1:
?
...............J973
...............K2
...............J86
...............AK42
85............................1064
Q10976....................AJ54
Q2............................A10
QJ65........................9873
...............AKQ2
...............83
...............K97543
...............10
?
Except for one South who was not yet warmed up and accidentally passed North in 1C, and another North who took South's 1D response as denying a four-card major and consequently the auction finished in 5Dx, everyone reached 4S. I am pleased to report that North declared by a 6-3 margin, as the South hand is quite strong enough to prefer a 1D response to 1S. Give North xxx Axx QJx AKxx and 6D has excellent chances while 3NT may well be defeated.
?
4S turned out to be right-sided with North's declaring but it could easily have gone the other way - had West held the heart ace and AQx in diamonds it would have been much easier to find the killing diamond lead if East were on lead with the singleton. E-W had three tricks if South declared. In a way it was a pity, as the double of 5D had a dreadful risk-reward ratio and deserved to be punished. It rarely pays to double 5m contracts in uncontested auctions. There will hardly ever be enough pairs in 5m for the extra points to matter when the contract fails and if it makes often a good score becomes a zero. Had the contract been 5D N, which could not have been set, the double would have cost 80%, over 4% off the pair's overall score, when +100 scored only 5% better than +50 would have done when Pannis were allowed to defeat 4S. For N-S, Karlene and Myrtle both took twelve tricks when East resolutely refused to cash the heart ace once the diamonds were established.
?
4S N +2 by Karlene and Myrtle
4S N +1 by Melba and Kevin; 4S S +1 by Cindy, Mark and Elizabeth
4S S = vs Lebhi
1C N = vs Ribot
4S N -1 vs Pannis
5Dx S -1 vs Troward
?
2:
?
...............9843
...............AQ762
...............96
...............43
J1076.......................A2
J1094.......................K53
73.............................KQ104
KJ9...........................10652
...............KQ5
...............8
...............AJ842
...............AQ87
?
East opened 1D. One intrepid South overcalled 1NT and finished by declaring 2NT after North reasonably attempted to play in a major. One East passed West's 1H response and is still alive to tell the tale (had this happened during one of the open BBO games, I'm sure there would have been a director called to the table by indignant opponents crying, "CHEATING!" and it would have taken me my usual average of three minutes to soothe ruffled feathers and remind people that Bad Bridge Is Still Permitted - it once took me ten minutes to convince an "expert" that it was not Alertable to make a weak jump overcall with 11 HCP opposite a passed partner). The majority contract was 1NT E, played seven times. One East ended in 2NT and one North in 2S, one or both likely after a takeout double.
?
The hand is remarkably kind to E-W, with 1NT highly likely to make. Tracy took nine tricks, Judy (P) and Lee eight; only Jevin defeated the contract (a remarkably hard one to defend for South, who has a hard time getting off lead. Defending 2NT worked out well for either side.
?
2NT E -3 vs Elott
1NT E -1 vs Jevin
1H W = vs Tary
1NT E = vs Karleta,?Rekenee and Myrne
2NT S -1 vs Ribot
1NT E +1 by Judy (P) and Lee
1NT E +2 by Tracy
2S N -2 vs Wendric
?
3:
?
...............Q83
...............KQ1053
...............74
...............Q54
A10.........................K976
J72..........................A84
Q3...........................9862
AJ9872...................K3
...............J542
...............96
...............AKJ105
...............106
?
Here we had a Battle of the Minors. West opened and often repeated clubs; usually the auction began P-1C-1H-X; 2D; nine contracts were either 2D S or 3C W, with the diamonds winning out 5-4. One West declared 1NT, presumably on an uncontested auction. The last contract was 2H N, South's 2D bid likely being taken as forcing.
?
2H N could have finished -2 by force, as E-W have five top tricks and can force two ruffs through the expedient of drawing South's trumps before taking the club ruff. Similarly 2D -2 was the par result in that contract; West gets two spade ruffs. Diane led the spade ace and managed -3 for the E-W top. 3C could have been made by force but only by a backwards finesse in trumps. Owen was the only successful declarer after N-S got muddled by the heart signal.
?
1NT W -1 vs Karleta; 3C W -1 vs Ebot, Study and Rekenee
2D S = by Elizabeth
2D S -1 vs Marudy; 2H N -1 vs Troward
2D S -2 vs Glynneth and Jillbot
3C W = by Owen
2D S -3 vs Diabot
?
