开云体育

1:

?

...............J1095

...............K8762

...............54

...............K4

AK43......................Q72

104.........................AJ

10973.....................QJ86

1093.......................QJ87

...............86

...............Q953

...............AK2

...............A652

?

This hand may reward actions that are not generally recommended. East opens 1m and is likely to declare 1NT, unless the auction goes P-1D-P-1S; P-1NT and it is understood by N-S that a double is takeout for hearts and clubs with the implication that short spades prevented an original double. That is reasonable enough, and will result in a contract in some number of hearts, North being able to compete to 3H. East may be left in 1NT; being left in if West shows belated diamond support seems less likely (and never occurred). Spades may get played as well. The non-recommended action is an immediate takeout double with short spades, although that was the start of the only auction to reach the dangerous-looking 4H: P-1D-X-1S; 2H-2S-3H-P; 4H. Besides 4H, contracts were 1NT E thrice, 2H N, 2S W twice, 2NT E, 3H N five times and 3NT E.

?

N-S have ten tricks available in hearts thanks to the 2-2 trumps; all the declarers in hearts took ten tricks, giving Mark (A) N-S top for being the only declarer in a N-S game. When East declared no-trumps, the hand largely came down to whether the opening lead was a club or a heart. When other factors are equal, leading from Qxxx tends to work better than leading from Axxx; the ace will often serve as a useful entry and may have less urgency to lead the suit at once. A large swing rode on this. The club lead in and of itself was not fatal; if North read the deuce as fourth-best and knew that East also held four clubs, North could have found the heart switch in time. But only Lark, who posted 3NT -4, played hearts in time and took their eight tricks. Conndy posted 1NT -1, the hearts probably blocking. The other three declarer in 1NT and 2NT took eight or nine tricks. Paul, in 1NT, received club leads to the first three tricks. He was then sure of -1 and emerged with eight tricks when N-S missed their last chance to switch to hearts.?

?

4H N =

3NT E -4

2H N +2; 3H N +1 (5)

2S W -2 (2)

1NT E -1

1NT E +1 (2)

2NT E +1

?

2:

?

...............9842

...............AK9863

...............K5

...............5

1053.......................AK6

----.........................QJ52

AQ6432.................10

10973.....................AKQJ2

...............QJ7

...............1074

...............J987

...............864

?

East opens 1C and West presumably responds 1D; North presumably overcalls, either 1H or 2H. East may well bid 3NT directly over that. In an uncontested auction, East would rebid 2H and West would likely show the good clubs; E-W could well end up in clubs instead. North's competition was occasionally effective; contracts were 2Hx N, 3C E twice, 3NT E eight times, 4C E, 5C E and 6C E.

?

Declarer in clubs can force twelve tricks against any defence, even a trump lead. Declarer scores three heart ruffs, the top two spades, the diamond ace, the five trumps in hand and then either the diamond queen or a fourth heart ruff. Vala got quite lucky - facing the only 6C contract in the field, they picked up a two-trick set for the N-S top when declarer could have made the contract for E-W top. Harold posted 5C +1; the three club partials yielded to declarer nine, ten and twelve tricks. The key to posting 2Hx -1 for Ken was not playing too many trumps too soon. 3NT could always have been made by force, though -1 was possible against, say, a lead of the spade queen; declarer might well finesse the diamond queen on the first round and never get a heart trick. But the heart lead was nearly universal; Paul, John and Yumi tied for E-W top with one overtrick if North persisted with a second heart.

?

6C E -2

3C E =

4C E =

3C E +3

2Hx N -1

3NT E = (5)

5C E +1

3NT E +1 (3)

?

3:

?

...............3

...............QJ1096

...............AQ942

...............42

Q10542.................976

K7..........................52

KJ..........................1065

9863......................KQJ85

...............AKJ8

...............A843

...............873

...............A7

?

N-S ought to have no trouble reaching 4H after a 1NT opening bid and a transfer; 4H S was played ten times. Two Norths went back to no-trumps afterwards and South curiously elected to play 3NT rather than 4H. One North accidentally passed 1NT. The last auction saw South go beyond game and eventually playing 6H.

?

Declarer in 4H loses the third round of diamonds and the trump finesse, usually emerging with eleven tricks. +450 was posted eight times. 3NT got lucky; it would have failed against a club lead but likely received a spade lead instead, allowing nine and ten tricks. 6H -1 gave Dalan the E-W top.

?

4H S +1 (8)

3NT S +1

4H S = (2)

3NT S =

1NT S +2

6H S -1

?

4:

?

...............A865

...............3

...............Q76

...............KQJ63

72.........................J109

A10876................Q54

J108.....................AK32

542.......................1097

...............KQ43

...............KJ52

...............954

...............A8

?

It seemed as if 4S N would be nearly inevitable, as with an unbalanced hand there would be no chance of North's rebidding 1NT after 1C -1H. We got as close to unanimity as we would all day - contracts were 3NT S, 4S N twelve times and 4S S. I am not sure whether any South opted for 2D Fourth Suit Forcing after 1C-1H; 1S, but the hand does not have sufficient extra values; 4S should be quite sufficient.

?

It turned out 4S was sufficiently right-sided when played by North; the only time 4S was defeated was when South declared and Phoebe made the natural lead of the diamond jack. 4S N can be defeated and it looked as if at least one or two pairs would find the diamond lead, heart switch and diamond return through, but nobody did. Henry made an overtrick in 4S for the N-S top, a plausible result after three rounds of diamonds or a club lead or shift.

?

4S N +1

3NT S +1

4S N = (11)

4S S -1

?

5:

?

...............A74

...............10752

...............K7

...............K982

62............................J109

9864........................A3

9864........................Q10532

Q107........................A43

...............KQ853

...............KQJ

...............AJ

...............J65

?

?N-S were bound for game again but would the game be 4S or 3NT? If South opens 1NT it may well depend on whether the pair plays Puppet Stayman or not. After a 1S opening bid, North can bid Drury but South may offer 3NT as a possibility and North may decide to sit. Contracts were 1NT N, 2S S, 3NT N, 3NT S six times and 4S S five times.

?

The main difference between 4S and 3NT is that in 4S declarer has a little more time. In 3NT a diamond lead means that declarer can only knock out one ace and must then cash out. Had the club ace been with West this would have given 4S a clear edge. But declarer cannot break the suit without losing the first two rounds. Ten tricks for both contracts. All seven 3NT contracts yielded ten tricks. Frank managed 4S +1 when the defence broke clubs. Jonj were E -W top defending 4S -1 when declarer ducked a spade for no good reason at trick three.

?

4S S +1

3NT N +1; 3NT S +1 (6)

4S S = (3)

1NT N +3

2S S +2

4S S -1

?

6:

?

...............82

...............A1082

...............K4

...............Q7653

K103.......................AQ94

J65..........................Q

J832........................AQ107

AKJ.........................9842

...............J765

...............K9743

...............965

...............10

?

This is a tough one. East opens 1D and West has a flat hand with 13 HCP. 3NT W looks nearly inevitable and was the contract eleven times. One pair got all the way up to 5D E, Dane reached the interesting 4S E and the last auction ended in 4H N - I would not have expected North to have found a way into the auction.

?

3NT W can be set off the top by a low heart lead, although the suit could have blocked. Frankbot and Darry were the only two N-S pairs to manage to take their five top tricks. A club lead allowed declarer to run ten tricks off the top when the diamonds behaved; Jatin received a club lead and finished +2 for the E-W top. 4S could have been defeated had South won the first heart with the king, although a club lead and ruff off the top cede control of the hand to declarer and allow a make. A heart lead to the ace and heart return lets East discard two club losers on hearts and make 4S another way. Dale was unlucky not to score well in 5D =, which would have done rather well in an IMPs bidding contest.

?

3NT W -1 (2)

4H N -2

5D E =

4S E =

3NT W +1 (8)

3NT W +2

?

7:

?

...............J98

...............75

...............K

...............AQJ10952

KQ106.........................2

AQ2.............................KJ1064

Q1083.........................J642

K8...............................743

...............A7543

...............983

...............A975

...............6

?

1NT from West and then North likely has system restrictions on how to get into the auction. East comes in with hearts if North does not bid 3C and then it seems largely just a question of whether North goes on from there. A few Souths came in on this auction, usually to their own detriment. Contracts were 2H W four times, 3C N twice, 3Cx N, 3H W four times, 4H E, 4Sx S and 5Sx S after a long and convoluted auction.

?

The spade contracts looked on pace for eight tricks after a red-suit lead but both declarers fared worse, Dane posting +800 against 4Sx and Heve +1400 against 5Sx. Clubs had a chance of ten tricks if North could unblock the diamonds before having to use the spade ace; Mark (S) took ten tricks in 3C but Lourene were able to set 3Cx - a lucky outcome given the club layout. N-S had seven winners against heart contracts, but the best defence required the opening lead of the singleton king of diamonds. Accordingly all the declarers in hearts outperformed par, with Harold and Dale posting 2H = for the only E-W declaring plus scores.

?

4H E -2

3C N +1

3C N =

2H W -1 (2); 3H W -1 (4)

2H W = (2)

3Cx N -1

4Sx S -3

5Sx S -5

?

8:

?

...............AJ95

...............KQ9

...............KJ9

...............K62

----...........................KQ1032

7432.........................AJ10865

542...........................A

AJ8753.....................4

...............8764

...............----

...............Q108763

...............Q109

?

East's 6-5 pattern may suggest that there would be lively results in the auctions, and that came to pass, with the number of doubled contracts at five. If dealer, East would have had ample playing strength for a reverse and a 1H opening bid, but North opens 1NT and then East shows majors or at the very least bids hearts naturally. West has a good enough hand in support to raise, although not everybody did, and at two tables where South did not bid lebensohl to compete in diamonds the auction ended in 2H E. Two more auctions ended in 3H E but everyone else reached game. The game contracts were 4H E twice, 4H W twice, 4Hx E twice, 4Sx S, 5H W and 5Hx W twice.

?

Hearts can be held to eleven tricks by a heart lead only, so that with East declaring twelve tricks cannot be prevented, although to come to twelve tricks by force declarer must play North for all three trumps. Darry and Lernot both posted 5Hx -2 to share the N-S top. Against Darry, declarer took the ruffing finesse in spades (forgetting the auction?) and later began the hearts by leading the ace from hand. Four declarers found twelve tricks in heart games for pleasant outcomes. Jane (M) was E-W top making 4Hx, although Giselaine also went plus defending 4Hx -1; if anything one would have expected the double to assist declarer. Jane's making 4Hx prevented Heve from having a perfect round; they backed up their 5Sx -5 on the previous board with 4Sx -3, beating all the undoubled games.

?

5Hx W -2 (2)

4Hx E -1

2H E +1

2H E +2; 3H E +1

3H E +2

4H W =

4H E +2 (3); 5H W +1

4Sx S -3

4Hx E =

?

9:

?

...............K9

...............J98

...............AJ1075

...............Q106

65...............................A3

1073............................AQ652

KQ2............................983

AK432........................985

...............QJ108742

...............K4

...............64

...............J7

?

Would South's third-hand 3S opening bid end the auction? It did so eleven times. When anyone else came in the contracts finished at 4H E and 4S S twice. I can almost see East's taking a flying stab at 4H if West has passed in tempo, as West likely has the best hand at the table, but Ax is not the best spade holding for the action and the minor weaknesses could have declarer up against it at once.

?

All E-W have to do to set 3S is establish a diamond trick before the clubs provide a discard. That 3S made eight times suggests that, at least occasionally, West was too afraid of the club queen in dummy to cash the second winner, although Erik, one of the successful declarers, received a club lead with a heart switch to the king. Shane were N-S top defending 4H -2; Hever were E-W top defending 4S S -2.

?

4H E -2

3S S = (8)

3S S -1 (3); 3S S -1

4S S -2

?

10:

?

...............KJ106432

...............1094

...............72

...............Q

95.................................AQ

KQ5..............................AJ9863

AJ63.............................Q

5432.............................K876

...............87

...............2

...............K109854

...............AJ109

?

East opens 1H; West responds 1NT forcing planning a limit raise to 3H next. If South overcalls 2D West likely cue-bids 3D. North may come in with spades, but E-W ought to be able to reach 4H one way or another. One North was left in 3S and another sacrificed in 4Sx but all the other auctions finished in 4H E.

?

Hearts can take ten tricks but have difficulties if declarer passes up the diamond finesse due to the bad club layout. Nine declarers made 4H, which seems a bit on the high side, although there are endplay possibilities otherwise. Against Shane, Cbot and Jerik declarer led a club to the king and never got a discard on the diamonds. Lernot and Delen scored much better in 3S -1 and 4Sx -2 than they might have done.

?

4H E -1 (3)

3S N -1

4Sx N -2

4H E = (9)

?

11:

?

...............105

...............AQ96

...............985

...............J1052

K98.......................A7432

J1054....................72

KJ1032.................A76

6............................A87

...............QJ6

...............K83

...............Q4

...............KQ943

?

1C from South; whether or not West overcalls 1D East gets 1S in and the spades probably dominate the competitive auction. Contracts were 1NT S, 2S E four times, 3C S twice, 3H N and 3S E six times.

?

All East has to do to come to ten tricks in spades is to finesse through South for the queen; between that and the 3-2 trumps the hand basically plays itself. Seven of the ten declarers in spades took ten tricks; the others took nine. Clubs should have taken eight tricks, with E-W holding five top winners, but Cindy took nine and the other declarer seven. Larry (St) did well in 3H -1. 1NT could have taken five tricks but four was more to be expected if the diamonds were cashed and then came a switch to spades, although declarer can manage four heart tricks by force with a finesse of the nine. Declarer in 1NT discarded a heart on the diamonds, removing -2 from the realm of possibility unless West switched to the heart jack. When in with a spade, declarer still had a chance to cash out for -3 and a fair score for -150 against a wall of -170s; -200 was bottom.

?

3C S =

3H N -1

3C S -2

2S E +1 (2); 3S E =

2S E +2 (2); 3S E +1 (5)

1NT S -4

?

12:

?

...............108542

...............K53

...............J96

...............86

K63........................J97

Q104......................AJ97

A7...........................Q102

KQ932....................1054

...............AQ

...............862

...............K8543

...............AJ7

?

1C-1H; 1NT seems likely to be the auction but too many Souths could not resist the lure of the opening hand, despite the poor quality of the diamonds. Indeed 1NT was never the contract; we saw 2D S, 2H E eight times (likely the result of a support double most of the time), 2NT W, 3C W twice, 3NT E and 3NT W. 3NT W was reached by accident, West rebidding 2NT instead of 1NT.

?

Everything sits just about perfectly for E-W; heart contracts can take eleven tricks by force and no-trumps ten. NJ was E-W top in 3NT E +1, Phoebe next in 3NT W =. Heart contracts took from seven to eleven tricks, with Paul posting +200, Hank, Sandi and Yumi +170. Jatin posted +210 in 2NT W +3. Vasu would have been all right in 2D S -3 had the vulnerability been the other way around.

?

2H E -1 (2)

2H E =; 3C W =

3C W +1

2H E +1

2H E +2 (3)

2H E +3

2NT W +3

2D S -3

3NT W =

3NT E +1

?

13:

?

...............AKQJ6

...............109

...............J83

...............A97

1082......................9743

QJ74......................A2

AQ9654.................K102

----.........................KQ53

...............5

...............K8653

...............7

...............J108642

?

There were some strange auctions on this hand. Two Norths were left in an opening bid of 1S; why would West pass? Perhaps the strangest thing is that the contract was never 3D E; one would expect a 1NT opening bid to start the auction 1NT-P-2D-X. One North was left in 2H after a transfer The plurality contract of 3D W was played five times, which makes sense. One human-Robot pair had a misunderstanding over how to proceed when a transfer is doubled and both halves of the pair left 2D in. Three auctions went beyond 3D, ending in 3H S, 3S N and 5C S. That left two contracts of 3C, played once by South and once by North after the Don't Try This at Home sequence of 1S-P-2H-P; 3C.

?

3D is an interesting make; declarer needs to start the hearts early unless South obligingly discards multiple hearts on North's spade winners. Only Leighry set 3H when West drew trumps too soon and was saddled with a second heart loser at the end. The strangest results in the play were that 1S was set two tricks by Dalebot and three tricks by Heve; seven or eight tricks for declarer seems to make more sense and for North to take only the top four trumps seems barely possible - trump lead to North, club ace ruffed, three diamond winners, fourth diamond ruffed and overruffed and then dummy would have to discard clubs on all the diamonds so that East would then turn to club and the low club would be high, West would discard three hearts, North would ruff the fourth club and lead a hear instead of the second trump, letting East give West a heart ruff. Just doable without nonsensical play. 3S -3 against Dalan was a much more plausible result. The club contracts all took the expected nine tricks. While Glotin scored well defending 3H -2, Ken produced the N-S top score of +140 declaring 2H +1, which strongly suggests a club lead ruffed and then another club ruff given when East took the heart ace, both ruffs helping declarer more than the defenders.

?

2H N +1

3C N = (2)

3D W -1

3D W = (4)

1S N -2; 3H S -2; 5C S -2

1S N -3; 3S N -3

2Dx S -4

?

14:

?

...............AKJ

...............10

...............10954

...............86542

42............................Q8

AJ764......................KQ82

K862........................73

KJ............................AQ1097

...............1097653

...............953

...............AQJ

...............3

?

How many Souths came in with 2S over East's opening 1C? With North an unpassed hand, Bill might give it a miss even at matchpoints (had this been Board 1 with North having dealt and passed, I would not have expected him to remain quiet), but at least one South came in, C finishing by declaring 4S, although the auction was 1C-1S-2H-2S; 3H-3S-4H-4S. East's declaring thrice and one contract of 5H W suggests other jump overcalls by South and North's competing to 4S at least twice more. Contracts were 4H E twice, 4H W nine times, 4S S, 5H E and 5H W.

?

