1:
?
...............10875
...............A7
...............AQ4
...............K1095
432......................AK
KQ954.................J1062
6..........................J9875
Q874...................J6
...............QJ96
...............83
...............K1032
...............A32
?
This was a triumph for the balancers. N-S presumably reach 2S one way or another (it was the lowest contract, played five times) and then either East or West has to balance; West played 3H once and pushed N-S higher the rest of the time. Higher contracts were 3S N twice, 3S S twice, 4Dx S, 4S N and 4S S thrice; some of the games were probably bid voluntarily.
?
E-W have enough entries to the East hand to make 3H by establishing and cashing the fifth diamond in the East hand. Spade contracts are held to eight tricks by a lead of either red suit. E-W get the two top trumps and a club in any case along with being able to force a diamond ruff for four tricks; the fifth trick can be either a heart or a second diamond ruff - not both. Steve (R) was the one declarer to make 4S, playing from the North side. The defence began all right, but East led a heart at trick five and then West unguarded clubs at trick nine.
?
4S N = by Steve (R)
3S N +2 by Connie
2S S +2 by George, Larry (Sh) and Linda (R); 3S S +1 by NJ
2S S +1 vs Marita and Delen; 3S N = vs Gel
3S S -1 vs Wendric; 4S S -1 vs Bobot, Gisebot and Loubot
3H W = by Ken
4Dx S -3 vs Ritold
?
2:
?
...............K4
...............QJ2
...............Q1074
...............QJ92
A652......................QJ1098
854.........................963
J53.........................AK2
853.........................K10
...............73
...............AK107
...............986
...............A763
?
East opens 1S and again there is likely to be a balance over either 1S or 2S. Because there were so many different responses to the double, we ended with a rainbow hand, contracts being 2D N (West didn't go to 2S after passing 1S), 2S E four times, 2NT N, 3C N twice, 3H S thrice, 3S E, 3Sx E twice and 4C N.
?
The layout was kind to N-S with the spade ace and diamond jack onside, as well as the chance to pick up the clubs for no loser. N-S could have taken ten tricks in clubs or hearts, nine in no-trumps or nine in diamonds after a club lead. E-W could not force any better result declaring than six tricks in spades. E-W usually outperformed expectations: 2NT -2 when declarer did not guess the clubs correctly, seven tricks in spades thrice, 3H set twice (although Carl was one of only three successful declarers) and 2D -2 as well. All the declarers in clubs took nine tricks.
?
3Sx E -3 vs Paun
3Sx E -3 vs Pharah
3S E -3 vs Lark
3H S = by Carl
3C N = by Connie and Linda (S)
2S E -2 vs Jeo
2S E -1 by Eric, Steve (G) and Sandi
4C N -1 vs Marudy
2D N -2 vs Loubot; 2NT N -2 vs Gel; 3H S -2 vs Gisebot
3H S -3 vs Dane
?
3:
?
...............7
...............2
...............Q853
...............KQJ9543
A982...........................KJ105
QJ5..............................97653
AJ92............................764
107...............................6
...............Q643
...............AK108
...............K10
...............A82
?
Does North raise South's 1NT opening bid to 3NT or show the clubs? Slam is possible opposite four aces or three and the diamond king, but it's too easy to get into trouble. 3NT would be the matchpoint choice, 5C with showing mild slam interest perhaps the IMPs option. Contracts were 3C N, 3C S twice, 3NT S eight times, 4C S twice, 5C N and 5C S.
?
Clubs took eleven tricks with ease; if E-W did not cash a spade early declarer could have taken twelve. 3NT came down to the opening lead. West had to find the spade lead, but it was less likely than a diamond to produce four tricks off the top. Would Bill have led a heart? If so, it would not have been an attempt to establish and run the suit (as would have been the case had West not held one or both of the two aces) but rather an attempt to lead for safety. Nobody found the spade lead. A heart lead would have likely held declarer to nine tricks so long as West kept two spades on the run of the clubs. The diamond lead gave declarer a tenth trick, resulting in three scores of +430, three of +460, one +490 and one +520, the latter two scores after West unguarded the hearts.
?
3NT S +4 by Erik
3NT S +3 by Cindy
3NT S +2 by Lynn, Jeannie and Linda (R)
3NT S +1 by Lee, Hank (B) and Jatin
5C N = vs Bobot; 5C S = vs Julba
3C S +3 vs Shane; 4C S +2 vs Marita
3C N +2 vs Randi; 3C S +2 vs Delen; 4C S +1 vs Loubot
?
