1:
?
...............1086
...............K3
...............K10842
...............A92
QJ4..........................AK92
Q1084......................AJ65
765...........................Q
K87..........................J1063
...............753
...............972
...............AJ93
...............Q54
?
1C-1H and East is stuck between 2H and 3H. One East apparently opened 1NT and was left there; one East was left in a 1C opening bid. Three raises to 2H were left in without a balance, though presumably some of the 3H contracts had a 3D balance from North, maybe most of them as West is likely to accept the invitation after a 3H raise. 3H W was played six times and 4H W thrice, 1C-1H; 3H-4H the likely path to game.
?
The layout would have allowed declarer eleven tricks in hearts had there been enough entries. There are two club losers if South ducks the first honour led from the East hand. Eric took eleven tricks in 4H for the E-W top; North discarded a club on the fourth spade. After that there was no way for N-S to collect two club tricks against best play. +170 was the most common score, posted five times. Cinbot began with the N-S top defending 1NT =.
?
1NT E =
1C E +3
3H W =
2H W +2 (2); 3H W +1 (3)
2H W +3; 3H W +2 (2)
4H W = (2)
4H W +1
?
2:
?
...............8532
...............10975
...............KJ97
...............Q
A.........................QJ97
KJ863.................4
Q.........................A83
A109753..............K8642
...............K1064
...............AQ2
...............106542
...............J
?
This hand all came down to the auction. E-W played in clubs at every table and there was no sensible line of play that would not result in declarer's taking twelve tricks. That just made it a question of whether E-W would play in a partial, bid game, or get all the way to the almost-guaranteed slam.
?
If West's queen were in either hearts or clubs and therefore an offensive asset instead of a probably-wasted honour the hand would have been worth a reverse. If not reversing, West likely opened 1H in order not to lose the suit after a 1S response. P-1H; 1S-2C; 3C-5C would have been reasonable, or 4C from West and 5C from East. We ended with a bit of underbidding producing a 1-4-3-5-1 split from the two-level to the six-level. The one pair in slam were Jianica after a light opening bid from East: 1C-1H; 1S-2D; 3C-4C; 4D-4H; 5C-6C. 2D was Fourth Suit Forcing and 3C confirmed the 5-4 black suits while denying three hearts. 4C set trumps and showed slam interest. 4D was explained as showing a bad hand and 4H asked for key cards. 5C showed two key cards without the club queen, but with her length Angelica did not need the queen to bid 6C, which at worst would need a finesse in hearts.
?
2C E +4; 3C E +3; 3C W +3 (3); 4C W +2 (3)
5C E +1; 5C W +1 (4)
6C E =
?
3:
?
...............KJ1043
...............K8632
...............2
...............42
A6............................Q82
Q5............................AJ1097
J7653.......................Q8
AQ83........................K76
...............975
...............4
...............AK1094
...............J1095
?
West opened 1D and North usually bid 2D to show both majors. East might have doubled with a solid penalty double of hearts; after P-1D-2D-X; 2S-P-P East might bid 3S and convince West to bid 3NT. We finished with five different contracts doubled: 2Sx S, 2NT E, 3C W, 3Hx E, 3Sx S, 3NT E twice, 3NT W thrice, 4Cx N, 4H E, 4S S and 4Sx S. 4Cx N was reached after a sad error. North misclicked over 1D and bid 2C instead of 2D. The heart contracts declared by East came after North either overcalled 1S or passed, eventually reaping the benefit of giving the opposition minimal information.
?
E-W could hold spade contracts to six tricks by cashing their clubs off the top. Jaul produced 4Sx -4 which ought to have been the defensive top had it not been for the awfully unlucky 4Cx N, which finished -6 against Riry. 3NT could have been held to nine tricks by a spade lead from either side of the table - declarer has four heart winners, three clubs and two spades.
?
3Hx E -1
3C W -1; 3NT W -1 (2); 4H E -1
4S S -1
2Sx S -1; 3Sx S -1
2NT E +3
3NT E =; 3NT W =
3NT E +1; 3NT W +1
4Sx S -4
4Cx N -6
?
4:
?