The layout was remarkably good for spades. C even made 4S when West did not realize the need to force dummy with the second heart in order to be able to lead the third heart when in with the king of diamonds. The inference that East did not hold five hearts would have told West that South would have a heart loser remaining after the ruff. It made little difference as only one pair managed to go down in 4H - perhaps declarer tried to discard spades on clubs before drawing enough trumps? East declared, too, which was rather a shame, as Gloria took twelve tricks in 5H E, the logical result after a club lead. Perhaps the strange result was 5H W =; either North didn't cash the top spades or South let a diamond go through. One West and the other East in 4H took eleven tricks but that still left eight declarers in 4H W posting the expected +420.

?

4S S =

4H E -1

4H W = (8)

4H E +1; 4H W +1; 5H W =

5H E +1

?

15:

?

?

...............Q7

...............9643

...............975

...............AJ64

A94.....................KJ852

AK1052...............Q7

3..........................AKQ42

K1072..................8

...............1063

...............J8

...............J1086

...............Q953

?

It was hard to say with this hand how many pairs I would expect to look for slam. After 1H-1S; 2C-2D; 2S, East knows West has three spades and short diamonds. If East starts showing controls, West will like the improving hand even more and be glad to co-operate. An asking sequence offers the chance to stop in 5S when the spade queen and one key card turn up missing. But only one pair played in 5S while two went to 6S. Perhaps even more strangely five pairs played in 3NT, twice by West and thrice by East. Six pairs were content with 4S E.

?

No-trumps contracts were right-sided when played by West, although no South found the club lead that could have held declarer to eleven tricks. With both majors behaving declarer had thirteen tricks available in either no-trumps or spades on any non-club lead. Louise, Vicki and Yumi took all the tricks in 3NT to score 11/13; Alan played 6S+1 but the other declarer in 6S found a way to go down against Darry - perhaps drew trumps first and didn't notice that the heart jack fell? The spade games similarly had a narrow majority taking thirteen tricks, just above average. Had East's diamonds been AKQJ2, 6NT W would have been considerably better than 6S (or slam in either red suit), as declarer would have had multiple possible paths to twelve tricks and would not have needed any particular suit of the three to behave.

?

6S E -1

4S E +2 (3)

3NT E +3; 3NT W +3

4S E +3 (3); 5S E +2

3NT E +4 (2); 3NT W +4

6S E +1

?

16:

?

...............Q95

...............A854

...............J42

...............532

106432.....................AJ87

QJ72.........................109

Q103.........................A986

4................................A98

...............K

...............K63

...............K75

...............KQJ1076

?

After P-P-1D-2C, a lot may depend on what West does then. Pass, a negative double and perhaps 2D are possibilities. 2C S was left in four times. One North played 2H, the least comprehensible contract. The lowest contract after that was 3Cx S, although one might have expected to see 3C undoubled a few times. Negative doubles of 2C got multiple auctions higher, to 3S W, 3NT S, 4Cx S twice, 4S E, 4Sx E, 5C S and 5Cx S.

?

Clubs seem bound for nine tricks, but three declarers took ten. Leigh Ann was N-S top in 3Cx =. Spades take nine tricks if declarer plays the trumps correctly. With the nine-spot missing it's technically a toss-up between leading to the ace and leading to the jack; either works if spades split 2-2 while the ace is better if South has a singleton honour and the jack if South has a singleton spot. The ace has a slight practical advantage in that North might play an honour from KQx. All three spade declarers took nine tricks, giving NJ E-W top in 3S =. 3NT could have been two tricks down after a spade lead to the ace, or one down after a diamond lead and continuation. Cindy had a bit of good luck; West led a spade but East finessed the jack and she had her make, eventually finishing with ten tricks.

?

3Cx S =

3NT S +1

4Sx E -1

2C S +2

2C S +1 (3)

4S E -1

5C S -1

2H N -2; 4Cx S -1 (2); 5Cx S -1

3S E =

?

17:

?

...............1074

...............A5

...............A543

...............KQJ2

J865......................AKQ

J8762....................1043

10..........................KJ87

A107......................643

...............932

...............KQ9

...............Q962

...............985

?

I was looking for 1D-P-1NT, which turned out to be the plurality contract, played five times. There was also a sixth 1NT contract declared by North. North might open 1C instead, or East might double (more likely after 1C than 1D, although I do not recommend takeout doubles on flat hands too weak for a 1NT opening bid. There may have been one auction 1D-X-2D-X, which is the most likely way to produce the contract of 2S E. The other auctions all turned into mild battles of the red suits, with contracts of 2D N twice, 2D S, 2H W, 3D N and 3H W twice.

?

South makes 1NT in relative comfort; E-W have five tricks off the top but South establishes a seventh trick quickly. C and Dee both posted +120 after a heart lead, as declarer's establishing the clubs gets lucky and kills off the fourth spade winner. North makes 2D despite the 4-1 trumps, as the singleton ten is helpful and in the right spot. North starts with the ace and then finesses through East twice, losing only the king. Cindy managed an overtrick in 2D when she was able to discard a spade on the third heart and ruff the third spade but a spade opening lead from NJ set 3D N. A club lead, which looks quite obvious, gives the defence six tricks against hearts. Keianne and Leighry took six tricks against 2H and 3H; Doug was allowed a make, which seems to have required two bits of help.

?

1NT S +1 (2)

2D S +1

2S E -2; 3H W -2

1NT N =; 1NT S = (2)

2H W -1

1NT S -1; 2D N -1 (2); 3D N -1

3H W =

?

18:

?

...............Q63

...............KJ654

...............KJ4

...............A8

982.........................A105

AQ73......................98

A107.......................95

Q76........................KJ10532

...............KJ74

...............102

...............Q8632

...............94

?

The closing hand looked fairly tame, with most of the fireworks supplied by pairs trying to go out in a burst of glory. If there is a mild surprise, it could be that nobody took a shot at 3NT; it would at least be mildly tempting for East after P-P-1C-1H if East does anything mildly encouraging and West ever shows the heart stopper. Two auctions ended in no-trumps: 1NT E and 2NT N. East may well slow-roll the hand, first raising to 2C and then continuing to 3C; there were no suit contracts at the one- or two-level. 3C W was played six times. Higher contracts were 3H N twice, 3S S twice, 4S S and 5Cx E.

?

3NT W makes after a heart lead, but other declarers or leads should produce eight tricks for E-W, the outcome for both 1NT E and 2NT N. Most contracts were quite straightforward. Against clubs, N-S had to be active in establishing spades and diamonds. This would have held declarer to eight tricks but nine tricks occurred just as often - Harold, for instance, received a club lead and continuation and was able to get a discard on the hearts. Jatin even managed ten tricks. The best E-W scores were defensive: Dalebot's 2NT -3, Heve's 3H -2 and Dane's 3S -2.

?

5Cx E -3

3C W -1 (2)

3H N -1; 3S S -1; 4S S -1

3C W = (3)

1NT E +1

3C W +1

3H N -2; 3S S -2

2NT N -3

1:

?

...............Q1054

...............K652

...............J107

...............K4

7...........................AK982

J94.......................Q73

AK94....................83

AJ1072.................965

...............J63

...............A108

...............Q652

...............Q83

?

This hand might have been passed out but West opened at every table. Auctions tended to go in pairs: 1C -1S; 2C twice, 1C-1S; 1NT twice and 1C-1S; 1NT or 2C-2S twice. The outliers were 2D W and 2NT W.

?

No-trumps has a reasonably kind lie. Nine tricks are possible if N-S lead hearts, eight otherwise. Lin was E-W top when South returned the diamond queen at trick three when a low diamond or a spade would have held. The other NT contracts took eight tricks. Eugenie took the ten tricks she could in clubs; Ritold held declarer to nine. Judy (P) made 2S but Mryne set it; an aggressive diamond attack may succeed.

?

2D W -1; 2S E -1

2S E =; 3C W =

1NT W +1; 2NT W =

3C W +1

1NT W +2

?

2:

?

...............1087

...............5

...............AQ94

...............QJ975

A3........................J654

J10863.................Q9

107532.................K6

A..........................108632

...............KQ92

...............AK742

...............J8

...............K4

?

One South opened 1H and was left there. Another South opened 1H and left North in 1NT. I don't think anyone opened Flannery. All the other auctions ended in 3NT, with North declaring by a 4-2 margin. Opening 1NT with 5-4 majors seems a little odd. although it might lead to competition from West and N-S's defending a doubled partial. The plurality pattern seemed to be a 1NT response from North and South opting to invite.

?

3NT looks a bit dodgy but has a kind layout. Eubot defeated 3NT N when declarer put off the spade finesse too long; both 3NT S contracts were defeated as well. Three 3NT N contracts made; Tracy took ten tricks after a club opening lead.

?

3NT N +1

3NT N = (2)

1NT N +2

1H S =

3NT N -1; 3NT S -1 (2)

?

3:

?

...............964

...............93

...............Q1054

...............A1076

Q5..........................1083

K542......................AJ876

K98........................J763

Q943......................8

...............AKJ72

...............Q10

...............A2

...............KJ52

?

1S from South, usually raised by North and then it was just a question of whether South invited game or went directly to 4S. One East was allowed to play in 3H after competition; the other contracts were 3S twice and 4S five times.

?

4S can make by force but has to get lucky - declarer needs to drop the spade queen and bring in the clubs; South's heart queen turns out to be wasted and would be most useful in a black suit. Curiously, 4S made three times out of the five. Jeff received a club lead and then led out the ace and king of spades as there happened to be no entry to dummy once he had not played the ten on the first trick.

?

4S S = (3)

3S S +1

3S S -1; 4S S -1 (2)

3H E =

?

4:

?

...............AK632

...............QJ8

...............A43

...............J10

Q10854.................7

K97654.................----

----........................KQJ10986

A5.........................KQ982

...............J9

...............A1032

...............752

...............7643

?

This is the most important hand of the set. Controversy erupted at one table which will be detailed later. First, West had to choose an initial call after South passed. Four different actions were selected; we had three passes, three 1H openings, one 1S and one 2H. Had the suits been six spades and five hearts then 1S would likely have been a majority choice. The 1S opening bid did not have a good result; the auction ended in 5Hx W when East eventually gave up. The 2H opening bid ended in a contract of 4D E. 1H led to 3Hx W, 4D E and 5D E. Passing led to 4D E, 4Dx E and 5D E.

?

I want to discuss the 4Dx E auction for a moment. East has quite a powerful hand but the particular East overcalled 3D after North opened 1S. When asked to explain, East replied, "Diamonds". That is not a proper reply to the question. E-W had weak jump overcalls on their card and a proper answer would have been something like, "Natural, weak". Now, East clearly, despite holding only 11 HCP, does not have a weak hand. But it is acceptable to violate bidding agreements on purpose if one tries to make the auction sound a certain way. East may have been trying to get doubled, planning to start with 3D, then bid 4D and possibly 5D, which under normal circumstances looks like dreadful bidding. Perhaps East did not want to lie and say the bid was weak when the hand was strong. But "weak" was the correct answer because the opponents are allowed to know the agreement but not the hand. As weak jump overcalls are not Alertable and as N-S took the bid as weak when they doubled, there were no grounds for me to adjust the results, but North naturally felt rather ill-used in getting a flimsy answer to the question. Always describe the agreement, which goes equally truly if one makes a mistake. How often does someone click on the wrong bid and then get asked what it means? In such a case the best response is to tell how partner should interpret the bid. Sometimes there will be recourse if an error mars the auction irreparably to the opponents' detriment but many errors are just part of the game.

?

In the play, we see how a solid suit does not need support. Even if forced right away, West can draw trumps and come to eleven tricks when the clubs behave. I was afraid some pairs might play in clubs, where declarer cannot take eleven tricks if N-S force early ruffs. East loses control of the trump suit and cannot run the diamonds unless clubs split 3-3. But even a 5-1 split does not sink 5D. All the diamond declarers took eleven tricks except for Louise, who took twelve after the lead of the ace of hearts. Jevin defended 3Hx -4 for +1100 and, unusually, were only second best for a four-figure penalty; Jamob scored +1400 defending 5Hx -5.

?

5Hx W -5

3Hx W -4

4D E +1 (3)

5D E =

5D E +1

4Dx E +1

?

5:

?

...............94

...............K1064

...............54

...............QJ972

AKQ753..............J102

87........................J95

3..........................KQJ98

10864..................K5

...............86

...............AQ32

...............A10762

...............A3

?

South opens 1D and West overcalls 2S (the "good 14" crowd may want to upgrade the hand to 1NT if they can live with two doubletons when one is xx). Does North come in with a negative double? If so East raises to 3S and then it is hard to keep South from bidding 4H. If North passes East might raise. 3S likely ends the auction; if East passes South may balance. Eventually 3S or 4H seems likely. Contracts were all in spades: 2S twice, 3S four times and 4S twice. possibly as a sacrifice.

?

4H gets very lucky unless E-W are sharp. Suppose West cashes two spades and switches to a diamond. Declarer draws trumps ending in dummy. If the club queen is run next, East must duck and declarer comes up a trick short; covering allows declarer to finesse the nine next and run the suit after one ruff, for which there is not another entry if East ducks first. In spades, East's honours are wasted if N-S defend reasonably - they take two hearts, two clubs and a diamond and declarer comes to only eight tricks. But N-S had a problem. The opening lead was usually a diamond and then South had to guess who had the singleton. Robert and two other declarers in partials took ten tricks after a diamond return at trick two. Both the 4S contracts were only set one trick. Lin made 3S. Kenbot/Eubot were the only table to produce the expected result of eight tricks; Troward set 2S when declarer drew trumps too soon and could only ruff one club as the diamonds were not established first.

?

2S W -1; 3S W -1; 4S W -1 (2)

3S W =

2S W +2; 3S W +1 (2)

?

6:

?

...............2

...............AKQ1065

...............72

...............J873

9864..........................AK53

7.................................J9843

J1085.........................964

AK102........................6

...............QJ107

...............2

...............AKQ3

...............Q954

?

Looking at just the N-S hands 3NT is reasonable, thanks to the heart ten. The suit will behave a little more than half the time and E-W cannot take more than the black ace-kings. 1D-1H; 1S-3H; 3NT would be a fair auction. 4H is rather shakier double dummy; E-W are almost sure of a club ruff, although the bid often works out in practice. Contracts were 2H N, 3H N, 3NT N(!) and 4H N five times.

?

Heart contracts are held to eight tricks by a black-suit lead, the result posted by Eubot and Glynneth against 4H as well as by Study against 3H and Myrtle in 2H, which was N-S top as the only plus score. Three declarers in 4H escaped for -1, a higher number than I'd have expected. Tracy, for instance, received a club lead and spade switch; East eventually got endplayed in trumps and had to give up the second undertrick. 3NT is interesting; if declarer can cobble together three black-suit winners then the 5-1 hearts are no problem. Trying two hearts at once may fail; declarer has communication trouble and will have to be careful to start spades rather than play clubs too early and let West cut the N-S hands off too soon. An initial diamond lead may be enough to set 3NT, at least in practice. Harold finished -1 but that was still above average opposite all the heart contracts.

?

2H N =

3H N -1; 3NT N -1; 4H N -1 (3)

4H N -2 (2)

?

7:

?

...............85

...............Q9873

...............K6

...............AJ76

AJ10962..............Q43

K54......................A10

107.......................Q83

Q7........................K10432

...............K7

...............J62

...............AJ9542

...............95

?

If South opens 2D, E-W may get pushed into 4S if West squeezes out a light 2S overcall, although East may downgrade the diamond queen and only invite. 3S seems the most likely spot if West passes and East balances with 3C, or if South cannot open 2D and West opens 2S. contracts were 2S W, 2Sx W, 3S W thrice, 4H N(!) and 4S W twice.

?

The layout is kind to 4S - the spade finesse works and the suit splits 2-2; declarer can even be careless and get away with taking the heart ruff first without an overruff and there is no club ruff. The one snag allowed Ritold to defeat 4S; West did not ruff the third diamond high and Harold got an overruff with his eight-spot. Declarer could have spared the nine. Everyone else in spades took the expected ten tricks, Judy (R) picking up the top in 2Sx +2. Cinise defended actively to set 4H two tricks instead of one, useful at this vulnerability.

?

4S W -1

2S W +2; 3S W +1 (3)

4H N -2

4S W =

2Sx W +2

?

8:

?

...............AJ87632

...............J5

...............5

...............AQ3

Q..............................K1095

K4............................Q62

KJ832......................A1076

KJ1087....................65

...............4

...............A109873

...............Q94

...............942

?

After 1D-1S, whether East raised diamonds or bid 1NT, E-W rated to find their diamond fit and compete to 3D; would North carry on and allow East to double 3S? would hearts get into the picture? One East was left in 1NT when West opted not to show the clubs and North was disinclined to continue. North declared 3S and 3Sx. The remaining contracts were in diamonds: 3D twice, 4D, 5D and 5Dx.

?

Diamonds could take nine tricks by force, although that would entail guessing the trumps correctly. If North competed in spades with vigour, that would not be unlikely as 3-1 diamonds would make bidding high more appealing to North with a singleton. Kenbot defeated 3D when West spurned the finesse but all the other declarers in diamonds took nine or ten. 3S and 3Sx both finished the expected -2. In 1NT Kathy took ten tricks after a spade lead and continuation. Had South led a heart it would have been necessary to duck the lead in both hands to make 1NT at all.

?

5D W -2; 5Dx W -1

3D W -1; 4D W -1

3S N -2

3D W =

1NT E +3

3Sx N -2

?

9:

?

...............953

...............A10742

...............J10

...............972

62............................AQJ8

KJ93........................85

875..........................AKQ642

Q854.......................6

...............K1074

...............Q6

...............93

...............AKJ103

?

P-1D-2C-P; P and East comes in again with 2D, 2S or double. The hand has fine playing strength, justifying 2S - game needs only Kxxx in spades opposite and, if there is no spade fit, 3D is highly unlikely to be dangerously high. west likely goes back into diamonds, although one West proved quite intrepid. Contracts were 2D E, 3D E thrice, 3H N, 3NT W and 4D E twice.

