lead spades from dummy. After a diamond lead to queen and ace, if declarer could lead a spade from dummy and take the finesse the result would be -1 but, with North having to lead from hand, declarer cannot force better than -2 and losing aspade to establish the suit leads to -3. Bu happily for North East led a club and the contract even made. One West went down in 1NT, but seven or eight tricks were the usual result.?2S = was the N-S top; there was no entry trouble and even if E-W ruff a club declarer only goes down by not finessing in spades.
?
2S S = by Mark
3D E -1 vs Wendric; 1NT W -1 vs Elbot
1NT N = by Lorna
1NT W = by Leigh Ann and Tom
2S S -1 vs Kirphy
1NT W +1 by Matt; 2NT W = by Renee
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11: N-S spade partial:
?
...............AQ8732
...............KJ75
...............7
...............K3
1064........................K9
A632.......................Q104
KJ8.........................10632
J82..........................A1097
...............J5
...............98
...............AQ954
...............Q654
?
The auction seemed likely to be either 1S-1NT; 2H-2S or else North would just rebid 2S, although showing the hearts is more flexible if one can trust partner to give preference with 2=3 in the majors. Seven pairs finished in 2S, although two Norths went on over the preference (perhaps a danger of constructive raises, although South's holding three spades will only come with a weak hand) and ended in 4S.
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The hand is not fun either to play or defend. After a diamond to the ace and a heart to the ten (or jack and queen) East can only get West on lead to play a trump with a heart, which eliminates the need to ruff. In the end the heart position is happier for declarer and nine tricks seem possible. That result was posted by Gareth, Steve, Elizabeth and Kevin for +140; the declarers in 4S also took nine tricks but -50 scored only 1/8 (they were tied by Mattbot, who set 2S).
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2S N +1 by Gareth, Steve, Elizabeth and Kevin
2S N = vs Cinise and Rekenee
2S N -1 vs Mattbot; 4S N -1?vs Till and Kirphy
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12: Everyone went down:
?
...............A9
...............753
...............98643
...............1052
J106.................Q432
AKQJ962.........104
K.......................J75
Q6.....................9873
...............K875
...............8
...............AQ102
...............AKJ4
?
If North is psychic, 6D makes by dropping both the diamond king (this is actually a good safety play to know for IMP scoring; the best chance of losing only one trick with the diamond holding is to play the ace first, as it avoids the guess if the finesse is taken and loses) and the club queen. The auction usually began with a 1H opening bid and a balancing double. West repeated the hearts, South doubled again with a strong hand and then 3H usually ended the auction. One South could not bear to miss out and finished in the unfortunate contract of 5S. Our last auction began with a 4C opening bid to show a good 4H opener. The hand would be too weak for Namyats (although KQx AKQJxxx x xx would be fine). After 4C, East bid 4H, South doubled and North bid 5D. But North's talents for guessing were never put to the test, as West came in again with 5H, which?North was quick to double, perhaps mostly to keep South from any thought of bidding 6D. As West had already shown the strong heart suit with the 4C opening, it should have been left up to East to sacrifice if either partner did.?
?
Making matters worse for declarers in hearts, the unprotected king and queen, which might both have scored defensively, contributed nothing to the offence. Those N-S pairs who found the spade ruff held declarer to seven tricks, the rest to eight. 5S finished -6, a clear top for Mattbot.
?
5Hx E -3 vs Mahn
3H W -2 vs Glynneth, Study, Elbot and Lara
3H W -1 by Tom, Kim and Rita
5S S -6 vs Mattbot
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13: Three doubled partials:
?
...............1094
...............KQ109
...............Q987
...............K3
A653.....................2
A8743...................J6
A3.........................KJ10654
97..........................AQ62
...............KQJ87
...............52
...............2
...............J10854
?