...............1095
...............K84
...............Q63
...............KJ95
A62.......................KJ73
AJ92.....................107
K10942.................A75
Q...........................10872
...............Q84
...............Q653
...............J8
...............A643
?
West opened 1D and had to choose a rebid after East's 1S response (except at the table where North misclicked and overcalled 1NT, the auction ending in 2C S). 2D was chosen rather more often than 2S, the former ending the auction four times and the latter twice. Strangely four Wests ended up declaring 1NT, which did not seem to be in the running as a likely rebid. Higher contracts were 2NT E twice and 3NT E - did any Wests rebid 2H, either as an intended reverse or just ignorantly?
?
This looked as if the scores would run close and they did, with +150 taking E-W top for Paul and scores running all the way down to -90 scoring 10/13 for Cinbot, Heve and Dane. Contracts in no-trumps could have taken eight tricks although four pairs were held to seven (giving Keianne the N-S top) and Paul took nine. Jianfeng took nine tricks in 2S although Randi held declarer to seven. N-S apparently have to get active to take more than four tricks; forcing West to ruff a club complicates the play. Diamond contracts could take nine tricks without much difficulty, with a chance of more, especially if North did not lead a black suit. 2D took nine tricks thrice and Jatin took ten: spade, club, club ruff, heart and then South led the diamond jack, the only wrong card.
?
3NT E -2
2S E -1
1NT W = (3)
2C S -1
2D W +1 (3)
1NT W +1; 2NT E =
2D W +2
?2S E +1
2NT E +1
?
5:
?
...............AJ54
...............1042
...............J87
...............K42
9...........................K103
AKQ83.................976
A2.........................K965
AJ1063.................Q87
...............Q8762
...............J5
...............Q1043
...............97
?
This looked as if we might easily have seen 4H W at every table and we nearly did. East declared 4H once and one West stopped in 3H; 4H W was played twelve times. 1H-2H; 4H or 1H-1NT; 3C-3H; 4H seemed almost certain, although West could well have tried bidding clubs, as xxx xxxx xxx KQx would have been an easy slam had East held four hearts, with a chance for xxxx xxxx xxx Kx.
?
The play looked nearly as easy as the auction, if not more so. Declarer had eleven tricks when the club finesse failed; two Wests took twelve tricks when Gene and Angelica snuck a spade past North's ace. Gene made it harder for North to grab the ace by leading the low spade from hand at trick two, while North had minimal information. Conndy were N-S top just for their opponents having stopped in 3H.?
?
3H W +2
4H W +1 (11)
4H W +2 (2)
?
6:
?
...............1095
...............AKQ5
...............K53
...............987
AK763....................82
7.............................104
10976.....................A84
J103.......................AQ6542
...............QJ4
...............J98632
...............QJ2
...............K
?
Any of the four hands might have opened the bidding. East had a light 1C, South a rather nasty 2H. At a different vulnerability a third-seat 2S would be quite appealing. The North hand just satisfies the Rule of Fifteen requirement. Contracts were 1NT E, 2C E, 2H S, 3C E, 3H S thrice, 3S W, 4C E and 4H S five times. East's opening had a chance of keeping the contract low; South's opening 2H was almost sure to elicit 4H from North.
?
A spade ruff off the top lets E-W hold heart contracts to eight tricks. East can take eleven tricks in clubs, but that requires dropping the offside singleton king. Randi were N-S top posting 4C -2. Only two contracts made: 2H = for Ken and 2C +1 for Gloria.
?
4C E -2
2H S =
1NT E -1; 3C E -1; 3S W -1
3H S -1 (3); 4H S -1
4H S -2 (4)
2C E +1
?
7:
?
...............KJ8
...............8765
...............AJ107
...............A4
765......................Q932
3..........................K104
Q852...................963
QJ1072................K93
...............A104
...............AQJ92
...............K4
...............865
?
This seemed as if South had to finish in 4H unless just possibly South upgraded the hand to a 1NT opening and North decided to forego Stayman with four spot cards. We did get thirteen contracts of 4H S with the last auction ending in 3H S; did West perhaps come in and throw the pair off?
?