?

3NT is defeated after a club lead unless South foolishly wins the first two rounds or wins the first round and switches. Forcing the queen while there is still communication in clubs will just do. If declarer wins the queen and runs the diamonds, South comes down to K10 in spades and four good clubs; because there is no second club in dummy there is no endplay! Diamond contracts all took ten tricks except against Myrne; declarer played the third trump and was unable to ruff the fourth spade. 3NT was the expected -1 against Ritold; 3H N finished -4, one trick more than Study needed for the top board.

?

3NT W -1; 4D E -1

2D E +2; 3D E +1 (3); 4D E =

3H N -4

?

10:

?

...............8765

...............8653

...............AK8

...............109

3...........................J104

AQ7......................J42

Q76.......................109532

AKQ874................J3

...............AKQ92

...............K109

...............J4

...............652

?

South opens 1S and West either overcalls 2C or doubles. Double seems fine; if East can reply with 1NT then 3NT should have reasonable play. North may go or at least eventually get the auction to 3S over either 2C or a double; that likely ends the auction. Contracts were 2S S, 3S S thrice, 4C W thrice and 4Cx W; Wests were largely feeling frisky.

?

Clubs can be held to eight tricks by force, although only by a weird sort of ping-pong. If N-S take the diamond ruff off the top West can draw trumps ending in dummy and use the two long diamonds. If N-S start passively, the club jack is the only entry to the East hand to run a diamond intermediate through South's Jx, but N-S can take the diamond ruff then and there will be no entry to the East hand to cash diamonds. Myrne produced 4C -2, tying Jevin's 4Cx -1. Spades are held to eight tricks by an overruff on the third round of clubs. All four spade contracts took eight tricks.

?

4Cx W -1; 4C W -2

2S S =

4C W -1

3S S -1 (3)

4C W =

?

11:

?

...............10742

...............KQ107

...............874

...............K7

AQJ965.................K83

86..........................J4

93..........................KJ652

832........................QJ6

...............----

...............A9532

...............AQ10

...............A10954

?

1H-2S-3H-3S and then South is worth at least 4H. If South knew North held four hearts and more or less invitational strength then there might be a look for 6H, as opposite four-card support a helpful club holding gives 6C some play. Contracts ranged widely: 3S W, 4H S four times, 4Sx W, 5H S and 5S W undoubled after the auction 1H-1S-2H-3H; 4C-4S-5H-X; P-5S (I suspect South misclicked).

?

Either 2-2 hearts or 3-3 clubs allow declarer to take twelve tricks if one of the diamond honours sits with East; here, as both rounded suits spit evenly, the king alone is enough for thirteen tricks, taken in three of the five heart games. Cinise and Eubot were able to hold declarer to twelve tricks when declarer was slightly inaccurate. The thirteenth trick mattered when 4Sx was set the appropriate three tricks; +510 beats +500. the undoubled spade declarers both dropped a trick but had the top two scores.

?

4H S +3 (2); 5H S +2

4Sx W -3

4H S +2 (2)

3S W -3

5S W -5

?

12:

?

...............AKJ3

...............3

...............K102

...............AKQJ4

Q106......................52

97652.....................AKQ10

QJ73.......................9865

3.............................1065

...............9874

...............J84

...............A4

...............9872

?

Some Norths opened 2C and some 1C. Two auctions got dropped in 3C N but everyone else found the way to game: 3NT N, 4S N twice, 4S S and 5C N twice.

?

With the spades behaving so kindly both black suits provide twelve tricks. 3NT got both lucky and unlucky - unlucky that East was on lead with the obvious heart lead (had it been 3NT S, would Bill [S] have led a spade had the suit not been bid from Q10x?) but lucky that the suit blocked, saving 2.5 matchpoints for declarer. Limy were E-W top, posting 5C -1 when declarer never played spades until having to lead the suit out from hand at trick ten.

?

4S N +2; 4S S +2

4S N +1

5C N +1

3NT N =

3C N +3 (2)

5C N -1

?

13:

?

...............AJ65

...............J9

...............K65

...............AKJ4

1043........................KQ98

85............................K732

Q102........................AJ7

Q7532......................106

...............72

...............AQ1064

...............9853

...............98

?

This was one hand on which we had everyone produce the same auction. 1NT-P-2D-P; 2H was the auction at all eight tables; not a peep from any East or a look for game from any South.

?

Declarer can take nine tricks by force, although that likely entails having to finesse in clubs, potentially dangerous if the spade ace has been knocked out. East may be able to ruff the third club and give away the trump trick?for the protected king. In practice, East gets stuck on lead quite often and gave declarer ten tricks thrice while only Kill held declarer to eight. Kevin, one of the three declarers to take ten tricks, ducked a spade lead, then received a diamond switch when a heart or club was needed.

?

2H N +2 (3)

2H N +1 (4)

2H N =

?

14:

?

...............KJ102

...............7643

...............A82

...............J4

3........................A965

KJ8....................Q95

73.......................Q1065

KQ97652............83

...............Q874

...............A102

...............KJ94

...............A10

?

Does West bid 2C or 3C over 1D? 2C gets a negative double from North; 3C rides to South who may make a balancing double. Contracts all got higher than 3C: 3D S, 3S N, 3S S thrice, 4C W, 4Cx W and 4S S.

?

A club lead holds declarer to a maximum of nine tricks in spades, though fewer are certainly likely, as the diamonds may not be guessed to lie as they do and the 4-1 trumps are a further complication. Robbot posted 3S -2 when declarer led a spade at trick seven (a heart or diamond was needed at that point) and a second undertrick when the diamond was led at trick nine but to the king instead of the jack. Club contracts would seem to have nine tricks but Kenbot took a fifth against 4C to tie Jamob's 4Cx -1. Howard and Rita made 3S to tie for N-S top.

?

3S S = (2)

3D S =

4C W -2; 4Cx W -1

3S S -1; 4S S -1

3S N -2

?

15:

?

...............J54

...............K832

...............KJ97

...............Q2

Q3.........................A1086

76..........................AQJ104

A543.....................86

97653....................J8

...............K972

...............95

...............Q102

...............AK104

?

At least one pair bids up-the-line instead of majors first, as one auction ended in 1NT W: 1C-P-1D and then East either doubles or overcalls 1H, over either of which West likely bids 1NT, ending the auction unless North opts for a double. 1C-P-1H likely keeps East quiet, likely leading to 1S-1NT on the second round and a contract of 1NT N, played thrice. South's playing 2NT twice may have been after 1C-P-1D-X; 1NT-P-2NT; the other contracts were 2NT N and 3D N. The 3D auction was 1C-P-1D-X; P-1S-1NT-2H; 3D, South likely thinking East's hand to be rather better than it was.

?

E-W can come to six tricks declaring or defending no-trumps. Defending is simple - lead hearts and establish the sixth trick. declaring one just has to duck two rounds of diamonds and West comes to six tricks with two spades, three hearts and the diamond ace or, instead, four hearts and one spade. Bob took nine tricks in 2NT S when West did not hold up the ace and later led a spade when a heart would still have held declarer to eight tricks. 1NT N yielded eight tricks every time but Cinise defended correctly to post 2NT -1. 3D -3 was E-W top for Marudy.

?

2NT S +1

1NT N +1 (3); 2NT S =

1NT W -1

2NT N -1

3D N -3

?

16:

?

...............KJ32

...............Q2

...............AK4

...............AJ107

74................................6

K864...........................J10953

10652..........................873

Q84.............................K652

...............AQ10985

...............A7

...............QJ9

...............93

?

Here was our slam hand, reached at every table. Even if North opens 1NT (I believe one pair did, as their range extends to 18 and they finished in a contract of 6S N) South will at least transfer to 2S and then raise to 4S to show mild slam interest or do something more encouraging with the six-loser hand. If 1NT-4H; 4S-5H is not Exclusion, it accurately lets North know to bid 6S with control of both minors. One pair reached 6NT S, four bid 6S S and two pairs went to 7S on the auctions 1C-1S; 4S-4NT; 5D-7S and 1C-1S; 4S-4NT; 5D-5NT; 6S-7S. I'm not sure what 6S showed, but both Souths seemed to expect better playing strength from North, but I don't think there was room for it if one accepts that North would have splintered with Kxxx AKxx A Axxx or bid 4C with Kxxx Ax A AKJ10xx.

?

Slam turns out to be a question of right-siding. 6S N got unlucky; not only did setting 6S require a heart lead from the hand without the king but East had a natural lead of the heart jack. South always took twelve tricks, losing one club but finessing twice and discarding a heart on the third club. It was unfortunate that the diamonds split 3-3; slam is cold if North had held KJ32 Q2 AK74 AJ10 and grand slam opposite KJ2 Q2 AK1043 AJ7.

?

6NT S =

6S S = (4)

6S N -1; 7S S -1 (2)

?

17:

?

...............A10742

...............93

...............Q83

...............AK9

KJ86...........................53

AJ106.........................Q8752

J42..............................A9765

Q5...............................2

...............Q9

...............K4

...............K10

...............J1087643

?

North opens 1S and then it is a question of whether East comes in with 2S or not. An uncontested auction begins 1S-1NT; 2C-3Cwhich would seem to be enough but was never the contract; the only pair in 3C had South declaring. One pair declared 2NT W, which seemed to indicate a different way of proceeding after the cue-bid. I'm not sure how East declared 3H and 4H; did the bidding begin 1S-P-1NT-X? Contract were varied: 2NT W, 3C S, 3H E, 3NT S, 4C S, 4H E and 4H W, not the same contract and declarer at any two tables.

?

Lin had a happy escape in 2NT W -1, although -2 would not have scored any worse. Both 4H contracts made, Robert after an opening lead of the club ace, although the winning defence is hard to find. North must lead a diamond to the king, then South returns the diamond ten and North DUCKS. If dummy overtakes trumps can be drawn but there are two diamond losers. If dummy ducks North wins a club and gives South a diamond ruff or declarer must play ace and another trump out of hand. When declarer was able to ruff a club before diamonds were played, a low diamond from dummy through South picks up the suit on the lucky layout for one loser. Bob could have been defeated in 3NT S but was home after West led the heart jack, emerging with ten tricks in the end for our double game swing.

?

3NT S +1

3C S +1; 4C S =

2NT W -1

3H E =

4H E = (2)

4Sx N -3

?

18:

?

...............J94

...............A1085

...............53

...............Q962

K87...........................Q

Q...............................KJ9632

J9742........................A108

A743..........................KJ8

...............A106532

...............74

...............KQ6

...............105

?

1H-1S-X-2S; 3H-3S-X might have been possible but never occurred. South overcalled either 1S or 2S. Every auction reached 3H; half the N-S pairs competed to 3S, and half the auctions that went to 3S carried on to 4H, one auction being 1H-2S-2NT-3S; 4H.

?

With South on lead there was no way to force two diamond tricks, allowing East to take nine tricks in hearts. Spades can take eight tricks by force, although there is a chance that E-W can force South to ruff a third heart with the ten if the defence cashes two clubs before leading the third heart through. But all eight tables produced the double dummy result in tricks, scoring 5.5/7 for the Easts left in 3H, 4.5/7 for Jeff and Wendy, who were left in 3S, and 6.5/7 for Myrne and Kenbot, who pushed their opponents into 4H.

?

4H E -1 (2)

3S S -1 (2)

3H E = (4)

1:

?

...............5432

...............A108652

...............2

...............J8

A10987....................Q6

Q..............................94

AJ94........................K8653

Q74..........................6532

...............KJ

...............KJ73

...............Q107

...............AK109

?

If North opens 2H, South has enough potential loser coverage for 4H. Otherwise South opens 1NT and we see whether West comes in or not. If the auction remains uncontested, North transfers and South can pre-accept. North has enough to take a crack at game. E-W have a chance to keep N-S low if West can overcall, especially if West is lucky enough to be able to bid 2S with spades and a minor. North is then stuck and unable to take an invitational action, whereas if by luck West bids below 2H lebensohl allows North a 2NT relay followed by 3H to invite, a reasonable action on the hand with a Losing Trick Count of eight. We finished with contracts of 2H S, 3H N, 3H S, 4H N thrice, 4H S four times and 4Hx N.

?

The declaring outcome rides mainly on the spade guess - declarer takes eleven tricks by playing East for the queen. Gloria began with the N-S top for playing 4Hx +1. The club queen's dropping in three rounds meant that Phyllis and Elaine were able to take twelve tricks in 4H and 2H.

?

4Hx N +1

4H S +2

4H N +1 (2); 4H S +1 (2)

4H N =; 4H S =

2H S +4

3H N +2; 3H S +2

?

2:

?

...............10532

...............10975

...............1095

...............103

AKJ7.........................6

KJ62.........................AQ843

A872.........................KJ

7................................AK984

...............Q984

...............----

...............Q643

...............QJ652

?

With N-S vulnerable E-W were fairly sure to have the auction to themselves. Had West been a little less strong there would have been more splinter raises; knowing West is short in clubs gives East a fair chance of reaching 7H, as there will be fair play for 7H opposite three key cards. Paun, who play generic splinters, reached 7H that way: 1H-3S showing any splinter raise; 3NT-4C; 4NT-5D; 7H, Paul finding the shortage in clubs, then three key cards, and he cruised into 7H. One other pair reached 7H, six pairs bid 6H and three stopped in 4H. I did see one or two E-W pairs with East not able to find the spade king (showing specific kings West was unable to go past 6H) but the spade king was not of much importance, especially compared to West's not holding three low clubs.

?

Paul made 7H after a bit of back-and-forth. South made the natural opening lead of the club queen, on which North played the ten. Paul followed up with a heart to the king, then took the top spades and ruffed the third round, the queen not dropping. Drawing a second round of trumps would actually have squeezed South. Ruffing the spade meant that, after a club ruff in dummy, South could unguard the diamonds, as the third diamond and not the fourth becomes the threat. Paul had one extra chance due to North's club ten; he ruffed the club eight low when he could have discarded, ruffed the nine high and then finessed through North twice to pick up the trumps. After the ruff of the club eight Paul drew trumps and South unguarded the clubs. The 4-0 trumps were too much for most pairs; Steve, Connie and Sandi took thirteen tricks in 6H. Everyone else took twelve tricks except against Boric, who held declarer to eleven.

?

7H E -1

4H E +1

4H E +2 (2)

6H E = (3)

6H E +1 (3)

7H E =

?

3:

?

...............QJ

...............----

...............A10632

...............AJ10762

AK763......................1052

Q963........................AK10742

74.............................9

54.............................KQ8

...............984

...............J85

...............KQJ85

...............93

?

Had East been dealer it would have been interesting to see how West evaluated the hand (a 5-4-3-1 pattern might have just crossed over the game-going line). We likely see P-P-1D-1H; 3D-3H as a start, and if North passes it might be left in, as happened twice. One North was left in 4D but everyone else took a push into game: 4H E thrice, 5Cx N, 5Dx S twice, 6Dx N and 6Dx S. It's hard for North to stop, and in the end it results in a wash. One of the 6Dx auctions went P-P-1D-1H; 3D-3H-5D-5H; P-P-6C-X; 6D-X, the sacrifice luckily turning out not to be a phantom.

?

East in hearts got extremely lucky - the spades came in for no loser and declarer took eleven tricks. N-S take nine tricks in clubs or ten in diamonds. Gareth in 4D N dropped a trick but had already won the board just for being in that contract; everyone else took the expected number of tricks.

?

4D N -1

5Dx S -1 (2)

3H E +2 (2)

5Cx N -2; 6Dx S -2 (2)

4H E +1 (3)

?

4:

?

...............KQJ1054

...............8543

...............65

...............7

76...............................A3

AKJ6..........................Q

987.............................QJ32

QJ95..........................K106432

...............982

...............10972

...............AK104

...............A8

?

North opened 2S and played the hand there twice, with another North playing 3S. All the other contracts were in clubs by East. This indicates that West never opened, as West never declared in clubs and East would never have sold out. E-W avoided the trap of 3NT as well, much the best spot if West had turned up with xx AKxx xxx Axxx. How high would E-W go? Two pairs stopped in 3C, four in 4C and two in 5Cx.

?

The two Souths who doubled 5C were too pleased with the diamonds holding up to give North the ruff, so that declarer escaped for -1, although the slip cost little. Hank and Larry (Sh) both took ten tricks in 3C. 4C took the expected nine tricks except against Lernot, who picked up a fifth trick to tie the doublers. Spades had an easy eight tricks, the result for all three declarers, giving Jim and Sarah a 65% score.

?

4C E -2; 5Cx E -1 (2)

2S N = (2)

4C E -1 (3)

3S N -1

3C E +1 (2)

?

5:

?

...............AJ763

...............K3

...............AQ4

...............K102

82...........................KQ

A875.......................QJ2

K3...........................J1097652

AJ985.....................4

...............10954

...............10964

...............8

...............Q763

?

North opens 1S or 1NT; East might come in with diamonds over either opening. South might make a preemptive jump raise in spades if East overcalls 2D. The auction usually reached the four-level, with contracts of 1NT N, 2D E, 2S N, 3Hx W, 4D E thrice, 4S N thrice and 5D E.

?

All the diamond contracts took the expected nine tricks. It was a difficult hand for E-W defending spades as the winning line of defence was to start with the singleton club despite the trump holding of KQ doubleton. Gloria made 4S while Paun posted a two-trick set against indifferent declaring. 2S took nine tricks and 1NT eight for good scores. Hank made 3Hx W, which could have been set two tricks by force. North opened with the club ten; later in the hand South discarded a club at trick nine.??

?

4S N =

2S N +1

1NT N +1

5D E -2

4D E -1 (3)

4S N -1

2D E +1

4S N -2

3Hx W =

?

6:

?

...............4

...............42

...............AJ942

...............AKJ65

Q106532..............AKJ

A86......................Q10

653.......................Q87

Q...........................87432

...............987

...............KJ9753

...............K10

...............109

?