4:
?
...............98
...............AK764
...............A87
...............832
J65.........................AKQ10
QJ98......................2
106.........................KQJ32
9764.......................QJ5
...............7432
...............1053
...............954
...............AK10
?
Some Norths opened 1H on the good five-card suit with three Quick Tricks, although it might have made little difference to the auction except that South would have been more certain to raise after P-1H-X than after P-P-1D-P; P-1H-X. Three Easts opened 1D and rebid 1S instead of doubling 1H and played the hand there. One North played 2H and another 2Hx. 2S was played once by East and once by West after a double and West's bidding spades. One East played 2NT. Higher contracts were 3D E thrice, 3S E, 3NT E twice and 3NT W.
?
N-S could force five tricks against a suit contract and six against no-trumps, the key being for North to lead clubs through East twice. 2S can make by force even if N-S cash their tricks and then force East to ruff a heart - East draws two rounds of trumps and then leads the fourth diamond, which South must ruff to prevent a high cross-ruff of the last two tricks. Then West overruffs and cashes the heart winner that established on the second round, with East taking the last trick with a high trump. Louise and Eric made 3NT from opposite sides of the table when N-S did not find their club tricks and West was given a heart trick. Spade contracts yielded between seven and nine tricks. 3D E finished -3 against Janda but was made by Judy (P) and Del. Both N-S pairs in hearts took the expected seven tricks.
?
3D E -3 vs Janda
3S E -2 vs Paun
2S E -1 vs Jerik; 2S W -1 vs Pharah; 3NT E -1 vs Study
1S E = vs Haorge and Lernot
3D E = by Judy (P) and Del
2NT E = by Jane (M)
1S E +2 by Rita (X)
2Hx N -1 vs Keianne
3NT E = by Eric; 3NT W = by Louise
?
5:
?
...............----
...............A876542
...............----
...............AKQJ93
A9...............................K7654
KJ10...........................Q
Q842...........................J10653
10754..........................65
...............QJ10832
...............93
...............AK97
...............2
?
Here was the hand of hands, which came down mainly to whether North took an aggressive or a tame position on the playing potential of the hand. By a 9-6 margin pairs stopped in game. I shall give two sample auctions, one of each sort: 1H-1S; 3C-3S; 4H and 1H-1S; 3C-3D; 6C-6H. The idea of the slam auction is that North needs only a doubleton heart in the South hand to have play for 6H, whereas, if South is short in hearts but has two or more clubs, then a heart ruff or two might allow 6C or 7C to make. Contracts were 3NT S thrice (remarkable sangfroid from North to leave that in with two voids), 4H N four times, 5C N, 5H N, 6Cx S, 6H N twice, 6Hx N and 6NT S.
?
3NT is interestingly situated if E-W lead a club. North can perhaps try ducking one heart but will have to cash out and let West cash the third heart, which squeezes South when East keeps three spades. South has to discard a diamond winner and West established the fifth trick in diamonds. Martia were E-W top defending 6NT -4 and Bobot defeated 3NT one trick; the other two 3NT contracts took nine and ten tricks. Heart contracts all took the obvious eleven tricks. Eleven tricks were possible in clubs but a spade force followed by drawing trumps would result in declarer's losing control of the hand and being held to ten tricks.
?
4H N +1 by Larry (Sh), Leo, Jim (U) and James (C); 5H N = by Gloria
3NT S +1 by Lynn
3NT S = by Judy (R)
3NT S -1 vs Bobot; 5C N -1 vs Gisebot; 6H N -1 vs Marudy and Wendric
6Cx S -1 vs Keianne; 6Hx N -1 vs Heve and Randi
6NT S -4 vs Marita
?
6:
?
...............3
...............102
...............AK763
...............J8543
K964.......................1075
9853........................KQ64
2..............................J985
AQ92.......................107
...............AQJ82
...............AJ7
...............Q104
...............K6
?
We succeeded here in getting nine of the fifteen N-S pairs into 3NT. The split was 5-4 with South declaring, as it was unclear whether South would open 1NT or 1S. The hand is certainly in the "good 17" category but with tenaces in each suit might well open 1NT anyway just to be sure of being declarer. Two Souths were left in a 1NT opening bid, a bit conservative of North with a good five-card suit and 8 HCP. The other auctions that did not end in 3NT finished in 2NT S (much less comprehensible than 1NT or 3NT, 3C S after North decided to bail into a minor partial and had to choose which, and 5D N twice (Fredda wept).
