1: E-W slam:
?
...............J976
...............42
...............643
...............J753
5............................AK1083
AKQ97..................1086
K75........................QJ109
AQ94.....................8
...............Q42
...............J53
...............A82
...............K1063
?
If East makes the small stretch of opening light (concentrated values, good shape and the diamond QJ109 is solid) 6H should be reached with no trouble. Otherwise East passes, South might open in third seat (though there's little reason to do so) and?if not we likely have an auction that goes via Drury. With a Losing Trick Count of four, West might splinter with 3S. East has extra values and can show the singleton club, which is all West needs. Alternately West might advance with 3C as a sort of trial bid and East will gladly go to 4H or perhaps even bid 3S to show the control. The only auction to reach slam went P-P-1C-X; P-2S-P-3H; P-4H-P-4NT; P-5C-P-6H. Two other pairs ventured beyond game, reaching 5H and 6NT. 3NT W was played twice and 4H W six times.
?
6H is not quite so good as it looks; the diamond ace cannot safely be knocked out before trumps are drawn. Declarer will have to ruff two clubs before drawing trumps instead of one. 6NT needs both hearts and clubs to behave - here both did, fortunately for Vallen. Only one pair took only eleven tricks instead of twelve.
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4H W +1 vs Lara
4H W +2 vs Lark, Pharah, Lernot, Haorge, Conndy and Pich; 5H W +1 vs Shane
3NT W +3 by Jeff and Del
6H W = by Dianne
6NT W = by Valerie
?
?
2: Games bid in both directions:
?
...............AQ732
...............K10
...............104
...............AK43
985.........................6
753.........................AJ642
Q6..........................AK9753
97652.....................J
...............KJ104
...............Q98
...............J82
...............Q108
?
East opens either 1D or 1H and North likely balances with a double. East almost always competes to the three-level and North to 3S. Eight games were bid with a 5-3 margin favouring spades; contracts were 2S N, 3S N twice, 3S S, 4H E thrice, 4S N thrice and 4S S twice.
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Heart contracts had a straightforward four losers, the even splits fending off a forcing defence. Spade contracts had an even more straightforward three losers. Only one declarer in spades took only nine tricks - returning the favour to E-W, as it was at the same table where West on Board 1 had taken only eleven tricks in 4H.
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4S N = by Jim, Pat and Sharon; 4S S = by Phyllis and Larry
2S N +2 vs Jevin; 3S N +1 vs Delen and Boric
3S N = vs Study
4H E -1 by Paul, Gene and Ken
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3: Mostly 4S S:
?
...............1085
...............10862
...............K10
...............AK102
AK6.......................73
J43........................A975
84..........................Q752
Q9753....................J86
...............QJ942
...............KQ
...............AJ963
...............4
?
1S-1NT; 2D-3S; 4S looks normal enough and occurred eight times. Two auctions ended in 2S and one in 3S; the last South tried 3NT, presumably with North having responded 2C on the first round.
?
4S can be defeated if West simply leads out three rounds of trumps right away. East has a tough time if West leads the doubleton diamond, as the eight-spot could be from J98. If it is a doubleton, ducking is correct. Then if East gets to lead trumps before South takes a diamond ruff there should be four losers. Somehow, though, only Vallen and Delen managed to find the set. Care is still required; East may have to find the lead of the club jack when in with the ace of hearts to prevent either a club ruff to establish one of North's tens. Jevin posted 3NT -3 for the E-W top.
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4S S = by Lee, Larry, Jane (M), NJ, Rich and Jane (T)
2S S +2 vs Glynneth and Ritold; 3S S +1 vs Boric
4S S -1 vs Vallen and Delen
3NT S -3 vs Jevin
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4: Mainly majors:
?
...............J82
...............73
...............J1075
...............A976
A7643....................1095
AK9.......................Q10
32..........................K984
1085......................KJ32
...............KQ
...............J86542
...............AQ6
...............Q4
?