4:
?
...............A75
...............QJ3
...............1097
...............A874
8432.......................KJ6
K98.........................107652
KQ..........................A86
Q962.......................K5
...............Q109
...............A4
...............J5432
...............J103
?
One North opened 1C, which somehow ended in 3NT -4. Another North opened a systemic 1D and declared 2D. Six of the nine Easts given the opportunity opened the bidding, declaring 2H five times and 3H once. There were three passouts after the three Robots in the East seat all passed as third hand, not liking the idea of opening light in one's worst suit.
?
If South had declared 3D after a balance, we would have seen the downside of opening light on a poor suit when a heart lead would have given away a trick. E-W would have had to be careful defending after that not to crash diamond honours in order to justify opening the bidding by going plus. 2D N was defeated when West scored the heart king and Troward continued their fine start with the E-W top for defending 3NT -4. 2H looked to take eight tricks; Lin and Eric took nine for the best declaring result. A natural opening lead of the club jack and a good spade guess is the most likely road to +140.
?
3H E -1 vs Ebot
Passed Out by Study, Jevin and Myrne
2D N -1 by Tom
2H E = by Judy (P), Lee and Paul (P)
2H E +1 by Lin and Eric
3NT S -4 vs Troward
?
?
5:
?
...............J6
...............72
...............AQ93
...............87432
Q7543....................1098
Q4..........................KJ1095
10654.....................K7
105.........................AKJ
...............AK2
...............A863
...............J82
...............Q96
?
The majority auction was 1NT-2H; 2S for E-W; 2S E was the contract eight times. Two Easts opened 1H and were left there; one South overcalled 1H with 1NT and was left there.
?
2S can actually be defeated if the opening lead is a low trump or a diamond to North's nine or queen. The idea is to establish three diamond tricks for the defence if declarer lets the defence draw East's trumps or a heart ruff in the North hand if need be. It seems unlikely anyone would find such a line at the table; the more usual line of ace, king and a third trump allows nine tricks, the most common result, occurring five times although three pairs defeated 2S. Breta managed to escape with six tricks in 1NT for a good score; E-W should have had the timing to manage a second undertrick had they been looking for the magic +200.
?
2S E -1 vs Irba, Rekenee and Tary
1H E = vs Jevin
1NT S -1 by Breta
1H E +1 by Gareth
2S E +1 by Jill, Lin, Eric, Tracy and Diane
?
6:
?
...............K108763
...............7
...............J853
...............A8
AQJ4........................5
J6.............................Q952
AQ............................K642
KQ1054....................J973
...............92
...............AK10843
...............1097
...............62
?
South opened 2H and West competed, possibly with 3C and possibly a double. 3C was played both by West and East, along with 3NT E twice and 3NT W. 3D E was left in twice and two Easts also played 4C; the one-off contracts were 3H S and 5C W.
?
N-S had three tricks against club contracts; Elott were the one pair to do better, defending 3C -1. 3NT looked to make from either side, with an overtrick possible against a spade lead from North or a low heart lead from South. Jill and Eric managed the overtrick to tie for E-W top.
?
3D E -2 vs Irba
3C E -1 vs Elott; 5C W -1 vs Myrne
3D E = vs Rekenee
3C W +1 by Dennis; 4C E = by Judy (P) and Tracy
3H S -3 vs Lebhi
3NT E = by Lin
3NT E +1 by Eric; 3NT W +1 by Jill
?
7:
?
...............A852
...............KQ72
...............Q8
...............654
63..............................KQ10974
95..............................----
643............................AJ1095
AJ9832......................107
...............J
...............AJ108643
...............K72
...............KQ
?
N-S are headed for game after a 1H-3H start and then in comes East with the big 6-5 hand pattern and big suits. 4H was left in five times. Six Easts sacrificed in 4S, two being left in 4Sx and four pushing N-S to 5H.
?
All the heart contracts took eleven tricks exactly. 4Sx can force nine tricks for declarer with care about the trump suit; declarer does best to discard a club on a heart opening lead and be careful not to lead a second round of trumps before the diamonds are established. If declarer trumps the first heart and then leads out two trumps, the defence gets control of the hand and can score better than game. Myrne did so for the N-S top while Tracy, either through careful declaring or the defence's getting scared off the forcing defence, was E-W top for -1.
?
4Sx E -3 vs Myrne
4H S +1 by Cindy, Mark, Judy (R), Tom, Jeff, Breta, Eva, Ira and Elizabeth
4Sx E -1 by Tracy
?