?East might have opened 1D, which would explain the 3Sx contracts (West would not let the auction go low and Axxx is a fine defensive prospect, especially when a partnership has a suit with which to force). Only one game was reached, 3NT W, also presumably after a 1D opening. If East passes, South might open 2S in third seat; East balances with 3D and then West might well not look for game. How 3D got doubled I cannot imagine unless just possibly South opened 1S. Contracts were 1NT E (P-P-P-1H; P-1NT?), 2H W, 2S S, 3Dx E, 3H W, 3Sx N twice, 3NT W and 4D E.
?
Diamonds seem predestined for nine tricks, although declarer?can force ten tricks by winning the club finesse and ruffing a club with the ace of diamonds. The fourth club is ruffed low and overruffed; luckily South's diamond singleton is the deuce so that there is no promotion on a third round of hearts. Nine tricks was quite good enough for Ken. He was one of only two successful declarers, the other being Leigh Ann in 2H W. Till were E-W top for defending 3Sx -3; diamond ace, diamond ruff,?club to king and ace, diamond ruff not overruffed, club to queen, diamond ruffed and overruffed, spade to king, club jack ruffed, spade to queen, heart to king and then declarer misguessed: heart ten to jack, diamond ruffed, heart to ace.
?
1NT E -1 vs Mahn; 3H W -1 vs Glynneth; 3NT W -1 vs Marudy; 4D E -1 vs Study
2S S -1 vs Karleta
2H W = by Leigh Ann
3Sx S -1 vs Jamob
3Dx E = by Ken
3Sx S -3 vs Till
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14:?Only one contract higher than 2S:
?
...............QJ10
...............863
...............AJ4
...............A1032
952......................A73
KJ1072................A5
K632....................1098
K..........................QJ974
...............K864
...............Q94
...............Q75
...............865
?
Had East opened 1C the auction seems as if it would have gotten above 2S and perhaps the same had West opened 1H or?2H in third seat.?South was left in 1S twice after North?opened in fourth seat. One East presumably opened 1C and was left in 1NT, West perhaps knowing partner's tendency to open light. 2H W was popular; the hand might open 2H in third seat and that is likely to go around. It was played four times, along with one contract each of 2S S and 2NT E.
?
Passive defence is the way to go against basically any contract here. The kind heart position allows five tricks in no-trumps; N-S can get into trouble if North tries for club tricks, but eight tricks is a reasonable outcome for both sides. Jevin were the only N-S pair to go plus, defending 2H W -1; declarer likely did not play the club king while the heart ace was still in dummy or just possibly Kevin ducked the club king, giving up one trick but getting two back when declarer could not take the queen-jack and had to lead a diamond from hand, although even then I wonder where the sixth trick came from.
?
2H W -1 vs Jevin
1S S -1 by Wendy; 2S S -1 by Judy (R)
1S S -2 by Mark
2H W = by Tom, Matt and Bob
1NT E +1 by Henry; 2NT E = by Harold
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15: Balancing:
?
...............8
...............J8643
...............AQJ5
...............A94
AKJ1063...........975
975....................A10
K4......................10876
J7.......................K532
...............Q42
...............KQ2
...............932
...............Q1086
?
1S-2S from E-W. Eight Norths were faced with the question of whether to balance. The ninth had overcalled 2H on jack-fifth at unfavourable vulnerability. This time that overcall did not join the 1100 Club, South raised to 3H and West played 3S. Another North (perhaps more than one) had acted over 1S with a takeout double. While a more reasonable proposition, that North was still faced with the balancing question and doubled again. One North who had passed also doubled and a third chose just to bid 3H. All three balancers pushed West to 3S.
?
There was little rhyme or reason about the results. West might guess the spades correctly after an initial takeout double (one would rather double on the actual North hand than on Qx Jxxx AQJx Axx) and come to nine tricks after a heart ruff; if North leads the diamond ace declarer can get ten and any declarer who leads two high trumps before getting the heart ruff ready may finish with seven. Three declarers took only seven tricks, three took eight, two took nine and one ten. I am pleased to report that Justice Was Served - the top went to?Matt; it was his LHO who had overcalled 2H at unfavourable vulnerability on J8643.?
?