West had a natural club lead, meaning that a second loser would ensue at once if a finesse lost. I'm a bit surprised that nine declarers took twelve tricks; there must have been at least a few spade and diamond leads. Against Riry, after a club lead declarer used the spade king to take the second trump finesse and then took the ruffing finesse in diamonds to take only eleven tricks, along with three other declarers in 4H. Miven were E-W top for getting to defend 3H +3.
?
4H S +2 (9)
4H S +1 (4)
3H S +3
?
8:
?
...............Q107
...............A
...............K87532
...............976
KJ42.......................A9653
KJ854.....................1096
AJ............................Q10
K10..........................A32
...............8
...............Q732
...............964
...............QJ854
?
This time we finally got everyone into game, but which game would E-W attempt, 4H or 4S, and, if 4S, from which side? One lengthy auction saw N-S take the plunge and sacrifice in 5Dx N. Of the major games, 4S was selected over 4H by an 8-5 margin, with East declaring by a 5-3 margin in spades. I know one of the three pairs to finish in 4S W plays Flannery. West might also delcare after a 1NT opening bid, rare as that would be with nine cards in the majors; another possible auction might begin 1H-2H; 2S.
?
West's declaring reaps benefits when North cannot lead a diamond to profit, and 4M declared by West cannot be prevented from taking eleven tricks. 4H occasionally hit a little bump with the trumps 4-1, but declarer only went down against Glynneth. Declarer got off to a fine start after winning the club lead with the king by leading a low heart from hand and crashing the singleton ace, but then after a club to the ace declarer led a heart to the king and finished -3. Three of the other declarers in 4H took eleven tricks, the fourth ten. In 4S W, all three declarers took eleven tricks. 4S E, often after a diamond lead, gave declarer eleven tricks only once, ten twice and nine twice. Miven finished a perfect round posting 5Dx -6, although N-S could not force anything better than -4, more than enough for a clear E-W top.
?
4H W -3
4S E -1 (2)
4H W =; 4S E = (2)
4H W +1 (3); 4S E +1; 4S W +1 (3)
5Dx N -6
?
9:
?
...............A1096
...............AK5
...............Q105
...............986
742.........................K8
QJ962....................1083
A............................K983
AKJ10....................7543
...............QJ53
...............74
...............J7642
...............Q2
?
The vulnerability may perhaps be blamed for half the pairs playing in 2S S. One contract was even 1S N, likely after 1C-P-1D-1H; 1S. For those E-W pairs who trusted principles over vulnerability, competing over 2S led to 3C W, 3H W twice, 3S S twice and 4H W by Boric after the auction 1C-P-1S-2H; 2S-3H-P-P; 3S-P-P-4H, Bob liking the holding of three low spades, sure that East would hold no greater length than a doubleton.
?
It takes two honours' being well placed but 4H rolls in, Bob taking the E-W top for his optimistic bidding. Both the 3H contracts took ten tricks as well, and 3C took nine. If West led the singleton diamond ace, spade contracts would be held to seven tricks. 2S -1 was the plurality result, posted six times. Ken somehow managed nine tricks for N-S top, with Larry (St) the only other declarer to take eight in 1S +1. Even the two E-W pairs to leave 3S in still scored above average just for balancing and pushing N-S up a level.?
?
2S S +1
1S N +1
2S S -1 (6)
3S S -2 (2)
3C W =
3H W +1 (2)
4H W =
?
10:
?
...............J106
...............9874
...............72
...............K1043
AK875....................932
AJ1063...................Q
53...........................KJ64
7.............................A9652
...............Q4
...............K52
...............AQ1098
...............QJ8
?
1D from South and then West is in the middle sort of range that can find it awkward to bid Michaels. Better to bid spades and then hearts if need be. If East shows an invitational hand, West can accept; the West hand is good enough to try 3H over a raise to 2S but it might not happen. Three pairs reached 4S, Linj on the simple auction P-1D-1S-P; 2D-P-4S. It looks as if the split between a 1S overcall and 2D was 7-7.
?