8:
?
...............KJ104
...............1062
...............KJ642
...............3
Q965......................A873
953.........................J8
87...........................A95
AJ109.....................8752
...............2
...............AKQ74
...............Q103
...............KQ64
?
We almost had everyone in 4H S; North might consider the hand worth a three-card limit raise or Drury and South might reasonably just go to game after a single raise. Two auctions ended in 2H S, perhaps after P-1H; 1S-2C; 2H. One auction ended in 3H S; the other eight Souths played 4H.
?
The hand is tricky; the spade duplication makes it appear that declarer will need the diamond ace to come down doubleton or get a club ruff or two. The key to the set is a diamond lead, ducked. This threatens a ruff and forces declarer to draw trumps to prevent the diamond ruff. But now East can duck the second round of diamonds, leaving declarer cut off from dummy and leading to -2. Wendric and Ribot posted +100 to tie for E-W top. Five Souths made 4H to tie for top; Jillbot managed a one-trick set. Breta was the only declarer to take eleven tricks for the middle score in 3H +2.
?
4H S = by Cindy, Eva, Judy (R), Elizabeth and Anne
3H S +2 by Breta
2H S +2 vs Troward and Glynneth
4H S -1 vs Jillbot
4H S -2 vs Wendric and Ribot
?
9:
?
...............A43
...............987
...............82
...............AKQ92
KJ952.....................7
AKQ........................J1042
A10.........................KQJ54
J65..........................743
...............Q1086
...............653
...............9763
...............108
?
North opens 1C; West balances with a double and then presumably rebids spades. Where the auction goes from there who knows; contracts were 2D E, 2H E, 2H W, 2S W thrice, 2NT W, 3S W, 3NT W, 4H E and 4H W.
?
N-S have six top tricks against no-trumps and four top tricks against hearts or diamonds. Even spade contracts looked fairly straightforward; cashing three club tricks would have held declarer to seven tricks, with eight possible otherwise. Strangley, declarers in both 2NT and 3NT took eight tricks; neither North cashed the spade ace after the five clubs. All the red-suit contracts took nine tricks. Dennis had the best result declaring spades with eight tricks in 3S -1, Rekenee the best result defending spades in 2S -3 for the N-S top.?
?
2S W -3 vs Rekenee
2S W -2 vs Mayne
2S W -1 vs Karleta; 3S W -1 vs Cinise; 3NT W -1 vs Tary; 4H E -1 vs Elott; 4H W -1 vs Study
2D E +1 by Gareth
2NT W = by Owen
2H E +1 by Lee; 2H W +1 by Martin
?
10:
?
...............864
...............J7543
...............A9
...............KJ6
QJ9........................K32
AK8........................109
K865......................QJ1072
1042.......................A97
...............A1075
...............Q62
...............43
...............Q853
?
West opens 1D in third seat. North has a grim hand but at least one 1H overcall appeared. After a pass from North East might respond 1NT ending the auction. The usual contract was 3D W, played seven times, along with 1NT E, 2D W, 3H N and 3NT W.
?
A heart or club lead could have set 3NT but Diane made the contract when North, on lead with the diamond ace, led the third heart instead of finding the club switch that would have established the setting trick. Paul (P) took ten tricks in 1NT E. Ribot defended 3H -2 for a 90% score. 3D had nine secure tricks; Jill and Martin took a tenth trick when North led a second heart on getting in with the ace of trumps.
?
2D W +1 vs Ebot; 3D W = vs Study, Rekenee, Tary and Jevin
3D W +1 by Jill, Martin and Lynn
1NT E +3 by Paul (P)
3H N -2 vs Ribot
3NT W = by Diane
?
11:
?
...............J9842
...............J7
...............K102
...............K82
AK106.....................53
A8432.....................KQ95
Q84.........................653
7..............................AQ43
...............Q7
...............106
...............AJ97
...............J10965
?
Again we almost got everyone into 4H. I thought Flannery might have a tricky time of it, as East might well respond 2NT and dislike the 3D rebid enough to say only 3H on the second round, but the one Flannery auction ended in 4H E. Three contracts were one-off; along with 4H E there were 2H W and 3H W with everyone else in 4H W.
?