?
3NT looks quite all right; if the diamonds behave declarer makes with ease. The impulse for the hand with the tenaces to declare proves sound, as 3NT S is set only set by force by a heart lead while 3NT N only makes against a diamond lead. The only successful declarer in 3NT was Linda (R), declaring from the South side and receiving a spade lead. Lynn took nine tricks in 1NT for the second-best result, with the only other declaring pluses Judy (R)'s 2NT S = and Gernot's 1NT S =. The unsuccessful 3NT contracts played by North were down a total of nine tricks; by South a total of six. Defending 5D gave fine results of -4 and -3 to Delen and Bobot.
?
3NT S = by Linda (R)
1NT S +2 by Lynn
2NT S = by Judy (R)
1NT S = by Gernot
3C S -1 by Jatin; 3NT N -1 by Larry (Sh); 3NT S -1 by Lee, Cindy and Jeannie
3NT N -2 vs Marita and Wendric
3NT S -3 vs Keianne; 5D N -3 vs Delen
3NT N -4 vs Heve; 5D N -4 vs Gisebot
?
7:
?
...............104
...............K
...............AK652
...............Q10654
753..........................Q9862
AQ863.....................75
QJ73........................84
7...............................A982
...............AKJ
...............J10942
...............109
...............KJ3
?
?We came close to getting everyone to 3NT. Maybe the most surprising thing about the hand is that South always declared. The only Norths who thought the hand not worth a 2/1 game force responded 1NT forcing and raised South's 2C rebid to 3C or possibly used that useful rebid of 2S to show a nearly-forcing raise of partner's minor, a nice trick available when the opening bid is 1H, as responder has no natural use for a 2S rebid. Perhaps the one contract of 2NT S is the most interesting. The auction was presumably 1H-2D; 2NT-3NT the other twelve times.
?
Nine tricks was the expected result with the spade finesse working. A low heart lead would have allowed the chance at a tenth at once; after the expected spade lead and declarer's knocking out the ace of clubs returning a second spade lets declarer force a tenth trick in hearts if declarer has the stomach for it, as the spades establish first and just have no entry to be cashed. E-W can force a fourth trick with the diamond seven, although neither the lead nor the switch are that easy to find. Four declarers (George, Jeannie, Don and Gernot) took ten tricks in 3NT with four clubs, three spades, two diamonds and a heart to tie for N-S top. Declarers who played on diamonds risked trouble, eventually allowing Gisebot to post -1 and Gel -2.?
?
3NT S +1 by George, Jeannie, Don and Gernot
3NT S = by Carl, Jatin, Cindy, Larry (Sh), Erik and NJ
2NT S +1 vs Loubot; 3C S +2 vs Heve
3C S = vs Julba
3NT S -1 vs Gisebot
3NT S -2 vs Gel
?
8:
?
...............743
...............742
...............AQ854
...............J5
862.........................Q95
K8...........................Q965
K109.......................72
A9863.....................K1074
...............AKJ10
...............AJ103
...............J63
...............Q2
?
Only ten auctions began and ended in 1NT S. One North raised 1NT to 2NT, with South accepting the invitation. One South opened 1C, which started the auction 1C-1D; 1H. Another South opened 1D and declared 3D. One West opened 1C and declared 1NT. The twelfth auction that began with 1NT ended when West overcalled 2C and played the hand there.
?
1NT could have been held to seven tricks and really should. The key moment comes at trick one. If West leads a club that gives count, either fourth-best or fifth-best, East can count the cards and determine that South holds only one card higher than the six or three, meaning that West must hold either the queen or ace. Therefore, as dummy's jack is doubleton, there is no need to finesse - and playing the ten at trick one loses a trick against the actual layout. Judy (R), the declarer in 3NT, even finished with eleven tricks when not only did East erroneously finesse the club ten at trick one but West ducked when Judy led the diamond jack. Five Souths took eight tricks in 1NT, not the only contract in which declarer outperformed expectations. Cindy was next to top picking up an overtrick in 3D and Rich made 1NT W.
?