A 9-3 majority of declarers in spades took ten tricks (eleven for Gloria), as the heart king was in the short hand and was onside for a normal finesse, so that either playing South for the king or trying to catch it with two ruffs worked. Larry (Sh) made 4S E, NJ and Martin 4S W.
?
3S W -1
2S E +1; 2S W +1
1NT E +2; 2NT E +1
2S E +2 (4); 3S W +1
3S E +2
4S E =; 4S W = (2)
?
11:
?
...............AJ42
...............10732
...............AKJ2
...............3
Q6.........................K109875
A986.....................J
85..........................973
K9752....................QJ8
...............3
...............KQ54
...............Q1064
...............A1064
?
There were two Mini-Roman hands opposite each other, only the dealer's was short in spades, which disqualified the hand from a 2D opening for Gernot. If South opens 1m, North responds 1H, East likely overcalls 2S and then North gets to 4H if South's four-card support is revealed. If South passes and North opens 2D, South likely drives to 4H. A 1D opening bid from North likely gets a 2S overcall from East and a negative double, leading to probably 4H from the North side. 4H was declared nine times, with a 6-3 majority favouring North. One table stopped in 2H S, two Souths declared 3NT and East sacrificed twice in 2Sx and 4Sx.
?
4H makes despite the 4-1 trumps; declarer ruffs either two clubs or two hearts and loses one trick in a black suit and two hearts. Trying for a cross-ruff might lead to going down; declarer will need to get something good out of the diamonds. Four of the nine 4H contracts were defeated. 3NT is -1 by force but both declarers took ten tricks. It will not surprise too many readers to learn that these players were Louise and Hank. Strangely, declarer was safe if a club lead were won by East and followed naturally by the second high club. Declarer wins the second round and then West gets into trouble on the fourth diamond; if West discards a club and a spade West can be endplayed in hearts. Richard scored well in 2Sx -2, the expected trick result. Conndy, defending 4Sx, defended safely for -3 and the top N-S score rather than trying to get everything they could.
?
4Sx E -3
3NT S +1 (2)
4H N = (3); 4H S = (2)
2Sx E -2
2H S +2
4H N -1 (3); 4H S -1
?
12:
?
?
...............AQ105
...............K
...............KQ10952
...............J10
742...........................86
A932........................854
763...........................AJ84
752...........................AK96
...............KJ93
...............QJ1076
...............----
...............Q843
?
The distribution seemed to want to push N-S into 4S; it's not easy for South to keep from inviting after 1D-1H; 1S. 4S was played by North eight out of nine nine times, 2S N and 3S N once each. Three pairs chose 3NT with the 4-4 major fit this time, although neither Heve nor Lourene were among them. South declared all three 3NT contracts, once doubled.
?
Despite there being only eight trumps and three top losers, 4S was unsinkable, with only Riry posting a set against the only declarer in spades to take any number of tricks other than ten. 3NT was wrong-sided with South declaring, vulnerable to a diamond opening lead. Jane (M) took nine tricks after a spade lead, though it did her little good. Gernot made an overtrick for N-S top. Jianica were E-W top posting 3NTx S -3, likely sure of a set after a diamond lead.
?
3NT S +1
4S N = (7); 4S S =
3NT S =
2S N +2; 3S N +1
4S N -2
3NTx S -3
?
13:
?
...............J54
...............AKQ92
...............10854
...............9
92.............................AQ1063
J873.........................64
AQ9..........................KJ
A874.........................J1062
...............K87
...............105
...............7632
...............KQ53
?
Four Norths opened 1H. The ten tables where North did not open saw five Easts open 1S and the other five pass. All five auctions starting with two passes ended in passouts; NJ, Larry (Sh), Elaine, Jatin and Rita all resisted the temptation to open a hand that did not meet the Rule of Fifteen. The 1H opening bids led to 1NT S twice, 2H N and 2S E. East's 1S opening bid led to 2H N, 2NT W thrice and 3NTx S. I thought we might see at least one contract in diamonds after 1H-1S-X, but we didn't; South bid 1NT instead.
?