Sometimes West opened 1S; sometimes South opened 1H. One auction went 1S-P-1NT and ended there; otherwise East raised 1S to 2S and it was a question of whether there would be a balance. Contracts were 1NT E, 2S W four times, 3H S twice, 3Hx S, 3S W thrice and 3NT S after a misclick early in the auction; South bidding spades by mistake and eventually getting out of it.
?
Jatin was rewarded for trying to make the best of a bad situation. His opponents crashed their heart winners and he emerged with ten tricks! An early club lead from West can set 3H, but if the opening lead is a diamond and East covers the jack with the king, declarer can discard the club loser and then East must be given a ruff of the fourth spade with the queen of hearts. Erik made 3Hx and Rich 3H undoubled; the only other successful contract was Kevin's 1NT E. Spades should have lost six tricks, although two declarers escaped losing five, likely after a crash of spade winners.
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3Hx S = by Erik
3NT S +1 by Jatin
3S W -2 vs Lernot
3H S = by Rich
2S W -1 by Judy, Dee, Don and Dianne; 3S W -1 by Elaine and Eric
1NT E = by Kevin
3H S -1 vs Vallen
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5: 5D possible:
?
...............K108
...............Q87
...............A96
...............A432
QJ73....................A42
----.......................AK10942
Q107542..............KJ3
753.......................10
...............965
...............J653
...............8
...............KQJ86
?
1C-1H-2C or 3C and then West likely passes. East can come in again with a secondary double and then it's a question of how high West competes in diamonds. There was a widespread range of hand valuations: contracts were 1H E, 2C N, 2H E twice, 3C N, 3D W, 3H E thrice and 5D W thrice.
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5D makes when the spade finesse works and hearts split 4-3; declarer just has to use care to be careful not to get stuck with a club loser or allow a trump promotion on the fourth heart. Only Del produced the correct play to make 5D and score a well-earned top. Club contracts can be held to eight tricks but Doug was allowed an overtrick, which mattered a fair amount in the scoring when three E-W contracts failed by two tricks.
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2C N +1 by Doug
3H E -2 vs Lara, Pharah and Lernot; 5D W -2 vs Haorge
5D W -1 vs Jernj
1H E = by Ken
3C N -1 vs Boric
2H E = by Harold; 3D W = by Vallen
2H E +1 by Kevin
5D W = by Del
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6: Mostly 4S N:
?
...............AQ102
...............Q42
...............A8
...............J832
8765......................J
5............................KJ109873
106532..................KJ
765........................AQ4
...............K943
...............A6
...............Q974
...............K109
?
East opened 1H, South likely doubled and then it came down to a question of whether North pushed all the way to 4S or stopped in a partial. North can start with a 2H cue-bid. One instructive auction was 1H-X-P-2H; 3H-P-P-3S. East's 3H bid was unlucky, as it let South pass and have North bid 3S to declare, meaning that West was not on lead. Contracts were 3S N thrice, 4Hx E, 4S N six times and 4S S twice.
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It looks as if 4S has chances, especially played by North. If East leads a heart there is a slight trap; declarer does not want to draw trumps or East will be able to establish hearts. Letting West get a ruff gives declarer time. Only three declarers took ten tricks in spades: Hank in 3S, Mark in 4S N and Phyllis in 4S S: heart to ace, diamond to ace, diamond to king, low heart ruffed (king first would have helped), diamond ruffed with the ace, spade to king, spade to ten, club jack/queen/king, spade to queen, club to ace and then Phyllis still had a trump, the diamond queen and a high club. Alas for Phyllis and Mark, Dane outscored them for defending 4Hx -3.
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4Hx E -3 vs Dane
4S N = by Mark; 4S S = by Phyllis
3S N +1 by Hank
3S N = by Pat and Gloria
4S N -1 vs Keianne, Glynneth and Ritold; 4S S -1 vs Jevin
4S N -2 vs Delen and Paun
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7: Mostly 3NT S:
?
...............J10
...............A9
...............107632
...............AQ42
A7632....................9854
QJ8........................K532
Q9..........................J
J97.........................10853
...............KQ
...............10764
...............AK854
...............K6
?