East presumably opens 1C and South bids 2H, passed around to a balancing double. West may well go on to 3S; the hand is not far from direct action over 2H. North could come in but game seems a minority outcome for either side, though not quite implausible. Contracts were 2S W twice, 3D N, 3H S twice, 3S W thrice, 4H S twice and 4S W.

?

The easy path to setting 4H is for West to lead a low trump, importantly not surrendering control of the hand. South cannot discard a spade without losing the lead to E-W; West can draw North's second trump and then the defence can cash three spade tricks. Elaine took eleven tricks in 4H after a spade lead. Spade contracts could have been held to eight tricks; Don made 4S after South broke the hearts at trick five.

?

4H S +1

3S W -2; 3H S +2

3H S =

3S W -1 (2)

3D N -1; 4H S -1

2S W = (2)

4S W =

?

7:

?

...............98

...............K863

...............KQ7632

...............3

AQJ....................10652

72.......................AQJ4

5..........................98

KJ107642...........AQ9

...............K743

...............1095

...............AJ104

...............85

?

This auction just measures the competitive spirits of both sides. We begin P-1C-2D-X; 3D and then the hand becomes almost exclusively a Battle of the Minors. )ne East sold out to 3D and another came back in with 3H, but the other nine contracts were all clubs played by West, with 5C the majority choice, played seven times, with 4C and 6C played once each, the 6C auction being P-1C-2D-X; 3D-4C-P-5C; 5D-P-P-6C. It is not particularly surprising that only a Robot would bid 6C with the East cards.

?

With both finesses succeeding 6C made for Larry (Sh). Everyone in clubs took twelve tricks, except for Hank, who took all thirteen after a spade lead. The red-suit contracts gave Bob (3D -1) and Lernot (3H =) the two best N-S scores.

?

3D N -1

3H E =

4C W +2

5C W +1 (6)

5C W +2

6C W =

?

8:

?

...............K54

...............A103

...............Q6543

...............AK

103.........................J762

Q86........................K742

AKJ8......................9

Q432......................10965

...............AQ98

...............J95

...............1072

...............J87

?

Would South continue after 1D-1NT? Two Souths passed, 1NT becoming the final contract. The remaining Souths invited game, often after Stayman, with North accepting the invitation by a 5-4 margin.

?

A club lead sets 3NT with relative ease. Even if declarer guesses the spades correctly for four tricks only an eighth trick can be established in a red suit. 3NT was made thrice, by Larry (St), Sarah and Bob, Sarah after she led a diamond from dummy and West played the jack second hand instead of winning. Paun picked up an extra trick on defence to post 3NT -2, sharing E-W top with Linj, who took even one trick more defending 2NT for the same score. Sharon was the only declarer in a partial to score +150.

?

3NT N = (3)

2NT N +1

1NT N +1 (2); 2NT N =

2NT N -1; 3NT N -1

2NT N -2; 3NT N -2

?

9:

?

...............QJ9852

...............10

...............9

...............KQJ93

----........................A103

KQ9654................A73

KQ1052.................AJ73

87..........................1065

...............K764

...............J82

...............864

...............A42

?

North's hand has too much playing strength for a 2S opening bid, although I expect some dealers took that course. Even if East passes, West probably comes in if South bids anything below 3S. With dueling 6-5 patterns the auction can rise to dizzying heights. Two tables stopping in a partial might be on the Over side of expectations. Contracts were 3S N, 4D E, 4H W twice, 4S N twice, 4Sx N twice, 5D W, 5Sx N and 6Cx S.

?

N-S should take ten tricks against any defence. For E-W, hearts should take eleven on a club lead or twelve otherwise, diamonds allowing the thirteenth as well against a kind lead. Both Rich and Larry (Sh) received a spade lead and posted 4H +2 to tie for E-W top. All the N-S contracts took ten tricks, except that Lark picked up a second undertrick when declarer did not draw all the trumps, although it made little difference to the matchpoint scores.

?

4Sx N = (2)

4S N = (2)

3S N +1

4D E +3

5Sx N -2; 6Cx S -2

5D W =

4H W +2 (2)

?

10:

?

...............AQ64

...............AQ8

...............105

...............8432

K2..........................98753

J10632...................954

KQ74......................J63

J9...........................AK

...............J10

...............K7

...............A982

...............Q10765

?

Some Wests opened 1H in third seat (suboptimal on a suit one does not want led); some Norths opened 1C in fourth. One table passed out. Surprisingly few auctions reached the three-level; contracts were 2C N thrice, 2D N, 2H W thrice, 3C N, 3C S and 3NT S. Game was reached when Diane came in with a balance: P-P-1H-P; P-1NT-P-P; 2H-3C-P-3NT, which I suppose will teach East about passing 2H.

?

The layout is ideal for N-S. 3NT cannot be defeat and Diane emerged with a triumphant top. The club contracts all took ten tricks. Heart contracts could have been held to six tricks; Don made 2H for the E-W top mostly after getting a ruff-and-discard and a little help later.

?

3NT S =

2H W -2

2C N +2 (3); 3C N +1 (2)

2H W -1

2D N =

Passed Out

2H W =

?

11:

?

...............KQ8632

...............Q107

...............5

...............1052

AJ9...........................107

KJ3...........................9542

10976........................Q843

Q93...........................A76

...............54

...............A86

...............AKJ2

...............KJ84

?

1NT from South and then what does North do? Does the hand invite or drive to game? Two Norths let the auction stop in 2S. Of the nine auctions with at least an invitation, the margin was 8-1 for 4S over 3S. It is possible that South accepted an invitational 3S once or twice with the aces and kings, although the low doubleton in trumps would seem to suggest that the invitation is better declined.

?

The layout is kind for N-S and allows 4S to make when there is only one spade loser and the red suits are not unkind. It is possible to go down in 4S if declarer starts the clubs for oneself and plays East for the queen. Larbot, Conndy, Vioebe and Randi all set 4S, Larbot after Sout led a spade to the king and then continued with a second spade from dummy. 4S was made the other four times. With a diamond the most likely opening lead, it would seem that 4S ought to have made more often.

?

4S N =; 4S S = (3)

2S S +3

3S N +1

2S S +1

4S S -1 (4)

?

12:

?

...............A108

...............1032

...............K8

...............A10954

KQ...........................J76432

9654........................AQ

Q6............................J73

KQJ72......................83

...............95

...............KJ87

...............A109542

...............6

?

E-W can reach a quiet 2S if South stays out of the auction. 2S E was the contract four times. If South came in with 2D on the first round the auction likely went beyond 2S, with higher contracts of 2NT N, 3D S, 3S E thrice, 3Sx E and 4D S.

?

It takes a bit of doing with the hearts but declarer can force ten tricks in diamonds by leading low hearts twice from the North hand. Both Diane and Tom took ten tricks in diamonds to tie for N-S top. Heve were E-W top defending 2NT N -4. Spade contracts could have been held to six tricks by precise defence but declarer always overperformed, taking seven or eight tricks four times each, giving Mark and Sandi declaring plus scores in 2S =.

?

3D S +1; 4D S =

3S E -2 (2); 3Sx E -1

2S E -1 (2); 3S E -1

2S E = (2)

2NT N -4

?

13:

?

...............Q98

...............J1094

...............AJ3

...............K98

1074.........................3

K863........................AQ75

K975.........................10862

52.............................A1074

...............AKJ652

...............2

...............Q4

...............QJ63

?

We got almost everyone to 4S S. North had an invitation via Drury (if an unpassed hand 1NT forcing and 3S on the second round) and South had the Losing Trick Count to accept. One North was content with a raise to 2S and South passed, but everyone else went to 4S.

?

If West is averse to leading away from kings declarer is likely to take eleven tricks after a club lead. A diamond lead also gives a trick away. A trump lead probably results in ten tricks. Eight of the ten declarers in 4S did take eleven tricks. Conndy set 4S when South passed up the diamond finesse and never got a discard of the fourth club.

?

4S S +1 (8)

4S S =

2S S +2

4S S -1

?

14:

?

...............A862

...............AK987

...............KJ63

...............----

J9................................K1043

10532..........................Q64

108752........................AQ

87................................K965

...............Q75

...............J

...............94

...............AQJ10432

?

What does South do after East opens 1C? South often passed, often seeing North come in with a double; 1Cx E was the contract once. At least one West ran from 1Cx and the intrepid Doug even responded 1D to 1C. In the Make Sure of Your Partnership Agreements category, one South made a rather normal jump cue-bid, which is generally considered natural over 1m, while over 1M it asks partner to bid 3NT with a stopper. Unfortunately, North did not take 3C as natural and bid 6H! Besides 6H N and 1Cx E, other contracts were 3C S, 3NT N, 3NT S four times, 4C S and 5C S twice.

?

When clubs are trumps, N-S should take ten tricks. Loubot defeated 1Cx only two tricks, probably due to not following the cardinal rule of leading trumps when one leaves the opponents in 1m doubled. The one thing South wants to prevent is West's getting any ruffs; draw trumps and then pick up whatever the side has in the other suits. It made a fair difference, as three games were permitted to make when either 3NT or 5C should have finished -1. Eric posted 5C +1 when a spade was led at trick five, anything else preserving the set; Erik played 3NT S +2 after a club switch at the second trick. Heve were the lucky recipients of the bidding misunderstanding, posting 6H -3 for the E-W top.

?

3NT S +2

3NT S +1

5C S =

1Cx E -2

3C S -1; 3NT N -1; 3NT S -1; 4C S -1; 5C S -1

3NT S -2

6H N -3

?

15:

?

...............Q102

...............1043

...............6

...............KJ10872

KJ965......................A84

J7.............................Q52

AK84........................J107

96.............................AQ54

...............73

...............AK986

...............Q9532

...............3

?

I could live with an opening bid from South; the hand will have a rebid and at least there are two Quick Tricks in case the bidding gets high. 2H is interesting if the partnership agreements permit. It looks as if a 1H opening bid has a chance of keeping E-W out of 4S. If West opens 1S East is sure to get the side to game but after 1H-1S East will only invite and might downgrade the hand to a mild invitation. West will probably not accept a mild invitation and the hand could just slip through the cracks. Contracts were 3Hx S, 3S W and 4S W nine times.

?

4S makes with enough things behaving, a little on the lucky side. Curiously only half the declarers in spades took ten tricks. Loubot defended 4S -2 when the diamond king was led and ruffed on the second trick and declarer later got blocked in dummy. Randi managed a nice 3Hx -4 for a tidy +1100 and the E-W top.

?

4S W -2

4S W -1 (3)

3S W =

4S W = (5)

3Hx S -4

?

16:

?

...............A96

...............A8

...............KQ102

...............10743

KJ10742.............----

J6.......................Q9542

J98.....................643

QJ.......................A9862

...............Q853

...............K1073

...............A75

...............K5

?

2S W could have been left in more often than thrice. One South left in a takeout double of 2S; such good luck! Curiously there were only two other contracts reached, 3D N twice and 3NT N five times. I could have seen 3NT S after a balance.

?

The passout on Board 17 threw me off my schedule and I have had to reconstruct what happened on Board 16. Heve's drawn round with Giselaine was especially helpful, as that meant that Heve scored exactly 70% defending 3D. I also remembered that Lernot scored 20% on both boards of the round. Glotin won the round and had to score 85% or better defending 2S. Boric also won the round and had to score 85% or better playing 3NT, so that Bob had to make 3NT and nobody else could make that contract.? Ten tricks in 3NT could have been forced, but most declarers probably missed the club blockage.

?

3NT N +1

2S W -3

3D N =

2S W -2 (2); 2Sx W-1

3D N -1; 3NT N -1 (2)

3NT N -2 (2)

?

17:

?

...............Q6

...............854

...............AJ3

...............A10764

A1082....................K753

QJ..........................A10762

Q765......................K42

J53.........................2

...............J94

...............K93

...............1098

...............KQ98

?

Six tables passed out. North opened 1C twice and a weak 1NT one other time. The 1C opening bids led to 2S W and 3S W; 1NT led to 3C N, likely after a negative double from South. One East opened 2D, perhaps a light Flannery, also leading to 3S W. The last opening bid was 1D by West in fourth seat, resulting in 2H E.

?

Spade contracts could take eight tricks with top play by both sides but the declarers in 3S both made the contract (Cindy received a club lead to the queen followed by a diamond to the ace) while Shane defeated 2S, declarer likely losing control of trumps. 3C finished the expected -1 against Randi and Vicki took the expected eight tricks in 2H.

?

2S W -1

Passed Out (6)

3C N -1

2H E =

3S W = (2)

?

18:

?

...............KJ

...............J842

...............83

...............AKJ63

943......................Q865

K106....................A95

KQ7654...............J1092

9...........................108

...............A1072

...............Q73

...............A

...............Q7542

?

West overcalls 2D after South opens 1C. North doubles and then the auction gets a bit high. East raises diamonds. One South tried 3NT and even one North (perhaps West was quiet) but all the other auctions went higher, to 4C S, 4D W, 5C S five times and 5Dx W twice.

?

3NT rides on the spade finesse. Both declarers in 3NT were defeated. North finessed spades the wrong way against Heve, finishing -3. Against Randi, South ran all the clubs and didn't have an entry for the third spade winner, finishing -1. Club contracts were set to take ten tricks, which was the result at every table except one. Phyllis took eleven tricks when she led a heart from hand and West rose with the king instead of ducking. 5Dx can be set four tricks with perfect defence (the fourth spade has to be led before trumps are drawn) but both declarers escaped for -2, although it made little difference with only one game making.

?

5C S =

5Dx W -2 (2)

4C S =

4D W -2

3NT S -1; 5C S -1 (4)

3NT N -3

1:

?

...............AQ963

...............Q53

...............K853

...............3

----........................42

1074......................K9862

QJ642...................109

AQ1087.................KJ96

...............KJ10875

...............AJ

...............A7

...............542

?

This hand is an excellent illustration of the utility of the Jacoby raise with shortage-showing rebids. North opens 1S, South responds 2NT and North rebids 3C to show a singleton. (West can make life interesting by coming in with 3NT or 4NT over 2NT; do pairs have agreements for what they do over interference at that point?) South can now see an easy slam opposite as little as Axxxx in trumps and KQx in one of the red suits - only nine HCP. Give North 11 HCP in spades, hearts and diamonds and at worst 6S will need finesses in the red suits. Two Souths drove to 6S; two stopped in 4S.

?

North did need the heart finesse but it succeeded; Harold and Steve made 6S to tie for top. Riten were E-W top after a heart lead when declarer bypassed the finesse.

?

6S N = (2)

4S S +2

5S N =

?

2:

?

...............10732

...............A632

...............86

...............J85

QJ984....................AK

J.............................Q54

AKQ92...................J1053

Q2..........................A1043

...............65

...............K10987

...............74

...............K976

?

Here we had the best slam of the round; but it was the only slam that was never reached. The auction begins 1D-1S; 1NT and West is well off if the pair agrees that 2C is invitational and 2D game-forcing or something similar. East will try to go into no-trumps again, but when West shows the diamond support in a game-forcing hand East can then bid spades on the fourth round with ace-king doubleton; if West then shows the heart control and East a club control West could well reach the fine 6D. At the tables two Easts played the normal-looking 3NT while two Wests did reasonably well to get into 4S.

?

3NT has about even chances, making if the heart ace and king are together and on a few layouts when they are split. Here, though, both Souths had a heart lead against 3NT and the suit ran for a set. 4S took the expected eleven tricks at one table and twelve for Erik when South, in with the club king, missed the last chance for N-S to cash the heart ace.

?

3NT E -1 (2)

4S W +1

4S W +2

?

3:

?

...............J108

...............3

...............AQ987642

...............Q

53.................................K964

KQJ102........................A98654

KJ3...............................----

K82...............................1093

...............AQ92

...............7

...............105

...............AJ7654

?

South opened 1C and there were numerous long and winding auctions ending in at least 5D. Garbot had an auction with multiple balances: P-1H-2D-4H; 5D-P-P-5H; P-P-6D-P; P-X, Gareth's inspired raise to 5D playing a critical role.

?

Switching to the North seat. Gareth took the double finesse in diamonds to make the contract when the spade finesse worked as well. In 5D, Ken took twelve tricks; the other declarers played East for the singleton jack, finessed the queen and took eleven.

?

6Dx N =

5D N +1

5D N = (2)

?

Leaders: Jerik 6, Heve-Miken 5.5, Riten 5

?

4:

?

...............5

...............AK1083

...............Q102

...............J1072

AJ43.........................Q10987

642............................Q

763............................85

863............................AKQ95

...............K62

...............J975

...............AKJ94

...............4

?

This auction turned into a Battle of the Majors. At all four tables East opened 1S in third seat. Things got competitive and ended in 3S E, 4H N, 4S E and 5H N.

?

N-S have a fine double fit and a sure eleven tricks. E-W have a nice double fit as well and ten tricks when the spades behave. Harold took a twelfth trick in 5H after East began with two clubs; 4H took eleven tricks and both spade contracts ten tricks.

?

5H N +1

4H N +1

3S E +1

4S E =

?

5:

?

...............K1043

...............Q5

...............K8752

...............Q7

Q876.....................952

K104.....................AJ876

A...........................QJ93

J10865..................2

...............AJ

...............932

...............1064

...............AK943

?

South opened 1C and North responded either 1D or 1S. One South left 1D in and North played it there. Another North played 2D. One South played 3D; the longes auction dragged on all the way to 3H and then eventually finished in 4D N.

?

3C is not that bad looking at just the two hands but finished -2 against the 5-1 split. Diamond contracts could take eight tricks. Steve took nine tricks in 2D when East led a spade instead of a heart fairly early in the hand.

?

?

?

2D N +1

1D N +1

3C S -2; 4D N -2

?

6:

?

...............9532

...............5432

...............KJ4

...............K4

10764...................J8

Q9........................KJ1087

1092.....................Q76

Q1082..................J53

...............AKQ

...............A6

...............A853

...............A976

?

Every South opened 2NT and North eventually got into 3NT after Stayman.