In no-trumps, E-W can be held to seven tricks, but North has to lead a high heart and South must unblock the ten. Then North switches and, when South gets in, North can run four more heart winners. When N-S declare, E-W can take eight tricks after a spade lead (if East is on lead it must be the queen) unless declarer guesses to finesse the hearts. Unfortunately none of the N-S pairs defending 2NT found the winning defence; Angelica and Linda took eight tricks while Erik took nine. Riry defended 1NT S -2 and Marudy 1NT S -1. The only N-S plus was Doug's 2H =, although the contract could have been defeated by force. Boric collected +1100 against 3NTx S -4 for the E-W top.
?
2H N =
Passed Out (5)
1NT S -1; 2H N -1
2S E =
2NT W = (2)
2NT W +1
1NT S -2
3NTx S -4
?
14:
?
?
...............10975
...............Q95
...............10632
...............94
Q6...........................AKJ
AJ42.......................87
AKQ........................J94
AJ83.......................Q10652
...............8432
...............K1063
...............875
...............K7
?
The fine slam on Board 2 was almost always missed, while this slam was reached six times. West generally opened 2NT, with half the Easts settling for 3NT W. One made an invitational raise to 4NT which West passed. The remaining auctions were evenly split between 6NT and 6C, with some responders going directly into an asking sequence. West declared both slam twice and East once. Jerik's auction was P-1C; 1S-1NT; 2S-3C; 4C-6C; they at least got to stay reasonably low for most of the auction. Miven also reached 6C much more directly: 1C-4NT; 5C-6C.
?
The E-W honours could have been better arranged or worse. West could have held Q6 AJ42 AQ3 AKJ8 or 64 AKQJ AQ2 AJ83 with either poor or strong play for slam. As it was, whatever the lead, it all came down to the club finesse. The finesse succeeded and thirteen declarers took twelve tricks. Dane were N-S top when, after two rounds of spades had been played, declarer blocked the clubs and had no entry to the East hand for the last club.?
?
3NT W +2
3NT W +3 (6); 4NT W +2
6C E =; 6C W = (2)
6NT E =; 6NT W = (2)
?
15:
?
?
...............Q752
...............J1074
...............K64
...............Q3
AJ96.......................103
A85.........................Q632
Q5...........................A103
9754........................AJ86
...............K84
...............K9
...............J9872
...............K102
?
Who would open, if anyone? Eleven auctions ended with four passes. East opened in fourth seat, 1C twice and a systemic 1D the third time. Jerik's Big Club system worked to their advantage; after Erik responded 1S and Jim rebid 1NT, Erik knew from the lower range of their 1NT opening bid that 3NT was unlikely and he was able to pass 1NT. The other contracts were 2NT E and 3C E.
?
Club contracts can force nine tricks on an endplay; Judy (P) managed nine tricks, likely after a diamond lead, although any lead but a trump gives declarer at least the chance of a trick right off. No-trumps can be held to seven tricks. Jianfeng made 2NT E for a top board; the fate of the hand was not decided until trick ten. After a round of hearts had gone jack/queen/king/ace, a heart was led from dummy at trick ten. South's hand was high, but North won that trick with the ten, crashed the nine-spot and had to give declarer an eighth trick.
?
Passed Out (11)
1NT E =
3C E =
2NT E =
?
16:
?
?
...............K95
...............K3
...............AJ8432
...............82
Q843......................J2
A106.......................QJ42
KQ1097..................5
3.............................KQJ976
...............A1076
...............9875
...............6
...............A1054
?
Presumably either North or West opens 1D. If West opens N-S stay out of the auctions and we get 1D-1H; 1S and then East may rebid 1NT or perhaps jump to 3C if the pair plays that jump as natural and non-forcing. West might also raise to 2H instead or possibly back into 2H on the third round over a 1NT rebid. If North opens 1D, East may overcall 2C. If this had happened on a Tuesday with Jevin playing N-S Jeff playing South would likely pass 2C in hopes of defending 2Cx at that vulnerability, but a negative double would also be possible. We ended with a rainbow of contracts: 1Hx E, 2H E, 3C E twice, 3Dx N, 3H E twice, 3S S, 3NT E, 3NT W four times and 4H E.
?