Play was relatively straightforward; a diamond lead allowed N-S to cash their three tricks while any other lead gave declarer a shot at an eleventh winner. Liwen's opponents justified their underbidding by taking only eight tricks in 2H. The other declarers produced a 6-4 margin in favour of eleven tricks. The contract is always secure when trumps divide 2-2. Declarer is likely not to want to risk the club finesse, but ruffing a club before ruffing a spade will drop the club king on the second ruff and allow a discard of a diamond loser.
?
2H W = vs Irba
3H W +1 vs Elott
4H W = vs Tary, Jevin and Myrne
4H E +1 by Eric; 4H W +1 by Lynn, Dennis, Diane, Jill and Martin
?
12:
?
...............8
...............K1085
...............AJ843
...............A43
107654.................KQ
QJ.........................96432
Q10.......................K96
10986....................J72
...............AJ932
...............A7
...............752
...............KQ5
?
This time it was 3NT that was played at almost every table; it was just a question of whether North or South would bid the no-trumps first. By a 6-4 margin it was North. I did see at least two 1NT rebids after 1D-1S; after a 2D rebid from North South might have gone to 3NT directly or 3C to give North a chance to show three-card spade support.
?
The layout favours N-S in a huge way. The diamonds do have to lose two tricks, but the huge benefit to declarer comes from the spades only allowing the defence one trick. If West had held K10xx or Q10xx we might even have seen a set. Ten tricks were the expected result but the unexpected bonus in hearts led to an eleventh trick when E-W did not shift to a spade in time.
?
3NT N +2 by Scott, Kevin and Myrtle; 3NT S +2 by Judy (R)
3NT N +1 vs Glynneth, Pannis and Liwen; 3NT S +1 vs Diabot and Jillbot
3NT S = vs Wendric
2S S +1 vs Loul
?
13:
?
...............A8
...............65
...............8432
...............AKQ64
KQ109..................6432
Q10984................3
AQ........................KJ1095
108.......................J52
...............J75
...............AKJ72
...............76
...............973
?
A surprisingly large number of E-W pairs found their way into the auction; 1C-1H ought to have let N-S have the bidding all to themselves, except perhaps if West ventured a balancing double over a 2C rebid from North. But this produced a rainbow hand all on the same level, even. 1NT N was left in thrice and 2C N once. One West doubled on the first round, leading to East's declaring 2D. Two Souths rebid 2H and played the hand there. There was one 2S W and one 2NT N. The two higher contracts were 3D E and 4Sx E.
?
Spades could have taken nine tricks but the two declarers in the suit only took eight. Diamonds could have yielded eight tricks but both Easts declaring in diamonds finished -2. When N-S declared, 2H naturally had the toughest time of it with West's holding five trumps. In keeping with the theme of the hand, neither declarer took the expected seven tricks, Glynneth holding declarer to six while Tom took eight. 2C N should have been held to eight tricks but Scott took nine. The one contract that performed as expected was 1NT N, in which Ken, Kevin and Myrtle all took eight tricks.
?
4Sx E -2 vs Irba
2D E -2 vs Cinise; 3D E -2 vs Karleta
1NT N +1 by Ken, Kevin and Myrtle; 2NT N = by Eva
2C N +1 vs Loul; 2H S = vs Wendric
2S W = by Owen
2H S -2 vs Glynneth
?
14:
?
...............QJ65
...............432
...............J9
...............J874
A3.........................K92
1075......................AQJ98
K742.....................86
10653....................AKQ
...............10874
...............K6
...............AQ1053
...............92
?
His was as close as we cam to getting everyone into the same contract. Ten E-W pairs reached 4H E; the eleventh pair ended in 3NT E after a Mexican 2D opening bid and a transfer sequence.
?
Had 3NT been played by West South would likely have regretted not doubling the 2D opening bid, although it makes some sense not to do so, as the opening bidder almost always declares the hand after a Mexican 2D opening bid. Renee led a diamond and produced an easy -1 for the N-S top. Everyone in 4H took the expected eleven tricks for an almost flat board.?
?
3NT E -1 vs Rekenee
4H E +1 by Eric, Louise (B), Tracy, Rita, Lee, Gareth, Paul (P), Diane, Jill and Lin
?
15:
?
...............J1092
...............982
...............AQ943
...............10
KQ3.......................764
AK653...................Q4
1087.......................52
82..........................AJ9653
...............A85
...............J107
...............KJ6
...............KQ74
?