?

A heart lead would have given declarer a tricky time in diamonds; it would have been possible to lose a diamond to West but the play would have been against percentages. Nobody found the heart lead and declarer was able to establish the ninth trick in diamonds before the heart ace was knocked out. All four declarers took nine tricks, although at least one declarer had a sure tenth. West discarded a club on the fourth diamond and South, having won seven of the first eight tricks with three clubs and two hearts. When South returned to hand with the club ace, there was only one club out and one spade, so that the third club would have established a foolproof overtrick with E-W only able to cash two tricks.

?

3NT S = (4)

?

Leaders: Jerik 13, Heve 11, Harob 9.5, Riten-Miken 9

?

7:

?

...............AQ109

...............87

...............A

...............KQ10962

K8763.......................J

A...............................KQJ9643

Q832.........................K974

543............................J

...............542

...............1052

...............J1065

...............A87

?

1C from North and then East bids some number of hearts. Strangely, hearts were never trumps. One South somehow ended in 4D. East played in 5D at another table after misclicking on 1D and 2D on the first two turns; West eventually competed with 4D and was shocked to see 4H, quickly converted back to 5D E. The other auctions ended in 3S N and 4C N.

?

The top boards went to defending 4D S -6 and 5D E -2. 3S could have been made despite the 5-1 split but Riten posted -2 when declarer didn't start trumps from dummy. Declarer cold take eleven tricks in clubs by luckily finessing the queen first or getting a helpful spade lead. Harold did manage 4C +1, likely to be top had East played 4H instead of 5D.

?

5D E -2

4C N +1

3S N -2

4D S -6

?

8:

?

...............Q8654

...............7

...............KQJ5

...............952

AK10....................J3

KQ10543..............AJ82

8...........................963

K104.....................QJ86

...............972

...............96

...............A10742

...............A73

?

1H from West and then North may have entered the auction and did so at least once. East raised hearts and had the right hand to accept whatever invitation West happened to offer. Three Wests did declare 4H; the fourth auction finished in 4Sx N.

?

4H took eleven tricks without any serious chance of a different outcome as North had a natural diamond lead to remove the chance of a twelfth trick. 4Sx could have been set three tricks for a top board but Rita escaped for -2; West lead a club to take out East's entry for the diamond ruff before the ruff could be taken.

?

4Sx N -2

4H W +1 (3)

?

9:

?

...............Q96

...............5

...............QJ3

...............KQ10873

1082..........................A543

K9764........................AJ108

107.............................9862

A54............................J

...............KJ7

...............Q32

...............AK54

...............962

?

One or two Norths opened 3C; at least one was left in that opening bid - I did not see how the other 3C N came about. P-1D; 2C-2NT; 3C seems plausible as well. The other two auctions ended in game: 3NT S at one table and 5C N at the other.

?

For once all four contracts took exactly the double dummy number of tricks. E-W had seven top tricks against 3NT and Lynnbot took them all. The club contracts all took ten tricks, giving Harold and Jim a tie for top.

?

3C N +1 (2)

5C N -1

3NT S -3

?

Leaders: Jerik 19.5, Lynnbot 16.5, Harob 15, Heve 14.5, Riten 14

?

10:

?

...............AQ974

...............J64

...............2

...............A863

KJ10.......................----

975.........................AK1082

Q653......................AKJ1098

K75.........................94

...............86532

...............Q3

...............74

...............QJ102

?

East's hand meets the standard for a 2C opener but that initial action is not recommended, as it will prove very difficult to bid out the hand's pattern with six diamonds and five hearts. A reasonable plan for the auction might be to open with 1D, reverse into 2H and then jump to 4H. It takes little to give play for slam, making it not surprising that half the Easts played in 5H, at least one after bidding 4NT, although 4NT did not seem to accomplish anything much. A third East played in 5D and one North in 4Sx, despite not getting there all that quickly.

?

With the club finesse not working and a sure heart loser, the five-level contracts could have been held to ten tricks and two were; Irene made 5H after receiving a spade lead instead of a club. The make is rather pretty: declarer takes two trumps, then from one to three diamonds from the East hand and finally puts North in with a heart, a little care being required because West has only one entry in diamonds. 4Sx has to be set and at equal vulnerability there was no difference between -1 and the actual -2.

?

5D E -1; 5H E -1

4Sx N -2

5H E =

?

11:

?

...............A1098532

...............62

...............K4

...............A4

QJ74..........................6

J.................................AK85

Q109..........................AJ652

Q10732......................965

...............K

...............Q109743

...............873

...............KJ8

?

South usually opened 2H, perhaps always, and played the hand there twice. Our pair of?visitors, who met on the Partnership Desk, played in 2S after South passed 2H-2S. One other North responder 2S but South naturally took the bid as forcing, which resulted in a contract of 4H S. East might have come in with 3D on the lower auctions, which looks as if it just makes.

?

Both 2H and 2S give declarer eight tricks and no more, the result posted in two of the three partials. Declarer did not draw all the trumps against Miken, allowing 2H -1 on a ruff. Heve posted 4H -2 for the E-W top.

?

2H S =; 2S N =

2H S -1

4H S -2

?

12:

?

...............J63

...............973

...............Q102

...............Q543

Q5.............................72

Q1082.......................A654

A8764.......................K53

109............................KJ86

...............AK10984

...............KJ

...............J9

...............A72

??

East may have opened 1C?and South got the spades into the auction sooner or later. A 1S overcall was left in at one table. When South bid 1S and West made a negative double, East finished in 3H at another table. One North scraped up a raise and South finished in 4S.

?

E-W could have forced five tricks against spades and it looks as if N-S could have forced five tricks against hearts. All the declarers finished a trick off in one direction or the other. Lourene defended 4S -1 but the one-trick set was all they needed. Miken did a trick better defending when declarer in 1S misguessed the hearts and took only seven tricks, losing out on the top board. Jerik defended 3H -2 for N-S top.?

?

3H E -2

1S S =

4S S -1

?

Leaders: Jerik 25, Lynnbot 21.5, Riten-Harob 19, Heve 18

?

13:

?

...............Q103

...............1076

...............95

...............KJ862

J752........................AK864

K8543.....................AQJ

A64.........................Q7

4..............................1053

...............9

...............92

...............KJ10832

...............AQ97

?

This hand could have been in 4S, although a 1NT opening bid from East might have resulted in 4H, especially if South came in with 3D and E-W were not playing negative doubles. But 4S was the expected landing spot; West is good enough for a limit raise of a 1S opening. Had South felt so inclined, N-S could have found a sacrifice in 5C. South might have overcalled in diamonds and then bid no-trumps. Three auctions ended in 4S E, the fourth in 4D S, undoubled.

?

4S E can take twelve tricks by force but looks likely to take only eleven, as the line for twelve tricks is anti-percentage. Harold took twelve tricks; Jerik held declarer to ten when East missed the chance to discard a diamond on a heart. 5Cx is down one too many against an aggressive forcing defence starting with three rounds of hearts. Declarer cannot draw all the trumps before playing diamonds, which have to be started from hand. Then when West wins the diamond ace (East must not toss the queen on the first round) West plays a spade, East playing the top two and forcing dummy to ruff. Declarer now has no losers but cannot draw trumps; dummy will have to lead a diamond and promote East's club ten.

?

4D S -3

4S E =

4S E +1

4S E +2

?

14:

?

...............J10543

...............1043

...............J6

...............A102

AKQ2......................976

8765........................QJ

KQ10.......................942

Q8...........................J7643

...............8

...............AK92

...............A8753

...............K95

?

I was looking for P-1D-1NT, possibly left in, which occurred once. North might have taken a crack at 2S, but that never happened. One West overcalled 1S and North played 1NT. Doubles led to 2D S and a rather strange 3NT S.

?

The layout was ideal for N-S. The heart position is particularly kind, allowing an easy nine tricks, although at least West cannot be forced to break the clubs. Erik took ten tricks in 2D, not because West broke clubs, but because East rose with the jack when Erik led a club from dummy. No-trumps looked to provide eight tricks for N-S, the result attained by Irene in 1NT and Gareth in 3NT. Bob escaped a trick better in 1NT -1 but -2 would have scored the same.

?

2D S +2

1NT N +1

1NT W -1

3NT S -1

?

15:

?

...............----

...............98654

...............AQ932

...............K74

QJ432...................K1096

AKJ.......................1032

J5..........................106

1063......................AQ92

...............A875

...............Q7

...............K874

...............J85

?

Does North come in with a Michaels cue-bid after West opens 1S? If not we get 1S-3S. The one time the auction was competitive it ended in 5Hx S.

?

3S makes in comfort when the club suit produces one loser. Jerik set 3S when declarer did not draw all the trumps. 5Hx was always going down more than game and finished -4, giving Miken the E-W top.

?

3S W -1

3S W = (2)

5Hx S -4

?

Leaders: Jerk 33, Harob 25.5, Lynnbot 24, Miken 23, Heve 22.5

?

16:

?

...............AKQ

...............Q4

...............KJ3

...............Q10932

1063........................742

A9752......................KJ83

AQ9.........................1086

J6............................A74

...............J985

...............106

...............7542

...............K85

?

1NT from North could have gone around at every table but only did so twice. West declared after either opening or balancing, once in 2H and once in 3H.

?

1NT is an easy -1; East can lead a heart or switch to it. Lynn made 1NT when East was too passive. Heart contracts can be held to seven tricks, but South has to push a diamond through when in with the club king to prevent an endplay. Miken defeated 3H two tricks for N-S top, although -1 would have done as well; Helen made 2H on the endplay.

?

3H W -2

1NT N =

1NT N -1

2H W =

?

17:

?

...............K52

...............AQ83

...............8732

...............KQ

J63........................AQ1094

----.........................KJ54

AQ106...................954

AJ10753................8

...............87

...............109762

...............KJ

...............9642

?

1C-X might have been followed by either a redouble or by 1S. Eventually the 5-3 spade fit was found at all four tables. The East hand is good enough for at least an invitation, and West has the playing strength and controls to accept. We saw 2S E twice and 4S E twice.

?

The layout is perfect for E-W; every finesse works and the clubs establish with only one ruff, allowing thirteen tricks to be made. Jim took all thirteen tricks. Lourene held declarer to ten when dummy led the jack on the second round of clubs. Both 2S contracts took eleven tricks.

?

2S E +3 (2)

4S E =

4S E +3

?

18:

?

...............A93

...............A2

...............AK108

...............9873

QJ86.......................10752

KJ106......................Q3

Q93..........................J642

AJ............................1062

...............K4

...............98754

...............75

...............KQ54

?

1D from West in third seat and then 1NT from North. One pair had a costly accident, South not thinking transfers were on after a 1NT overcall, which eventually resulted in 4S N. Another North played quietly in 2H after a 1NT overcall and transfer; the other two contracts were 1NT W, suggesting P-P-1D-X; P-1H-1NT, which is on the wrong end of the 1NT range.

?

4S -4 was E-W top for Harob and just enough to let them reclaim second place. 2H is making?as declarer can either get two ruffs in hand or establish a second club trick; West cannot stop both, and Irene made 2H to finish with a top. 1NT W only fails by one trick (although a diamond lead would likely produce -2 against 1NT E). Garbot managed that result while Erik concluded a golden day by getting away with a make.

?

2H N =

1NT W -1

1NT W =

4S N -4

?

Final: Jerik 39, Harob 29, Miken 28.5, Lynnbot 27

1:

?

...............72

...............J62

...............1075

...............98654

A10854...............K9

AQ3....................975

632.....................AKQJ8

AK......................1072

...............QJ63

...............K1084

...............94

...............QJ3

?

?The auction begins 1D-1S; 1NT or possibly 1D-1S; 2D. Three?Wests liked the hand enough to move towards slam after a 1NT rebid, one selecting 4NT invitational and the other 4C. A third pair somehow got into 6S W. Apart from that there were outliers of 5D E and 4S W, with the other seven tables in 3NT, with East declaring by a 4-3 margin.

?

The hand does rather better played by West, as the hearts are protected from the opening lead. Either slam comes down to a question of the spades. Here N-S have an incredibly unlucky distribution of honours - South has an awful time finding discards on diamonds because North holds only the jack of hearts. South can afford to throw away the hearts?but this remains unclear as the diamonds are run. Kevin made 6NT when South made the unwise lead of the spade queen (a diamond is safest, as North is almost sure to be void), Zia when South discarded a spade on the diamonds; a club discard would have been unlucky. Assuming East holds the diamond king (likely, as the heart jack instead only brings declarer to 11 HCP), it is hard to say whether unguarding hearts or clubs is better. There is a tiny inference that East might have upgraded Kx Jxx AKQJx xxx to a 1NT opening bid, but it's more likely that a heart discard would prove disastrous. In 6S, alas, declarer has to draw trumps first and must guess whether to finesse on the second round or start with ace and king (assuming South has the wit to duck the second round). Ace and king is better by a 4-3 margin and also accounts for possible human error - so nice when technical superiourity and human allowance coincide. Elott were allowed to set 6S when declarer misguessed. Four declarers took twelve tricks in 3NT, East averaging a little better than West.

?

6S W -2

5D E +1

3NT W +1

4S W +1

3NT E +2; 3NT W +2

3NT E +3 (3); 3NT W +3

6NT E = (2)

?

2:

?

...............742

...............873

...............J102

...............K853

K106....................AQ852

A102....................Q95

8763....................K

J109.....................AQ76

...............J9

...............KJ64

...............AQ954

...............42

?

Whether South acts or not, West usually raises 1S to 2S and then it depends largely on how East values the diamond king. 2S E was left in four times. One West declared 2NT after 1S-P-1NT. Other contracts were 3S E, 3NT E and 4S E five times, West usually accepting an invitation.

?

Everything lies so favourably that 4S is cold for eleven tricks. Marudy and Mahn both set 4S, Marudy when declarer led a heart from dummy instead of a club. Harold had the best luck of all - by playing 3NT from the East side, he had an easy eleven tricks in 3NT after a low diamond lead. The singleton king gets lucky when the hand on lead has the ace, as the ace is almost never led. As three declarers in 4S took eleven tricks, the second overtrick was most helpful.

?

4S E -1 (2)

2S E +2 (3); 3S E +1

2NT W +2

2S E +3

4S E +1 (3)

3NT E +2

?

3:

?

...............K98

...............Q4

...............A4

...............AJ8743

A2............................10543

8752.........................AJ1093

KJ82........................Q973

KQ5..........................----

...............QJ76

...............K6

...............1065

...............10962

?

West opens 1D. North might have made an offbeat 1NT overcall but usually went with 2C, with East likely making a negative double. South raises clubs and then the usual outcome of the auction is in either hearts or clubs. Contracts were 3C N thrice, 3H E, 4Cx N, 4D W, 4H E thrice, 4H W twice and 5Cx N.

?

With trumps 2-2, hearts took ten tricks and clubs nine unless declarer began with the club ace. Everyone in clubs did, though, except for Yumi, and took only eight. Hearts could have had trouble had N-S started with two rounds of diamonds and declarer finessed the first heart, but everyone in hearts took ten tricks.

?

3C N =

3C N -1 (2)

4D W +1

3H E +1

4Cx N -2

5Cx N -3

4H E = (3); 4H W = (2)

?

4:

?

...............K64

...............32

...............10743

...............K1087

3..............................J872

K754........................A8

KQ...........................J852

QJ6542....................A93

...............AQ1095

...............QJ1096

...............A96

...............----

?

1C-1S takes the wind out of South's sails; E-W may have a quiet auction ending in 3C or perhaps even 2C. If West passes South opens 1S and then the auction usually sees whether South likes the hand enough for a game invitation. Contracts were 2H S twice, 2Hx S, 2NT E, 3C W four times, 4S S, 4Sx S and 5C W twice.

?

The Law was spot on this time. Declarer in spades can take nine tricks if E-W defend passively, but an early club force lets East lead another club back through later and force declarer to allow a fifth trick. Clubs take nine tricks on the 4-0 split. Declarer can hold the club losers to one or ruff a heart but not both unless North gets to ruff the diamond jack. Hank (B) and Pamela took ten tricks in clubs; only Marmi held declarer to eight after the last chance to get diamonds going was missed. Spade and heart contracts all took the expected eight tricks; Mattbot managed to defend 2Hx -1 when declarer led a spade instead of a red card at trick eight.

?

5C W -3

2NT E -2; 5C W -2

2H S =

2H S -1

3C W = (2)

3C W +1 (2)

2Hx S -1; 4S S -2

4Sx S -2

?

5:

?

...............AQ103

...............4

...............J6

...............J97642

J64......................K8

1086....................KQJ95

AK10852.............943

5..........................AK8

...............9752

...............A732

...............Q7

...............Q103

?

Does East open 1H or 1NT? If 1NT, West likely goes right to 3NT. Over 1H West has a slightly awkward choice between 2H and something more forward-going; then does East move towards game over a 2H raise? Contracts were 2H E, 2NT E, 3D W, 3H E, 3NT E four times and 4H E four times.

?

The 2-2 diamonds are a huge help in either contract. Hearts take eleven tricks despite the 4-1 trumps. 3NT takes nine tricks after a spade lead and eleven otherwise. Only Mark found the spade lead against 3NT. Matt posted 3NT +3 when South led a club instead of a spade late in the hand; Hank (B) and Gareth posted 4H +2, Hank when South led a diamond instead of a spade at the third trick. It would have been interesting to see 4H played after the lead of the diamond queen, but that never happened.

?

3D W +1

2NT E +1

2H E +2

3H E +2

3NT E =

4H E =

4H E +1

3NT E +2 (2)

4H E +2 (2)

3NT E +3

?

6:

?

...............752

...............J72

...............AQJ2

...............QJ2

AQJ43...................K98

64..........................A985

K9..........................1064

10985.....................K64

...............106

...............KQ103

...............8753

...............A73

?