If South opened 1NT North raised to 3NT immediately. The hand really might as well do so, as 1D-1S leaves South with a nasty rebid problem. Three pairs got stuck in 3D S, presumably after a 1D opening bid. Two pairs played 5D S and the remaining seven 3NT S.
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West's natural spade lead forces declarer in 3NT to cash out. There are ten top tricks. Larry posted an eleventh for the top score when East did not appreciate the necessity to keep all the clubs. The diamond contracts all yielded eleven tricks. A simple hand.
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3NT S +2 by Larry
3NT S +1 by Erik, Lee, Jane (M), Rich, Jatin and Jane (T)
5D S = vs Vallen and Jevin
3D S +2 vs Keianne, Carthurl and Giselaine
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8: Bad overcall:
?
...............10853
...............65
...............J9852
...............Q8
K9........................AQJ42
AKJ87..................Q1094
74.........................1063
K632....................A
...............76
...............32
...............AKQ
...............J109754
?
This hand makes me think of thirty and forty years ago when players from Madison or thereabouts demonstrated a propensity to miss slams because they made forcing raises on hands with a strong side suit. If either East or West could switch the two minors in the hand, 6H W would be a fabulous contract. Possibly after the 2NT raise West would have shown higher than minimum values, the side would have shown a control or two and they would have stopped in 4H knowing the diamonds were wide open but I did not see that.
?
What I did see reminds of something I told Jean Shepler in 1984 - not to overcall a suit she did not want partner to lead. A majority of Souths who saw a 2NT forcing raise from East overcalled 3C and lived to regret it. The contract was 4H W nine times, 5Cx S, 5H W and 6H W, one East deliberately going to slam after the 3C overcall expecting a club lead and hoping for sufficient lack of duplication. I would have overcalled not 3C but - at matchpoints - 3D. South wants a diamond lead. This is about the safest possible auction for a risky lead-directing overcall, as E-W are already committed to playing 4H. Here E-W probably can collect more than game defending 3Dx, but are they really going to risk it? Even if they knew they had five trumps between them chances for seven defensive tricks don't look awfully good, especially to the offensively-carded East. There is a chance that North might decide to sacrifice, but North should be weak enough to do so only with good distribution and a partner alert to the possibilities of the auction will not hang South for being so kind as to tell partner the best lead. There is the chance of a good sacrifice in 5C, but for that partner would need to hold something like xxxx x xxxx KQxx. -500 looks far too likely with South's holding 2-2 in the majors. With 3-1 either way it would be a different proposition. Perhaps I just like being told what to lead so much myself that I put too much emphasis on doing the same for partner.
?
The 3C overcall was not a rousing success here. Only Lark, who somehow took one trick, escaped with an above-average score after South's 3C and a club lead. Gel were E-W top defending 5Cx S -5, followed by Eric's 6H +1 after Bob counted on a club lead. Most of the defenders who did not see 3C over 2NT found the diamond lead but two did not.
?
4H W +1 vs Pharah, Haorge and Conndy; 5H W = vs Jernj
4H W +2 vs Lark
4H W +3 by Rita, Dianne, Judy, Dee and Don
6H W +1 by Eric
5Cx S -5 vs Gel
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9: Avoid 3NT?:
?
...............K9842
...............97
...............J
...............AQ942
105......................QJ73
A10......................K865
K85432................97
865......................K73
...............A6
...............QJ432
...............AQ106
...............J10
?
N-S seemed to be in trouble on this auction. 1H-1S; 2D-2NT; 3NT looked likely. 3NT was the contract ten times, although only twice declared by North. One North gave preference back to 2H and the auction ended there. One South rebid 1NT, over which North opted for 3C to play.
?
3NT looks as if it might be all right but it only made three times out of ten. If South declares and West leads a diamond, South can follow with a club to the ten and play a low diamond, retaining the ace for control. But West can win and switch to a spade. Almost anything declarer tries it seems E-W can set up their fifth trick in one major or the other before declarer can establish a ninth. Jane (M) took ten tricks in 3NT, rather a heroic result; -2 was posted four times. That was also the result for Carthurl defending 2H, but Pat made 3C to justify stopping out of game with a score of 8/11.