3NT S +2 by Judy (R)
3D S +1 by Cindy
1NT S +1 by Lee, Jatin, Lynn, Gernot and NJ
1H S +1 by Jeannie
1NT S = vs Julba, Bobot and Loubot
2C W -1 by Doug
1NT S -1 vs Keianne and Marudy
1NT W = by Rich
?
9:
?
...............----
...............9842
...............Q9853
...............K1095
KQ532..................1096
J3..........................AK1075
AKJ76...................104
J............................Q87
...............AJ874
...............Q6
...............2
...............A6432
?
South generally opened 1S in third position, which might or might not have kept West silent. Once that even ended the auction. The other contracts were evenly divided between the other three suits: 2D W, 2H E four times (after either a balance or a direct reply to a 2D overcall), 3C S four times, 3D W, 3Dx W, 3H E, 4C S and 4D W.
?
Spades can be held to five tricks; Bobot posted the expected result of -2 against 1S S. E-W can make 2H but can equally fall into a trap - diamond to ace, heart jack to queen, spade ace, spade ruff, diamond ruff, spade ruff and then a heart leaves declarer stranded in hand and allows declarer to be held to five tricks. Lark produced that defence to post 2H -3; Sandi, the only successful E-W declarer, managed an overtrick in 2H, possibly after spade ace, spade ruff, club ace, club ruff, diamond. Nobody in hearts took eight tricks. Diamonds can also see declarer force eight tricks; one way or another West scores all five trumps and three hearts, but only one declarer took eight tricks while the rest took seven. Conndy were N-S top scoring +500 after Connie found the double of 3D. Clubs could force eight tricks as well. The idea is to take one round of clubs and start cross-ruffing, but declarer has to lead the spade jack on the second or third round and then take the ruffing finesse with the 87. Don was the only successful N-S declarer, making 3C, perhaps after the opening lead of the spade king, eventually losing three red-suit tricks and one in trumps with East either overruffing or getting a natural trump trick established by the second ruff.?
?
3Dx W -2 vs Conndy
2H E -3 vs Lark; 3H E -3 vs Jerik; 4D W -3 vs Janda
3C S = by Don
2D W -1 vs Glynneth; 2H E -1 vs Jeo and Study; 3D W -1 vs Carthurl
3C S -1 vs Loubot and Ritold
1S S -2 vs Hub; 3C S -2 vs Keianne
2H E +1 by Sandi
4C S -3 vs Dane
?
10:
?
...............AK9
...............J853
...............AK62
...............107
108632..............QJ4
7.........................Q62
Q107...................84
Q982..................AKJ43
...............75
...............AK1094
...............J953
...............65
?
?Most tables reached game, generally after a 1C opening bid from East and a 1H overcall from South. One auction stopped in 1NT E, likely after neither North nor South ever entered the auction. Another pair stopped in 2H S, likely after 1C-P-1S-X; P-2H. One auction ended in 2S W. After 1C-1H North had at least an invitation if not an absolute game force. Two pairs stopped in 3H S but eight finished in 4H. Two E-W pairs carried on over 4H, producing 4Sx W and 5H S.
?
4H needs either a correct guess in trumps or a diamond lead from West to make. There is some chance of making the correct guess in trumps, especially if West has entered the bidding and begun by leading a club to the king. Declarer can choose to forego dropping the diamond queen by leading the jack to dummy to lead the second heart. If West covers, that marks West with four HCP, which leaves East with 13 maximum. It still leaves a chance that East began with QJx xx xx AKJxxx, but East with a balanced hand probably will hold the heart queen. Four declarers (Carl, George, Larry [Sh] and Gernot) made 4H, at least two of them after finessing in trumps; half the heart declarers took nine tricks and half ten. Conndy defended 4Sx -2, the expected result. Gene was E-W top in 2S W = to punish N-S for their reticence.
?
4H S = by Carl, George, Larry (Sh) and Gernot
4Sx W -2 vs Conndy
1NT E -3 vs Glynneth
2H S +2 by Don
3H S = vs Hub and Gisebot
4H S -1 vs Loubot, Julba, Wendric and Delen; 5H S -1 vs Keianne
2S W = by Gene
11:
?
...............10432
...............984
...............Q10976
...............3
AK96........................875
K53...........................A762
AK32.........................5
Q10...........................J9864
...............QJ
...............QJ10
...............J84
...............AK732
?