This was the balancing hand without much balancing. West generally opened 1S in third position. Not vulnerable, 2S might work better, likely ending the auction. Whether East raised to 2S or trotted out Drury, N-S had a chance to balance but almost never did. West declared 2S nine times and was never pushed to 3S, the contract once after a direct raise. North declared 3D twice, but both times happened after West passed and North opened 1D in fourth seat.

?

The play is remarkably straightforward. West gets two club tricks and makes 2S; declarer in 3D can get rid of a club loser on a heart for ten tricks but still makes nine otherwise. Eric posted 3D +1 and Steve (R) 3D =. All the spade declarers but one took eight tricks, Mattbot getting a crucial top defending 2S -2 when declarer didn't draw all the trumps.

?

2S W -2

3D N +1

3D N =

3S W -1

2S W = (8)

?

7:

?

...............-----

...............AKQ109

...............10854

...............KQ62

AQJ95......................K643

542...........................3

73.............................AKQJ2

J84...........................1097

...............10872

...............J1076

...............96

...............A53

?

Wests inclined to open 2S would have done well here, likely playing 4S undoubled or else pushing North to the five-level. If West passes North opens 1H, East doubles or overcalls in diamonds and South squeezes out a heart raise. A double may get E-W to 4S. Otherwise a lot rides on how well North likes the spade void or possibly how highly South values the doubleton diamond if North goes with a help-suit try. Contracts were 2H N, 3H N, 3S W five times, 4H N twice and 4S W thrice.

?

5H makes with clubs 3-3 and there being a lack of entries to the West hand for trump leads; declarer gets two diamond ruffs in dummy or at the most extreme has to ruff all the spades in hand and play with a sort of reverse dummy. Only Marcia produced the right line of play for eleven tricks in hearts, scoring +650 with Yumi scoring +620. Spades have four top losers; 4S was set every time but Zia posted 3S +2 when North began with two high hearts, a bit lazy given the sight of dummy.

?

4H N +1

4H N =

2H N +2; 3H N +1

4S W -1 (3)

3S W = (3)

3S W +1

3S W +2

?

8:

?

...............87

...............K103

...............Q10852

...............Q75

AQ53.......................9642

AJ8..........................65

J743.........................AK96

A3............................J104

...............KJ10

...............Q9742

...............----

...............K9862

?

West opened 1NT and then either East or South did something. East might have bid Stayman or South might have balanced with the 5-5 hand pattern. Contracts were 2D E (likely 1NT-P-P-2C; P-P-2D?), 2H S, 2NT W, 3Dx E, 3NT W twice and 4S W a slightly surprising six times.

?

4S W sinks on a diamond lead; the first ruff does no harm but there is no entry to dummy to draw trumps. Every North found the diamond lead against 4S and the contract was never made, a big victory for the more cautious bidders. 3NT W is massively right-sided (South can lead either a heart or club to good effect if East declares) and can make by force if declarer gets four diamond tricks or possibly two tricks in either hearts or clubs. Jeff made 3NT easily enough; Jeanbot set the contract when Northbot led a club at trick six and dummy ducked instead of playing the jack or ten, leading to -2. Marbot posted 4S W -3 when declarer forgot the diamonds were being ruffed and played high from dummy on both ruffs.

?

4S W -3

2H S +1

3Dx E -1; 3NT W -2; 4S W -2 (3)

4S W -1 (2)

2D E +1

2NT W +2

3NT W =

?

9:

?

...............AK98

...............93

...............KQ53

...............AJ6

Q103.........................65

7642..........................A8

10764........................J982

103............................K8542

...............J742

...............KQJ105

...............A

...............Q97

?

North opens 1NT and then South has multiple possible roads - Stayman, transfer, Smolen, be content with game, look for slam... anything can happen. Usually the Stayman road was chosen and South was content with game. Contracts were 3NT N twice, 4S N eight times, 6S N and 6NT N. The 6S auction was 1NT-2C; 2S-4NT; 5D-6S; South might have stopped in 5S after finding out North did not hold the spade queen but not all pairs look for the trump queen.

?

6NT is technically better than 6S, although the spade eight narrows the gap significantly, as that essentially removes the chance of a fourth-round spade loser that would not matter in no-trumps. Judy (P) made 6S when West played the ten second hand on the first round and did not force her to find the winning guess. Cindy was the only other North to take twelve tricks in spades, with Hank (V) declaring 3NT N +2. Glynneth were E-W top defeating 6NT after a misguess in spades.

?

6S N =

4S N +2

3NT N +2

4S N +1 (6)

3NT N +1

4S N =

6NT N -1

?

10:

?

...............A9

...............83

...............K98

...............1087643

QJ1053...................4

Q5...........................J107642

A542.......................QJ76

KJ...........................A2

...............K9762

...............AK9

...............103

...............Q95

?

Does East open 2H vulnerable? Marge would, and the late Grace Z Postman would (because she played Ogust); anyone taking the view that matchpoints isn't really bridge might well do so without concern for the suit. If East opens, 2H may be left in or South may overcall 2S, playing the hand there. If East passes, the auction begins P-1S-P-1NT, perhaps passed if not forcing, with a 2C rebid otherwise. With six clubs and only a doubleton spade, North will leave it in clubs if possible. East may back in with 2H and North perhaps go on to 3C, Contracts were 1NT N thrice, 2C S twice, 2H E twice, 2S S twice, 2Sx S, 3H E and 3S S.

?

Heart contracts can be held to eight tricks by a diamond ruff; a black-suit lead allows declarer the chance of a ninth trick by playing a spade first to cut defensive communication. Jamie took nine tricks in hearts; the others took eight. All the spade contracts yielded the double-dummy seven tricks to declarer. 1NT could have been held to seven tricks; Scott and Myrtle took eight, but Mattbot posted 1NT -3 for the E-W top when declarer began spades at trick three instead of clubs. Club contracts should have taken nine tricks, ten if E-W missed their spade ruff, but declarers took only eight or seven.

?

1NT N +1 (2)

3H E -1

2C S = (2)

2S S -1 (2)

2H E =

2H E +1

2Sx S -1; 3S S -2

1NT N -3

?

11:

?

...............----

...............10953

...............KJ642

...............10985

10.........................J86543

AKJ8642..............7

9...........................AQ107

AQ72....................KJ

...............AKQ972

...............Q

...............853

...............643

?

The valuation of the singleton heart queen becomes significant here. If South opens 2S West has a practical 4H overcall. After 1S, 2H is unlikely to end the auction, but there seems a greater chance of stopping. West played in hearts at every table, with 4H outnumbering 3H by an 8-4 margin.

?

West could take twelve tricks in hearts by force, but the result was only posted by Bill, Jeff and Zia. With North void in spades, a 2S opening bid helps declarer enormously by flagging the diamond king with North. Jeff took the diamond finesse, then discarded his losing spade on the ace, and that probably happened at the other two tables as well. The other nine declarers all took eleven tricks.

?

3H W +2 (4)

4H W +1 (5)

4H W +2 (3)

?

12:

?

...............A1086

...............62

...............A752

...............KJ2

Q75.........................J4

AQ103.....................J9

KJ............................109864

A1095......................Q863

...............K932

...............K8754

...............Q3

...............74

?

1NT was left in nine times. The remaining three auctions saw South come in with a balance if 5-4 majors and a 5-4-2-2 hand pattern of less than opening strength were acceptable at unfavourable vulnerability; the auctions ended in 2NT N, 3S N and 3Cx W after a re-balance.

?

1NT could not be prevented from taking eight tricks; even after a spade lead the defence cannot force more than five. But declarer has to get to dummy with the club queen and then finesse the hearts; if South ducks two hearts the diamonds will yield the eighth trick. Lynn and Jeff took nine tricks in 1NT, Jeff after South discarded a second heart. Usually, though, declarer did not get the timing exactly right and most declarers took six tricks, with Cinise even setting the contract. Matt's re-balance landed him in an unsettable 3C - the double gave him the top score, although not doubling would only have saved N-S two or three matchpoints. Defending gave E-W the top two scores, 3S -2 against Zabot and 2NT N -3 against Kill.

?

1NT W -1

1NT W = (5)

1NT W +1

1NT W +2 (2)

3S N -2

2NT N -3

3Cx W -1

?

13:

?

...............QJ105

...............942

...............Q87

...............A96

K92........................A863

AKJ5......................10873

A.............................9532

QJ732.....................10

...............74

...............Q6

...............KJ1064

...............K854

?

If South did not open, it all came down to whether East responded to West's 1C opening bid. 1C was never left in, although the auction ending in 2D S might have begun P-P-P-1C; P-P-1D. Higher contracts were 2H W, 2NT W, 3H E and 4H E eight times, the usual auction being 1C-1H; 4H or perhaps 1C-1H; 4D.

?

A diamond lead holds 4H to ten tricks; declarer cannot get an eleventh trick out of the clubs. Four declarers in 4H took eleven tricks, Jamie after a spade lead (North has to win the first club, so that the spade split prevents the defence from cashing a spade after South's winning the second club). Myrne were N-S top defending 4H -2; West persisted in spades instead of going after clubs and came up short of tricks.

?

4H E -2

2NT W -1

3H E =

2D S -2; 2H W +3

4H E = (3)

4H E +1 (4)

?

14:

?

...............A52

...............83

...............K1092

...............K942

96.........................KJ108

Q10752.................J64

8653.....................J74

A8.........................Q103

...............Q743

...............AK9

...............AQ

...............J765

?

This could have had all twelve tables playing in 3NT S, but one auction ended in 1NT N and one other in the less comprehensible 2NT S.

?

Declarer needs a good bit of luck in 3NT and gets it. After winning a heart lead South starts the clubs from hand and eventually the spades from dummy, in the end coming to one club, four diamonds when the jack drops, two hearts and two spades. Four declarers went down in 3NT, against Mattbot when South won both the first two hearts before the ninth trick was established. Marcia took ten tricks but was only in 1NT.

?

3NT S = (5)

1NT N +3

1NT S +1; 2NT S =

3NT S -1 (4)

?

15:

?

...............983

...............KJ963

...............942

...............94

42.......................AJ10765

Q2......................84

QJ10876.............A

K75.....................J1082

...............KQ

...............A1075

...............K53

...............AQ63

?

Marudy got to open their Mexican 2D, resulting in 3H S after a transfer, although West had a chance to mess up the auction with a 3D overcall. Usually the auction began 1C-2D, with East perhaps coming in with 2S and South possibly coming in again. Contracts were 2S E thrice, 3D W, 3H N, 3H S twice (Marudy and Wendric, who open 1NT with 18 HCP), 3S E, 4H N twice, 4H S and 4Sx E.

?

2-2 trumps spoil almost any defensive prospects against 4H, the?easist successful line of defence being to lead the diamond ace and then a club ducked by South. 4H was defeated, as declarer finessed the club queen, which had a higher chance of success than ruffing out the hing, which would have worked. Nobody in hearts took ten tricks. This was good for Myrne, N-S top defending 4Sx -2. Hank (B) made 2S when South led the spade king at trick three instead of a heart or club.

?

4Sx E -2

3H N =; 3H S =

3D W -2; 3S E -2

2S E -1

3H S -1; 4H N -1 (2); 4H S -1

2S E = (2)

?

16:

?

...............QJ7

...............J4

...............A96

...............Q6432

943.......................AK652

AQ1086................975

J105......................Q7

108........................KJ7

...............108

...............K32

...............K8432

...............A95

?

Only one auction did not have a 1S opening bid from East and 2S from West (whether South bid 2D or not). This time 2S E was left in only five times. South had favourable conditions for a blanace and usually did; higher contracts were 3D S twice, 3S E four times and 4D S.

?

Diamonds can be held to seven tricks, with the layout favourable for E-W on defence. Jevin picked up a third undertrick when declarer led a low club at trick seven when a spade or the ace was needed. This tied Ritold's 4D -3 for E-W top on +150; +100 would have scored quite poorly. Spades could have forced eight tricks. Four Easts posted +140, George (B) after South missed the last chance to switch to a heart.

?

3S E -2

3S E -1

3D S -2

2S E = (3)

2S E +1 (2); 3S E = (2)

3D S -3; 4D S -3

?

17:

?

...............A108632

...............9

...............KQ107

...............K3

Q4.............................K95

AQ874.......................KJ

A93............................54

J105...........................AQ8642

...............J7

...............106532

...............J862

...............97

?

E-W have 26 HCP but have to overcomes North's 1S opening bid, which makes reaching 3NT rather tricky, although 1S-2C-P-2H; P-2NT-P-3NT seems plausible enough. But only one pair reached the top (?) reasonable matchpoint spot of 3NT, although 6C has nearly identical chances as 3NT. Most auctions ended in partials: 3C E five times, 3H W, 3NT W, 4C E, 4H W twice and 5C E twice.

?

Club contracts were the simplest; when the trumps proved 2-2 with the king onside there were twelve tricks, although one declarer in 5C took only eleven. The 5-1 trump split proved too much for the heart contracts, which all yielded declarer exactly nine tricks. 3NT had a forced ten tricks (clubs and hearts cannot both run) but Wendric got lucky; declarer forgot that the fifth heart was not good.

?

3NT W -1; 4H W -1 (2)

3C E =

3H W =

3C E +3 (4); 4C E +2

5C E =

5C E +1

?

18:

?

...............105

...............J92

...............A87

...............AK1097

J8432.....................6

A1084.....................7653

972..........................QJ106

3..............................QJ52

...............AKQ97

...............KQ

...............K53

...............864

?

This looked as if it would end in 3NT at every table, which it did with an 8-3 margin favouring South as declarer, that hand having two chances to declare 3NT, either after a 1NT opening bid or the auction 1S-2C and then a rebid of either 2NT or 3NT. One auction, featuring one of our leading pairs at playing 3NT with an eight-card major fit finished in 4S S after South decided the spades were good enough for a 3S rebid.

?

Both 3NT and 4S yielded ten tricks double dummy. Declarers in no-trumps could do worse by persisting in going after clubs, although winning the first two rounds allowed a switch over to the spades. Elizabeth, Marcia, Renee and Martin (C) took eleven tricks in 3NT; if West leads a spade there is a pseudo-squeeze for the eleventh trick. Four declarers took the expected ten tricks and two took nine. Owbot ended the game on a high note, setting 3NT when South played high spades early and later lost a club to East unnecessarily.

?

3NT S +2 (4)

3NT N +1; 3NT S +1 (3)

4S S =

3NT N =; 3NT S =

3NT N -1

1:

?

...............10752

...............A63

...............K93

...............J104

A98.......................KJ

1095......................Q74

AQ2.......................J108764

AQ62.....................85

...............Q643

...............KJ82

...............5

...............K973

?

West opens 1NT and then it is all on East. Does East go on in no-trumps? into diamonds? 1NT W was left in six times. 2NT W and 3D E were played once each, although I don't think 3D resulted after the usual 2S removal from 1NT; it would seem that South found a way in. 3NT W was reached thrice, once after East did come in with 2S and follow with 3D; at least West has a tolerable chance of nine tricks even if East is quite weak; Kxxxxx in diamonds and three low hearts provide a fair chance.

?

Declarer in 3D takes a relatively mundane nine tricks. In no-trumps it looks as if there is a trap for declarer, especially if North leads a spade. If declarer ducks the first spade, North can hold off in diamonds and declarer does quite badly. One pair missed this chance; after North took the first diamond the heart switch was not found and declarer emerged with nine tricks. Owen, Louise and Lynn all made 3NT to share the E-W top; Delen's opponent fell into the declaring trap and gave them N-S top defending 2NT -2. West can always force eight tricks in no-trumps by saving the spade king and establishing the diamonds but North must find the heart switch to be sure of five tricks. Conndy and Janj scored well for -120; 1NT +2 was just above middle score.

?

2NT W -2

3D E =

1NT W +1 (2)

1NT W +2 (4)

3NT W = (3)

?

2:

?

...............6

...............J75432

...............76

...............AKQ9

Q5...........................A10742

Q9...........................A106

AKQJ10..................9852

J852........................6

...............KJ983

...............K8?

...............43

...............10743

?

West opens the bidding?and it seems that the opening bid was?at least once 1NT (which would have been Harold's choice), as one West declared in spades. Does North come in over 1D? 1NT? both? Contracts were 1S E, 2NT E, 3D W thrice, 3Hx N, 3S E, 3S W, 4D W twice and 5D W.

?

No-trumps can be held to seven tricks largely due to West's diamonds being too high; N-S can score four clubs and the two major kings by leading through both East's major aces before West can unblock a queen. Spades must be lead through first to prevent West's tossing the queen under the king and then finessing the ten. Diamond contracts should have taken ten tricks but nobody did; three declarers took nine and Sandi took eleven when South did not take the spade king on a low lead from dummy. Paun were E-W top defending 3Hx -1, although -2 was possible with two club ruffs, two diamonds and the major aces. N-S top was Lark's defending 5D -2.??

?

5D W -2

3S W -1; 4D W -1

3D W =

2NT E =

3D W +1 (2)

1S E +2; 3S E =

4D W +1

3Hx N -1

?

3:

?

...............AKQ8763

...............2

...............AQ43

...............6

J104...........................95

KQ8............................753

K10876.......................92

52...............................KJ8743

...............2

...............AJ10964

...............J5

...............AQ109

?

With a Losing Trick count of three and a solid suit, it is natural for North to consider slam a viable proposition once South opens the bidding. But only two auctions went past 4S: 1H-1S; 2H-4NT; 5H-6S and the same auction with a 2D response instead of 1S. One pair stopped in 3S N and another in 3NT N; seven pairs played 4S.

?

Declarer can take twelve tricks in spades with a successful club finesse. North might try unsuccessfully to ruff a diamond, but then, if the opening lead was not a club, declarer gets to take the finesse afterwards and make. Audrey made 6S (West helped by ducking the jack of diamonds) but Dane's opponent could not pull the trigger on the club finesse and instead hoped to get Jane to unguard the diamonds, but she kept the guard for the set and the stop. In the spade games Steve surprisingly took all thirteen tricks but the other games were evenly decided between eleven and twelve. 3NT took eleven tricks for the middle score.