?
3NT S +1 by Jane (M)
3NT S = by Larry and Jane (T)
3C N = by Pat
3NT N -1 by Mark; 3NT S -1 by Phyllis and Jatin
2H S -2 vs Carthurl; 3NT N -2 vs Giselaine; 3NT S -2 vs Gel, Ritold and Delen?
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10: Mostly 1NT:
?
...............K2
...............9542
...............K10763
...............96
Q975.......................AJ106
Q6...........................K873
A52..........................84
K1032......................Q85
...............843
...............AJ10
...............QJ9
...............AJ74
?
1C by South followed by a 1NT rebid seems the most likely and 1NT S was the contract half the time. One West played 1S, likely after a 1D response and a double from East. One North played 1NT (don't ask me how); the remining contracts were all 2S W.
?
With the heart ace dropping on the third round declarer need not get two heart ruffs in the West hand to be able to take ten tricks with the successful black-suit finesses. There seems to be a chance of getting rid of entries to the East hand before a good heart king can be cashed but ten tricks was the majority result in spades, three times out of five. Carthurl and Jevin defended 1NT S -2 to tie Dee's 2S W +3 for E-W top. This came about when East won a spade lead with the ten and was not in a hurry to cash out but switched to a club, leading to eight tricks. If E-W cashed four spades, ending in the West hand, a club or heart return and then taking the diamond ace before the third round even allowed a make of 1NT four times.
?
1NT N = by Jim; 1NT S = by Phyllis, Larry and NJ
1S W +2 vs Shane
2S W +2 by Rita, Judy and Don
1NT S -2 vs Keianne, Carthurl and Jevin; 2S W +3 by Dee
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11: Hard-to-find slam:
?
...............AK95
...............AQ8
...............AK54
...............K8
J1087.....................6432
932.........................J1065
J8...........................92
A1064.....................J53
...............Q
...............K74
...............Q10763
...............Q972
?
North opened 2C and followed with 2NT. Jatin and Cindy went directly to Gerber and then 6NT when partner showed two aces. Two Souths indicated possible slam but the auctions died in 4NT; 3NT N was played eight times. Jerik's invitation came from the North side; South had a queen extra and could have accepted.
?
Declarer had twelve simple tricks but took thirteen five times when a club through the ace was ducked to the king and then West unguarded the spades on the run of the red winners. Surprisingly three declarers took only eleven tricks.
?
6NT N +1 by Connie and Gloria
3NT N +4 by Mark, Sarah and Hank
3NT N +3 vs Glynneth, Carthurl, Giselaine and Paun
3NT N +2 vs Vallen; 4NT N +1 vs Boric and Gel
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12: Almost all partials:
?
...............QJ108
...............942
...............63
...............8643
975........................A6
Q8.........................1076
K85.......................QJ742
Q10942.................AKJ
...............K432
...............AKJ53
...............A109
...............7
?
East usually opened 1NT in third seat; it could not have been universal, as one South was left in 1H. 1NT E was also left in once. Four Souths declared 2H; West might reasonably have competed to 3C had the pair been playing lebensohl. Other contracts were 2S N, 2S S, 2NT E, 3D E twice and 4H S.
?
Heart contracts had a risk of five losers; declarer was likely to finesse in trumps and then perhaps suffer a spade ruff as well. Erik took ten tricks in 2H but the other three declarers in that contract only took eight; Glynneth defended 4H -1. 2S took nine tricks from the North side and seven from the South; I'm not sure why the disparity. When East played no-trumps, it all came down to whether South found the spade switch after the hearts. Rich did for 2NT -2; Ken was allowed eight tricks in 1NT; I did not sure where the eighth came from. Defending diamonds neither N-S pair attacked spades early enough; declarer was able to take ten tricks instead of nine, discarding the losing spade on a club. The lead of the singleton club appears to have given declarer all the time that was needed.