South usually opened 1C and West doubled. Two Easts speculated and passed, leaving South in 1Cx with what looked like a fair chance of doing well - at least before dummy came down. Erik opened 1NT and played it there, Jerik's range including 14-counts. West apparently was handcuffed by not having a penalty double available. One other pair also played 1NT S.
Two Easts declared 1H when West did not budge over the answer to the double although 1NT on the second round was entirely justified. Higher contracts were 2D W twice, 2H E four times, 3H E and the ambitious 4S W twice.
?
Against contracts when a one-level takeout double is left in, it is usually important for the defence to lead trumps and prevent as many ruffs as possible. Here, though, with all E-W's tricks in the side suits' all being off the top, E-W have nine solid tricks against clubs. Even if any game had made Julba and Wendric would have split the E-W top on their score of +500. E-W cannot quite force nine tricks in or against no-trumps, as the clubs block, although there are multiple paths to trick number eight. The two Souths declaing 1NT outperformed expectations, Erik making 1NT and Jatin getting out for -1. Janda took their expected seven tricks in defending 2D -2. Either major could have yielded nine tricks, with four declarers in hearts taking nine tricks, two eight and one seven. 4S was -2 against Pharah and -1 against Lark.
?
2D W -2 vs Janda; 4S W -2 vs Pharah
1NT S = by Erik
2D W -1 vs Haorge; 2H E -1 vs Study; 4S W -1 vs Lark
1NT S -1 by Jatin
2H E = by Dianne and Sharon
1H E +2 by Rita (X) and Judy (P); 2H E +1 by Del; 3H E = by Harold
1Cx S -3 vs Julba and Wendric
?
12:
?
...............1062
...............Q765
...............654
...............752
AQ....................J8754
109...................AKJ843
J97...................----
A109843..........Q6
...............K93
...............2
...............AKQ10832
...............KJ
?
If West opens it may be hard for East to stop (whether East should stop or not is tricky). It seems that West's passing and East's opening may raise the chance of a partial somewhat. Whoever opens South has a hand strong enough to double and then compete in diamonds at least to the three-level. It is possible that at least one auction went 1C-P-1H-X; 2C-P-2S-3D; P-P-X by East instead of 3S; the double was left in. Another South got to play 3D undoubled. Higher contracts were 3H E twice, 4D S, 4Dx S, 4H E seven times, 4S E and 5S E.
?
4H can bring declarer twelve tricks easily enough. With a 6-2 trump split declarer does better finessing on the first round, as cashing the ace first before finessing will not cater to a 4-1 split and South's holding a low singleton is far more likely than a singleton queen. Finesse the spade queen to reach dummy, draw trumps and then lead the club queen - lose only one club. Against diamonds, E-W can hold declarer to eight tricks if West is careful to keep the second heart until both spades have been played. Otherwise declarer has nothing to do after, say, ruffing the second heart but to draw trumps and lead low spades from hand and West has to lead a club.Jatin made 3Dx, not surprisingly, but Jeannie's making 4Dx required a clear error. Curiously, 4H yielded ten tricks most of the time, with only Louise taking eleven tricks and Lernot managing a set.?
?
4Dx S = by Jeannie
3Dx S = by Jatin
5S E -4 vs Carthurl
4S E -2 vs Linj
3D S = by Larry (Sh)
4H E -1 vs Lernot
4D S -1 by Judy (R)
3H E = by Jane (M)
3H E +1 by Steve (G)
4H E = by Gisela, Dianne, Harold, Del and Helen
4H E +1 by Louise
?
13:
?
...............K843
...............763
...............AJ3
...............1092
652........................QJ7
K952......................Q8
742.........................KQ8
J75.........................AQ863
...............A109
...............AJ104
...............10965
...............K4
?
?We finally got everyone into the same contract. East opened 1NT and everyone passed.
?
As is often the case in 1NT the hand turned into a bit of a race. East had four club tricks to establish and at least one more in each other other three suits, but East's tricks were so slow that N-S had a chance to force a set, though only with omniscient defence. Bill will be happy that the winning lead is a spade, which North has to duck. East wins and establishes clubs but then N-S cash three spade tricks and North returns a heart to establish the seventh defensive trick while giving declarer trick number six. A heart lead gives East a second heart trick without establishing a second trick for the defence; a diamond either lets East bank a diamond trick or gives East two winners in the suit. The popular heart intermediate lead usually allowed an overtrick, as the suit could not be established and N-S could get a sixth trick only in spades. By a 10-5 margin declarer took eight tricks instead of seven.
