1: Double game tried:
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...............A9
...............AKQJ62
...............96
...............852
KQ82........................J7643
975............................3
QJ2...........................A1054
1094..........................AKQ
...............105
...............1084
...............K873
...............J763
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I was a little surprised that three auctions of the four ended in game, although it is tempting for North to carry on over 3S with seven winners. West never declared, suggesting that East never doubled 1H. North might try 3NT over 3S with seven running winners if inclined to go on (assuming South scraped up a raise). All four contracts were different: 3S E, 4H N, 4S E and 5Sx E.
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E-W's lack of duplication means that 4S breezes home despite the losing diamond finesse. All three declarers in spades took the expected ten tricks. 4H should have been -2 but Mary escaped for -1.
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5Sx E -1 vs Jerik
4H N -1 by Mary
3S E +1 by Gareth
4S E = by Sundar
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2: Lucky game:
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...............42
...............10943
...............K9
...............AK1065
953.............................AK1086
A6..............................KJ
76432.........................AQ105
J93.............................Q7
...............QJ7
...............Q8752
...............J8
...............842
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This is the hand I thought might have more games than partials, as it seemed that East would open 1S, be raised to 2S and continue to 4S. But we finished with contracts of 2D E, 2S E, 3H S and only one 4S E.
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4S got a little lucky when the diamonds split 2-2 and the king was onside, so that Harold was able to make 4S. Sundar even took eleven tricks in 2S when N-S refused to take their club tricks. This tied Garbot's 3H -2 (which might have been -3) for the middle score. Defending 2D +3 gave Jerik the N-S top.
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2D E +2 vs Jerik
2S E +3 by Sundar; 3H S -2 vs Garbot
2D E +2 vs Jerik
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3: Mostly 2S W:
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...............54
...............QJ1042
...............KQ5
...............962
A10.........................Q8762
AK7.........................985
J10974....................83
KJ8.........................A73
...............KJ93
...............63
...............A62
...............Q1054
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At three tables West opened 1NT and declared 2S after a transfer. At the fourth table the auction was P-1D-1H-1S; 1NT. I have no idea why West thought to open 1D.
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2S was settable due to lack of entries but could have been held to -1. Cinise were N-S plus with a two-trick set when declarer spurned the club finesse. The other two declarers in 2S shared E-W top on -100 when Erik made a key overtrick in 1NT.
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2S W -2 vs Cinise
1NT S +1 by Erik
2S W -1 by Bob and Pam
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Leaders: Jerik 8, Pandar 7, Harob 6.5, Cinise 5.5
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4: Apparently 3NT:
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...............J107
...............Q63
...............864
...............K1095
A542......................KQ3
AJ107.....................K98
A.............................Q10752
AQ64......................J3
...............986
...............542
...............KJ93
...............872
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E-W seem headed for 3NT, which was played once by East and twice by West. Our substitute pair bid to 6NT E by the short auction 1C-2NT; 6NT.
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6NT fails to a diamond lead unless declarer can guess correctly that the king or jack is doubleton (or either is singleton). Sundar produced nice play in 6NT E after a heart lead, which with the evenly-splitting majors and favourable club layout allowed the contract to make. After a heart lead to queen and king, declarer ran the eight major winners, sandwiching in a key lead of a low club towards the jack. North had to hold the king; had South held it there would have never been a chance of three club tricks. North had to duck the club lead and let East win the jack or declarer would have had three club winners. After running the majors Sundar came down to
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----
----
A
AQ6
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in dummy. North also had to come down to four cards in the minors. North chose to keep two diamonds and two clubs; Sundar ducked a club and dummy was good. Had North kept three clubs declarer would have had to guess whether to cash the diamond ace first or not. It would have been silly had North begun with C Kxx. Here it would have worked to cash the diamond first, as North had not kept the club five; down to K109 North could not have avoided the endplay. The winning defence was to drop the nine on the first club to the jack, keep three clubs and play low on the second club to let South win the trick. It was still impressive declaring to give N-S the chance to let the contract slip through the cracks. 3NT E took the expected eleven tricks for Louise; 3NT W was held to ten both times.