?
1H S +3 vs Cindy; 2H S +2 by Erik
2S N +1 by Mark
2H S = by George, Jatin and Jane (T)
2NT E -2 by Gisela
2S S -1 vs Carthurl; 4H S -1 vs Glynneth
1NT E +1 by Ken
3D E +1 by Gene and Ellen
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13: Lively hand and auctions:
?
...............KQJ10862
...............----
...............Q10874
...............K
A9..............................754
KQ1076.....................9832
9................................J6
AQJ109.....................8762
...............3
...............AJ53
...............AK532
...............543
?
It's hard to say how this auction "ought" to go, as few rules apply for hands with 7-5 patterns. North might open 4S and then West perhaps has to have good enough nerves to pass; slower auctions could end up going anywhere. Two N-S pairs stopped in partials while three attempted slam and stopped at various levels. One of the partials got redeemed: 1S-P-2D-2NT; 3S-P-P-X. One South played 4D and one West 4H, one 4Hx. Other spade contracts were 4S N four times, 4Sx N, 5S N, 6Sx N and 7Sx N.
?
Heart contracts got lucky - declarer had no way to take a club finesse and had to drop the king singleton. There is a chance at getting out for four losers but five seem enforceable. Spade and diamond contracts all came down to the lead. Either West gets the club ace or not. Linda had the best result, making 6Sx. Then came Gloria in 3Sx +3 and Doug in 4Sx +1. Jerik got a vital third undertrick against 4Hx. Vallen were E-W top defending 7Sx -1.
?
6Sx N = by Linda
3Sx N +3 by Gloria
4Sx N +1 by Doug
4Hx W -3 vs Jerik
4S N +2 by Connie, Pat and Sharon; 5S N +1 by Gernot
4S N =1 vs Ritold
4H W -2 by Dee
4D S +2 vs Gel
7Sx N -1 vs Vallen
?
14: E-W invited game:
?
...............QJ632
...............Q3
...............A92
...............A85
AK.........................9875
A62........................KJ4
Q754......................K108
K943......................Q72
...............104
...............109875
...............J63
...............J106
?
One North came in over West's 1NT and ended up declaring 2Sx. At the other eleven tables East invited game. West accepted the invitation by a 6-5 margin.
?
A fair amount rode on the opening lead. A low spade lead from North would go to ten and king, after which North would be able to force?five tricks after getting in. Theoretically it would be possible for declarer to come to nine tricks if a club were allowed to be won by the queen - a backwards finesse of running the diamond ten brings in three tricks in the suit. Leading the spade queen allows declarer to force nine tricks, but seven tricks after a finesse of the ten of diamonds turned out to be the majority outcome. Paun were E-W top defending 2Sx -2.
?
3NT W -2 vs Lernot, Conndy, Jernj and Shane
2NT W -1 by Del, Rita and Elaine; 3NT W -1 by Eric and Carl
2NT W = by Dianne
2NT W +1 by Lynn
2Sx N -2 vs Paun
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15: 1100 Club entry:
?
...............AQJ9864
...............853
...............109
...............6
K2..............................105
QJ94..........................K62
KJ..............................Q8762
AKJ72........................1098
...............73
...............A107
...............A543
...............Q543
?
West opened 1C and North overcalled either 2S or 3S. 2S was left in once but West usually balanced. Higher contracts were 3C W, 3D E, 3S N four times, 3NTx W, 4C W twice, 4D E and 4Sx N.
?
With the spades behaving all the spade contracts but one took nine tricks. Gel defended 3S N -1 for a score of 9/11 while Jevin were E-W top defending 4Sx -1. With the spade finesse working for N-S, Pich were able post 3NTx -5 for a score of +1100 and the N-S top. Don made 4C W after the lead of the spade ace to score 10/11 but all the other minor contracts were defeated.?
?