?
1NT E = vs Carthurl, Glotin, Conndy, Glynneth and Paun
1NT E +1 by Helen, Gisela, Melba, Dianne, Harold, Del, Sharon, Jane (M), Eric and Bob
?
14:
?
...............A53
...............KQ93
...............K95
...............QJ9
KJ7.........................9842
AJ72.......................104
Q62.........................3
1065........................AK8732
...............Q106
...............865
...............AJ10874
...............4
?
Unless East opened 3C the Souths who did not play Flannery or a three-suited opening generally began with 2D. North may have been tempted to try 3NT but often did not after not receiving an encouraging reply to 2NT. Just as well. We may have had opening bids in all four seats to judge from some of the contracts: 2C E, 2D S, 2S S (?), 3C W (clearly after a 1C opening bid in third seat), 3D S thrice, 3NT N four times, 4Cx E twice and 4D S twice.
?
3NT can be set three tricks by force if the lead is a low club. The entry situation is inadequate even if declarer knows West's diamonds are Qxx; the suit can be established but not run. Hank (B) managed to make 3NT after East began with three rounds of clubs. Two declarers finished -1 in 3NT with only Bobot producing the defence needed for -3. Diamond contracts could have taken ten tricks but only Don did; the other declarers all took nine.
?
3NT N = by Hank (B)
4Cx E -2 vs Jeallan and Jerik
2D S +2 by Don
3D S = by Phyllis, Lee and Larry (Sh)
3C W -1 vs Glotin
3NT N -1 vs Loubot and Marita; 4D S -1 vs Gel and Wendric
2C E = by Sandi
2S S -2 vs Dane
3NT N -3 vs Bobot
?
15:
?
...............K863
...............AKQ
...............J7532
...............8
Q72.......................----
J102......................7654
K10.......................AQ94
97432...................AKQ105
...............AJ10954
...............983
...............86
...............J6
?
After 2S from South North usually went right to 4S, although at least three allowed East a low-level takeout action, as one East and two Wests declared 4C.It was close to even in higher contracts: 4S S twice, 4Sx S twice, 5Cx E four times and 5Cx W. 2S-4S certainly puts the most pressure on East, bringing pass, double, 4NT and 5C all into the picture.
?
Both spades and clubs had the possible outcome of ten tricks for declarer. E-W can manage an eleventh or even twelfth if N-S do not find a heart lead; South needs to bring in the trumps for ten, the trickiest defence being if E-W begin with three diamonds, requiring a high ruff with the ace. The 4Sx -2 posted by Gisebot had a trick gifted through carelessness; only Phyllis and Gernot made 4S. That was rather low; East's interference seems a good indicator that if either opponent hlds all three trumps that will be West. The club contracts depended entirely on who declared, not surprisingly so with North holding AKQ in hearts. One West in 4C took eleven tricks when North did not start with the three hearts; the others took the expected ten. When East declared two declarers took twelve tricks and the other three eleven.?
?
4S S = by Phyllis and Gernot
5Cx W -1 vs Paun
4S S -1 by Lee, Jatin and Larry (Sh)
4C W = vs Janda
4C E +1 by Jane (M); 4C W +1 by Gene
4Sx S -1 vs Loubot
4Sx S -2 vs Gisebot
5Cx E = by Rita (X) and Sharon
5Cx E +1 by Steve (G) and Dianne
?
16:
?
...............K53
...............AKQ8754
...............4
...............87
864..........................AQJ972
J...............................10632
AQ6..........................J2
KQJ943....................A
...............10
...............9
...............K1098753
...............10652
?
Almost everyone got to one game or another; perhaps, though, the most curious contract is that one East played 2S and everyone else let that go. It became a battle of the majors with North's hearts pushing East's spades to at least 4S, the contract eight times. Six Norths pushed on, four ending in 5Hx and two Easts going on over that to 5S.
?
Loubot shone here, being the only pair to collect their maximum of -5 and +1100 against 5Hx. That required a club or diamond lead; the other three declarers all escaped for -300 or -500. Spade contracts could be held to eleven tricks by a heart lead, as South gets a ruff right away. Otherwise East gets to take one trump finesse, clear the club ace and lead a heart, leaving North, without a second diamond, powerless to prevent East from drawing trumps and running the clubs for twelve tricks. Eleven, though, was a most reasonable expectation, and even that was only attained thrice, by Gisela, Melba and Harold.