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3NT W +1 vs Harob and Jirlotte
3NT E +2 by Louise
6NT E = by Sundar
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5: No-trumps or minor?:
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...............A
...............K9876
...............AQ1074
...............82
8652......................KJ1094
Q52........................A43
5.............................92
109754...................AJ6
...............Q73
...............J10
...............KJ863
...............KQ3
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1H-1S-2D-3S makes it difficult for North to steer the contract to 3NT. Slower auctions ended in 2NT S, 3NT S and 5D S twice. Nobody found 4H, which would have come out all right given that the queen was with West and the ace with East.
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4H would have made because a diamond ruff would have done E-W no good. The two declaring Souths made 5D when the heart finesse worked. But the successful heart finesse also allowed 3NT to make with an overtrick when South's spade queen became a second stopper. Bob took eleven tricks in 3NT for the N-S top.
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3NT S +2 by Bob
5D S = by Mary and Erik
2NT S +1 vs Garbot
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6: All 3NT:
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...............A4
...............A976
...............7
...............KQ7543
Q965.........................J108
J3..............................Q1085
KJ84.........................A653
J106..........................92
...............K732
...............K42
...............Q1092
...............A8
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The only question was whether North or South declared 3NT. 1D-1H; 1S and then North might bid 2C as Fourth Suit Forcing or go to 3NT. North might also respond 2C instead, which might induce South to bid 2NT.
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Played from either side 3NT has ten top tricks and E-W three top tricks, making +1 the expected outcome. Jim (L) was the only declarer taking eleven tricks, playing from the North side and not receiving a diamond lead, then getting helpful discards.
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3NT N +2 by Jim (L)
3NT N +1 vs Pandar; 3NT S +1 vs Ibot and Cinise
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Leaders: Pandar 13.5, Harob 13, Jerik 11.5, Cinise 11
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7: All 4H or 4S:
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...............J82
...............5
...............A542
...............J7432
AQ743...................1096
KJ7........................A109863
J103.......................K86
AK..........................10
...............K5
...............Q42
...............Q97
...............Q9865
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I'm a little surprised that 4S was only played once and 4H three times, including twice by West. 1S-2S; 3H-4H? Okay. That happens.
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4S made the overtrick, likely after a heart opening lead. It's not so much that the hearts run as that the lead takes the finesse for declarer. 4H likely sees declarer play for the drop and finish with nine or ten tricks (as actually happened) depending on the diamond guess. Harob were N-S top defending 4H W -1; Irene was E-W top playing 4S W +1.
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4H W -1 vs Harob
4H E = by Jim (U); 4H W = by Gareth
4S W +1 by Irene
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8: Four different denominations:
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...............92
...............Q32
...............A9
...............1086543
KQJ654..................3
108765...................KJ94
3.............................J10765
2.............................KQJ
...............A1087
...............A
...............KQ842
...............A97
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Three Wests opened 2S on the 6-5 hand pattern. One South balance with 2NT, ending the auction. The other two balanced with 3D, once ending the auction and the other time leading to 4H W. The fourth auction began P-P-1D-1NT, finishing in the interesting contract of 4C N.
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Harold had a shot at eleven tricks in 4C but ten was good enough for N-S top. Mary made 2NT S, which makes sense if E-W go hard after hearts. 3D S looked all right but was -1 on the bad trump split. 4H W was off the four aces and declarer lost an inconsequential fifth trick.
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4C N = by Harold
2NT S - by Mary
4H W -2 by Erik
3D S -1 vs Garbot
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9: Possible sacrifice?:
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...............10
...............AQ742
...............K10763
...............93
K84.........................QJ97652
KJ98.......................105
94............................AQ8
K1085......................6
...............A3
...............63
...............J52
...............AQJ742
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East might open 3S, which could end the auction. West might raise to 4S. P-3S-P-P; X is possible; South might even take a shot at 3NT and have North go on to 4H. East may even open 1S. Contracts were 3D N, 3S E, 4Hx N and 4S E.
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4Hx finished the expected -3, which might not have been too bad if 4S could have made. But a heart lead would set the contract out of hand and the one time 4S was played declarer dropped a fifth trick along the way. Mary did well in 2D -1 and Louise in 3S =.
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4S E -2 vs Jirlotte
3D N -1 by Mary
3S E = by Louise
4Hx N -3 vs Garbot
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Leaders: Harob 20, Jerik-Pandar 15, Garbot 14.5
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10: Battle of the majors:
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...............94
...............Q1043
................32
...............Q8432
KQ32.......................AJ1085
KJ5..........................87
10985......................Q7
A7............................K1095
...............76
...............A962
...............AKJ64
...............J6
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After P-1D-P-1H; East overcalled spades, South and West raised and it was just a question of which side would push the other higher. Contracts were 1S E(!), 2S E, 3H N and 3Hx N.