3NTx W -5 vs Pich
2S N +1 by Gloria; 3S N = by Mark, Hank and Sharon
3C W -1 by Valerie; 3D E -1 by Ken; 4C W -1 by Judy; 4D E -1 by Harold
3S N -1 vs Gel
4C W = by Don
4Sx N -1 vs Jevin
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16: 3NT N across the board:
?
...............KQ
...............AQ96
...............AQ86
...............K104
AJ107.....................9832
J10754...................K83
K109.......................543
6.............................873
...............654
...............2
...............J72
...............AQJ952
?
North opened 2NT and South subsided in 3NT, possibly after Puppet Stayman. The South hand has too many losers for slam; at best chances will be even.
?
This could have been an anti-Bill hand; he would have?been tempted to lead a heart and likely give declarer an eleventh trick. There were always nine tricks, even after a spade lead. In the process of cashing out it was a good idea to lead the diamond jack from dummy just in case West covered. When West did declarer had a tenth trick without risk. Connie took twelve tricks while three declarers took eleven. The plurality result was ten tricks; Gel, Keianne and Glynneth held declarer to nine.
?
3NT N +3 by Connie
3NT N +2 by Gernot, Jerry and Sharon
3NT N +1 vs Jevin, Paun, Boric, Delen and Carthurl
3NT N = vs Gel, Keianne and Glynneth
?
17: A handful of games:
?
...............9864
...............KQ3
...............K104
...............842
J5........................Q102
107652................AJ4
J..........................Q876
KQ1093...............765
...............AK73
...............98
...............A9532
...............AJ
?
South opened 1D or 1NT. 1NT was left in at?two tables, although West might have been able to make a two-suited overcall. One East eventually declared 3H, although all but one of the remaining contracts were played in spades. Contracts were 2S N twice, 3S N thrice and 4S S thrice, along with one 3NT S.
?
A club lead hit right at South's weak spot and, even if West feared South's holding a guarded jack after winning the ace, East held the entry and could reach West with the third club even if South held up on the first trick. The three no-trumps contracts all took eight tricks. Spades looks like making, especially if South declares, as West may well lead the singleton diamond. Declarer can finesse East for the queen, establish the suit with a ruff and then come to ten tricks against any defence. Jatin made 4S and Rich even made an overtrick, although Keianne posted 4S -2 for the E-W top. Spade partials took eight, nine or ten tricks. Bob managed a good 3H E -1, although -2 would have scored just as well.
?
4S S +1 by Rich
4S S = by Jatin
2S N +2 by Mark and Connie
3S N = by Linda and Doug
1NT S +1 vs Giselaine and Vallen
3H E -1 by Bob
3S N -1 vs Carthurl; 3NT S -1 vs Gel
4S S -2 vs Keianne
?
18: E-W game to close:
?
...............984
...............KJ3
...............QJ82
...............J65
Q2.....................AK65
A10....................Q8765
K106543............----
AQ10.................K973
...............J1073
...............942
...............A97
...............842
?
A Flannery opening bid from East give West an interesting choice. West can go directly to 3NT or try 2NT in hope that, against the odds, East opened 2D with three or four diamonds. But with a 4=5=0=4 hand pattern East rebids 4C over 2NT and West is stuck playing 4H, as happened at one table. One East played 4H as well. There were also contracts of 5D W and 5NT E, but the majority contract was 3NT, played four times from each side.
?
A diamond lead against no-trumps should suffice to hold declarer to ten tricks if not nine. A different lead allowed declarer a chance at eleven or even twelve tricks; both Harold and Ken took twelve tricks to tie for top. Helen took twelve tricks in 4H E, although Pharah held 4H W to ten tricks. 5D finished -1, saving Carl half a matchpoint, as Jerik also defeated 3NT.
?
3D W -1 vs Shane; 3NT E -1 vs Jerik
3NT E = vs Conndy; 3NT W = vs Pich
4H W = vs Pharah
3NT W +1 vs Lark
3NT W +2 by Jeff and Del; 5NT E = by Ellen
4H E +2 by Helen
3NT E +3 by Harold and Ken