?
5S E -2 vs Linj
4S E -1 vs Pharah; 5S E -1 vs Lernot
2S E +2 vs Larbot
5Hx N -2 by Mark
5Hx N -3 by Connie and Gareth
4S E = by Rita (X), Del, Jane (M) and Eric
4S E +1 by Gisela, Melba and Harold
5Hx N -5 vs Loubot
?
17:
?
...............107
...............AJ1052
...............863
...............J92
KQ96......................A84
864.........................973
AJ952.....................K74
10............................KQ83
...............J532
...............KQ
...............Q10
...............A7654
?
It appears that most Easts opened the bidding. Sout get shut out after a 1C opening bid and then 1C-1D; 1NT, 1C-1S; 1NT and 1C-1S-2S all come into play. At least one East passed, leading to the auction 1C-1H; 1S-1NT declared by North. One West was left in 1S and four Easts played 1NT. Nine contracts got higher: 2D W, 2S W thrice, 3D W four times and one 4S W, likely after a raise to 2S from opener and an optimistic view taken by responder.
?
Diamond contracts could take nine tricks by force; the trumps behaved and with the club winner establishing declarer would not even have to finesse the spade nine on the third round. (This?finesse is assisted by the chance that North might have led the spade jack from J107 originally as well as the Rule of Restricted Choice.) Spade contracts can technically be held to a trick less as N-S can cash their four tricks ending in the North hand and push back a deadly fourth heart. 1NT E can be held to seven tricks by a heart lead or take as many as ten against a club. Indeed +180 was posted by Steve (G) and Dianne, the best declaring result of the board for E-W. On what was likely a low club lead Jim (U) managed to make 1NT N. Diamond contracts took nine tricks every time except for Louise's taking ten. All the spade contracts took eight tricks except for Doug's taking nine.
?
4S W -2 vs Haorge
1NT N = by Jim (U)
2D W +1 vs Carthurl; 2S W = vs Pharah, Conndy and Study; 3D W = vs Lark, Glynneth and Paun
1NT E +1 by Del
3D W +1 by Louise
1S W +2 by Doug
1NT E +2 by Harold
1NT E +3 by Steve (G) and Dianne
?
18:
?
...............AQ7
...............Q753
...............632
...............J75
J94..................K52
J8....................A10642
K7....................Q108
AK10642..........93
...............10863
...............K9
...............AJ954
...............Q8
?
West opens 1C (if not 3C), East responds 1H and maybe South doubles. The contracts all stayed fairly low. One West rebid 1NT and played it there. The more usual 2C rebid ended the auction twice. After that the auction was a sort of semi-fit one; South might well balance with either 2D or a double. 2D was never the contract but one East rebid and played 2H along with two contracts of 2NT E. The most popular contract was 3C W, played six times after competitive auctions. The highest contract, 3D S, was played thrice.
?
Club contracts can force nine tricks; it is not obvious but the hand is right-sided with West declaring. North cannot start the spades. If South is on lead N-S can establish and cash two spades. But with North on opening lead South cannot win either a heart or diamond lead without giving declarer a trick. A diamond lead to eight/nine (or ten/jack) and king is followed by the heart jack. If North ducks, South wins the king but the finesse against the queen is set up for after two rounds of trumps have been drawn. If North covers dummy wins, then declarer cashes two trumps and ducks a heart, crashing the king. This sets up a spade discard for when dummy is in with the spade king. Of course either side could go wrong; five of the eight declarers in clubs took nine tricks and three took eight. 3D was in terrible trouble due to the vulnerability, being able to be held to seven tricks, the result twice for +200 to E-W while Shane scored +400 defending 3D -4. East made 2H; if the contract can be set that requires a diamond lead through from North as early as possible and possibly a third-round spade underlead. No-trumps ought to have played better from the East side, as against West North can lead a diamond while a diamond lead from South allows a minimum of eight tricks, but Rich played 1NT W +1 while the two 2NT E contracts finished -1 and -2.
?
2NT E -2 vs Jerik
2NT E -1 vs Conndy; 3C W -1 vs Haorge, Glotin and Paun
2H E = by Eric; 2C W +1 by Bob and Dee; 3C W = by Hank (V), Ken and Doug
1NT W +1 by Rich
3D S -2 vs Ritold and Gel
3D S -4 vs Shane