?

6S N =

4S N +3

4S N +2 (3)

3NT N +2

4S N +1 (3)

3S N +1

6S N -1

?

4:

?

...............874

...............AK6

...............J1065

...............Q64

A................................J9532

10743.........................982

AKQ3.........................72

J852...........................A73

...............KQ106

...............QJ5

...............984

...............K109

?

West opens, likely with 1D. This was left in once. It appears that four other Easts passed as two contracts were 1NT N and two were 2S S. When East responded 1S, one West declared 2C but the usual rebid of choice was 1NT, 1NT W being played five times.

?

In no-trumps, whoever declared, N-S could take eight tricks. E-W could only pick up a sixth or seventh trick if N-S let the spades sit too long or did something like play out all the hearts, which happened more than once. The result at six of the seven tables was seven tricks to N-S for 1NT N = twice and 1NT W -1 five times. Don made 1NT W when South missed the chance to unblock the club king at trick seven. Along with Jerik who defended 2C W -1, Lernot were the only N-S pair to take all the tricks they could, Larry playing 2S -1. Gene made 1D W when the opponents did not find a spade switch at the key time.

?

1NT W -1 (4); 2C W -1

1NT N = (2)

1D W =

1NT W =

2S S -1

2S S -2

?

5:

?

...............K3

...............862

...............KJ106

...............AJ75

J10764..................Q9852

J............................AK94

Q872.....................A3

862........................K9

...............A

...............Q10753

...............954

...............Q1043

?

After 1D-1S, whatever South did (usually it was a double) West had the right vulnerability for 4S, which was the contract five times. One East doubled and West eventually declared 2S; the other contracts were 2S E twice and 3S E thrice.

?

N-S have a quiet enough layout to be able to sit back, defend passively and just avoid crashing the spade honours or breaking the diamonds. Aldrey, Conndy and Janj all posted 4S -1 to tie for top. Ken took eleven tricks when North did not win the club ace at trick three and Paul made 4S for the second-best score. Everyone else took the expected nine tricks.

?

4S E -1 (3)

2S E +1 (2); 2S W +1; 3S E = (3)

4S E =

4S E +1

?

6:

?

...............985

...............103

...............A542

...............A1095

K73..........................QJ42

A8............................K64

J976.........................Q83

Q763........................KJ4

...............A106

...............QJ9752

...............K10

...............82

?

This hand was passed out twice. At the other tables either East or South opened the bidding. Five Easts opened 1C, leading to contracts of 2S W twice, 2NT W, 3H S and 3NT E. The other four tables saw South start with three different bids: 1H, 2H twice and 3H. 3H and one of the 2H bids ended the auction; the other two auctions were raised one level to finish in 2H and 3H also. I do not much care for East's opening bid, although Bill will disagree.

?

The layout is remarkably straightforward in the play, especially in hearts. Neither East nor West has the wherewithal to get any sort of productive ruff; 2H makes in comfort. Larry took nine tricks in hearts after a?spade switch at trick five when it was necessary to lead a diamond. E-W were set to take seven tricks in spades or only five in no-trumps against a heart lead. Jerik's 3NT -4 and Conndy's 2NT -3 were the two top scores.

?

3NT E -4

2NT W -3

2S E -2

3H S =

2H S = (2)

2S W -1

Passed Out (2)

3H S -1 (2)

?

7:

?

...............Q6542

...............Q

...............K82

...............10652

10...............................K7

J10976.......................A8532

J43.............................Q1076

K943..........................AQ

...............AJ983

...............K4

...............A95

...............J87

?

Again a raise to 4S on a 5-5 fit was only a plurality contract. South played in 4S five times. One West played 4H after East doubled and North eventually took the gamble to defend. The other contracts were all in spades - 2S twice, 3S twice and 3Sx.

?

Declarer has time to discard a diamond from the North hand and, with the trump finesse, take nine tricks in spades. Dee made 3Sx for the N-S top. 4S was -1 all five times, producing a five-way tie for E-W top when 4H also was set one trick. The hand was remarkably straightforward - only one pair was held to eight tricks in 2S and only Phoebe took ten tricks; E-W missed their chance to unblock the clubs at trick two and she was able to force a ruff-and-discard.

?

3Sx S =

2S S +2

3S S = (2)

2S S =

4H W -1

4S S -1 (5)

?

8:

?

...............1042

...............108

...............982

...............QJ874

9873........................KQ5

AQ54.......................KJ632

4..............................KJ1073

A953........................----

...............AJ6

...............97

...............AQ65

...............K1062

?

We almost got everyone into 4H. East opened in third position and had the values to accept any sort of invitation. One pair, however, settled in 2H E to prevent unanimity. West would have made a splinter raise if unpassed but likely could not show the hand if South came in with a takeout double of 1H.?

?

With the 2-2 trump split, declarer had an easy eleven tricks in 4H when the ruffing finesse in diamonds succeeded. +450 was posted seven times. Pharah and Janj set 4H, Pharah after East discarded a diamond on the club ace and then passed up the ruffing finesse. Heve held 4H to ten tricks , as did Jerik against 2H.

?

4H E -1 (2)

2H E +2

4H E =

4H E +1 (7)

?

9:

?

...............3

...............J63

...............K7432

...............AK83

AQ1075..................K9

87...........................9542

10...........................AJ9865

109762...................J

...............J8642

...............AKQ10

...............Q

...............Q54

?

At least one North passed as dealer, resulting in a contract of 2Dx E after North got to pass a takeout double. When North opened, which seems to have happened at every other table, the auction led almost inevitable to 3NT, with a 6-3 margin favouring North as declarer. The eleventh auction ended in the unfortunate contract of 4S S.

?

E-W have five top tricks against 3NT if they get their spades going. If not, declarer CAN pick up four club tricks for a total of nine but is not likely to do so. Delen took an easy seven tricks for 2Dx -2 and the N-S top. 3NT was defeated six times out of the nine; Jim made an overtrick after a diamond lead with careful play. Glotin managed a two-trick set but E-W top went to Gel for defending 4S -3.

?

2Dx E -2

3NT N +1

3NT N =; 3NT S =

3NT N -1 (3); 3NT S -2 (2)

3NT N -2

4S S -3

?

10:

?

...............AQ9764

...............93

...............1073

...............65

1032..........................K85

764............................KQ10852

A854..........................Q6

KQ8...........................J3

...............J

...............AJ

...............KJ92

...............A109742

?

East opened either 1H or 2H, South overcalled in clubs and West often raised. North did not have an easy time getting spades into the auction but played 3S twice. One South went on to 3NT; East played 3H thrice. That left South in clubs five times: 3C twice, 4C, 4Cx and 5Cx.

?

Declarer could do no better than to take five tricks in 3NT; Randi posted the expected +400. 3C was the highest contract that could make by force, thanks to the kind diamond layout; declarer needs to finesse the nine or jack and then drop the queen next, as there was not a second entry to dummy. Hank and Lee did take nine tricks in 3C. 3S could have been set by force but never was (declarer has difficulty drawing trumps with East poised to overruff the third club). Audrey even took ten tricks when the defence led a heart at trick four instead of a diamond. A black-suit lead should have led to 3H -1 but Janj posted -2 while Bob and Gloria made the contract. Gloria's opponents had a tricky time of it. South led the spade jack and was given a ruff on the second round. But which spade should North lead for the suit preference signal? Either the nine-spot or the four-spot would have been a positive request for a diamond or club. Holding slightly better diamonds, North led the seven but then South returned a diamond. I think the six would have been better, as dummy's clubs suggest that a club return is absolutely safe and partner won't feel compelled not to switch to a diamond from a solid holding.

?

3H E -2

3S N +1

3S N =

3C S = (2)

3H E = (2)

4C S -2; 4Cx S -1

3NT S -4

5Cx S -4

?

11:

?

...............KQ83

...............J1098

...............AQ853

...............----

AJ7...........................10942

Q...............................K72

1092..........................K74

AQ10643...................KJ5

...............65

...............A6543

...............J6

...............9872

?

P-1C-X-XX; 1H-2C looks like a reasonable start to the auction (West does not want to sit for 1Hx) and then either North, East or both will advance. Whether North raises to 2H (if South does not hold decent values - and the actual hand constitutes decent values on that auction - then the hand will be short in spades as there would have been no reason to bid 1H directly over the redouble) or not East likely goes to 3C or 2NT. Club partials and either 2NT or 3NT are possible; a few N-S pairs competed to the three-level with their nine total trumps. Contracts were 3C W thrice, 3H S thrice, 3S E twice, 3NT E, 4C W and 4Hx S.

?

3NT can be defeated but the blockage in the heart spots gives declarer chances. If, say, South leads a low heart against 3NT E, declarer can win the queen, run the clubs and then lead a diamond; there is no way to score four heart tricks whatever North does or does not discard. Janj managed the normal 3NT -1 to avoid the bottom. 3S E finished the expected -2 both times. Heart contracts should take nine tricks - two forces in clubs establish a second heart trick for the defence and declarer has to be careful not to lose any clubs by letting dummy run out of trumps too soon. Cindy took ten tricks when E-W didn't keep up the force and the other declarers in hearts took nine. Club contracts can be held to nine tricks but all the declarers in clubs took ten after North led a spade.

?

3H S +1

3H S = (2)

3S E -2 (2)

3NT E -1

4Hx S -1

3C W +1 (3); 4C W =

?

12:

?

...............1062

...............987

...............A1075

...............A104

7..............................KQ43

AQJ106...................52

QJ64........................93

975...........................QJ862

...............AJ985

...............K43

...............K82

...............K3

?

If West does not open (I am fairly sure Bill would, though I would not want to guess whether he would choose 1H or 2H) South starts with 1S. West finally has a reasonable two-level overcall on a five-card suit - it takes up the maximum amount of bidding room, has good internal spots and the hand is already limited.?Two?Wests were left in 2H, which seems likely to result after 1H-P-1S-P; 2D-P-2H. After P-P-P-1S; 2H, North raises to 2S, which happily was only left in four times. Most Wests balanced, leading to 3H W once and 3S S four times.

?

Heart contracts can be held to six tricks by cutting declarer off from dummy. South gets an early club ruff and switches to a heart; West eventually loses a third diamond. Two N-S pairs found the defence for 2H -2; Louise escaped in 3H -2 when South continued spades at the second trick instead of leading a minor, Spade contract are held to eight tricks by a black-suit lead and takes nine after a red. Mark was N-S top in 2S +2 after East, gaining the lead, switched to a club instead of a heart. E-W top was Paun's for defending 2S -2.

?

2S S +2

2S S +1 (2); 3S S =

2S S =

2H W -2 (2); 3H W -2

3S S -1 (2)

3S S -2

?

13:

?

...............AQ432

...............84

...............52

...............KQJ5

76............................KJ98

AJ9732....................Q6

A7............................QJ

973...........................A10842

...............105

...............K105

...............K1098643

...............6

?

1S from North and then I hope there were not many Easts bidding 2C. The suit is not good, East has nice defence against spades and defensive-looking holdings in the red suits. South is likely to compete to 3D over 2C if the pair plays weak jump shifts or after 1S-P-1NT-2H; P if East passes as well (although 2NT or even 3NT looks likely). Contracts were 2H W, 2NT E, 3Cx N, 3D S, 3H W twice, 3S N twice, 4D S twice and 4H W.

?

The layout is unkind to N-S. All the suits have either losing finesses or bad duplication. Diamond contracts look reasonable but can be held by a spade lead to six tricks. Declarers in diamonds managed seven or eight, reasonable enough, given that for the maximum East has to lead through both red suits in the correct order. Marudy took eight tricks against 3S, the expected result, although Gernot escaped for 3S -2. 3Cx was an accident, against which E-W could take as many as ten tricks. Randi took a comfortable eight tricks for +1100 and the E-W top. When E-W declared a club lead was required to hold hearts to nine tricks and no-trumps to ten. Pharah defended 4H -2 for the N-S top, but the two declarers in partials took nine tricks. 2NT took nine tricks also; declarer discarded a spade that would have scored after, but had the middle score anyway in the highest-scoring successful contract.

?

4H W -2

3D S -1

2H W +1; 3H W = (2)

2NT E +1

3S N -2; 4D S -2

4D S -3

3S N -4

3Cx N -4

?

14:

?

...............KJ642

...............AKQ

...............J86

...............A8

987...........................3

J654.........................10972

73..............................AKQ95

Q973.........................1064

...............AQ105

...............83

...............1042

...............KJ52

?

1S from North in fourth seat and then, whether East bids 2D or not, and even whether or not South finds a way to invite or settles for a quiet 2S, N-S reach 4S. 4S N was played nine times. Jerik declared it from the South seat as their auction began 1C-1S to show controls (although I'm not sure how they handle interference). Leighry also played 4S S, which I can almost see after a 1NT opening bid.

?

Whoever declared, even West on lead found a diamond and we had a flat board on a score of +420.

?

4S N = (9); 4S S = (2)

?

15:

?

...............94

...............Q10763

...............J109876

...............----

87...........................QJ103

8.............................K94

AQ5432..................----

10962.....................KQJ843

...............AK652

...............AJ52

...............K

...............A75

?

1S from South and then the other players all have choices. It was lucky West avoided a 3D overcall, as that could have led to 3Dx. If West passed and North responded, South would likely have jump shifted to 3H (2H if South discounted the diamond king) and North would carry on to 4H. East would likely come in with clubs whether North responded or passed, which would lead to further competition from West. Contracts were 3C E, 4Cx E, 4D N, 4H N, 4H S twice, 5Cx E thrice and 5H S twice.

?

Declarer needs too many ruffs in dummy to take more than ten tricks in hearts by force. Lee and Dee both took twelve tricks to tie for N-S top, Lee after West led ace and then queen of diamonds. Most heart games failed, however. 5Cx should have been a good sacrifice, finishing only -2. Leighry acquired a third undertrick from a diamond ruff.

?

4H S +2; 5H S +1

5Cx E -3

5Cx E -2 (2)

4Cx E -1

4H N -1; 4H S -1; 5H S -1

3C E +1

4D N -2

?

16:

?

...............A4

...............KQ87

...............8752

...............A54

62..........................Q98

1053.......................J94

KQ3........................AJ1096

KJ962....................Q10

...............KJ10753

...............A62

...............4

...............873

?

This looked like a simple auction: 1D-1S; 1NT-2S. That auction occurred nine times. Two N-S pairs finished in 4S, one pair after the auction 1D-2S; 4S.

?

With both majors behaving, spade contracts yielded eleven tricks. Dawen were lucky, defending 4S -1 when South finessed West for the queen on spades. Everyone else took eleven tricks, with Vioebe N-S top on 4S +1.

?

4S S +1

2S S +3 (9)

4S S -1

?

17:

?

...............AQ10

...............A

...............K763

...............K9873

K9752.....................J8643

6..............................J5432

AQJ92.....................105

A10..........................4

...............----

...............KQ10987

...............84

...............QJ652

?

If North were to open 1NT (Harold's choice) then we might have needed Carl to show both majors on the two jacks. Otherwise South would likely go to 4H N. But fortunately for the fans of competitive auctions, while only Gareth, Paul and Bob competed over 1C with 2C, if East doesn't compete then West will over 1C-1H. Only one auction ended short of game. Contracts were 3NT N twice, 4C N, 4H N, 4Sx E, 4Sx W, 5S W twice and 6Cx N twice.

?

In clubs South had the wrong void, but the auction often induced East to lead a spade. At least one declarer had a chance to make 6C after a spade lead, but the one declarer I saw drew too many trumps. 6Cx was always -1, although declarer took twelve tricks in 4C. A diamond lead would have set 3NT; Jane (X) took ten tricks after a spade lead. Gel's declarer was headed to the same result but accidentally led the diamond king at trick five. 4H finished -1; a club ruff could not be prevented and East still had a trick with the heart jack. It took a heart lead to hold spade contracts to nine tricks. Judy made 4Sx for the E-W top; North led a diamond when a club was needed, although I did not have time to mark down the line.

?

3NT N +1

4C N +2

5S W -3

4Sx W -1

5S W -1

4H N -1

6Cx N -1 (3)

3NT N -5

4Sx E =

?

18:

?

...............AK94

...............104

...............A84

...............KQJ10

QJ8765.................102

K9.........................AJ6

5............................KJ10763

A875......................63

...............3

...............Q87532

...............Q92

...............942

?

We almost had another rainbow hand (after Board 13), only nobody played in diamonds, despite East's likely 2D opening bid, which would probably have induced West to pass. But then North came in with a double or 2NT. If East passed West opened 1S or 2S and again North had an overcall of no-trumps. Contracts were 2S W twice, 2NTx N, 3C N, 3H N, 3S W, 3NT N and 4H S four times.

?

No contract succeeded. Audrey escaped with 3C -1 after receiving a spade opening lead. Heart contracts could have been held to eight tricks; declarer loses one diamond, one club and three hearts. Three declarers in 4H escaped with a ninth trick, Lee when East took the heart ace at trick three. Spade contracts can be held to seven tricks in a straightforward way - in one order or the other, draw East's trumps and establish three club tricks and declarer can do nothing. 2S took seven tricks both times but Vioebe managed 3S -3 when declarer took a risk looking for a better score. Finally 3NT was the expected -2, declarer chalking up three clubs, two diamonds and two spades.

?

3S W -3

2S W -1 (2)

3C N -1; 3H N -1; 4H S -1 (3)

2NTx N -1; 3NT N -2; 4H S -2

1:

?

...............53

...............652

...............AJ75

...............K954

K974.......................862

1093........................AK874

Q32.........................K84

Q87.........................A2

...............AQJ10

...............QJ

...............1096

...............J1063

?

Mr Lawrence would be disappointed with the auctions here. East opened 1H and West raised to 2H. Only two Souths balanced, with AQJ10 in spades. Marty, who had made a light double on the first round, bid 2S. Mark also balanced, just with a double.? Five Souths left 2H in; the balancers both pushed E-W to 3H. It does seem easier to balance if Soth has passed the first time; partnerships should discuss the difference between doubling and then bidding one's own suit in a live auction and as a balance.