3S W -2 vs Marudy and Elbot
2S W -1 vs Study; 3S W -1 vs Mahn
2S W = by Rita and Louise
2S W +1 by Tom and Bob
3S W +1 by Matt
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16: Mainly heart games by South:
?
...............KJ6
...............J92
...............10
...............AK10732
AQ75........................10432
Q7.............................654
QJ5...........................98742
QJ65.........................8
...............98
...............AK1083
...............AK63
...............94
?
With any other dealer we might have seen 4H at every table, but West held 14 HCP and even the most conservative bidder at Pine Orchard would have opened the hand 1C. This resulted in two contracts of 3H S, North bidding conservatively to account for South's having balanced and South's taking North's bids as if the 1H overcall had been in the direct position. As South in the balancing seat, I might well have doubled and then bid 2H over a presumed 1S reply. North would clearly be delighted to pass 1Cx. East has a clear SOS Redouble, but neither 1Dx nor even 1Sx can get out for less than game at this vulnerability.
?
Twelve tricks in hearts are possible if declarer decided to play West for the heart queen and manages two diamond ruffs along the way. But only two declarers in 4H took eleven tricks and some took only nine, suggesting that declarer got locked in hand after taking one diamond ruff, finessing in trumps and seeing East get a club ruff, though I still cannot conjure a coherent sequence out of it.?
?
4H S +1 by Mark and?Jeff
4H S = by Joan, Wendy and Elizabeth
3H S +1 vs Jamob
3H S = vs Rekenee
4H S -1 vs Till and Karleta
?
17: Hard-to-find 3NT:
?
...............K1042
...............96432
...............7
...............K85
A.....................Q765
K5...................A107
AKJ10982.......643
974..................J102
...............J983
...............QJ8
...............Q5
...............AQ63
?
South opens 1C in third seat and E-W have the task which proved nearly impossible, of finding the 3-3 clubs that are about as good as a stopper in the opponents' minor suit. If this were in a bidding competition West might find the brilliant 3NT. The hand has enough playing strength to justify doubling first and then bidding the diamonds; it's just then a question of whether Fear of Missing 3NT will win out over Fear of Bidding 3NT Without a Stopper in Opponent's Minor. Only Matt and (not surprisingly) Louise found the 3NT bid. N-S often competed to 3S and the plurality contract became 4D W, played thrice, along with 3D W twice, 3S S and 4S S (undoubled!).
?
North did not even lead a club against 3NT; Matt and Louise both took eleven tricks. I'm not sure from whence hailed the eleventh but no matter. Diamonds took the expected ten tricks every time. Elizabeth squeezed out 3S -2 for the?N-S top; -3 would have been below average.
?
3S S -2 vs Elizabeth
3D W +1 vs Loan and Jevin; 4D W = vs Glynneth, Wendric and Lara
4S S -5 vs Leighry
3NT W +2 by?Louise and Matt
?
18: Mostly heart partials:
?
...............8
...............AK1043
...............KJ5
...............QJ83
J95...........................AK63
QJ75.........................9
763...........................A1082
1097.........................A654
...............Q10743
...............862
...............Q94
...............K2
?
East opens 1m and North balances. This hand is much less well-suited to doubling first than the South hand on Board 16 despite the identical HCP and better shape because the previous hand contained the diamond ace-king-fourth on the side while this hand has KJx in one minor and QJxx in the other.?Two Wests responded 1H and declared 1NT; one East played 2S and the remaining contracts were all in hearts: 2H N thrice, 3H N twice and 4Hx N as well.
?
Nine tricks were possible in hearts through careful play; the results were evenly split between eight tricks and nine, giving Kirphy the E-W top for defending 4Hx -2. N-S top was also defensive; after Elizabeth played 3S -2 for the top on the previous board, she defended 2S -3 this time for the N-S top. 1NT was one down both times.
?
2S E -3 vs Elbot
2H N +1 by Lorna and Gareth; 3H N = by Eric
2H N = by John
1NT W -1 by Matt and Leigh Ann
3H N -1 vs Cinise
4Hx N -2 vs Kirphy