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It looked as if 3H could have been -1, but both declarers finished -2,?making it better for either side to defend than declare although it was fortunate for declarer that the entries were not there to finesse hearts twice through East, usually the proper line with Q10xx opposite A9xx. Spades were simpler, depending on the heart guess with nine or ten tricks likely. Ibot scored well on -170; Pandar were N-S top scoring -110.
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1S E +1 vs Pandar
2S E +2 vs Ibot
3H N -2 vs Garbot
3Hx N -2 vs Jirlotte
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11: All partials:
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...............J1062
...............3
...............A854
...............8763
K74...........................AQ9853
A962.........................KJ5
K96...........................Q2
1092..........................J5
...............----
...............Q10874
...............J1073
...............AKQ4
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One East got into the auction, though I did not see whether North responded 1S or 1NT to South's 1H opening bid at that table. It is possible to play 1H-P-1S-2S as natural, although I'm not sure this East hand would want to come in on the first round. Contracts were 2D N twice (apparently North passed, East balanced with 1S and South doubled for takeout), 3C S and 3Sx E.
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East can make 3S and really should if North has responded 1S to 1H unless the opening lead was a heart. If South begins with three clubs, East ruffs the third and leads a spade to the king, leads a spade through North's J10x and then uses?the heart ace as the needed re-entry for the third round of spades. Diamonds happened to play much better than clubs as the South hand could take many spade ruffs in diamonds without serious detriment to the trump holding. Harold was N-S top in 2D +2; Jerik were E-W top defending 3C -2.
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2D N +2 by Harold
2D N +1 by Irene
3Sx E -1 by Gareth
3C S -2 vs Jerik
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12: Choice of game:
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...............A763
...............963
...............Q2
...............10872
J4............................K10852
AK1072...................QJ8
K108.......................6
AK4.........................J653
...............Q9
...............54
...............AJ97543
...............Q9
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I was a little impressed that all the E-W pairs reached game, as 1NT-2H; 2S looked quite plausible. Similarly, it was not a given that West would invite game after 1H-2H or move over 1NT-2H; 2S-2NT. But everyone did wander into game one way or another, 4H W thrice and 3NT W once. South wisely generally avoided entering the auction due to the vulnerability.
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3NT looks precarious if the lead is a diamond but declarer can always play North for the spade ace or drop the club queen doubleton (although there seems no safe way to combine the plays). Pandar were above average scoring -400. 4H gives declarer a chance to lose anywhere from two to four tricks - a club lead may see West rise with dummy's jack and get stuck with a club loser along with the diamond ace and two spades if the position is misguessed. Cindy took eleven tricks and Gareth ten in 4H, while Harob set the contract.
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4H W -1 vs Harob
3NT W + vs Pandar
4H W = by Gareth
4H W +1 by Cindy
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Leaders: Harob 26, Garbot 20.5, Pandar 20, Jerik 19, Cinise 18
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13: All 3NT:
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...............J875
...............AJ92
...............J4
...............1087
942........................AK10
K108......................64
K............................A1032
AQJ642.................K953
...............Q63
...............Q753
...............Q98765
...............----
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If East opened 1D, West responded 2C and then East might have rebid 2NT or declared after 1D-2C; 3C-3H; 3NT. West declared once, perhaps after a 1C opening bid and an inverted minor raise.
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Declarer has ten top tricks. The contract is right-sided when West declares - when East declares a heart lead and spade switch probably leave declarer with little to do but cash out. But all four declarers took at least eleven tricks, with two (Louise and Charlotte) taking twelve. Did South unguard the diamonds?
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3NT E +2 vs Garbot and Pandar
3NT E +3 by Louise; 3NT W +3 by Charlotte
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14: Choice of games:
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...............KQ
...............AKQJ3
...............2
...............AKJ97
108765...................A932
10942.....................7
K.............................QJ1085
853.........................Q42
...............J4
...............864
...............A97643
...............106
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If South starts with a rather slimy 2D, North has a reasonable 3NT. Otherwise North opens 2C in fourth seat and likely reaches 4H. 4H was played thrice and 3NT once, North declaring every time.