?

With reasonable play North would have taken eight tricks in clubs for no worse a result than -1. A surprisingly large number of Easts took eight tricks in 2H, dropping South's QJ or picking up a trick elsewhere. Mahn were N-S top defending 3H -2; Marnette and Jevin tied for second with one-trick sets of 3H and 2H.

?

3H E -2

2H E -1; 3H E -1

2H E = (4)

?

2:

?

...............AQ2

...............AKJ763

...............A85

...............J

10765.......................J432

10.............................52

K9743......................QJ6

KQ6.........................A10972

...............K98

...............Q984

...............102

...............8543

?

North opened 1H in fourth seat. Cindy was guided by her Psychic Friend into not balancing after South underbid by passing 1H; everyone else ended in 4H N after some form of raise.

?

North has a diamond and a club to lose. It seemed that everyone would take eleven tricks. Karleta scored 5/6 when declarer claimed ten tricks early on for no particular reason. I'm afraid I cannot explain that action except to guess that Something Suddenly Came Up.

?

4H N +1 (5)

4H N =

1H N +4

?

3:

?

...............98

...............K42

...............K10432

...............Q43

AK32.......................QJ1074

J106.........................983

AJ5...........................9

865...........................AK102

...............65

...............AQ75

...............Q876

...............J97

?

West opens, East responds 1S, West raises and then East has to decide whether to go to game or be content with an invitation. The hand has only seven losers and nearly an opening bid, but a help-suit game try of 3H will get West to return to 3S, which is probably enough for East. Most Easts, though, bumped the hand up to game: 3S was played twice, 4S four times and once 5Dx N after P-1C-P-1S; 1NT(takeout)-2S-3D-4S; P-P-5D-X.

?

Reverse East's red suits and 4S would have had quite a fair chance of success if N-S could not force two diamond tricks. As the cards lay, the duplication in hearts with three losers in both hands spelled doom for 4S when the club losers did not go away (strongly against the odds. Curiously, though, only Marnette took their four tricks against 4S E, as South was too afraid to lead a heart from AQxx. This let Gareth, Corky and Harold make 4S to tie for E-W top, and put Kevin into the middle in 5Dx -3.

?

4S E -1

3S E +1 (2)

5Dx N -3

4S E = (3)

?

4:

?

...............64

...............J1052

...............972

...............J864

KQ10832.............AJ97

9864....................Q7

104.......................Q8

K..........................AQ1093

...............5

...............AK3

...............AKJ653

...............752

?

If West opened 2S East might reasonably have gone to 4S at once. It seems that the only way one might stop would have been to respond 2NT looking for a feature and then taking partner as not having control of either red suit. Contracts were 2S E, 3S W and 4S W.

?

All five declarers in 4S failed by one trick - three heart losers and the eventual club.Corky took ten tricks in 2S after South tried three rounds if diamonds. Otherwise N-S took their four red winners and that was that. This produced a five-way tie for N-S top.

?

4S W -1 (5)

3S W =

2S E +2

?

5:

?

...............A62

...............J10432

...............763

...............72

K1054.....................J7

65...........................A97

KQ942....................AJ10

85...........................KQJ106

...............Q983

...............KQ8

...............85

...............A943

?

1NT was met by Stayman and a probable invitation; East had no difficulty accepting the invitation with the fine club suit. One West left 1NT in, but everyone else played 3NT E.

?

Jeff was the only South to find the winning lead of the king of hearts. Normally in this situation the lead of a three-card major comes from a hand with poor offensive prospects hoping that partner holds the goods. Here South has so many points that it is not terribly likely North will hold much help in, say, establishing spades. Either the spade lead or the club could give away a trick quite easily. So could the heart, but, with declarer known no to hold four, that looked likely to be the safest lead and it turned out to hit partner with the perfect hand. After the heart lead declarer could do nothing; -2 was easily enforced. A spade lead would have allowed N-S to hold declarer to nine tricks by finding the heart switch; the entry to the long hearts would have been gone but declarer could not then force the overtrick. Gareth and Corky even managed a second overtrick when N-S did not find a heart switch.

?

3NT E -2

1NT E =

3NT E +1 (3)

3NT E +2 (2)

?

6:

?

...............83

...............A643

...............J862

...............K86

K109754................J62

QJ2........................K8

5.............................AKQ10974

QJ2........................9

...............AQ

...............10975

...............3

...............A107543

?

It may be lucky for E-W that the heart king and queen were not swapped; East could then have opened the Gambling 3NT, which West might have passed. After 1D-2C, West usually came in with 2S. North raised to 3C and East bid 3D. This was left in once. All the other Wests rebid the spades, with four contracts of 4S and two auctions reaching the five-level, one ending in 5C undoubled and the other in 5S.

?

4S is very leaky, but the perfect trump layout allowed all the declarers in spades to take ten tricks, with Haorge getting N-S top defending 5S -1. Defending 5C Breta led the singleton diamond five and it took the trick, Karlene unable to resist the opportunity to make the safe duck. But it was counter-productive. East needs to win the first trick; any continuation is safe, but West has to lead a heart next. Judy (R) escaped for -2 and the N-S top, although -3 would have given only one matchpoint more and at least it gave Breta a good story.

?

5S W -1

5C S -2

3D E =

4S W = (4)

?

7:

?

...............K87

...............K42

...............65

...............A8432

J10653.....................AQ94

87.............................AQ106

4...............................KJ10

QJ1075.....................96

...............2

...............J953

...............AQ98732

...............K

?

South usually opened 1D, playing in a placid 2D twice. Everyone's favourite bridge-playing woman, Miss Click, made another of her frequent appearances at a table when South opened 3D - Miss Click made West double. East managed to avoid going to slam and found a brilliant pass. On other auctions East came in with a double and West came in with spades. One North, having limited the hand with a 1NT response, doubled West's 2S, a sort of action double on which Ms Walker has written recently in the ACBL Bulletin. South already knows that North does not hold a four-card major or, presumably, more than ten HCP. North does not want to defend 2S undoubled but can defend 2Sx if South has an appropriate hand or cope with anything South opts to do. South should have pulled the double to 3D. Other contracts were 3S W twice and 4S W.

?

The N-S hands mesh dreadfully for diamond contracts. Declarer can only reach dummy by overtaking the club king with the ace; the hand quickly turns into a battle between East and South to see who has to lead something helpful; if West begins with two rounds of spades East gets a leg up in that battle. Marty beat the odds and posted 2D +1 for the N-S top while Ritold made the most of Miss Click's appearance and posted 3Dx -1 for the E-W top. 4S can be held to nine tricks by a diamond lead and low diamond follow-up; West must trump the second diamond or never be able to finesse in trumps, must then draw trumps and eventually runs out of entries, getting locked in dummy and never scoring a club winner. Jevin set 4S when declarer did not draw the last trump and Kevin got a ruff with the king; the other spade contracts all yielded ten tricks; Breta was E-W top for her score of +1070 in 2Sx +2.

?

2D S +1

4S W -1

2D S -1

2S W +1

3S W +1

3Dx S -1

2Sx W +2

?

8:

?

...............KQ863

...............J

...............Q875

...............K103

75..........................1042

K1052...................AQ7

A10432.................KJ6

92..........................AQ64

...............AJ9

...............98643

...............9

...............J875

?

Two Norths opened 1S, resulting in contracts of 2S N once and 3H W once. At the other tables East opened 1NT. Twice this was left in. Once West responded and East declared 3D. The last two Norths balanced with 2S, one playing the hand there and the other eventually defending 3D W.

?

The layout is reasonably kind to E-W in 1NT, which can be held to eight tricks by a spade lead, although even Bill might have been hard pressed to find that lead from AJ9. Adele took nine tricks in 1NT and Louise ten - against Louise North did not overtake the spade jack, playing South for a four-card holding (South found the spade lead). 2S looked by finishing -1. John emerged with nine tricks after the defence led hearts twice to drop a trick each time when two suits would have been fine.?

?

2S N +1

3D E -1; 3H W -1

2S N -2

3D W =

1NT E +2

1NT E +3

?

9:

?

...............A9

...............K6

...............A97632

...............KJ7

83..........................KQJ542

J9872....................Q

10...........................J54

Q10652..................A43

...............1076

...............A10543

...............KQ8

...............98

?

This was a much easier hand if North opened 1NT; South would just have to make a slight overbid of 3H over East's 2S, but North would bid the easy 3NT. Only one pair reached 3NT. After 1D-1S-X-P; North has an uncomfortable rebid, and it will be tricky finding the pair's way into 3NT. Contracts were 2NT N, 3D N twice, 3H S, 3NT N, 5D N and 6D N after the auction 1D-1S-X-P; 3D-3S-4D-P; 4S-P-6D.

?

6D has playbut needs to establish the hearts; the 5-1 split is a killer. Declarer was lucky to get out for -1, as playing for twelve tricks risks -2. Cornot were able to defeat 5D. Glynneth were E-W top defending 3H -2. Leigh Ann ran her nine tricks in 3NT for the N-S top; declarer in 2NT dropped a trick and two matchpoints, as 3D took ten tricks both times.

?

3NT N =

3D N +1 (2)

2NT N =

5D N -1; 6D N -1

3H S -2

?

10:

?

...............J4

...............54

...............KJ86

...............108654

A1097.....................Q8

KJ7.........................AQ83

9532.......................AQ74

AJ...........................KQ2

...............K6532

...............10962

...............10

...............973

?

Would E-W go to slam? I thought after 1D-1S; 2NT West might try 3D, but East does not have a hand well suited to slam with all the queens and would likely have retired in 3NT. 3NT E was played five times; the two slam auctions were 1D-1S; 2H-6NT and 1D-1S; 2NT-4NT; 6NT. I do not like the reverse.

?

Neither 6D or 6NT has good chances. 6D needs the trump finesse, a 3-2 split and an endplay. 6NT needs the diamond finesse and three spade tricks; even if the fourth diamond establishes there is no real point, as that requires losing a trick and then one can only get a second spade trick without a loser by dropping the king, pinning the jack or getting South to duck a Chinese finesse. Both Bob and Harold made 6NT when the spade layout made it impossible for N-S to stop three spade winners. Two declarers in 3NT took twelve tricks, with the others taking eleven, ten and nine.??

?

3NT E =

3NT E +1

3NT E +2

3NT E +3 (2)

6NT E =; 6NT W =

?

11:

?

...............AKQ5

...............Q

...............K73

...............K10984

2...............................1073

K763.........................J1094

AJ10.........................Q9854

AQJ72......................6

...............J9864

...............A852

...............62

...............53

?

West opens 1C and North has quite a choice. Passing led to 1C W. North might also have doubled, overcalled 1S or overcalled 1NT. Double was not popular; South played 2S once but didn't declare at any other table. One North declared 2S (presumably after 1NT and a transfer), 3S twice, 3NT(!) and 4S.

?

4S can make but there is a huge trap for declarer. If E-W begin with two rounds of clubs playing the king on the second round puts declarer in a hole where the one saving grace is that E-W will only be able to lead one round of trumps. John made 4S, reached after a 1S overcall on the auction P-1C-1S-P; P-X-P-2D; 4S, John and West both equally surprised. Kevin had a big escape; 3NT could have been -2 against a heart lead or -1 otherwise; East lead a club. The key moment came at trick six when West discarded the diamond jack; discarding the ace would have set the contract!

?

3NT N +1

4S N =

2S S +2; 3S N +1

2S N +1; 3S N =

1C W -1

?

12:

?

...............KQJ43

...............J4

...............753

...............J105

1097......................65

K10975.................AQ2

AQ108..................KJ2

7............................K9842

...............A82

...............963

...............964

...............AQ63

?

We start P-P-1C-P; 1H, after which North likely comes in with 1S or 2S; if not East likely raises hearts. West was left in 2H once but usually the auction turned competitive. If N-S got to 2S sufficiently quickly E-W might not realize they have a heart fit; 2S was the most frequently played contract (thrice); West played 3H twice and 4H.

?

2S makes in a straightforward way; Hank, Kevin and Judy (P) all made an overtrick, at least twice when East let both North's club honours go through. 4H can make via a spade ruff against any lead but a trump; after a trump lead it looks as if N-S will likely manage the hold if they are careful enough in clubs not to allow the suit to establish with two ruffs. Mahn set 4H when West finessed in trumps; Gernot and Rita took ten tricks in heart partials.

?

2S N +1 (3)

4H W -1

3H W =

2H W +2; 3H W +1

?

13:

?

...............1074

...............Q986

...............AKQ7

...............A2

AKQ.....................J632

KJ2......................A74

84.........................J1052

KQJ53..................86

...............985

...............1053

...............963

...............10974

?

Curiously, three Norths did not open 1D. A 1D opening bid led to contracts of 2S E, 3S E and 3NT E. When North did open 1NT two Wests had to pass. One was able to make a penalty double. The last West overcalled 2C and played the hand there.

?

1NTx N could have been set three tricks; late in the hand a trick was dropped but the difference was only one matchpoint. 3NT E is set by a heart lead not because the suit establishes but because it breaks up the endplay against North that plays out against a different lead. The heart king must still be in the West hand when East's ace is taken to cash the fourth spade and throw North in with the third diamond. Corky made 3NT after a diamond lead.

?

1NT N =

2S E =; 2C W +1

3S E +1

1NT N -3

1NT x N -2

3NT E =

?

14:

?

...............J4

...............QJ

...............842

...............K98764

7..........................AK8532

K109842.............76

K7........................J953

AQ32...................5

...............Q1096

...............A53

...............AQ106

...............J10

?

East's 2S opening bid ended the auction thrice. South's Q1096 holding successfully stops the suit but lures South into 3NT if North does not let 2S go. 3NT S was also the contract three times. One North was left in 3C.

?

3C had to finish -2 and dropped another trick along the way, very helpful for Ritold. 2S hinged on the lead, -1 against a minor and = against a major. Jevin posted 2S -3; declarer ducked a spade early and then allowed an overruff of a club at trick six. 2S was made twice but Study and Marudy had insured above-average scores by passing. 3NT could be set three tricks by force after a major lead. George escaped for -2 and a good score; Karleta managed -4 and Cinise -5 for the top two scores.

?

2S E -3

3NT S =2

2S E = (2)

3C N -3

3NT S -4

3NT S -5

?

15:

?

...............J2

...............K72

...............A87543

...............KQ

Q7.......................K10983

J4........................9653

92........................Q

J1098765............A32

...............A654

...............AQ108

...............KJ106

...............4

?

After South's 1D, any West who took advantage of the kind vulnerability and came in with 3C was rewarded; N-S were kept out of 3NT and at best N-S were pushed to 5D, missing the successful but marginal slam. Contracts were 3D S, 3NT N, 4Cx W, 5Cx W and 5D S thrice.

?

Despite the club duplication, diamond contracts take an easy twelve tricks when the fourth heart provides a resting spot for North's second spade. Club contracts took eight tricks, both sacrifices beating game. 3NT takes eleven tricks against a spade lead and twelve otherwise, although there was no difference in the scoring with only one pair in 3NT.

?

3NT N +3

5D S +1 (2)

5Cx W -3

4Cx W -2

3D S +2

3D S =

?

16:

?

...............QJ4

...............A98

...............K1086

...............K93

K72.........................A3

K765.......................J32

Q.............................97432

Q8764.....................AJ10

...............109865

...............Q104

...............AJ5

...............52

?

P-1D-P-1S. At least one West doubled 1S. If West passed, North presumably rebid 1NT and South left it there thrice. Two Norths played 2D, likely after a 2C bid at some point. One East played 2H after a double and one South finished in 3S.

?

The three-card-suit lead against no-trumps was in such good form in this game that here even a three-card minor worked for the hold of 1NT to seven tricks. We could not expect anyone to find that lead; Steve took eight tricks while Leigh Ann and Kevin took nine. Harold managed a make of 2H; he was able to take four black-suit winners and three ruffs leaving Kx of trumps opposite Jx, then just let N-S it and waited for the eighth winner. Glynneth held 3S to the expected eight tricks. 2D should have been -1 but John made the contract and Karleta set it two.

?

1NT N +2 (2)

1NT N +1

2D N =

3S S -1

2D N -2

2H E =

?

17:

?

...............52

...............AKQ1065

...............Q7

...............K42

A4.............................KQ1063

93..............................4

A86542.....................KJ109

Q106..........................975

...............J987

...............J872

...............3

...............AJ83

?

After 1H-1S, South often found a way to show four trumps, which got North into 4H quite quickly. Six auctions ended in 4H N; one auction was 1H-1S-2H-3D; 3H-4D and N-S were quick to drop it there.

?

4H hinged on the losing club finesse and finished -1 five times. John made the contract when West overtook the spade king opening lead with the ace, allowing South's spade jack to provide a discard for the losing club. West's holding the club ten allowed E-W to make 4D; Breta made an overtrick when N-S did not cash out, but just taking the bid in 4D won the board.

?

4H N =

4H N -1

4D W +1

?

18:

?

...............A64

...............86

...............AK753

...............J62

K5.........................10982

K543.....................AQJ

Q106.....................J92

A1043...................Q75

...............QJ73

...............10972

...............84

...............K98

?

West opened 1C, North overcalled 1D and auction ended in 1NT W twice. Somehow one North ended in 1NT. Two Norths pushed on to 2D and played the hand there. One West played 2H and one more got all the way to 3NT.

?

West can force the seventh trick in 1NT with East's spade spots. Declarer has an eighth trick after a club lead; Jevin had to tread carefully after that lead to secure 3NT -1 and preserve their clean sheet. Rita and Leigh Ann both made 1NT in opposite directions, but the vulnerability gave Leigh Ann a much better score for it. Three N-S pairs posted +50. 2D looked like being one down but Karleta managed a two-trick set when declarer led a heart at trick eight, completing their strong finish.

?

1NT N =

1NT W -1; 2H W -1; 3NT W -1

1NT W =

2D N -1

2D N -2