The auction begins 1C-1H-X and then South is thankful if East doesn't pass. Even a 1S response on four or more (as played by the Loring-Reich partnership, among others) gives South an irritating rebid. Two Souths bid 1S over the negative double and played the hand there. One 1H W was left in. Higher contracts were 2D N, 2H W thrice, 2S N twice, 3H W and 4H W.
?
Most contracts failed. Hearts could have been held to seven tricks by the right opening lead and was evenly divided between seven and eight tricks. Spade contracts could have been held to seven or six tricks. The best declaring performance was Elizabeth's in 2S; she received the defence of two rounds of clubs, after which she could not be stopped from taking nine tricks.
?
4H W -3 vs Jevin
2S N +1 by Scott
1S S = by Cindy and Judy (R)
2H W -1 vs Rekenee and Tary; 3H W -1 vs Karleta
2D N -1 vs Pannis
1H W +1 by Diane; 2H W = by Abhi
2S N -2 vs Troward
?
16:
?
...............5
...............AK4
...............A10842
...............A943
AQ984...................K3
J965.......................107
J3...........................Q97
Q6..........................KJ10875
...............J10762
...............Q832
...............K65
...............2
?
North opened 1D and East occasionally if not frequently overcalled 2C. South often made a negative double. East declared four times, once when 2Cx was left in, twice in 3C undoubled and once in 3Cx. Both West and South played once in 2S, enough to give us a second rainbow hand. One North played quietly in 2D. North played 2NT twice and 3NT once, with 4H S the highest contract.
?
N-S can force seven tricks in spades and both spade contracts produced that result despite being declared by opposite sides. South had eight easy tricks in hearts and could manage a ninth, but Diabot posted -2. Diamonds had at least nine tricks but Judy (R) was content with eight, which strangely ended up making no difference in the scoring, as all the E-W contracts finished -2 or -1 doubled. All the club contracts took seven tricks. Wayne surprised by emerging with ten tricks in 3NT; East led the fourth club when a spade switch would have led to -2.
?
3Cx E -2 vs Elott
3NT N +1 by Wayne
2Cx E -1 vs Karleta; 2S W -2 vs Myrne; 3C E -2 vs Rekenee and Jevin
2NT N = vs Ribot
2D N = vs Jillbot
2NT N -2 vs Marudy; 4H S -2 vs Diabot
?
17:
?
...............985
...............54
...............84
...............AQ7532
AKQ743................J2
Q3.........................J1072
Q62.......................AK10
J8..........................K1096
...............106
...............AK986
...............J9753
...............4
?
If North passes East opens and E-W eventually choose between 3NT and 4S, with 4S getting the nod by a 6-3 margin. One-offs were 3D S after a psychic 1C opening bid from North and 4NT E. I did not see any 3C opening bids but had there been any 3NT seems a more likely landing spot.
?
4S is defeated by a club ruff; 3NT can force ten tricks. The ruff was usually found to set 4S, although Rita and Abhi took eleven tricks, Rita after South lead a low heart at trick two. Three declarers took eleven tricks in no-trumps, whether South led a low heart or not.
?
4S W -2 vs Elott
4S W -1 vs Study, Rekenee and Myrne
3D S -4 by Ira
3NT E +1 by Eric
4S W +1 by Rita and Abhi
3NT E +2 by Lynn and Li; 4NT E +1 by Tracy
?
18:
?
...............9643
...............74
...............854
...............J732
Q7.......................102
3..........................KQ10852
AKQ62................103
K9865.................AQ4
...............AKJ85
...............AJ96
...............J97
...............10
?
It seemed that a 1H opening bid from East would lead West to bid game but there were five partials played and I doubted that five Easts opened 2H. Contracts were 3C W thrice, 3D W, 4C E, 4H E thrice, 4Hx E twice and 5H E (undoubled). Stopping in 4C seems reasonable: 1H-1S-2D-P; 2H-P-3C-P; then what does East do? but if West rebids 4C next East ought to be able to pass.
?
A little curiously all the club contracts took ten tricks despite the 4-1 split. It looked easier to take ten tricks in diamonds but declarer only took nine. 4H would have needed perfectly-behaving trumps to make; all South had to do was cash the top two spades and then wait for three trump tricks. All declarers but one in hearts were held to eight tricks.
?
4Hx E -2 vs Elott
5H E -3 vs Rekenee
4H E -2 vs Karleta, Irba and Tary; 4Hx E -1 vs Mayne
3D W = by Howard
3C W +1 by Diane, Wendy and Paul (L); 4C E = by Gareth