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If North ruffed a club before drawing the third trump declarer took twelve tricks, which gave Mary and Gareth a tie for N-S top. In 3NT declarer had to cash out after a spade lead. One declarer unfortunately managed to go down in 4H, for which the only plausible line is that declarer took a club finesse and then West got a club overruff but even that should still be ten tricks; I don't see the fourth loser.
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4H N +2 by Mary and Gareth
3NT N = vs Harob
4H N -1 vs Jirlotte
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15: Half in game:
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...............J10873
...............93
...............A53
...............1096
Q.............................6542
KQ642....................A87
87............................QJ42
AQ873.....................K2
...............AK9
...............J105
...............K1096
...............J54
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If South opens, there follows a competitive auction in which East may devalue the diamond holding and decline to invite game. Two auctions ended in 2H W. Two auctions went to game, one a simple P-1H-P-3H; P-4H and the other a competitive 1D-2NT-3D-3H; 4D-4H-4S.
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4S was always going down at least three tricks and that was the result Harob posted. 4H W had no trouble with both the hearts and club behaving; even if declarer tried ruffing the third club after drawing two trumps it would have worked; Charlotte posted +420. One declarer in 4H somehow took eleven tricks, but defending partials were still the two best N-S results.
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2H W +2 vs Garbot
2H W +3 vs Marbot
4S N -3 vs Harob
4H W = by Charlotte
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Leaders: Harob 30.5, Garbot 28.5, Jirlotte-Pandar 24.5
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16: All E-W partials:
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...............J1065
...............K942
...............Q54
...............Q5
873...................A4
J8.....................AQ105
AK10632..........J8
73.....................KJ862
...............KQ92
...............763
...............97
...............A1094
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East showed good discipline here. I thought some might look for game after West's 2D opening bid but nobody did. Two Wests were left in a 2D opening bid. One East played 1NT, which did confuse me a bit. The fourth contract was 2H E, also slightly confusing.
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Had the diamonds run 3NT Would have had a chance, but the finesse's losing meant N-S could always come to five tricks. Apparently Sundar received a club lead rather than a spade, as he took ten tricks in 1NT. Eight tricks in 1NT would have given Charlotte the E-W top in 2D +2; either nine or ten tricks would have been reasonable. Garbot tied Marbot for N-S top on -110, 2D taking nine tricks and 2H eight.
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2D W +1 vs Garbot; 2H E = vs Marbot
2D W +2 by Charlotte
1NT E +3 by Sundar
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17: Who was sacrificing if anyone?:
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...............1085
...............AQ98
...............9753
...............A10
97643.....................2
J54.........................3
K6...........................AJ1042
J97..........................KQ8653
...............AKQJ
...............K10762
...............Q8
...............42
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South overcalled or doubled and North made some sort of noise indicative of inviting game. Usually the invitation was accepted or East pushed the bidding higher. Jerik got to use their 2NT opening bid: P-2NT-3H-P; 4H-5C, a little unilateral on Jim's part but at least Erik knew he had six clubs and five diamonds. Both of the two 5C bids were left in undoubled; the other two contracts were 3H S and 5Hx S.
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Harob were lucky to defeat 5Hx, which should have made without much difficulty; this would have affected the overall results. Cindy took eleven trick in 3H and was N-S top because neither 5C contract was doubled.5C had to lose the three aces and both declarers remained joined in the middle when they lost an extra trick.
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3H S +2 by Cindy
5C E -2 vs Marbot and Ibot
5Hx S -1 vs Harob
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18: An excellent slam:
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...............AK10876
...............A10
...............J975
...............7
Q54............................J932
86543........................QJ
Q2..............................10
Q103..........................AJ9642
...............----
...............K972
...............AK8643
...............K85
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Mary might have been on the way to an accident but Northbot did just the right thing on the second round. Their auction was 3C-X-P-4C; P-5D-P-6D, Northbot avoiding the catastrophic 6S. Had East passed, it looks as if slam might have been reached after 1D-1S; 2D; North has a superb dummy for diamonds with controls and a source of discards. Alas nobody else managed to reach slam: the other contracts were 5D and 4D twice.
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When trumps split 2-1 (and with South declaring to protect the club king from the opening lead) everyone took twelve tricks in diamonds with ease, giving Mary the N-S top and Cindy second.
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6D S = by Mary
5D S +1 by Cindy
4D S +2 vs Harob and Pandar
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Final: Harob 36.5, Pandar-Garbot 31.5, Cinise 28, Jirlotte 27.5