Every contract was defeated. Declarer overperformed in 3C, with Larry (Sh) scoring 8/13 for -100 and Leighry 10.5/13 for +200. Getting out for -1 in 3Dx may have been the most impressive declaring result of the day but only saved half a matchpoint against Miven, as E-W won the board just by defending, both defending pairs (the other being Panda defending 3S -2) scoring +100. East could take seven tricks in hearts; Lourene were a little fortunate to squeeze out a set (on an overruff of a diamond at trick nine) while the other declarers took seven, seven and eight, all -1. Most declarers in 3NT W took eight tricks, although Randi were N-S top defending 3NT W -3. 3NT E finished -2 against Haorge.?
?
3NT W -3
1Hx E -1; 3C E -2; 3NT E -2; 4H E -2
2H E -1; 3C E -1; 3H E -1 (2); 3NT W -1 (3)
3Dx N -1; 3S S -2
?
17:
?
?
...............1054
...............Q62
...............AQ53
...............Q87
Q76.......................AK982
A95.......................K3
72..........................J6
J9542....................AK63
...............J3
...............J10874
...............K10984
...............10
?
Lourene got lucky; East misclicked and the hand was passed out. Keianne were runners-up; the misclick was on 1NT instead of Pass and East was left in 1NT. Almost everyone else reached 4S E, which was played ten times. I thought some pairs might get stuck if South made a Michaels cue-bid, but?nobody stopped below game except for the two misclickers. Perhaps an auction beginning P-1S-2S-P; 3H-X-P convinced West to jump to 4S. One East ended up in 5C and one intrepid N-S pair sacrificed in 5Hx. At equal vulnerability 2S was probably unwise, as E-W were nearly sure to have game with North a passed hand and at equal vulnerability there was not likely to be a profitable sacrifice.
?
We even had a majority result here - eight Souths (all except Cindy [X] and Phyllis) likely led the singleton club against 4S and handed declarer the suit, giving declarer an easy twelve tricks. Gloria received a club lead; she and nine other East posted +480. After other leads, the two declarers who took only ten tricks drew trumps and played the club ace-king. Given the spots in the layout, ace first is correct. If South has made a 2S cue-bid, declarer has a marked finesse through North, as South has already played all three black cards. This shows how helpful it can be to compete when one's side is outgunned. Had West's clubs been J9842 after a 2S cue-bid, running the jack first would be best, as the suit can be picked up for no loser if South holds any spot singleton - three of the four 3-1 splits instead of two. Boric had five sure tricks against 5Hx and were E-W top. Curiously, the 5-4 fit would not have made 5Dx any better; indeed it could have been set an extra trick by the heart ruff.
?
Passed Out
1NT E =
4S E = (2); 5C E +1
4S E +2 (8)
5Hx N -3
?
18:
?
?
...............A75
...............K743
...............1064
...............Q43
J84.......................Q632
AQ865..................J9
K5.........................872
J65........................A982
...............K109
...............102
...............AQJ93
...............K107
?
This time we reached a majority contract after P-1D-1H-1NT, which was played nine times. Three Souths persisted with diamonds, ending in 2D twice and 3D. One East backed into 2H and West played it there; the last table went all the way to 3NT N.
?
The most common result was 1NT =, posted five times and the outcome if East leads the heart jack on which West plays the six or five, then continues the suit if North ducks. West gets in with the diamond king, the hearts run and eventually E-W win a spade or the club ace. Cindy (M) was odd North out taking eight tricks, while three 1NT declarers (Mark. Larry [St] and leigh Ann took nine, Mark after West overtook the heart jack with the ace. In diamonds, declarer can endplay E-W into breaking one of the black suits and take nine tricks, but there was no score of +110. Glotin defended 3D -1 when declarer broke clubs and was unable to force E-W to break spades, Jerik scored a similar -90 against 2D = and Louise received a spade lead and made E-W break clubs to score +130. Keianne picked up an important second undertrick defending 2H, not quite enough for top but significant with six scores of +90. Jurcia made no mistake against 3NT and finished with E-W top on +200.
?
1NT N +2 (3)
2D S +2
1NT N +1
2H W -2
1NT N = (5); 2D S =
3D S -1
3NT N -2
